Great for the two and a half months it worked. One day it just stopped working, no internet connection. WIFI still worked fine, but the interface says "Network Cable Unplugged" though it isn't unplugged. Worked on it for hours trying different cables, updated firmware, power cycling it in every imaginal way with the modem and even a different modem. Nothing worked, appears the WAN is no good and that is what I told Asus customer "support".
They advised I had to send this to their repair facility at my cost to have it checked and repaired. They supplied a RMA and I spent $20 to UPS it to California for the repair and even advised it was likely a bad WAN port as everything else seems OK.
Three weeks later I get the router back with a sheet in the badly packed box that states "could not duplicate condition, test OK, updated software". Now I feel sick as I can't believe they did anything to this as the firmware and software were already updated by me, and as for the "could not duplicate condition" did they even test this? It gets no internet connection and has a BIG RED LED on the front panel the "repair" facility apparently missed. Sure enough, I hooked it back up to the sight of the red led of death, aka, no internet connection.
Keep in mind now that during the three weeks of waiting I pulled out my old TP-Link Archer C7 out of the drawer and hooked it up the exact same configuration and it has worked fine. And what does Asus "support" tell me, sorry, "this does not qualify for a replacement unit" so they refuse to replace it and I refuse to spend more of my money to send it back for shoddy testing and repair work.
So here I am with a router that refuses to connect to two different modems with three different cables. It would be different if Asus would stand by their products but they will not, so I will not buy their products ever again!
Add to your order
- NO ADDITIONAL COST: You pay $0 for repairs – parts, labor and shipping included.
- COVERAGE: Plan starts on the date of purchase. Malfunctions covered after the manufacturer's warranty. Power surges covered from day one.
- EXPERT TECH HELP: Real experts available 24/7 to help with set-up, connectivity issues, troubleshooting and much more.
- PRODUCT ELIGIBILITY: Plans cover products purchased in the last 30 days.
- EASY CLAIMS PROCESS: File a claim anytime online or by phone. Most claims approved within minutes. If we can’t repair it, we’ll send you an Amazon e-gift card for the purchase price of your covered product or replace it.
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ASUS AC2900 WiFi Dual-band Gigabit Wireless Router with 1.8GHz Dual-core Processor and AiProtection Network Security (RT-AC86U) (Renewed) $109.99
(181)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
(181)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (8180) | (3314) | (2498) | (62680) | (908) |
| Price | $163.85 | $169.99 | $154.99 | $53.99 | $109.99 |
| Shipping | FREE Shipping. Details | FREE Shipping. Details | FREE Shipping. Details | FREE Shipping. Details | FREE Shipping. Details |
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| Connectivity Technology | Wireless | Wi-Fi, Ethernet | Wi-Fi, Ethernet | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB |
| Data Transfer Rate | 2900 Mb per second | 3000.0 Mb per second | 5378 Mb per second | 1750 Mb per second | 2976 Mb per second |
| Frequency Bands Supported | Dual-Band | 5 GHz | 5 GHz | Dual-Band | 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz |
| Item Dimensions | 6.2 x 3.3 x 8.66 inches | 8.82 x 6.06 x 6.3 inches | 10.73 x 5.8 x 1.94 inches | 9.59 x 6.32 x 1.29 inches | — |
| Item Weight | 2.00 lbs | 2.67 lbs | 1.46 lbs | 0.93 lbs | — |
| Total Ethernet Ports | 5 | — | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Total LAN Ports | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| Wireless Communication Standard | 802.11ac | 802.11ac, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11ax, 802.11n | 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b | 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g | 802.11b, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g |
From the manufacturer
Ultrafast Wi-Fi with NitroQAM & 5GHz Quad-Stream Technology
Whether you're gaming online in a heated competition or streaming a live event in 4K UHD, lag and buffering are simply not an option. NitroQAM (1024-QAM) technology delivers the ultimate 5GHz quad-stream (4x4) speeds of up to 2167Mbps, giving RT-AC86U combined total speed of 2917Mbps.
