Wi-Fi alone does not always satisfy all the needs of demanding users, and additional devices and tasks only increase the demands on the network. Therefore, not every router can provide the required number of ports and the desired speed. Fortunately, not only the requirements of gadgets are growing, but also the capabilities of various routers. The new ASUS RT-BE88U can please you with an updated set of fast ports and the latest Wi-Fi 7 communication standard. I will tell you more about its capabilities in this review.
Package contents
Despite the fairly standard set in the box, there are some things that have not been overlooked. First, the larger-than-usual power supply has two versions of power cables with different plug formats. Second, the bundled Ethernet cable is not the standard 5e, but 6 (i.e., suitable for a 10-gigabit port, not just gigabit connections), and it has metal contact protection, not plastic.
The router doesn’t come with any stands for vertical installation or wall mounts, so there’s nothing else in the box.
Design and usability
This design is more than 5 years old and has already passed a couple of Wi-Fi standards. But it would be hard to call it uninteresting. As in the case of RT-BE58U, which came to me before ASUS RT-BE88U, you can also find something in common with either sports cars or sci-fi starships. In any case, such an appearance should clearly attract the attention of gamers in the first place.
And it will be able to do it, because the case is really massive. Compared to the previous standard, the dimensions of the router increased to 300×188×60.5 mm, keeping these dimensions for the current model. Even though the weight is not so significant, it has increased by only 50 grams to 1,060. In any case, you need to find a certain place for such a router, because it is really bigger than the standard understanding of a household model.
In addition to the large case, ASUS RT-BE88U also has four large antennas. Two of them are mounted at the back, and one more is on each side. They come separately in the box with the router, so they can be replaced if necessary. And their direction can be adjusted in their positions. They harmoniously complement the design, but they don’t help ergonomics either.
The activity indicators are located on top and they are quite bright. For those users who do not like the side effect of a “night light” from diodes, it will be more convenient to turn them off. For the rest of us, these are really bright and noticeable white indicators.
There are no options for the color of the case, so the router is sold only in a black matte case. The front side is mostly monolithic, but there are a lot of slots for cooling on the bottom. There are also two small and one elongated rubber feet that won’t leave any marks on the surface if you move it around during cleaning, for example.
In general, the design is not new, but still pleasant. Previously, there were red accents on the case, which I personally liked better. But with the newer “golden” ones, the model also looks great. If the device gets to a gamer’s workplace or is located somewhere near one, it will complement the overall theme quite well.
Functionality
Let’s start with a not-so-pleasant moment here. Despite the fact that ASUS RT-BE88U supports Wi-Fi 7, it’s still a dual-band router with 2.4 GHz (4×4) and 5 GHz (4×4). Unfortunately, there is no 6 GHz this time. Given the rather high official price tag of 21,439 hryvnias, I would still like to have all the benefits of Wi-Fi 7. Moreover, users are unlikely to upgrade routers often. And even despite the very good performance indicators (we’ll come back to them) and the small number of competitors in Ukrainian stores, you can find an alternative with 6 GHz.
But not every alternative will offer such a set of ports, because ASUS RT-BE88U offers: fast 10-gigabit WAN and SFP+, 2.5-gigabit WAN/LAN and 3 more such LAN ports, four more gigabit LANs, and USB 3.2 Gen1. That is, users who have an increased set of requirements for a fast wired connection may not have to think about an additional switch with this router. So the total bandwidth of the wired connection is 34 Gbps. In addition, Wi-Fi speeds are up to 1,376 Mbps in 2.4 GHz and 5,764 in 5 GHz.
Performance is provided by a 2.6 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM and 256 MB of flash storage. The device supports OFDMA, Beamforming, MLO, 4096-QAM modulation, and 160 MHz bandwidth. The manufacturer expects that one such router will be able to cover up to 280 m² (under ideal conditions, of course).
If one router is not enough, there is support for AiMesh. The manufacturer has provided easy setup and convenient management. And given that almost all modern models of the manufacturer support this technology, it will not be difficult to expand the network if necessary. There is also support for wired connection of different points, if possible.
