ASUS RT-BE86U BE6800 Dual-Band WiFi 7 Router, Supports 4096-QAM, MLO, AI WAN Detection, AiMesh, Subscription-Free Network Security, and Comprehensive VPN Features, Guest Network Pro, Gaming

I’ve been really impressed with the ASUS RT-BE86U. I’ve deployed several of these in single-router setups (no nodes yet), and every one has been completely stable and dependable. Setup was straightforward. I always update to the latest firmware right away, and each install has gone perfectly — no connection drops, slowdowns, or random issues. Most of these homes have around 20–30 devices connected, including phones, TVs, Google smart devices, and the occasional gaming PC. The RT-BE86U handles everything effortlessly with solid speed and coverage throughout the house. The only small change I’ve noticed compared to the AX86U Pro is the rearranged GUI — some of the Wi-Fi settings have been moved under the “Network” section. It’s a bit different and took a minute to get used to, but once you know where everything is, it’s not a big deal. Overall, the RT-BE86U has been flawless as a standalone router. It’s fast, reliable, and a great upgrade for anyone wanting top-tier Wi-Fi 7 performance without headaches.

Amazing!!! This router connects to all my 80 smart devices easily! Even after reboot, it connects to them really fast. Even though it supports wifi 7, you need to use MLO and I don't think MLO is very stable on these devices so I don't bother. Wifi 6 is fine though my Internet speed is only 500/500 anyway. My only complaint is the design-- they put ports in the back so I can't have to sit flush against the wall.

If you are building an AiMesh system using the RT-BE88U for the router, this is the unit you want to use for your AiMesh node(s). Like the RT-BE88U, this router is wifi-7, but it does not have the 6ghz band. If you look at my review for the RT-BE88U you will see that wifi-7 caused my WiiM phone app to no longer be able to find its devices. This was a show stopper for me, so I turned off wifi-7. It is not a problem for me because I only have two wifi-7 devices on my LAN. The other 37 are wifi-6. I'll try wifi-7 again when Asus-Merlin and/or WiiM release new firmware. Speaking of Asus-Merlin, this router supports version 3006.*.*. Asus-Merlin has AMTM built-in which lets you install Diversion and Skynet very easily. The RT-BE88U and RT-BE86U are high performance routers, if you know how to configure them properly.

I'm giving this thing one star for now because I just spent an hour and a half working on it to get it back up and running after its first firmware update. After the initial update, half of my devices wouldn't see the wifi network. Rebooting didn't help. Which, btw, rebooting doesn't just reboot the product once. It has to reboot 3-5 times whenever it says it's rebooting. Then, when it comes back online, the wifi network has to disappear and reappear and reconnect 3-5 times as well before I can even get to an admin page or have the app connect to it. After an hour and a half of troubleshooting: saving settings, factory reset, reboot reboot reboot reboot reboot, restore settings, all 3-4 times, the same issue was occurring. I finally figured out that the admin password requirements changed with the firmware update. My original password didn't meet them. Well I thought obviously the admin password wouldn't affect the ability for devices to see the wifi network because, well, why would it? I reset the admin password to align with the new password requirements, then reboot reboot reboot reboot reboot, and lo and behold everything connected again. It goes without saying the admin password should not have anything to do with devices seeing the wifi network, but here we are. I will update the one-star review if I never have to go through all this b.s. again! Update: Well it's been 20 minutes and guess what. Half my devices can no longer see the wifi network AGAIN, and they disconnected. I think it may have rebooted AGAIN, but I wasn't monitoring it to notice. I don't even know if I'll waste my time getting a replacement. Update: Turning off wifi-7 seems to have fixed the wifi network not showing for many of my devices. All the devices that did connect when the issue was occurring appeared to be using the 5gHz band. Final update: Wifi networks disappeared again. So I factory reset it one last time and configured it from scratch instead of restoring from saved settings. After an hour the issue occurred again. I'm done! And get this. There isn't even an option to replace the device, only return it for a refund. ASUS doesn't even have enough confidence in their own devices to think maybe the problem could be just the one device. I won't buy their brand again.

Easy setup for wifi. Basic setup was great. Tons of options and features for advanced users. Phone app is helpful for most settings, access on computer for more options. Signal is loud and clear. Bought as upgrade from 10 year old router. So far very happy with.

UPDATE: After returning for replacement, expert advice on setup and ASUS updating the firmware, this router has returned to the quality performance that I have been accustomed to from ASUS. It has been running for several days now without a single WIFI drop. I have updated to 4 stars. I won't give 5 stars because of all the hassle I have had to go through. The product should be good to go right out of the box. I had an ASUS RT-AC86U for 7 years that performed flawlessly for 7 years until I got up one day and it had died. Because of my past experience with Asus quality products I bought the ASUS RT-BE86U BE6800. It has been very disappointing. It constantly would drop WiFi connections over and over. I have spent the last week using ChatGPT to help configure and diagnose this unit but the best I could achieve was only dropping 2-4 times a day for 30-60 seconds before reconnecting. Results were: To rule out configuration or environmental factors, I have already performed: • Full factory reset • Full WPS-button hard reset with cold boot • Reconfiguration from scratch with minimal services • Operation in Router Mode and Access Point Mode • Manual static channel assignments (2.4 and 5 GHz) • Smart Connect disabled • OFDMA, roaming assistants, and advanced features disabled • WAN bypassed/isolated; issue persists with no WAN involvement • Manual device reconnections • Tested with a single client only • ISP modem/router stable with no WAN drops Wi-Fi failures occur regardless of load, time of day, or number of connected devices. Based on repeated WL subsystem crashes, DMA dumps, “dying gasp” deregistration, and full chip reinitialization, this unit appears to have a hardware-level defect (radio module, memory, or power subsystem). I am returning this one for another to see if it works any better. If not I will be buying something different. Not sure if it will be ASUS.

