๐
The RT-AXE7800 is not Asus's first Wi-Fi 6E Tri-Band routerโfar from it.
Before this, the company already had the GT-AXE11000, ZenWiFi ET8, GT-AXE16000, and ZenWiFi Pro ET12.
But the new router still manages to be unique. Its hardware specs remind me of the Netgear RAXE300, and its appearance brings back the good memories of the RT-AX89X.
If you want to see how the Asus RT-AXE7800 faires against its Netgear counterpart, check out their matchup post. At the RAX300's time, I pitched it against Netgear's first Wi-Fi 6E router, the RAXE500, so it's only fair that I review the GT-AXE7800 by comparing it to its older and more powerful cousin.
As a Wi-Fi 6E machine, you can call the RT-AXE7800 a mini and somewhat stripped-down version of the GT-AXE11000. But thanks to its significantly lower cost of around $330, the new router makes an excellent buy.
If you're into Wi-Fi 6E and live in a relatively small home, pick the RT-AXE7800 today!
The router can work well in an AiMesh setup, but in that case, you should have already gotten your home wired. A wireless Wi-Fi 6E mesh system will work, but just not at the performance you'd expect.
Dong's note: I first published this piece on December 2, 2022, as a preview and updated it into an in-depth review after thorough hands-on testing on December 13.
Asus RT-AXE7800: An excellent Wi-Fi 6 standalone router
Out of the box, the RT-AXE7800 is smaller than I expected, just about two-thirds the size and weight of the GT-AXE11000. And that's a good thing since the latter is quite bulky.
Despite its smaller size, the new router has a 2.5Gbps port that can work as the WAN (default) or a LAN port. It also has impressive processing power, albeit slightly below the previous model.
With that, let's check the tech. For comparison, I'll throw the RT-AX89X in the mix. It's an entirely different router with the same iconic non-detachable collapsible antenna design.
Hardware specifications: Asus RT-AXE7800 vs. GT-AXE11000 vs. RT-AX89X
The biggest difference between the distinctive-looking RT-AXE7800 and GT-AXE11000 is in their Wi-Fi specs.
The two share the same 5GHz band, but the latter's 2.4GHz and 6GHz are more powerful, each with twice the bandwidth of the formerโat least on paper.
Other than that, the GT-AXE11000 is also a gaming router by tradeโit's part of Asus's ROG family.
While you can play games with the RT-AXE7800 and customize the setting using QoS, it doesn't have any special gaming features, such as a dedicated game port, mobile game mode, and so on.
 |  |  | |
| Name | Asus RT-AX89X AX6000 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router | Asus AXE7800 tri-band Wi-Fi 6E Router | Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 Wi-Fi 6E Gaming Router |
| Model | Asus RT-AX89X | Asus RT-AXE7800 | GT-AXE11000 |
| Wi-Fi Bandwidth | Dual-Band AX6000 | Tri-Band AXE7800 | Tri-Band AXE11000 |
| 1st Band (channel width) | 2.4GHz 4x4 AX Up to 1148Mbps (20/40MHz) | 2.4GHz 2x2 AX Up to 574Mbps (20/40MHz) | 2.4GHz 4x4 AX Up to 1148Mbps (20/40MHz) |
| 2nd Band (channel width) | 5GHz 4x4 AX Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) | ||
| 3rd Band (channel width) | None | 6GHz 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E Up to 2402Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) | 6GHz 4x4 Wi-Fi 6E Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax | |
| AP Mode | Yes | ||
| AiMesh Support | Yes | ||
| Gigabit Network Port | 1 x WAN/LAN 8 x LAN | 1 x LAN/WAN 3 x LAN | 1x WAN/WAN 4x LAN |
| Multi-Gig Network Port | 1x 10Gbps Multi-Gig LAN/WAN 1x 10Gpbs SFP+ LAN/WAN | 1x 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN | 1x 2.5Gbps LAN/WAN |
| LAN Link Aggregation | Yes | ||
| WAN Link Aggregation | Yes | No | |
| Dual-WAN | Yes | No | |
| USB | 2x USB 3.0 | 1 x USB 3.0 | 2x USB 3.0 |
| Mobile App | Asus Router | ||
| Processing Power | 2.2GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB of flash, 1GB of RAM | 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 512MB RAM | 1.8 GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 1GB RAM |
| Dimensions | 13.52 x 13.52 x 3.15 in (34.36 x 34.36 x 8 cm) | 9.57 x 8.78 x 6.1 in (24.3 x 22.3 x 15.5 cm) | 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.4 in (24.1 x 24.1 x 6.1 cm) |
| Weight | 2.82 lbs (1280 g) | 2.28 lbs (1.33 kg) | 3.8 lbs (1.73 kg) |
| Firmware Version (at review) | 3.0.0.4.386_22790 | 3.0.0.4.388_21593 | 3.0.0.4.386_42026 |
| Power Input | 100-240V | ||
| Power Consumption (per 24 hours) | โ350 Wh | โ185 Wh | โ310 Wh |
| Release Date | January 2020 | September 2022 | January 2021 |
| Price (at launch) | $450 | $329.99 | $399.99 |
In most cases, though, it's safe to say the RT-AXE7800 will deliver a similar Wi-Fi experience as the GT-AXE11000. Neither will give you a faster-than-Gigabit wired connection due to the lack of a second Multi-Gig port. On the wired connection front, if you don't care about the 6GHz band, the RT-AX89X is a world better.
