ASUS AC3100 / RT-88U Router - Big Improvements!

ember1205 · March 16, 2016

I've been doing various things with computers and computer networking for about 20 years or so - pretty much my whole career in technology. I've always prided myself on having a nice home network setup that is optimized and reliable.

In most of the places I've lived my Linksys WRT54G router was all I needed to provide ample coverage and performance (I never use these kinds of devices as routers - I set them up to function as an Access Point only). And, since I currently have the 25Mb Internet plan, it's still more than adequate for what I need for raw performance. My current house is a 2600 square foot ranch that I've added a Netgear router to in order to provide additional coverage in the home. I've lived here for about five years and things have generally always worked ok.

Still, I've notice varying degrees of hesitation, buffering, inability to open web sites, etc. over the last couple of years. I've tried validating that the cable modem is set up correctly, the firewall that I run is properly set up, and my internal server that's running DNS is properly configured. Over the last week or so, I've found a number of errors in the logs from the DNS server and corrected a couple of pieces of the configuration, but it didn't really seem to help.

For a while, I actually suspected there might be a problem with the gigabit switch that everything in the house connects into. Until a few days ago when I started tinkering with some of the Wi-Fi settings on the two different router devices that I'm using and saw performance characteristics change quite a bit.

That's when I decided to look at a new Wi-Fi router and opted for the Asus AC3100 / RT-88U model. The two model numbers are basically interchangeable except that the AC3100 has eight gigabit ports on the back of it and the RT-88U has four. I bought the AC3100 since I already have a gigabit switch in the house with 24 ports on it and don't need more.

What a difference!!!

This router contains a newer set of radios in it that support dual frequencies AND something called MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) which can service multiple connected devices at the same time instead of having to take turns among the connected devices. With five iPhones, four iPads, a Mac, and a couple of gaming consoles all using the Internet via Wi-Fi, just being able to move the newer iPads and iPhones to the 5GHz segment, getting them AWAY from the lower frequency segment that the kids' devices use, has made a huge difference in performance and reliability of connection.

Chris · March 16, 2016

I used to use a WRT-1900AC. I have since upgraded to 200 Mbps and looking to going back to one

ember1205 · March 16, 2016

From what I understand, the 1900 is similar to the 3100, 3200, 5300, etc. The overall bandwidth that it can handle is a little lower.

I was actually considering the 3200 because it's a bit less expensive. But, it doesn't support the MU-MIMO, so I stayed with the 3100.

Chris · March 16, 2016

The 1900 has incredible range. I live on 2.5 acres. And it looks bad ass. Also living by myself, the MU-MIMO isnt a large concern. Normal MIMO works fine

ember1205 · March 16, 2016

What kind of distance can you attach to the router from and have it actually work? The 1900 is marketed for "Large Homes" and the 3100 is marketed for "Very Large Homes". The 3100 has a square footage of coverage rated for 5000, but that's basically a 40' radius around the router.

2.5 acres is -roughly- 100,000 square feet. If your property were square and your house centered, you'd have about 200' to each property line from the center of the house.

Chris · March 16, 2016

What kind of distance can you attach to the router from and have it actually work? The 1900 is marketed for "Large Homes" and the 3100 is marketed for "Very Large Homes". The 3100 has a square footage of coverage rated for 5000, but that's basically a 40' radius around the router.

2.5 acres is -roughly- 100,000 square feet. If your property were square and your house centered, you'd have about 200' to each property line from the center of the house.

I would be connected to the 2.4 band about 100 yds away.