ASUS RT-AX88U vs. ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 – what gaming router should I choose?
All the premium routers you would ever expect will always promise to offer you a superior experience in performance, especially when using them in high-bandwidth activities such as gaming and streaming. If you have used a router that struggles in this area, now is a good time to upgrade it – such as with the ASUS RT AX-88U or GT-AC5300.
The support for good routers that promise high speeds is increasing, thanks to the adoption of new technology. That goal is best seen when comparing the RT-AX88U and GT-AC5300, even though they use different connectivity standards. The RT-AX88U uses Wi-Fi 6, while the GT-AC5300 uses the Wi-Fi 5 standard, also known as 802.11ac. Before comparing them though, we need to explain what the connectivity types in use are.
Also referred to as HE (High Efficiency) Wireless or 802.11ax, the Wi-Fi 6 technology is the latest in a line of wireless protocols, and is considered as an upgrade of the 802.11ac technology. It promises higher speeds that go up to 4.8 Gbps, as well as greater capacity for wireless clients, less congestion in the network, and improvement in performance.
It does this primarily through the OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) software, which boosts the overall throughput speeds through splitting the Wi-Fi channels into sub-channels and allowing for more clients to connect to the network. It also uses the TWT (Target Wake Time) software to reduce power consumption through letting the client devices determine the frequency and timing they will use to receive and send data, which allows for greater battery life.
Wi-Fi 6 will also give you downlink and uplink MU-MIMO streaming (an improvement from 802.11ac, which only supports the downlink MU-MIMO format). The devices that use 802.11ax technology are also backward compatible, which means they can still connect with devices that use older connectivity forms (802.11n/g/b/a), although the 802.11ax clients are the only ones that will experience the full advantages of the Wi-Fi 6 router.
On the other hand, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is a standard 802.11ac router, although it is optimized to cater to high-bandwidth needs – especially gaming. It does this through its tri-band design, with one band being 2.4GHz, and two bands being 5GHz types. It does its best to offer you worthy hardware and software, as well as strong protection mechanisms against viruses and malware, an entire heap of LAN ports, and a strong quad-core processor.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between the ASUS RT-AX88U and GT-AC5300?
ASUS RT-AX88U |
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 (Winner) |
|
Number of antennas |
4 |
8 |
Primary Wi-Fi technology in use |
802.11ax |
802.11ac |
Dimensions (inches) |
11.8 x 2.4 x 7.4 (slightly larger in size) |
9.6 x 9.6 x 2.5 (slightly more compact) |
Throughput speeds in close proximity |
90 Mbps (2.4GHz), 943 Mbps (5GHz) |
128 Mbps (2.4GHz), 601 Mbps (5GHz) |
Download speeds |
500 Mbps |
400 Mbps |
Upload speeds |
450 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
ASUS RT-AX88U vs. ASUS GT-AC5300 – How they compare
Design
If you think the GT-AC5300 is a standard-size router, you will be surprised as to its actual dimensions. Measuring 9.6 by 9.6 by 2.5 inches, it is a big router and aims to be in charge from the start. It comes in a black enclosure with a copper trimming, and has the familiar ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) logo, along with a surprising number of adjustable, detachable antennas – up to eight.
With its angular sides and top and a matte finish, the RT AX-88U is slightly larger than the GT-AC5300, measuring 11.8 x 2.4 x 7.4 inches. Rather than the eight antennas in the GT-AC5300, it has four antennas that you can adjust and detach (one on each side, and two at the rear).
We enjoy both of these routers, but we really like the appearance approach of the ASUS RT-AX88U, especially with the placement of antennas.
Software
The game-enhancing features are what set the GT-AC5300 from other routers, even those in the high-end spectrum like the RT AX-88U. Among these aspects is the LAN port pair that have automatic network priority, which ensures your gaming console or rig gets the maximum share of bandwidth. The other software is GameBoost, which aims to ado an analysis of your network and shift the priority to gaming traffic – especially when you use a Nintendo 3D and Wii, Sony PlayStation, or Microsoft Xbox One console.
It also happens to give native support for GPN, or the Gamer’s Private Network, which is powered by WTFast. The aim of GTN is giving users a secure, private connection to a variety of gaming servers and optimizes performance by reducing latency. If you operate through a VPN and are concerned about slower speeds in gaming, the router has a VPN Fusion feature that will allow for use of a VPN connection with an ordinary internet connection to boost the speeds.