I'm really loving this new router! So I'm using Home Assistant, and needed a way to manage my internal and external network, as well as hard-coding IPs and 'turning off' internet access for certain devices. Now I'm totally not a network person, so there are probably other ways to do what I needed to do, but this router made it super straight-forward. On the connectivity side, I live in a 3 story 3500+sf house (way bigger than my old 1200 sf condo) and I've no issues at all reaching every single corner and even out into the yard. I have it set up in my office on the first floor, and it's not really central the office is in the corner, but again no issues. Back to my Home Assistant setup, I've found the stability and signal strength of the router to be perfect for my routines and the like as most of my stuff is connected through WiFi. I was originally looking at setting up a mesh in my home fearing that I'd have dead spots, but it's been perfectly fine! So, long story short, this was probably overkill for what I need it for as it has a LOT more advanced features that I don't use (my bad, as I said I'm not a networking gal), but I really wanted something solid that has a good interface and solid connectivity, and this fits the bill.

If all you want is a quick router set up, this will probably work for you. But, my network is slightly more advanced than most. Instead of a single WiFi router, I use a separate router for better control and leave the WiFi router as an access point only. Since I already had an AiMesh enabled Asus router (AX86), I figured I would upgrade to the BE86 and use the AX86 as a mesh node. What a colossal mistake. First, let's talk set up. The first thing you get to do (other than agree to the nonsense ToS) is pick it's mode. This is a great improvement over the AX86 where I had to set it up as a router first, then change it to AP mode. That's where the improvements ended, however. I set it up for a static IP address, which the Asus router promptly ignored. That's right. It gives you the option in the wizard to set a static IP, then just ignores you. I scanned my entire network too. No sign of it. So I did my first factory reboot. I went through the wizard again, and this time, told it to get an IP from DHCP, which it did. In my home router, I reserved the IP I wanted for the router, rebooted, and... it worked. Score, right? Nope, it gets worse. I set the old router up in my bedroom as an AiMesh node. That worked well, just factory reset and go through the wizard. Except the bright white LEDs were on, lighting up the whole room. Oh there's a button to turn them off? Well, yes but really no. It doesn't work. My main router (in a room it can light up) never turns the LEDs on, and the router in my bedroom which has to be dark can't turn them off. What a WONDERFUL GUI, guys. Really. Top notch. So maybe it's just the firmware? Fine, I updated the router. Still no. Maybe I need the app? So I downloaded the app. Well, now the AX86 LEDs are all off, but they won't turn on and the BE86 still won't turn on. Oh but I can create a special, encrypted login that enables more features? Yes, all I have to do is give Asus my Facebook or Google or some other account. In order to control the LEDs in my own home. And there's still no guarantee of that. This is absolutely insanity, and a completely underwhelming piece of junk. Do not buy. Asus has lost the plot. If you don't care, none of this will bother you, but if you're like me and you expect all of the features to actually work, especially for the money, this is an underwhelming piece of junk.

Great router replacing my old still functional AC5300 router. BE6800 sports double the memory and cpu core at 1GB 4 core CPU, and the 3 long antennas cover more than the 6 antennas of my old router. Configured BE6800 the same way as my old router and slot it in as a pure replacement. Works like a charm, one SSID, it automatically pic he right channel or channel based on client device, works flawlessly. As for the old AC5300, I reset it and run it as an AiMesh node to extend the range to the other side of the house. Connected via a CAT6 cable as backhaul, the coverage is now superb at both ends of the house and the yards. Router is running embedded linux, allowing flexibilty of firewall, many features handle like a breeze, like DNS, DHCP, Media server, remote disk, SSH access, speed test, traceroute, etc. Many generation after AC5300, delivery same and more features at a cheaper price, even before inflation adjustment.

Es una maravilla de router!!! Altamente recomendable, vale cada centavo que pagas, protege tu red de una forma que uno no se daba ni cuenta que estabas siendo infectado o seguido. la configuración es facil si sabes solo un poquito, Le conecte un SSD y lo ocupo como un NAS accediendo a mi disco de manera remota VPN. Funciona más que excelente. Lo recomiendo ampliamente, el envío fue rápido y el ASUS llegó impecable, VENDEDOR 100% RECOMENDABLE. GRACIAS.

Sorprendentemente fácil de instalar y controlar. Tiene mucho rango, atraviesa paredes para generar conexiones estables.

Something take my attention: when I did register the router the expiration date was setup to 2029-01-10 even the box indicated 3 years, so it should be 2029-05-09 purchase date mai and not January. It is possible this router was used and registered before by another person?. that means ASUS resell the routers when they are retourned without verification and delete previous registration? On the papers this router is one of the best on the market. En reality It is very fast, low latency, 10Gb WAN, a lot of options like most ASUS routers, very good to management VPN, so it is very good. It was a little more complicated to set up pppoe WAN connection for Ebox, than others routers, but at the end it works. Power supply 120-240 volts. With this router you are sure to be good for several years upcoming.

I've been using this for about 4 months now and it has worked out fantastically. It worked seamlessly with Telus and Beanfield (just plug the ethernet cable directly and it works). Bell has stopped allowing any 3rd party router so that's a no-go now. The speeds are a huge improvement over the crappy ISP boxes - the Asus app and router page hasn't given me any trouble. My Brother printer works with no htiches either. Wired speeds are a gamechanger and the WiFi 7 makes mobile device Internet feel like next level stuff.