Revolutionary MU-MIMO Technology
MU-MIMO gives every compatible device its own dedicated full-speed Wi-Fi connection, so that multiple devices can connect at the same time without slowing down the network. In fact, RT-AC86U is able to connect to multiple MU-MIMO-compatible clients at each device's maximum speed simultaneously.
Prioritize Your Game with Adaptive QoS
Boost your gaming bandwidth with Adaptive QoS, which allows you to easily prioritize gaming packets and activities. You can even assign full dedicated bandwidth while gaming under gamer solo mode, making RT-AC86U the perfect ally for low latency gaming anywhere in your home.
AiProtection with Parental Control
RT-AC86U incorporates ASUS AiProtection, a commercial-grade network security system powered by Trend Micro Smart Home Network. With AiProtection, all connected devices are protected, even if they have no antivirus capability of their own — such as IoT devices.
Your Sharing Center & Digital Home Hub
RT-AC86U has four Gigabit LAN ports, USB 2.0 port and USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1) port. Smart TV, game consoles, NAS storage devices and more can now have their own dedicated ports, making RT-AC86U your digital home hub.
ASUS Router App & ASUSWRT User Interface
The ASUS Router App and ASUSWRT are built from the ground-up to be both intuitive and robust, all without needing to boot up a PC. RT-AC86U features the enhanced, intuitive ASUSWRT user interface, which gives you easy access to both the 3-step web-based installation process and a wealth of robust advanced options.
ASUS Routers
 ASUS RT-AC86U |  ASUS RT-AC66U B1 |  ASUS RT-AC68U |  ASUS RT-AC3100 |  ASUS RT-AC5300 | |
|
WiFi Speed
| 2900 Mbps | 1750 Mbps | 1900 Mbps | 3100 Mbps | 5300 Mbps |
|
WiFi Coverage
| Very Large Home | Large homes | Large homes | Very Large Home | Very Large Home |
|
Total Gigabit Ethernet ports
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
|
ASUS AiMesh Compatible
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
Ai Protection
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Customer Questions & Answers
Customer reviews
2.4 Ghz network broken out-of-the-box. Worst customer support I have ever seen!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
Update 3 (08/2019):Here I am trying to use the warranty once again now that they have the router in stock magically. NOPE. Still no luck. They started a replacement process and were supposed to ship me a new router. Instead, I got multiple emails stating that I sent them a router with water damage and that they were not going to fix it. I NEVER SENT THEM ANYTHING. How incompetent can you be to get things mixed up this badly?! I wish I were kidding.If anyone from Asus is reading this, go check my case and your mind will be blown by the mess you have made out of this simple thing: ASUS Service No=N191207669 ; Rma No=USBVKC0045--------Original review below:I should have paid closer attention to other reviews before buying this router. This is an extremely expensive router, and for the amount of money I paid, I most definitely did not expect to have the experience I am having.THE GOOD: My 5 Ghz network is excellent and very stable. That is it though.THE BAD: As others have mentioned, the 2.4 Ghz network on this router is awful. There must be something terribly wrong with the design of this router since so many people experience this issue. It first started with my router randomly dropping my devices that were connected to that network. At first I thought this was an issue with my devices since I refused to believe a router this expensive would be having these issues. Then the issue became a lot more frequent, and by then it was too late for me to return this garbage back since I've had it for over 2 months. Now the router won't even try to create a 2.4 Ghz network anymore so all of my older devices that are only compatible with that frequency are deemed useless. I should mention I'm a fairly savvy person and I have tried everything I could to address this issue. I installed 4 different firmwares and none provided me stability. I tried manually selecting all possible settings combinations for that network. All to no avail. Then I gave up and decided to contact Asus and use my warranty.THE AWFUL: Their warranty service sucks! I can't emphasize how disappointed I am. First of all it took me a long time to even figure out how to request service for this router. Then I learned that if I were to use my warranty, I'd have to pay for the shipment of the router both ways and if they decided they couldn't reproduce the problem (which other customers said actually happened), they'd probably just send me the defective unit back. After an incredibly long discussion with one of their representatives, they said they'd ship me a replacement