Asus RT-AXE7800: A familiar Asus experience
Like the rest of Asus Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E routers, the RT-AXE7800 uses the AsusWRT firmware to deliver a robust web user interface, a standard setup process, and a host of helpful network settings and features.
You can read more about them in this post on Asus Wi-Fi broadcasters, but below are a few highlights.
- Universal setting restoration: You can restore the backup files of most previous Wi-Fi 6 and 6E routers on the RT-AXE7800. It's an excellent way to upgrade without having to reprogram your network from scratch.
- Free Dynamic DNS: The RT-AXE7800 supports all existing Dynamic DNS (DDNS) services and also comes with a free domain provided by Asus. No matter which you use, a free SSL certificate.
- Helpful mobile appโno login account required for remote access: Other than the robust web user interface, you can use the Asus Router mobile app. Whether you use this app or the web UI, you can manage the router remotely without a login account with Asusโwhich means fewer privacy risks.
- Built-in online protection Parental Controls: Like all Asus routers, the RT-AXE7800 includes AiProtection and Parent Controls that are free for life, adding a lot of value to the hardware.
- Adaptive QoS: QoS is a common feature in home routers, and the RT-AXE7800 comes with Adaptive QoS, which is both easy to use and effective. You can use it to quickly prioritize the network for gaming, working, media streaming, or any other needs.
- AiMesh: AiMesh is a valuable feature available in all Asus Wi-Fi 6/6E and most Wi-Fi 5 routers that turn multiple standalone routers into a robust mesh Wi-Fi system. The RT-AXE7800 can work as the primary router or a satellite node of an AiMesh system. For best performance, though, you only use it in one with wired backhauling.
- Flexible port configuration: Like all Asus routers, you can do a lot with the RT-AXE7800's network ports. Specifically:
- The router has a 2.5Gbps WAN port (default) and a 1Gbps WAN (working as the LAN1 by default.) Either can function as the WAN port, and the other will work as a LAN.
- You can combine the 1Gbps WAN port and the LAN2 port into a WAN Link Aggregation setup to host a 2Gbps broadband connection.
- When the 2.5Gbps (or the USB port) works as the WAN port, the LAN1 and LAN2 ports can work together to create a 2Gbps LAN Link Aggregation connection.
- The router support Dual-WAN where you can use one of its WAN ports (2.5Gbps WAN or the LAN1 port) to host a broadband connection and another LAN port (or the USB port) to host another simultaneously.
- Many VPN options: The RT-AXE7800 can work as a VPN server of all VPN flavors, including the support for VPN Fusion, which allows assigning a specific connected client to a particular VPN connection. It also has Instant Guard, a special VPN server for mobile devices.
- Other useful features: Other than the above, you can also expect the following from all Asus routers:
- Networking tools: Wake on LAN, Ping, Netstat, and Smart Connect Rule can come in handy for advanced users.
- Auto-reboot: You can set your router to restart by itself on a schedule.
- Traffic Analyzer: A set of tools and statistics for those wanting to find out what's happening in the network.
- USB-related features galore: When hosting a storage device, the router has all the features you can imagineโfrom data sharing (locally and over the Internet) to backup (including the support for Time Machine) to a personal cloud. You can make the router handle PC-less downloading and use the router's USB ports to host printers or select USB cellular modems.
- The standard set of network settings and features: These include IP reservation, Port-forwarding, some Alexa Skills, etc.
- Frequent firmware update: Asus pushes out firmware updates regularly to fix issues and improve its routers' performance and function. You can choose to update manually or turn on auto-update.
AiMesh: Asus's ongoing journey to bettering Wi-Fi coverage
Asus and your privacy
By default, all Asus routers don't require users to use a third-party login account or provide personal information to the vendor.
However, turning on specific features that require scanning the hardware's traffic, such as traffic monitoring, AIProtection, parental control, or binding the hardware to a third-party account, would increase privacy risks.
Privacy and security are a matter of degree, and data collection varies from one company to another. Here's the Taiwanese hardware vendor's Privacy Policy.
In all, the Asus RT-AXE7800 is one of the most feature-rich Wi-Fi 6E routers you can find. And going forward, it might get the Merlin treatment, too, like in the case of the GT-AXE11000 and GT-AXE16000.
Asus RT-AXE7800: Detail photos
Note how it's wall-mount-ready.
Asus RT-AXE7800: Excellent performance
For this review, I used the RT-AXE7800 extensively as a standalone router, and it proved to be an excellent performer overall.
Fast Wi-Fi throughputs, extensive coverage
As a Wi-Fi machine, the RT-AXE7800 delivered excellent through speeds, especially on the 5GHz band, which has non-compromising specs. The router's 2.5Gbps LAN port definitely helped with how I test Wi-Fi routers.
It also passed my 3-day stress test with flying colors without any disconnection, and the coverage is comparable to that of the GT-AXE11000.
It's hard to quantify the Wi-Fi range, but if you live in a home of around 2000 ft2 (186 m2) and place it at the center, you'll be able to get Wi-Fi signals everywhere.
However, remember that its 6GHz band is much shorter in range compared to the other two bands. Generally, within a line of sight, you can get the 6GHz signals from up to 75 feet away, but behind or wall or two, expect no more than half of that.
