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difference between the Asus DSL AC88U vs Asus RT AC88U ??

MROOD
Level 9
difference between the Asus DSL AC88U vs Asus RT AC88U ??
whats the difference?, its got a different price but its still a Asus AC88U router, nothing on the Asus product page,

Its confusing as they are both Asus AC88U Routers, very popular but the 2 seem different models below, they also have different prices,
can anyone advise?

as i dont want to get the wrong one for my fibre internet,

Im currently using a ASUS PCE - AC68 Wireless PCI-E Network Card with the older Asus RT-AC87U router

Ive upgraded my internal WIFI adapter card to a ASUS PCE - AC88 Wireless PCI-E Network Card so any info appreciated.


thanks

2 different routers same name 2 different prices???:

ASUS DSL-AC88U AC3100 Wi-Fi Gigabit Modem…£209.99
ASUS RT-AC88U AC3100 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Gigabit…£268.96
19,877 Views
9 REPLIES 9

Smokin_Joe
Level 10
MROOD wrote:
difference between the Asus DSL AC88U vs Asus RT AC88U ??
whats the difference?, its got a different price but its still a Asus AC88U router, nothing on the Asus product page,

Its confusing as they are both Asus AC88U Routers, very popular but the 2 seem different models below, they also have different prices,
can anyone advise?

as i dont want to get the wrong one for my fibre internet,

Im currently using a ASUS PCE - AC68 Wireless PCI-E Network Card with the older Asus RT-AC87U router

Ive upgraded my internal WIFI adapter card to a ASUS PCE - AC88 Wireless PCI-E Network Card so any info appreciated.


thanks

2 different routers same name 2 different prices???:

ASUS DSL-AC88U AC3100 Wi-Fi Gigabit Modem…£209.99
ASUS RT-AC88U AC3100 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Gigabit…£268.96

Off the top of my head and with a little searching I found this information for you.
I am not an expert but from the following links I can tell that the cheaper DSL version has a built in MODEM.
(it has only 4 lan ports)
The more expensive RT version does not and requires some sort of modem to connect to if you wish to access the internet.
(it has 8 lan ports)
Hope this helps you decide.
You can see the back of the different ones if you scroll down the links provided.
Joe

ASUS DSL-AC88U AC3100 Wi-Fi Gigabit Modem…£209.99
https://www.asus.com/Networking/DSL-AC88U/
ASUS RT-AC88U AC3100 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Gigabit…£268.96
https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC88U/

Smokin_Joe wrote:
Off the top of my head and with a little searching I found this information for you.
I am not an expert but from the following links I can tell that the cheaper DSL version has a built in MODEM.
(it has only 4 lan ports)
The more expensive RT version does not and requires some sort of modem to connect to if you wish to access the internet.
(it has 8 lan ports)
Hope this helps you decide.
You can see the back of the different ones if you scroll down the links provided.
Joe

ASUS DSL-AC88U AC3100 Wi-Fi Gigabit Modem…£209.99
https://www.asus.com/Networking/DSL-AC88U/
ASUS RT-AC88U AC3100 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Gigabit…£268.96
https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC88U/


thankyou, amazon are doing a deal, i already have a BT open reach modem, which one shall i get meaning which one will be faster? example if i get the cheaper one, ,odem built in ,will this just be connected to my bt cable service? or do i use this with my modem, or shall i get the rt version, without modem, i can use my existing bt openreach modem, i pretty confused as i want to get the fastest one


I already bought the Asus PCIE AC88 wifi adapter you see....

MROOD wrote:
thankyou, amazon are doing a deal, i already have a BT open reach modem, which one shall i get meaning which one will be faster? example if i get the cheaper one, ,odem built in ,will this just be connected to my bt cable service? or do i use this with my modem, or shall i get the rt version, without modem, i can use my existing bt openreach modem, i pretty confused as i want to get the fastest one


I already bought the Asus PCIE AC88 wifi adapter you see....


I am not an expert but I own a RT AC88U.
Take a look at the two links I sent you. Scroll way down and you can see the difference of the back of both Routers.
Now if you buy the DSL AC88U you will have more options concerning wan choices but you will loose lan ports 4 instead of 8.
Both are dual wan capable.
If you already have a high speed modem you don't need it in your Router.
The RT AC88U can be flashed with Asus MerlinWRT and functions great running openvpn.
I prefer the RT model because it has more of what I need.
Good luck with your choice.

As far as I can see there is very little difference in performance..almost none except for the wireless
The DSL model has something called TurboQam.
802.11n TurboQAM : up to 800 Mbps
Which your wireless adapter does not have.
The RT Model has NitroQAM
Which your wireless adapter supposedly does have..3167 Mbps
So according to the fact you already have NitroQAM and the RT model offers it it is supposed to be faster.
The RT seems to be the best option...IMO

Good luck in your choice.

MasterC
Community Admin
Community Admin
Here are some links to articles for more info about each:
DSL-AC88U
https://rog.asus.com/articles/networking/the-asus-dsl-ac88u-combines-ultra-fast-dsl-modem-with-high-...
RT-AC88U
https://rog.asus.com/articles/product-news/asus-announces-rt-ac88u/

The DSL-AC88U is only available in certain regions so it should work with your ISP (check with them just in case). When you have two devices in one, it will be easier to manage/set up and there's less clutter. As for speed, theoretically having two devices means there's more distance between A and B. There's more flexibility with this option, you can choose not to use the internal modem. However you should provide more cooling for this than the RT, definitely avoid putting this in a closed cabinet with no ventilation 🙂

The RT-AC88U does offer more LAN ports, however it is also possible to add a switch to the DSL-AC88U.

If you want to go crazy and get dual-WAN for up to 2Gbps (aggregated WAN speed), you can consider this:
https://rog.asus.com/articles/networking/show-you-mean-business-asus-brt-ac828-dual-wan-router/
_____________________________________________________________
FPS, Racing, and VR Gamer / Tech Enthusiast / ROG Admin

MasterC
Community Admin
Community Admin
Link updated, thanks Smokin_Joe 🙂
_____________________________________________________________
FPS, Racing, and VR Gamer / Tech Enthusiast / ROG Admin

MasterC@ASUS wrote:
Link updated, thanks Smokin_Joe 🙂


My Pleasure:)

Korth
Level 14
Isn't one a DSL Gateway (and Router) while the other is only a Router?
"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." - Douglas Adams

[/Korth]

MasterC
Community Admin
Community Admin
Korth wrote:
Isn't one a DSL Gateway (and Router) while the other is only a Router?


Correct, more conventional ADSL, ADSL2/2+, and VDSL2 standards are also supported on the DSL-AC88U.
_____________________________________________________________
FPS, Racing, and VR Gamer / Tech Enthusiast / ROG Admin