Asus blue cave vs ac86u – Which one has the best coverage?
Asus has quite a varied line of router models you can choose from, so whether you’re looking for a router for your home or office network, you’ll find one that will suit your needs. The Asus blue cave and ac86u are two router models that on speed, coverage, and performance.
My current router for 2 years has been having lots of issues and lately, it has been giving me consistent and high data flow which made me think it was starting to fail or something else was wrong. So I decided to get a suitable replacement. Asus modem routers powerful devices that focus on fast speeds and the Asus blue cave and ac86u routers are great devices with excellent speeds and range.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between Asus blue cave and ac86u?
Asus router model |
Blue cave |
Ac86u (Winner) |
Bandwidth speeds |
2.4 GHz- 800 Mbps
5 GHz- 1734 Mbps |
2.4 GHz- 750 Mbps
5 GHz- 2167 Mbps |
Processor |
1.6 GHz Intel dual-core processor |
1.8 GHz dual-core processor |
USB ports |
USB 3.0 |
USB 2.0 and 3.1 ports |
Antennas |
4 internal |
3 external |
Asus blue cave vs ac86u – How do they differ?
Design
The Asus blue cave and ac86u routers have very different designs where the blue cave has a very cool design while that of ac86u is more subtle but sleek. The blue cave router is a white box with a big blue-rimmed hole in the middle that lights up. The ring blinks when the router is starting up and glows to a solid blue when everything is working properly and you can switch it off if you want.
It’s lightweight so you can place it anywhere in your home and has ventilation holes at the back for keeping the router cool and this adds to its unique design. At the back, you’ll find 4 gigabit LAN ports, a USB 3.0 port, a WAN port, and buttons for the power, WPS, and reset. To maintain the sleek design it has 4 internal antennas instead of protruding ones.
On the other hand, the ac86u is a very sleek angular router with a mostly black look with two red streaks across the front and is permanently attached to a wedge-shaped stand that allows the router to stand upright so you can mount it on your wall. It has 3 detachable antennas at the top and a few status lights at the front and the WPS button and wifi on/off button on the right side. At the back are 4 gigabit LAN ports, USB 2.0 port, USB 3.1 port, a WAN port, and power, LED on/off, and reset buttons.
The blue cave router has a cool design that you can place anywhere in your home and not look out of place.
Bandwidth speeds
The blue cave is a 4×4 ac2600router that supports 802.11ac dual-band technology and can deliver speeds of up to 2.6 Gbps on both band frequencies with 800 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1734 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. It uses a 1.6 GHz Intel dual-core processor with 512 MB of RAM and 128 MB flash memory plus it can support 128 devices at a single time. However, the ac86u has a more powerful processor and faster speeds being a 4×4 ac2900 router that can deliver throughput speeds of up to 750 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 2167 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. It’s powered by a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor with 512 MB of RAM. Both routers support MU-MIMO data streaming but the ac86u also uses beamforming that focuses the signal to a specific device instead of broadcasting it all over.
The ac86u is a better performer not only because of faster speeds but also because it has a powerful processor and more technologies to improve coverage.
Features
The web interface for both the Asus blue cave and ac86u routers is very user-friendly and easy to set up and have just about every setting you could want. The general and advanced features include USB application, guest network, traffic manager, traffic analyzer, AiProtection, AiCloud, adaptive QoS, and robust parental controls. Some features you won’t find in the ac86u include the Alexa and IFTTT feature that allows you to use voice commands to do things like turn on/off wifi, pause the internet, etc. while the ac86u has the game boost feature that gives you access to the gamers private network (GPN) for optimal bandwidth.
The blue cave router has more advanced features and you get to use voice commands which makes your work easier and is more convenient.
Asus blue cave vs ac86u – A comparison review
Asus blue cave
- Dual-band (2. 4GHz + 5GHz) AC2600 wireless router features Intel Wi-Fi with the latest 802. 11AC 4x4...
- Alexa & Echo integration allows you to control your home network using voice commands
The blue cave is a wifi router with great speed, coverage, and style. It’s a very customizable router and comes with two levels of security software so your network and data are well-protected. It’s a 4×4 ac2600 dual-band router that uses a 1.6 GHz dual-core processor to deliver speeds of up to 800 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1734 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and it supports MU-MIMO data streaming. It has a user-friendly web interface and mobile app that are very easy to use and control.
Apart from the guest network and firewall, there are a lot more settings you’ll find. A great feature you’ll find is the Alexa and IFTTT support that allows you to use voice commands to control your router. The IFTTT will allow you to set the device so if something happens it triggers another action like when you leave your house, it will automatically detect it and turn off your network. When it comes to performance, the blue cave is more of a long runner. On the 2.4 GHz band at close proximity, it can deliver 97 Mbps and 39 Mbps at 30 feet. On the 5 GHz band at close proximity, it scored 395 Mbps and 203 Mbps at 30 feet.
Pros
- Stylish design
- Cool and adjustable LED lighting
- Supports Alexa and IFTTT
- Great at long range
Cons
- Slow file transfer speeds
Asus rt-ac86u
- Connector Type : USB
- Dual-band (2.4 plus 5 GHz) AC2900 wireless router with the latest 802. 11AC MU-MIMO technology for data...
The ac86u is an ac2900 dual-band router that is built around a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor that supports MU-MIMO data streaming and beamforming to achieve up to 750 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 2167 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. It comes with gamer optimization settings like the game boost feature which gives you access to WFast routing technology and the GPN to provide optimal bandwidth for WFast-enabled games.
It also uses AiProtection to detect malware and viruses and block access to harmful sites and uses parental controls that will allow you to limit or block access to certain sites. You can easily configure and control the ac86u from the web interface or mobile app. Using MU-MIMO, beamforming, and game enhancements, the ac86u can deliver excellent throughput and range. It can deliver 104 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band at close proximity and 86 Mbps at 30 feet. The 5 GHz band can deliver 550 Mbps at close proximity and 330 Mbps at 30 feet.
Pros
- Impressive throughput speeds
- Comes with game enhancement features
- Has awesome coverage
- Very easy to install and manage
Cons
- Can’t mount it on your wall
Conclusion
The Asus blue cave and ac86u are great routers that come with lots of features and solid throughput performances.
So which one is better Asus blue cave or ac86u?
The Asus ac86u is a better router because it’s a powerful MU-MIMO-enabled router that you can use for both online gaming and 4K video streaming while keeping your network and devices safe.
FAQ
Does Asus blue cave support AiMesh?
Yes, the blue cave router supports AiMesh which will allow you to wirelessly extend your network by connecting with other Asus network devices.
Is the Asus router better than Netgear?
Although Netgear routers have fewer LAN ports, 5 compared to 8, you can combine one LAN port and WAN port and aggregate the two to give you higher WAN bandwidth.