A great wired AiMesh member
I tested the RT-AXE7800 router briefly with AiMesh, and it worked as intended.
Generally, it's best to use it with other Wi-Fi 6E routersโsuch as the GT-AXE1100 or ZenWiFi ET8. As a rule for any router without an additional band for dedicated backhauling, you should use it in a wired home.
I tried it out as the satellite for the GT-AXE11000. With the latest firmware, the setup process was smooth, and I could even get a Multi-Gig backhaul out of the two. In this case, the RT-AXE7800's Wi-Fi performance was the same as when it was working as a standalone router.
Could-be-better NAS performance when hosting a storage device
The 2.5Gbps didn't help much with the RT-AXE7800's network-attached storage performance when it hosts a portable drive via its USB port.
I tested it with a WD My Password portable SSD, averaging around 60MB/s for writing and slightly over 100MB/s for reading. While these numbers weren't too happy, they were lower than many others with a Mulit-Gig LAN port.
Still, at these sustained speeds, you can turn the RT-AXE7800 into a viable mini NAS server with a good portable SSD. Or you can go ahead and get a real NAS server instead.
Asus RT-AXE7800's Rating
Pros
Excellent performance with tons of network settings with an excellent feature set, free online protection, and Parental Controls
AiMesh 2.0 support with Mult-Gig wired backhauling as a satellite
Super-flexible network ports for Dual-WAN and LAN/WAN Link Aggregations
Compact and practical design; relatively affordable
Cons
Only one Multi-Gig port
Middling 6GHz band
Conclusion
The Asus RT-AXE7800 is an excellent yet familiar Wi-Fi 6E router. Compared to the previous GT-AXE11000, it arrives at a much better time now that Wi-Fi 6E clients are aplenty. That, plus the newer firmware and the $100 cheaper price tag, only helps.
If you're in the market for a standalone broadcaster or have a wired home, the RT-AXE7800 is an excellent buy. At the current street price of around $330, it's an excellent buy. Get one or two today!
Dong! thanks for this review (and others).
My old router, Linksys EA9500 AC5400, started giving trouble a couple of months ago. It’s 2.4GHz radio kept bouncing and very annoying cause I had my IOT (ecobee, ring, etc) connected to that frequency.
I have been waiting for a wifi 7 router but since they are so expensive, decided to go for a 6E with this Asus AXE 7800 router as it was so much less. Primary feature was the 6GHZ band.
So far so good. I am actually reaching my front doorbell wirelessly slightly better than before. Only slightly but that fine for now. I intend to moca cable an access point to different parts of my small house.
At least my galaxy s22 ultra phone can use the 6GHZ frequency when in the same room as the router. Excellent!
I do have to say that my initial impressions are that the router is very flimsy in construction. Nothing like my Asus G53 tank of a laptop that ive had for over a decade and still dev on that daily.
The WPS button below is very easily and accidentally hit when handling the router. Odd location for the button.
But thats nitpicking. I’m thrilled that I finally got an asus router and joined the 6GHz frequency! And the new router is working like a charm.
And in the future, when I do upgrade to wifi 7 or something newer, I can turn this 7800 router into an access point in an asus mesh network.
Very happy to have read your review about this router on your site!
Glad it’s working out for you, Sunny. Thanks for sharing the experience. Cheers!
By the way, the WPS button is obscure because it’s not something you want to use often though the placement seems to defeat that purpose. More here.
Hey Dong,
I’m moving to a new home and looking to buy a new standalone router. I’m not sure which one to pick: the RT-AXE7800 or the GT-AX6000. Both routers are the same price in my country at the moment. Is it worth sacrificing the third band with Wi-Fi 6E in favor of the higher-class dual-band AX6000?
I plan to wire my main PC (with an ROG motherboard) and have everything else connected wirelessly (two MacBooks, phones, and most of our household appliances).
Thanks,
Iliyan
That’s for you to decide. Either is great. The AXE is the opposite in terms of design, it’s compact and cute, but it has no ROG features.
Exactly, I’m more into buying the AXE, but I couldnโt determine if the ROG has anything better to offer (despite lacks of 6GHz band).
Then go with the AXE.
This ASUS RT-AXE7800 replaced an older TP-Link AX50 router that was one of the first to offer Wi-Fi 6. Mr. Ngo’s very helpful review was key to my purchase.
Recently my internet provider (Xfinity) bumped my service to 800Mbps โ plenty of speed for my needs โ and as my older router was no longer offering any firmware updates, I decided to replace it and upgrade to a 6E router, that my new MacBook Air could take advantage of.
Initially, I was looking at a two-part MESH setup, but to get the most out of it, you really need an ethernet cable from the satellite unit as the โbackhaulโ to the main unit. Again, good research pretty much told me that in my 1750 sq.ft. house, that a MESH setup was just overkill.
Setting up the ASUS router was fairly easy. The included โQuick Start Guideโ is good, although I had a brief issue in connecting to the routerโs login page. Once that was resolved, the setup was straightforward. There is a lot of customization that can be done through either the web interface or via the ASUS Router app for your Android or iPhone. Also, when I logged in for the initial setup, it updated the firmware to the most recent version which was just two months old. ASUS seems to have a reputation for providing updates on a regular basis to keep your equipment up-to-date.