unit so that I could have internet at home while they service my broken router. Mind you, I had to pay the FULL MSRP PRICE FOR A NEW ROUTER plus 2-day shipping (the cheapest option they had). Now you ask... did I get a replacement router in 2 days? Obviously not! It's been a week and they are still SEARCHING FOR A REPLACEMENT UNIT IN THEIR INVENTORY! How is that even possible?! This thing is in stock everywhere! I paid full price for a replacement unit (which, again, is definitely NOT CHEAP) and I paid for 2-day shipping. What on earth?! They said the money I paid for the replacement unit will be reimbursed once they receive my broken router, but I don't even know when that will happen anymore. Also, by then I will have wasted a ton of money on "2-day shipments", a ton of time and energy, and my patience. How can you charge me all of that (which in my opinion you should just do for free since my router has a common issue known to you) while not even having a replacement unit in stock? Just ridiculous.I hope someone from Asus reads this. And if not, I at least hope potential buyers do and avoid this particular router at all cost!Update 1 (12/06):I have followed-up with Asus and so far have not been given a reasonable resolution.After 9 days of me submitting my payment information for a replacement router and not getting any updates, they have confirmed that they have no stock for this router and can't send me a replacement. I'm guessing this model is getting out of production for being so problematic .They also want me to ship my faulty router to them and pay for it myself. I'll likely have to wait a few decades until the item is serviced and I'm not even sure it will actually get fixed given other reports and the fact that Asus is no longer stocking this item.I'm now debating if I should just throw this away and buy another router by a reputable brand, or if I should live without internet for the time it will take asus to attempt to fix mine.Update 2 (12/07):Asus doesn't seem to be producing this router anymore and they don't expect to have it in stock. They also refused to send me a different router as its replacement.I can't ship my ONLY router to Asus and wait for it to get fixed indefinitely. It's not even clear if it would get fixed anyway. So I chose to keep this partially functioning attempt-of-a-router, and replace the dead 2.4 GHz band with a network with the same name created by a $15 mini-router I had laying around. That seems a lot more stable and reliable than what this $200 gives me.Avoid anything network-related made by Asus!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
Images in this review
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2018
Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2018
Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
Here I am trying to use the warranty once again now that they have the router in stock magically. NOPE. Still no luck. They started a replacement process and were supposed to ship me a new router. Instead, I got multiple emails stating that I sent them a router with water damage and that they were not going to fix it. I NEVER SENT THEM ANYTHING. How incompetent can you be to get things mixed up this badly?! I wish I were kidding.
If anyone from Asus is reading this, go check my case and your mind will be blown by the mess you have made out of this simple thing: ASUS Service No=N191207669 ; Rma No=USBVKC0045
--------
Original review below:
I should have paid closer attention to other reviews before buying this router. This is an extremely expensive router, and for the amount of money I paid, I most definitely did not expect to have the experience I am having.
THE GOOD: My 5 Ghz network is excellent and very stable. That is it though.
THE BAD: As others have mentioned, the 2.4 Ghz network on this router is awful. There must be something terribly wrong with the design of this router since so many people experience this issue. It first started with my router randomly dropping my devices that were connected to that network. At first I thought this was an issue with my devices since I refused to believe a router this expensive would be having these issues. Then the issue became a lot more frequent, and by then it was too late for me to return this garbage back since I've had it for over 2 months. Now the router won't even try to create a 2.4 Ghz network anymore so all of my older devices that are only compatible with that frequency are deemed useless. I should mention I'm a fairly savvy person and I have tried everything I could to address this issue. I installed 4 different firmwares and none provided me stability. I tried manually selecting all possible settings combinations for that network. All to no avail. Then I gave up and decided to contact Asus and use my warranty.