The RT AX-88U is slightly different. Even though it still has beamforming and MU-MIMO data streaming, it adds the Smart Connect feature, which allows the router to select the best bands for throughput speeds.
At the end of the day, we like the GT-5300 because of the features it offers, which are much more extensive compared to the ASUS RT-AX88U.
Performance
The GT-AC5300 delivers a solid performance, as we saw in our tests. When using the SU-MIMO test in close proximity, the 2.4GHz band delivered a result of 128 Mbps, and a score of 75 Mbps at 30 feet, placing it in the mid-tier range of routers. Where it really shines though is in the 5GHz performance, which scores 601 Mbps in close proximity – this is the highest we have observed in all the routers we have tested. At 30 feet, it drops to 330 Mbps.
In the MU-MIMO test, we see that the GT-AC5300 scores 225 Mbps in close proximity and 135 Mbps at 30 feet, which is among the highest we have seen. It struggles though when using the file transfer feature, as it only manages 29 Mbps in writing and 42 Mbps in reading.
The RT AX-88U is similarly powerful, even though there are very few 802.11ax clients in the market to test it, which is why we used an 802.11ac device with an adapter chipset that supports 160MHz bandwidth. The result in the 5GHz band was 943 Mbps (in close proximity) and 461 Mbps at 30 feet, placing it among the leading routers in the market. On the other hand, the 2.4GHz band has a score of 90 Mbps (close proximity), and 69 Mbps at 30 feet.
Overall, the GT-AC5300 leads in both bands, while the RT AX-88U leads in file transfer scores. Its read speed was 85 Mbps, while the write speed was 80 Mbps, making it among the leading routers in file transfers.
We prefer the GT-AC5300 in this case, since it is an AC router that has a higher compatibility with more client devices, compared to the AX router type of the RT-AX88U.
ASUS RT-AX88U vs. GT-AC5300 – A comparison review
ASUS RT-AX88U – Overview
- Next gen Wi-Fi standard 802.11Ax Wi-Fi standard for better efficiency and throughput; ultrafast Wi-Fi...
- Certified for Humans – Smart home made easy for non-experts. Setup with Alexa is simple.
In many ways, the ASUS RT-88U is a pioneer in the field of the latest Wi-Fi technology, the 802.11ax standard. Since it succeeds in delivering very fast throughput speeds and file transfer speeds in our tests. Even when looking at its 802.11ac performance, we see that is not record breaking, although it does its best to remain solid throughout.
It is a great choice if you are an early adopter of Wi-Fi 6 technology, or if you have an 802.11ac client that supports a 160MHz channel bandwidth. It also gives solid performance on the 20/40/80 MHz channels, and speedy file transfers.
Pros
- Very fast performance
- Easy installation and usage
- Uses the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology
Cons
- Scarcity of 802.11ax clients
- Very expensive
GT-AC5300 – Overview
- Triple level game acceleration accelerate game traffic With device, game packet and game server...
- Cutting edge hardware offers the best performance 1.8 GigaHertz Quad Core cpu and 2.5 G gaming port for...
The GT-AC5300 is in a 4×4 design and uses a 1.8GHz quad-core CPU, as well as including a flash memory of 256 MB and RAM of 1 GB. In order to achieve the highest potential speeds of 1000 Mbps (2.4GHz band) and 2167 Mbps (5GHz band), it utilizes 1024QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) technology.
In addition, it supports the latest advances in beamforming and MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming. The beamforming feature aims to assist higher performance through sending data in form of focused signals directly to a connected client, instead of a broadcasting approach.
Pros
- Very fast throughout performance
- Eight LAN ports
- Plenty of features that are gamer-friendly
Cons
- Middling speeds in file transfer
- Very expensive
- Large footprint
Verdict: So what is better? The ASUS RT-88U or GT-AC5300?
It was a tough call between these two – they have great performance in various areas, and they are solid bets for future router standards. However, we see that the ASUS GT-AC5300 is the better choice, since there are still very few 802.11ax devices that can fully support the RT AX-88U in the market today.
FAQs
What are the most number of nodes I can add to the AiMesh network setup?
The maximum is 7 nodes – any more than that, and there are no improvements in throughput speeds and performance.
Is the ASUS GT-Ac5300 compatible with Frontier Fios?
Frontier Fios refers to a cable ISP, so this is a modem. There is no issue with using this modem with the GT-AC5300 router, as the router is compatible with most modems.