My initial testing of the throughput and signal strength has been excellent. In doing my research, I understood that the new 6Ghz band that tri-band routers offer is handicapped by a lower transmitting power, and the physics of walls. So, I wasnโt expecting much, but was very surprised when the throughput speeds on my MacBook, using the 6Ghz band, were a good deal better than the 5Ghz readings from my old router โ about 20% better. In fact, the 5Ghz numbers on the ASUS is way better than my old router. Of course, the ASUS has a good deal more bandwidth than my old one.
The ASUS is located in the same spot as my old router, on the second floor of a two-story home, pretty much in the center of the house. My signal strength is great in every corner of my house, even the 6Ghz band
So, far, itโs all thumbs up for this router. I can easily recommend it, especially if it meets your needs.
Do your research, and find the router that meets your needs โ and maybe just a bit more.
Thanks Dong!
Thanks for sharing the xp, Greg. Glad it worked out. That’s a great little router.
Have an RT-AXE7800 main router servicing a two-story house with 2500ft bottom floor. But the office is all the way on one side away from where we usually congregate nowadays. We can’t use DFS due to local airport and we currently have older phones that can’t connect to 6GHz anyway.
Would I be better off using MoCA 2.5 adapter(s) to get a second RT-AXE7800 or XD6 2pk as an AiMESH slave(s)? The XD6 would beat the dead spider in wife approval, even though less powerful overall. Not considering ET8 atm due its 2×2 5G.
Which would you recommend?
Either will work, especially when you use wired backhauling– more on MoCA here by the way. More on mixing AiMesh hardware in this post.
Is it possible to use two ASUS RT-AXE7800 for a mesh setup? One would be the router and the other would be the node.
Read the review, Carl. Also, more on AiMesh in this post.
ok so i bought this router on black friday for $219. it has all the features and everything but wired connection is slower than my old wifi4 belkin gig router. I have a gigabyte internet and my modem is connected to 2.5G port and lan2 is connected to my pc using the same cable(cat6) i used on my old router. the router itself gets really good speed from the modem like about 1100mbps. Unfortunately, i got only about 800-900 on the pc. I used to get about 1100mbps on my pc via my old router. i turned off QoS (which helped a lot cuz before turning it off, I was getting only 500-600mbps) and firewalls but still not getting the full speed. is it something that you experienced ? i looked online and read posts where some people claimed to have the similar issue. should i set up lan1 as wan?
That’s as fast as you can get via a Gigabit connection, T. Read the review in full. Nothing is wrong with the hardware in this case.
And no, you didn’t get 1100Mbps out of your old router. That’d have been a miracle.
since I have still my old router, imma set it back up and run a test and show you the screenshot. I do remember i used to get it cuz it run a test all the time.
You do what you do. I already know that’s impossible. More here. Stop wasting your time consuming nonsense elsewhere on the matter.
Hello Dong!
Great article as always!
I wanted to discuss a few stuff that came up, I’ll try to discuss my setup shortly and then ask about punctual stuff.
I leave in a 5-room 1 level apartment, with one concrete-wall room (kind like an in-level shelter). I just threw my old ISP router + access point (Wifi5 with 3 different SSIDs that gave me hell) and bought the almighty Asus GT-AXE16000. After reading I was under the impression that this beast will span easily over my house. I wasn’t that wrong: my newly (theoretical) 1 Gbps connection yields around 910Mbps in my apple tv connected with cat6 to my router, getting around 600-700 Mbps wirelessly near it (5Ghz-2 is much faster than 5Ghz-1 for some reason), and even getting 200-400 Mbps around the other rooms in distance. More than necessary. However there is one issue – the signal is almost dead at the shelter room. Outside it I get 400 Mbps or 500 in the hallway. Inside – 50Mbps and sometimes the signal is dead (5Ghz-1 is not even showing itself there being less than -80db).
As such, I’m in for the AiMesh. I really consider RX-AXE7800 as a nice complement for my problematic room (putting a simple Wifi5 modem-router outside it using the slow phone cables Adsl running threw my walls and ancient G.hn tech I get around 200 Mbps inside shelter). I’m afraid that the new router will decrease the speed on my other rooms as the signal of the new router will be stronger when I put the node, so I don’t want to use a very cheap router like the RT-AX53U or something of the like that will be good enough for that single room. I want the other rooms to keep using the AXE16000 or at least go threw the new router without impacting speed.
Finally, I can’t move ethernet threw my walls. The tunnel is blocked. After reading the entire article I wonder:
1. Why wireless backhaul is out of the question? Especially 6Ghz backhaul between AXE16000 & AXE7800? Shouldn’t it be legendary, given the two routers are close enough (one door behind them in the end of the hallway, outside the shelter)?
My AXE16000 has 4 bands and it recommends using either 5Ghz-2 or 6Ghz as wireless backhaul. Why can’t I use 6Ghz as one?
2. Even if using AXE7800’s only 5Ghz band for backhauling – shouldn’t it give me at least 1/2 the speed I get with 5Ghz (around 200 Mbps)?
I see you are very opinionated against wireless backhauling with triband 6E routers, and knowing the theory more or less (not like you) I don’t understand why.
In your answer you can suggest other router of Asus for that (I’m not sure why XT12 with 2 bands of 5 Ghz is better than AXE7800 which can use 6Ghz/5Ghz as backhaul).
Thanks!
