Asus RT-AXE7800 Review: The Complete Wi-Fi 6E Package

This tri-band router (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) has been delivering dependable Wi-Fi to my complete residence for the previous couple of weeks. Video calls, film streaming, and gaming have been silky easy. Stability has been rock stable, with a single firmware replace that took a couple of minutes being the one downtime to this point. The RT-AXE7800 blew away many of the competitors for velocity and latency at shut vary on each the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands, and it turned in respectable outcomes over longer distances. Performance on the two.4-GHz band was common.

Range is a weak point of the 6-GHz band, as Wi-Fi 6E has restricted energy, so it tends to drop off sharply with partitions and different obstacles. But even with these limitations, the Asus RT-AXE7800 matched or bested most different Wi-Fi 6E routers I’ve examined, together with mesh methods just like the Nest Wifi Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) and Wyze Mesh Router Pro. It most intently matched the efficiency of the dearer Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 (7/10, WIRED recommends).

One attainable weak point I discovered with the Asus RT-AXE7800 was file switch speeds, a check the place I copy a 2.2-GB file from one PC on the community to a different. It constantly took greater than 4 minutes to finish this switch, which was barely beneath common. The final system I examined, the Eero Pro 6E, averaged a minute and 14 seconds.

Cost Control

There’s a lot to think about when shopping for a router, so let’s drill into who the Asus RT-AXE7800 is for. Mesh methods could also be tempting, however a single router typically makes extra sense for people with modest properties. The RT-AXE7800 supplied quicker speeds throughout most of my 1,600-square-foot residence than nearly all of mesh methods I’ve examined. It can’t compete on vary, however I had to enter my yard to really feel that.

While the Wi-Fi 6E help ought to solely tempt you when you have units able to connecting on that 6-GHz band, it may show very helpful when you dwell in a congested space. In smaller houses or condo blocks the place your neighbor’s routers might trigger interference, connecting on that 6-GHz band may provide massive jumps in velocity and stability. If you work at home with a Wi-Fi 6E-capable laptop computer or cellphone and sit near the router (ideally in the identical room), the Asus RT-AXE7800 is an efficient purchase.

Far too many routers and mesh methods these days require costly subscriptions if you’d like parental controls or community safety. The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is an efficient instance, the place it prices $170 a 12 months to get each. Asus offers stable parental controls, enabling you to schedule downtime, filter inappropriate content material, and block particular actions. There’s additionally AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro to ship across-the-board safety, together with a firewall, safety scans, intrusion prevention, malicious website blocking, and extra. Asus consists of each free of charge for the lifetime of your RT-AXE7800 router, which is nice.

If you may have a bigger property, you might favor one thing from our Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers information, although it’s value noting that the AiMesh help right here makes it straightforward to attach Asus routers to type a mesh. If you do go this route and use the RT-AXE7800 as your primary router, a wired backhaul is suggested, as you don’t need the routers utilizing your 5-GHz band to attach with one another.

Folks content material to attend a bit longer for Wi-Fi 7 ought to take into account a less expensive Wi-Fi 6 stopgap from our Best Wi-Fi Routers information. While the RT-AXE7800 is sort of dear, it performs effectively, presents greater than equally priced Wi-Fi 6E options, and harbors no hidden charges.