assu ax86s review ASUS RT-AX86S AX5700 Router Review

ASUS RT-AX86S AX5700 Router Review

Today, we’re writing our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review which focuses on ASUS’ new gaming router. It sports the WiFi6 standard so you can expect lower latency, faster speeds, energy efficiency, as well as longer range. With all the features it’s packed with, you can expect a more enhanced mobile gaming experience and more. 

If you want to know more about its features, specifications, performance, and more, we’ve got your back. In this review, we’re giving all the important information you’ll need to know if this product is for you. Plus, we’re giving you a hands-on review on how well (or not) this router worked for us. 

ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router Packaging

To begin our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review, let’s start off with the packaging. We’ll also look at what ASUS included in the box to get us started with the router. 

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Everything is packed in an organised and neat manner, so we greatly appreciate ASUS for what they did here. Inside, you’ll find the RT-AX86S Ax5700 itself, an RJ-45 cable, power adapter, quick start guide, and a warranty card. 

ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router Review – Design and Functionality

This new router from ASUS is aimed towards gamers, but it doesn’t sport an overly-aggressive design. It also doesn’t sport an overly-aggressive style/status LED with Aura RGB. 

We compared this router to the RT-AX86U model for our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review. Both have the same design, colours, and pretty much everything else on their exterior. The only difference is the rear ports that change specific things.

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To note, this current model is a trimmed version of the earlier one. The RT-AX86S Ax5700 sports a chiselled matte-black enclosure with some red grillework on the bottom edge. Then, it has three detachable and adjustable antennas on its top edge. 

The LED Indicators is also something we’re looking into. Those in front are for the following: power, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, WAN, LAN, WPS, and USB.

This router has a total of five RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet ports which can be found on its rear. One is for WAN while the rest are for LAN. There’s also one USB 2.0 port and one USB 3.2 Gen1 port.

For the buttons, these are the power switch, reset button, WPS button, and LED on/off button. 

Key Features of the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router 

Listed in this portion of our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review are the different key features of the router. 

The Best Option for Mobile Gaming

Take advantage of smooth and fast WiFi gaming connections with the RT-AX86S Ax5700 dual-band WiFi router. It offers ultra-fast speeds of up to 5,700 Mbps, and is packed with advanced technologies too. One of these is Mobile Gaming Mode for a low-latency, lag-free gaming experience. 

Ultra Powerful WiFi6

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 offers all the benefits you’ll need from WiFi6 (802.11ax). Plus, it works excellently with all current WiFi devices. 

Enhanced Mobile Gaming

This router doesn’t only have ultra powerful WiFi6, but it also has optimised mobile gaming. Get to lessen latency and lags to enjoy the best mobile gaming experience. Just a quick tap on the ASUS Router app and you’re all set. 

Enjoy Gaming Without Limits

The RT-AX86S Ax5700’s dedicated gaming port automatically prioritises wired devices linked to it. You don’t have to worry about any complex setups: simply link your gaming console/PC to a special LAN port. This will give you a stable and fast connection that will be at the head of the queue, every time. 

Lightning-fast Internet with the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700

This router is designed to break down all barriers and elements that slow down your gaming. It supports connection speeds up to 2 Gbps to unleash the full potential of high-speed networking. And, this is for both WiFi and wired connections.

Deleting Network Bottlenecks 

Adaptive Quality of Service (QoS) prioritises network traffic to retain smooth-running networks. You can set priority on web surfing, gaming, and video streaming apps. This feature is excellent for bringing low-latency WiFi in all areas of your home.

Whole-home Gaming with the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router

Usually, routers leave some areas of your home with WiFi dead spots. But when we tested the product for our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review, this won’t be a problem. This router uses AiMesh, a unique mesh-networking technology that forms a whole-home network with multiple ASUS routers.

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 offers an easy central control and seamless roaming. With that, you can easily set up your whole-home network with all your AiMesh-capable routers. 

Commercial-grade Home Security

Home network security is vital when you have multiple devices connected. It’s more crucial when there are unprotected devices that have no antivirus capabilities like IoT devices. 

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 comes with free AiProtection Pro including advanced Parental Controls and the latest WPA3 security protocol. With these, all connected devices stay protected and you can monitor everything on your network via the mobile app.

Specifications

Looking further into the router, our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review will discuss its specifications. This section will help you determine if it’s a router fit for your needs and requisites. 

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 uses a 1.8GHz dual-core processor and 256MB flash memory, and 512MB RAM. It comes with a total of three external antennas and an internal PCB antenna. 

This router has an operating frequency of 2.4GHz / 5GHz and an AC input of 110V to 240V (50 – 60Hz). For its weight, it’s 814.5g.

Lastly, ASUS included a three-year warranty for their RT-AX86S Ax5700.

Hands-on with the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router 

This time, we’re sharing our hands-on experience with the router for this ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review. Was it a good performer or is it something you can pass up on? 

Installation of the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router

The first thing we’re checking out is the whole installation process of the router. But with how ASUS designed it, we installed it fast and didn’t have any troubles in doing so. 