I’m not opinionated, Omer. Wi-Fi is physics and has nothing to do with opinions or emotions. As you have experienced, for your case, running a cable is the only way. You’d only waste your time if you think otherwise. Or just live with the status quo.
More on Powerline in this post.
More on Wi-Fi range and mesh system in this post.
More on why you can’t count on the 6GHz band in this post.
Give them each a *good* read.
Hello Dong,
Thank you for your quick response.
I read some of the additional articles you sent, and will read the rest as well.
Just to emphasize: why are you so sure that “running a cable is the only way”?
I currently have perfect wifi throughout the entire house except one room and I know that putting a very simple access point on the adjacent room fixed that for the shelter one. I didn’t understand what is the problem with either 5Ghz/6Ghz dedicated wireless backhaul.
It is mentioned on the AXE16000 box that I got last week.
Can you please explain your ruling? You say it is not opinion but I do know that Asus suggests wireless backhaul on their AiMesh support on their website, blogs and even on the router box.
Considering your questions, you haven’t read the articles I linked. Give them another try. Vendors only want you to spend money. So you should take what they say with a grain of sault.
Like I said, if you can live with the current condition then you’re fine. If you want an optimal setup, generally running a cable into the blocked area is a must — putting an additional broadcaster near it will likely adversely affect other areas due to signal interference and saturation. But you do whatever you do. I don’t debate a particular situation since it’s impossible to know.
Good luck!
OK thank you.
Hi I thought I ask for your recommendation on something.
right now i’m living in a room far away with lots of walls/distance to the router, but I’m hoping to use this as an extender and when I move into a one bedroom, as my own router.
however, the GT-AX11000 Pro is on sale for 150CAD more, I can technically afford it but it’s still money, and tbh I don’t think i’d need it?
my main worry with this router is the long distance 6/2.4ghz, and the single 2.5gb port (which I don’t understand, unless it’s for internet and you want to split it with all the users)
I have a few raspberry pies and stuff like that for work, I remote into my work machine from home a lot (Don’t tell my company but I game on it after work hours with sunshine! JK they already know)
the multi-gig is more tempting to me than 6ghz, but I ask myself… do I really.. need it?! do I really wanna set aside money for 2.5gbps internet or NAS?
anyways I’m really stuck and I thought I ask for advice
the RT-AEX7800 is 330CAD
the GT-AX11000 Pro is 480CAD
Wifi 7 will be here (for cheap/stable) in a few years anyways right?
should I just spend the ridiculous amount of money on the fancy router, or save and get what seems to be a decent middle ground?
Run a networking cable, Amy. Or you can make a MoCA connection if that’s possbile. After that, you have many other low-cost options.
Trying decide between ASUS GT-AS11000 Pro vs ASUS RT-AXE7800. I have my house wired with 2 ethernet cable ports in basement and office. We have gamers in the house and a large 4,000 sqft (with basement) house. Also since we are only at 600 mbps from ISP is this overkill?
Not overkill, Jay. It’s a matter of true Multi-Gig vs 6GHz. I’d pick the Pro — you can upgrade to the 6GHz fairly easily. Note, though, that you might need a mesh system considering how large the place is. In that case, check out this post.
Hi Dong
One quick question. Can I use 2x RT-AXE7800 in Ai-Mesh setup? Initially via wireless and then wired backhaul after I wired the rooms. Many thanks.
Best Regards
Elton Tiong
Yes, Dev, though you should do that only with wired backhauling which is the case of all Wi-Fi 6E Tri-band hardware.
Hi Dong, great review. I’m getting the AXE7800 today from Amazon for $279.99. Do you any idea if it will work with the Amazon Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) over the Wifi 6E band?
It’ll work with *any* Wi-Fi 6E device, Philip. That’s how Wi-Fi works in general. ๐
Hi, I have a question. I need to extend my wifi coverage to garage and after some thinking I came to conclusion that I would just buy a new router and use older one as extender. So, my question is, what would be better if I have many clients at home? The AXE7800 2×2 + my old AX5700 as extender aimesh or whatever? Or the AXE11000 4×4 + AX5700? Basically, knowing that all the clients are 2×2 at best, would 4×4 bring any benefit in terms of handling multiple clients vs just 2×2 6e that has ax5700 connected for the rest of clients? I have two-floor home that I don’t own, so wiring is not quite viable. I see this as AXE7800 for the elite 6E cllients (just a few) and AX5700 for whatever else at home. I should get the same theoretical speed on AXE7800 as on AXE1000 for the “elite” clients, right? And for the rest of clients, to not interfere, 5ghz from AX5700. Please let me know if my thinking is flawed ๐
Your assessment is correct, Vlad. I’d go with the first combo. The more expensive AXE11000 generally won’t improve your mesh’s performance.
Neither is ideal.
Hi Dong,
I want to replace my 10year old Asus RT-N66U with either the AX-88U Pro or this AXE7800.
Which one would be the better choice? They are exactly the same price.
I don’t have any 6E devices yet.
The ASUS product catalog is confusing at this point, for me at least.
Here’s the review of the RT-AX88U Pro, Alex. Pay a bit of attention, and things will be clear. I can’t say which is a better choice since that depends.
Hi Dong! Thank you for your reviews they are much appreciated. Received mine last week and 6E in my apartment has been a total game changer.