THE AWFUL: Their warranty service sucks! I can't emphasize how disappointed I am. First of all it took me a long time to even figure out how to request service for this router. Then I learned that if I were to use my warranty, I'd have to pay for the shipment of the router both ways and if they decided they couldn't reproduce the problem (which other customers said actually happened), they'd probably just send me the defective unit back. After an incredibly long discussion with one of their representatives, they said they'd ship me a replacement unit so that I could have internet at home while they service my broken router. Mind you, I had to pay the FULL MSRP PRICE FOR A NEW ROUTER plus 2-day shipping (the cheapest option they had). Now you ask... did I get a replacement router in 2 days? Obviously not! It's been a week and they are still SEARCHING FOR A REPLACEMENT UNIT IN THEIR INVENTORY! How is that even possible?! This thing is in stock everywhere! I paid full price for a replacement unit (which, again, is definitely NOT CHEAP) and I paid for 2-day shipping. What on earth?! They said the money I paid for the replacement unit will be reimbursed once they receive my broken router, but I don't even know when that will happen anymore. Also, by then I will have wasted a ton of money on "2-day shipments", a ton of time and energy, and my patience. How can you charge me all of that (which in my opinion you should just do for free since my router has a common issue known to you) while not even having a replacement unit in stock? Just ridiculous.
I hope someone from Asus reads this. And if not, I at least hope potential buyers do and avoid this particular router at all cost!
Update 1 (12/06):
I have followed-up with Asus and so far have not been given a reasonable resolution.
After 9 days of me submitting my payment information for a replacement router and not getting any updates, they have confirmed that they have no stock for this router and can't send me a replacement. I'm guessing this model is getting out of production for being so problematic .
They also want me to ship my faulty router to them and pay for it myself. I'll likely have to wait a few decades until the item is serviced and I'm not even sure it will actually get fixed given other reports and the fact that Asus is no longer stocking this item.
I'm now debating if I should just throw this away and buy another router by a reputable brand, or if I should live without internet for the time it will take asus to attempt to fix mine.
Update 2 (12/07):
Asus doesn't seem to be producing this router anymore and they don't expect to have it in stock. They also refused to send me a different router as its replacement.
I can't ship my ONLY router to Asus and wait for it to get fixed indefinitely. It's not even clear if it would get fixed anyway. So I chose to keep this partially functioning attempt-of-a-router, and replace the dead 2.4 GHz band with a network with the same name created by a $15 mini-router I had laying around. That seems a lot more stable and reliable than what this $200 gives me.
Avoid anything network-related made by Asus!!
Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
2.4 Ghz network broken out-of-the-box. Worst customer support I have ever seen!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
Update 3 (08/2019):Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
Here I am trying to use the warranty once again now that they have the router in stock magically. NOPE. Still no luck. They started a replacement process and were supposed to ship me a new router. Instead, I got multiple emails stating that I sent them a router with water damage and that they were not going to fix it. I NEVER SENT THEM ANYTHING. How incompetent can you be to get things mixed up this badly?! I wish I were kidding.
If anyone from Asus is reading this, go check my case and your mind will be blown by the mess you have made out of this simple thing: ASUS Service No=N191207669 ; Rma No=USBVKC0045
--------
Original review below:
I should have paid closer attention to other reviews before buying this router. This is an extremely expensive router, and for the amount of money I paid, I most definitely did not expect to have the experience I am having.
THE GOOD: My 5 Ghz network is excellent and very stable. That is it though.
THE BAD: As others have mentioned, the 2.4 Ghz network on this router is awful. There must be something terribly wrong with the design of this router since so many people experience this issue. It first started with my router randomly dropping my devices that were connected to that network. At first I thought this was an issue with my devices since I refused to believe a router this expensive would be having these issues. Then the issue became a lot more frequent, and by then it was too late for me to return this garbage back since I've had it for over 2 months. Now the router won't even try to create a 2.4 Ghz network anymore so all of my older devices that are only compatible with that frequency are deemed useless. I should mention I'm a fairly savvy person and I have tried everything I could to address this issue. I installed 4 different firmwares and none provided me stability. I tried manually selecting all possible settings combinations for that network. All to no avail. Then I gave up and decided to contact Asus and use my warranty.