For those users who are used to creating several different local networks for different purposes, it might be interesting to see that Guest Network Pro has a feature for creating a guest portal. This feature is available in the ExpertWiFi business line, although there are more options there. However, it’s an interesting feature for a home router (yes, it’s more of a toy, but still).
The standard AiProtection protection “package” and parental control settings are, of course, in place. It includes threat warnings, blocking of certain content, time limits, and more.
ASUS RT-BE88U also provides traffic analysis functions. Along with this, the Adaptive QoS function is offered, so you can set certain priorities for individual devices and tasks.
This is also complemented by some gaming features. Even though the router is not particularly positioned as a gaming router (especially since the manufacturer has separate TUF and ROG devices for this purpose), there is also a set of functions for players, and there are also dedicated LAN ports for such clients. Thus, in the corresponding Game menu, you can find prioritization for gaming devices, and Open NAT creates profiles for specific games.
The rest of the basic functions are reserved for working with external devices. So you can set up a connection from a cellular modem, connect a printer, a drive, etc. And in the latter case, you can also create your own cloud storage and access the necessary files from the Internet.
All other settings and administrative functions (including support for channel aggregation, firewall, VPN connection options, triggers for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, etc.) remain similar to other routers from the manufacturer. The device can be managed both through the classic administrative panel and through the mobile app. Although the latter, as usual, does not demonstrate all the fine settings, it can easily handle the main ones.
ASUS Router app:
In operation
Getting started with ASUS RT-BE88U is practically no different from other ASUS models, except that you need to screw on the antennas. And during the first setup, the administrative panel will greet you with a standard set of step-by-step security settings, connection to the provider and creation of a local network. Something relatively new here is the updated option to create a dedicated network for IoT devices. Everything else is familiar.
The ROG Zephyrus G16 gaming laptop and the ASUS Zenbook S 16 ultrabook were used for wireless connection tests, and a pair of ROG Strix SCAR 18s were used as wired clients. As with the ASUS RT-BE58U tests, these may not be the best solutions for testing, but not all users usually have the “best of the best” at hand.
Thus, at the time of testing, the provider was able to provide speeds of approximately more than 650 Mbps for downloading and 750 Mbps for sending data. Similar figures were found with a wired connection through the router. Here and further, Wi-Fi was tested in three locations: about three meters from the router without obstacles, 6 meters through a wall, and more than 10 meters with two walls. In the 2.4 GHz band, the connection speeds in these positions were 197/211, 181/145, and 71/63 Mbps. In the 5 GHz band – 632/724, 665/727 and 563/595 Mbps.
The two wireless clients exchanged data locally in the 2.4 GHz band at an average speed of 40 to 80 Mbps with a peak of over 110 Mbps. That’s not very fast, but fortunately, not many customers are actually using this band today. And it will be enough for IoT devices.
With a single wired client, the performance is, of course, better – 63-176 Mbps, with a peak of up to 221. Most likely, most ordinary client devices will not have to count on more.
Of course, in 5 GHz, the results are significantly higher. Thus, in the same locations, wireless clients could show an average of 684, 468, and 389 Mbps. Next to the router, the peak value was 845 Mbps, and in the most remote location, it was 482.
But with a wired customer, things have changed significantly. The average measurement rates are 1655, 980, and 684 Mbps. The peak values are 1935, 1200 and 808 Mbps. This is very good for 5 GHz. And it’s a pity that the router didn’t get 6 GHz with a 320 MHz band. But even without that, the speed is very good.
Having two laptops with 2.5-gigabit LAN ports at hand, we tested this connection as well. Everything is stable and there are no unexpected numbers.
If we abstract from the tests and simply use the router as it usually happens – “set it and forget it” – then owners of older routers (ac generation) will most likely experience a significant improvement in performance. For example, in one of the rooms where we shoot video reviews, one such router can easily replace a Mesh system, and even increase speeds. And in general, users who haven’t updated their router for a long time and have more or less prepared client devices will notice an acceleration in the performance of everyday tasks (wireless device synchronization, broadcasting images from a computer to a TV, and not to mention the speed of downloading “heavy” files). We are sure that owners of several network devices with fast LAN ports will see even more benefits.
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