I really do hope it gets the merlin treatment, those add-ons are really nice and would help compliment this router so much imo
๐
Absolutely terrible Router. No matter what I did I could not get any more than 660 mbps out of this ASUS offering. Wired directly to my fibre connection I was flabbergasted by the less than impressive results. Alongside my old ASUS RT-AC86U the ASUS RT-AXE7800 is like a sickly relative. My old Router always gives a speed test result of almost the full gigabyte. I wrongly thought the new Router would be beneficial and more up to date because my AC86U is on the end-of-life list and will get no more firmware releases from ASUS. The ASUS RT-AXE7800 gets terrible reviews from Amazon customers. My advice is ignore the cheap price associated with this router and look for one that will actually deliver a worthwhile experience. I returned mine as it is most definitely not fit for purpose.
Thanks for the feedback, Phylip. I guess the UK version is not up to snuff. But the RT-AC86U should still work fine.
Hi Dong,
Thanks again for your wonderful reviews. I bought two of the 7800s and am using them in an Aimesh setup, ethernet backhaul. WAN is connected to the 2.5g WAN port. No problems with wifi but there is an ethernet problem. I’m using the router’s 2.5g LAN port to connect to a TP-Link TL-SX105 unmanaged 10G switch that has my PC,QNAP NAS and the backhaul cable connected to it. They all communicate perfectly and fast. The problem is if I connect another device, like a printer, to one of the router’s 1 g LAN ports it doesn’t comunicate with any of the devices on the switch. Today I tried connecting my laptop by ethernet to back it up to the NAS and they couldn’t connect. Wirelessly no problem. All the router settings are unchanged from stock. It’s like the switch and the Router LAN ports are on different subnets but DHCP doesn’t show it. Any ideas? Thanks
Bill
It’s highly likely that your QNAP server has DHCP of its own, Bill. Remove it and restart your router to see the issue persists.
Dong,
Thank you for your reply. I guess I wasn’t clear: the problem is that clients on the router’s 1 G LAN ports can’t communicate with clients on the switch which is connected to the router’s2.5G LAN port. If my printer is connected to the Switch it take commands over the network; if it is connected directly to the router it doesn’t.
Read my previous reply, Bill. You might have two separate subnets within a single physical wired network. That’s my best guess.
In any case, I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t provide support for any specific situation. Contact your hardware providers for tech support or use a local professional. Good luck!
Trying to decide. If the AVE11000 and the AXE7800 were the same price, which would you suggest?
Read the post, David. It’s my opinion on the two ๐
Hi Dong
Thanks for your reviews – i had been looking forward to the release of the RT-AXE7800 in the UK to replace my RT-AC3200.
I use dual wan and the function works seamlessly on my RT-AC3200. (Primary WAN is 900Mbs fibre on PPOE ; secondary is a 70Mbs fibre on PPOE)
However there seems to be an issue on the RT-AXE7800. the primary wan continues to trip over and fall onto the secondary WAN (in failover mode) even though the connection has not dropped and then loops back and the process starts again when allow failback option has been selected. Infuriating as it means the internet connections keep on dropping and this is no way to be able to get any work done. Tech support from Asus is non-existent other than sending a trouble shooting guide which does not even address the issue other than the troubleshooting guide suggesting to disable the Internet detection option which in turn defeats the Dual Wan system.
Have you come across this issue or are you aware of how to resolve this problem. Kind regards Jay
I didn’t run into any issues with it, Jay, but I didn’t test Dual-WAN for a very long time, either. My suggestions are:
1. Test each WAN individually to make sure it works as intended.
2. Configure Dual-WAN properly. You might have missed something or put in a below-optimal parameter. More on Dual-WAN in this post.
Good luck!
Right now I can get the Asus RT-AXE7800 Review or GT-AXE11000 from work. My boss let me choose which router to get. Since the cost is null for me which router would you recommend I live in 2 story home that is about 2000 square feet
Hi Dong,
We recently moved into a new house (~1100sf ranch) and are looking to upgrade the network. We are currently using an old RT-N66U that was meant to be temporary on a 1Gbps symmetrical fiber connection.
My plan is to wire the house with ethernet in the coming year but for now are stuck with wifi. I’m interested in a solution that is fast, reliable and that doesn’t require much babysitting. My wife and I will occasionally work from home. Both Our PCs have 2.5GbE ports so I would really like at least one 2.5GbE port for a switch and NAS. I also game regularly so latency is a concern (the RT-N66u has actually done an acceptable job via wifi all things considered).
We have a couple 6e devices now and I’m considering upgrading our laptops/computers with 6e cards. We also have a few IoT devices.
I’ve considered a pf/opn sense or Firewalla box with APs, but until the house is wired that doesn’t seem like a great option. I do like the idea of just being able to upgrade the AP when wifi 7 is out though.
After more research than I care to admit I’m leaning toward the ET12 (single), RT-AXE7800, GT-AX6000 and RT-AX86U but am open to other suggestions. I don’t really care for “gamer” aesthetics much but I think any of these would be ok.
What would you recommend?
You might only need a single router, Nate. So get the ET12, the GT-AX6000, GT-AXE16000, or the TP-Link Archer AXE300.
Generally, you want one with two Multi-Gig ports.
An excellent early review of the Asus RT-AXE7800!