THE AWFUL: Their warranty service sucks! I can't emphasize how disappointed I am. First of all it took me a long time to even figure out how to request service for this router. Then I learned that if I were to use my warranty, I'd have to pay for the shipment of the router both ways and if they decided they couldn't reproduce the problem (which other customers said actually happened), they'd probably just send me the defective unit back. After an incredibly long discussion with one of their representatives, they said they'd ship me a replacement unit so that I could have internet at home while they service my broken router. Mind you, I had to pay the FULL MSRP PRICE FOR A NEW ROUTER plus 2-day shipping (the cheapest option they had). Now you ask... did I get a replacement router in 2 days? Obviously not! It's been a week and they are still SEARCHING FOR A REPLACEMENT UNIT IN THEIR INVENTORY! How is that even possible?! This thing is in stock everywhere! I paid full price for a replacement unit (which, again, is definitely NOT CHEAP) and I paid for 2-day shipping. What on earth?! They said the money I paid for the replacement unit will be reimbursed once they receive my broken router, but I don't even know when that will happen anymore. Also, by then I will have wasted a ton of money on "2-day shipments", a ton of time and energy, and my patience. How can you charge me all of that (which in my opinion you should just do for free since my router has a common issue known to you) while not even having a replacement unit in stock? Just ridiculous.
I hope someone from Asus reads this. And if not, I at least hope potential buyers do and avoid this particular router at all cost!
Update 1 (12/06):
I have followed-up with Asus and so far have not been given a reasonable resolution.
After 9 days of me submitting my payment information for a replacement router and not getting any updates, they have confirmed that they have no stock for this router and can't send me a replacement. I'm guessing this model is getting out of production for being so problematic .
They also want me to ship my faulty router to them and pay for it myself. I'll likely have to wait a few decades until the item is serviced and I'm not even sure it will actually get fixed given other reports and the fact that Asus is no longer stocking this item.
I'm now debating if I should just throw this away and buy another router by a reputable brand, or if I should live without internet for the time it will take asus to attempt to fix mine.
Update 2 (12/07):
Asus doesn't seem to be producing this router anymore and they don't expect to have it in stock. They also refused to send me a different router as its replacement.
I can't ship my ONLY router to Asus and wait for it to get fixed indefinitely. It's not even clear if it would get fixed anyway. So I chose to keep this partially functioning attempt-of-a-router, and replace the dead 2.4 GHz band with a network with the same name created by a $15 mini-router I had laying around. That seems a lot more stable and reliable than what this $200 gives me.
Avoid anything network-related made by Asus!!
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Avik Chakraborty
Hot operating temperature
Reviewed in India on March 19, 2021Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
N
Awesome coverage!
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2019Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
N
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2019
It claimed to be suited to a home of up to 5000SQ FT and I'd say that it lived up to that claim. One critical change I made was in placing it in a more central location in the house, high and away from other electronic devices.
I'm not a tech guy so setting it up was a challenge. Had a lot of issues connecting to the internet but the secret to success was that the order in which you connect and power on the different devices is critical!! I can't stress that enough.
I have two switches in my network as well so I further added to the complications of this install.
I can't comment yet on how the final phase of the Network will go but I also bought a WAVLINK Outdoor AP/Repeater to extend my WiFi into the back yard. I'll install it this spring and update this review on whether they play together well or not.
Images in this review
Alex Killby
Excellent router once you get it fine tuned to your environment
Reviewed in Canada on June 6, 2021Style: AX6100 RouterVerified Purchase
Francisco Saucedo
Compralo, no te arrepentirás! 5stars!
Reviewed in Mexico on October 26, 2019Style: AC2900 ROG Gaming RouterVerified Purchase
Francisco Saucedo
Reviewed in Mexico on October 26, 2019
Mi casa es de ladrillo y concreto de 2 niveles y ya no hay hueco sin cobertura, patio trasero y delantero ampliamente cubiertos.
El software aun no lo pruebo totalmente, pero me agradó que se pudiera hacer red para invitados.
Tengo aprox 20 dispositivos en casa conectados sin ningun problema. Vale la pena adquirirlo.
Haré una actualización cuando haya revisado bien el software.
Lo recomiendo ampliamente para smart tv 4k, yo la uso para netflix, amazon video y youtube principalmente.
Images in this review
xxJethroxx
Dejo de funcionar después de 2 días. No comprar!
Reviewed in Mexico on November 11, 2018Style: AC2900Verified Purchase