We began by plugging the router into our modem then linked our PC to one of the available LAN ports. Next, we opened our web browser on PC, typed in http://router.asus.com, then tapped “Setup a New Network”. 

We divided the radio bands, entered names, then added a password for each of the SSIDs. Then we made an administrator name, password, then updated the firmware. 

The entire update lasted only three minutes. And when that was done, we were ready for the PC Labs’ wireless router test process. 

ASUS Router Mobile App

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 can be managed and organised using the same ASUS Router Mobile app as the Zen WiFi AX-XT8. It’s actually a nice move since the Zen WiFi is a WiFi mesh system and not a standalone router. 

Though if granular controls are preferred, there’s a more advanced web console as well. This console opens to a network map that showcases the names of all the linked clients. It’s while displaying the security & internet status, linked USB devices, and WiFi details for 5 and 2.4GHz radio bands. 

There’s a menu on the left portion of the screen that holds the Quick Internet Setup, General, plus Advanced settings. The General settings are there to set “guest” networking, access to the router’s Traffic Analyser and configure USB storage settings. It also allows you to access adaptive QoS or Quality of Service & Game settings. 

Here, you can assign the bandwidth thresholds and arrange application-specific bandwidth prioritisation via adaptive QoS settings. Or, you can utilise the Game settings dashboard for accessing the Gear Accelerator utility. This lets you assign bandwidth priority to certain devices. 

Additionally, you’ll find the Mobile Game Mode that aids in enhancing online gaming performance on your mobile devices. And, there’s the Open NAT settings which provides an easier and quicker way to make port-forwarding rules for online games. 

Advanced Settings of the ASUS Router Mobile App

When it comes to the Advanced settings portion, you can set up wireless security settings, and enable/disable MU-MIMO & beamforming. Then, you can rename SSIDs, change channel widths, and adjust professional settings like RADIUS settings, Beacon Intervals, and Airtime Fairness.  

This area lets you tweak WAN, LAN, and firewall controls too. If you want to utilise the included VPN (virtual private network), there are various controls available. These are setting up both VPN servers & client settings, as well as enabling IFTTT and Alexa voice controls. 

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 comes with the AiProtection software from Trend Micro. This helps ward off virus attacks while also blocking access to malicious sites. Plus, it also aids in configuring your parental controls. 

Utilising these can restrict the access of minors to adult-oriented and social media sites. It can even block streaming media and entertainment content, while simultaneously preventing access to file transfer and P2P sites. 

Performance of the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router

For this review, we did several tests to see if the router can deliver excellent performance. We also used it for a week to see if it can perform consistently. 

File Transfer

The first test we did was to check its file transfer capabilities. We did this by moving a 2GB folder between our desktop computer and USB 3.0 external hard drive. The latter was connected to the router so we could see its read and write speeds.

In our tests, the RT-AX86S Ax5700’s scores were good. Read speed was 72MB per second while its write speed was 59MB per second. 

Coverage Test

The RT-AX86S Ax5700 did an excellent job in covering most areas of the office and house. It was able to pass through numerous brick walls and there was little to no notice in performance drops.

We were able to get signal out the front of the property but the signal was noticeably weaker. This was to be expected as the router was placed nearer the rear of the property.

Moving the router to the middle of the property we noticed that signal strength was improved out the front.

We noticed no issues when gaming on PC and Xbox Series X as well as streaming content via Netflix and Disney Plus. All performed perfectly.

When it came to using Plex with locally stored media, the router handled thin easily. Large files were able to be streamed effortlessly from our QNAP NAS to Plex on the TV.

Speed Test

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Overall Performance of the ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router 

Based on our tests, the RT-AX86S Ax5700 was an excellent router. It offered excellent range, throughput, and data transfer speeds. Plus, there were a lot of available configurations and impressive features that enhanced its performance. 

Unlike our previous router that only worked well in the first few days, the RT-AX86S Ax5700 worked excellently. We didn’t find any faults with this router and we didn’t suffer from lags and disconnection issues.

Overall, the RT-AX86S Ax5700’s performance was exceptional, making it easy to recommend.

ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router Review Summary

Since people are still stuck at home due to the pandemic, having fast and robust wireless connection has become essential. That’s because most homes need a good network that can support a lot of devices connected simultaneously.

The ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 router is an excellent choice for online gamers who want to eliminate network bottlenecks. With the latest WiFi6 technology, it delivers fast, close-range throughput and a stable connection. Plus, it comes with features made for optimising your network like multi-gig LAN ports, optimised LAN port, and link aggregation.

For game acceleration utilities, strong parental controls, and lifetime malware protection, the RT-AX86S Ax5700 is an excellent option. When we were testing the product for our ASUS RT-AX86S Ax5700 Router review, we noticed that it performed excellently. All of its features worked well and we had no issues with it.

Overall, the RT-AX86S Ax5700 from ASUS is an excellent product and we highly recommend it. This router offers faster performance and better security while providing coverage for the entire home. To get this product, you can check out the company’s store locator.