Iโm curious what the range performance of the RT-AXE7800 is on the various bands it supports, particularly in comparison to the Asus RT-AX86U, which is known to have excellent range. I realize that the range can be extended significantly though using additional compatible routers to form an ad-hoc mesh network, but Iโm interested primarily in its stand-alone range capabilities.
Looking forward to your remarks on thisโฆ
Dan
Check the performance section of this review, Dan. More about Wi-Fi range in this post.
Hello Dong,
Thanks a lot for your (another) detailed review. I am waiting for my gt-ax6000 to be delivered soon and wanted to ask you if I should have gone for the axe7800 instead.
I do not have any 6e clients, up to three 5 GHz clients, and over 10 home devices on the 2.4 GHz band.
I am planning to use the VPN Fusion for certain devices.
As far as I understood, there would be step-downs on the CPU side (perhaps relevant for VPN fusion and the number of devices on 2.4 GHz?), and the 2.4 output, and, no real benefit due to the lack of 6e clients. I am not intending to use a mesh currently, and if I do, it would be a cabled backhaul.
What would you recommend, keep the gt-ax6000 or go with the axe7800?
Thanks!
In your case, either will work great, but the GT-AX6000 makes more sense. Go with it! You’ll likely love it, by the way.
Great, thanks a lot!
๐
My trusty RT-AC68U died so I needed a new router so I got drunk one night last week and stupidly bought two. I bought the one in question the ASUS AXE7800 & a TP-Link AX11000.
Now I can only keep one so I`ve been testing both out and really don’t know which one to keep.
Thoughts?
Cheers
I’d go with the Asus RT-AXE7800, James.
Also, it’s best not to make any purchasing decision, any decision at all for that matter, when drunk. I speak from experience. ๐
Thanks for the reply and appreciate the life choices advice ๐ฌ
Just recently found your site recently and the reviews are excellent.
Iโll be a regular reader from now on.
Thanks again
๐
Quick question regarding the review above. Went to your buying link and along with the router it suggested buying a new modem for Wi-Fi 6. Is a Wi-Fi 6 modem required? If I don’t have gig/ multi-gig yet would getting a multi-gig modem be a future proof purchase that could still be used on a 1 gig system. At 70 years, this is all getting very confusing. I appreciate all your posts and hope you are able to reply.
There’s no Wi-Fi 6 modem, George — more in this post.
It doesn’t hurt to have a Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E router, but generally, a Wi-Fi 5 router will still work. It’s a matter of what you want. If you’re unsure, get this particular router, and you’ll be fine for a long time.
Hi Dong from Germany.
Have you heard of any issues of using a RT-AXE7800 in an AIMesh? I spent 2 days failing to get it to work – it worked fine alone, but as soon as I added a node, the internet connection was lost and even the web interface stopped working. My system is RT-AX92U main router (which RT-AXE7800 was to replace) and 4 x RT-AX92U & XD4 pair as nodes (4 wired and 2 wireless).
Many thanks
Mark
The issues you described have little to do with any individual router, Mark, but the combo you have – it violates all the rules. Keep in mind that the RT-AX92U uses Wi-Fi 5 in one of its bands. More in this post – make sure you pay attention and open the drawer on hardware combos.
Hi Dong,
In consideration of Mark’s comment and your reply, I have two (2) ASUS routers (AX-92U and AX-86U) in my small home network (wife and I only, single floor apartment)
(1) would it behoove me to replace the AX-92U with this RT-AXE7800?
(2) In the case of (1) Would 7800 become the primary backhaul router? (AXE7000 + AX-86U)
(3) Would it be better/advantageous to just replace both the 92 and 86 with the 7800?
Thanks.
Hi Jerry,
Check out the post on UNII-4. I’m not sure if you even need more than a single broadcaster — more here. But let’s assume you do.
1. Yes, it’s much better that way since the RT-AX92U’s 5GHz-2 band is not used for backhaul in your current case.
2. Yes.
3. Yes. Or you can go with two RT-AX86U. It’s best if you have a network cable to link the two. More in this post.
In short, the only time you should use the RT-AX92U is when you have just the RT-AX92U, as a single router or a mesh.
Thanks much for your feedback on this matter. I will consider your suggestion (#3) of deploying RT-AX86U x2 and eliminate the AX92U. Alternatively, sell both and replace both with the AXE7800 you introduce to us here.
I was using AX92U in my home/office as main to backhaul to the AX86U in the living room as the AiMesh sub router. I then wanted to swap the pair and use AX86U as the home/office main in order to use 2.5Gbps ethernet between my Intel Serpent Canyon and the AX86U which has a 2.5Gbs port, and deploy the AX92U to the living room as the AiMesh sub-router . Somehow that did not work when trying to recognize the AX92U as a sub-router. I returned to my original setup (92 => 86 backhaul). I think I will eliminate complication and go with two AX86Us or sell both and deploy a dual AXE7800. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (thank you Davinci)
Thanks for the heads-up and supporting links.
Have a merry and blessed Christmas with best wishes for 2023 to be filled with abundant good health, happiness, peace, and prosperity.
Thanks, Jerry. Same to you and yours!
Hi Dong.
After rereading this article more meticulously I am convinced to order an AXE-7800. Amazon is best on availability/prices? This brings a question to mind. I currently have the AX92 and the AX86. If I want to use this AXE7800 in an AiMesh, which should I keep? I would think Tri-Band vs. Dual-Band but I may be wrong. Checking ASUS’ EOL list,
https://www.asus.com/event/network/eol-product/
I notice ASUS repeatedly makes recommendations for AX86 throughout but makes no mention of AX92. (hmm..)
Considering your statement regard AXE7800 …..
โItโs hard to quantify the Wi-Fi range, but if you live in a home of around 2000 ft2 (186 m2) and place it at the center, youโll be able to get Wi-Fi signals everywhere.โ
I am now thinking, do I even need an AiMesh? My home environment is 92sq.m. less than half your suggestion. Considering my home layout and needs though, the router will necessarily be needed to be placed at one end of our layout rather then centrally located. In that scenario, the maximum required reach will be about 10-12M radius. Thoughts? Thanks.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
(It’s already Christmas in Tokyo. IDL).
No, you don’t need a mesh, Jerry. More in this post. And Merry Christmas! ๐
I clicked on the end-of-article link to order the router but only displays a page full of routers and not direct to 7800. But I found it anyway, thanks.
Hi Dong,
Disregard my previous post. Somehow clicking that link automatically directed me to Amazon JP which does not carry that router (yet). By changing the ‘co.jp’ part of the link to ‘.com’ of the resulting link, I found it.
๐
Thank you for your reply. What would you suggest to improve the system? Return the RT-AXE7800 and just use RT-AX92U throughout or a better main router (GT-AX11000 for instance, but it is very large!).
I too would also like to thank you for all your hard work and an excellent site!
That depends on if you use wired or wireless backhauling, Mark — treat a mix of the two as wireless. Again, the post I linked in the previous reply will provide detailed answers. If not, check out those in the related post box at the top of this article. Give them some serious reading. Please do so before asking more questions.
Good luck!
Hi Dong,
I also faced issues with AXE7800 as main router and AX86U as a node. I followed all steps from Asus website. Updated both to latest stock firmwares. Even hard reset both routers and used wired backhaul but somehow AXE7800 failed to complete set-up for adding AX86U as node. It detected AX86U during Aimesh wizard but then was never able to complete the process and always gave me error that unable to add your Aimesh node after around 50-60% completion. Did you face any such issues during your Aimesh set-up?
I am going to open case with Asus support tomorrow.
Regards,
Prasad
Go back to 386 firmware, Prasad. More here.
Hi Dong, greetings from Norway! Looking forward to your in-depth review on this one. I’m currently trying to make a purchase decision, and I’m stuck between AX-86U (229$) and the RT-AXE7800 (369$). Would you please give me a little sneak-peek in your findings on the RT-AXE7800 so-far, and tell me if you think the price difference between these two are justified?
Hi Thomas, only you can do that since it’s your money. It’d be irresponsible of me to make that call for you. The router’s review will be ready relatively soon.
I just received mine in the mail a couple of days ago, and set it up last night. Haven’t really had a chance to play with it yet, but it seemed like a good performance/value option compared to most others, and I much prefer the Asus’ Linux-based firmware to Netgear’s proprietary stuff. I’ll eventually do a wired backhaul, but for the moment have it set up with a RT-AX92U as a second mesh node in my office. Probably overkill, but I had it left over from the “pair” of AX92Us when one became to flakey to keep using.
I’m very much looking forward to your in-depth review, as I won’t be able to truly push this router until FTTH is available at my location late in 2023.
Also wanted to say “Thank you!” in a general sense for some fantastic articles on the site; you do a great job taking complex topics and bringing them to layman’s terms. Very much appreciated!
Sure, Tony. And noted. ๐
Hi.
Only recently found your site. Thanks for the detailed reviews! I was wondering which of these 3 routers would you recommend best for sub 1gig Internet and if the price is roughly the same for all three. Priority is signal/range strength and speed as a bonus for a 1200 sq ft area.
Around $300 – $330
Asus RT-AXE7800 / Asus GT-AX6000 / Asus GT-AX11000
Thanks!
I’d go with the RT-AXE7800, Naeem. It’s made for a place like yours.
Thanks! I must say I thought you’d say the AX6000 so was surprised!
Sure, Naeem. For sub-Gig (or Gigabit) broadband, you only need a single Multi-Gig WAN port. So in that case, the RT-AXE7800’s 6GHz band is a much better deal than a second Multi-Gig port of the GT-AX6000.
But either will likely work great for your situation.
Are you following the World Cup and which teams you rooting for?
Yes, and it’s team USA of course! ๐บ๐ฒโฝ
I’m rooting for South Korea, too, but it’ll likely will be out after the next game against Brazil.
Hello, Dong! Could you please help me with the choice. I want to get a new router, let’s say temporary, before the release of models with wifi 7. Will be used in a 1000 square ft apartment, but will not be located in the center. The main purpose: to connect to vpn and watch netflix 4k (via VPN), and playing ps 5. I would like that after purchasing a wifi 7 router, this one is at least somehow useful. The choice fell on asus ax-86u pro (with updated cpu), asus ax6000, asus axe7800. Thanks.
I can’t help you, Nikita, since I can’t be responsible for your expectations. But this one will likely work.
Could you just say between Asus AX-86U PRO, AX-6000, AXE-78000 what to buy wright now?
I have all three, Nikia. If you need two Multi-Gig ports, then get the GT-AX6000, else, I’d go with the RT-AXE7800. Read their reviews for more.