Asus RT-AX3000 Review
Dual Band WiFi 6 router supporting MU-MIMO and OFDMA technology, with AiProtection Pro network security by Trend Micro, compatible with AiMesh WiFi system.
Recently introduced by ASUS, the RT-AX3000 dual-band Wi-Fi 6 enabled wireless router is the ASUS RT-AX3000. In terms of performance, it is comparable to the ASUS RT-AX58U, which is presently available in Malaysia for RM1099. A three-year one-to-one exchange warranty is also included with the purchase of the router.
When it comes to the RT-AX3000, Asus isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It has the appearance of a standard wireless router, however, it has four non-removable exterior antennae.
The design itself is really straightforward and uncomplicated. The golden ASUS logo is the only distinguishing feature of this model.
After Wireless AC, Wi-Fi 6 (also known as Wireless AX) is the next generation of wireless technology. Without getting into the technical intricacies, Wi-Fi 6 will considerably increase Wi-Fi speed when used in conjunction with a Wi-Fi 6 device, as seen in the graph below.
Multiple user experience enhancements are also planned, with the goal of increasing battery life on devices while simultaneously improving stability and dependability.
It is highly recommended that you upgrade your Wi-Fi 6 device, such as the iPhone 11 or Samsung Galaxy S10 because doing so will significantly increase your Wi-Fi speed and performance.
It will also help older Wireless AC devices by providing them with enhanced Wi-Fi coverage and speed, especially if you are upgrading from an older wireless router that has limited coverage and speed.
Performance
I found that both the RT-AX3000 and the RT-AX58U performed admirably in my tests, with about identical performance throughputs.
One thing is certain: both devices, the Netgear RAX40 and the TP-Link AX50 have shown to be powerful competitors both inside their own respective markets and among their rivals.
Note: Initially, with the launch firmware, I discovered that the RT-AX58U had some difficulties with some Wi-Fi 5 clients, which was similar to the scenario with the RT-AX92U.
This was resolved by updating the firmware. In particular, my test PCE-AC88 44 Wi-Fi 5 adapter, which was also manufactured by Asus, had trouble connecting to it. Fortunately, with the most recent firmware update, this was no longer an issue.
Both routers support the 160 MHz channel width, and my 22 Wi-Fi 6 clients had no trouble connecting to them as independent routers at 2.4 Gbps across a short distance while testing them as standalone routers in the same room.
However, due to the lack of a multi-gigabit LAN connection, the data rates of my test technique will still be limited to 1 Gigabit per second. Despite this, both routers were able to offer extremely amazing and nearly identical sustained speeds.
Both routers averaged more than 880 Mbps when dealing with 22 Wi-Fi 6 clients that were less than 10 feet (3 meters) away. And even when I relocated the customer 40 feet (12 meters) away, they were still able to achieve over 750 Mbps. Both were significantly quicker than their Netgear and TP-Link competitors.
The routers performed admirably with Wi-Fi 5 clients as well. My 44 test customer was able to maintain 770 Mbps with the RT-AX3000 and nearly 780 Mbps with the RT-AX58U when tested at close proximity. My 33 gadget pulled more than 530 Mbps when it was further away. Compared to their counterparts, both of these athletes were extremely remarkable.
Using just 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 clients, I tested Wi-Fi 6 routers on the 2.4 GHz band, and both the RT-AX3000 and the RT-AX58U performed admirably, averaging almost 170 Mbps and more than 130 Mbps at close and long ranges, respectively, on a consistent basis. Once again, they are far faster than their immediate opponents.
Specifications
Model Name
- RT-AX3000
Network Standard
- IEEE 802.11a
- IEEE 802.11b
- IEEE 802.11g
- WiFi 4 (802.11n)
- WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
- WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
- IPv4
- IPv6
Product Segment
- AX3000 ultimate AX performance : 2402 Mbps+ 574 Mbps
AX technology
Yes
Data Rate
- 802.11a : up to 54 Mbps
- 802.11b : up to 11 Mbps
- 802.11g : up to 54 Mbps
- WiFi 4 (802.11n) : up to 300 Mbps
- 802.11ax (2.4GHz) : up to 574 Mbps
- 802.11ax (5GHz) : up to 2402 Mbps
Antenna
- External antenna x 4
Transmit/Receive
- 2.4 GHz 2 x 2
- 5 GHz 2 x 2
Processor
- 1.5 GHz tri-core processor
Memory
- 256 MB Flash
- 512 MB RAM
Boosts speed
- OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)
- Beamforming: standard-based and universal
- 1024-QAM high data rate
- 20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth
Operating Frequency
2.4G Hz / 5 GHz
Ports
- RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for LAN x 4
- USB 3.1 Gen 1 x 1
Button
- WPS Button, Reset Button, Power Switch
LED Indicator
- Power x 1
- 2.4G x 1
- 5G x 1
- LAN x 4
- WAN x 1
Power Supply
- AC Input : 110V~240V(50~60Hz)
- DC Output : 19 V with max. 1.75 A current
- DC Output : 12 V with max. 2 A current
Package content
- RT-AX3000 WiFi router
- RJ-45 cable
- Power adapter
- Quick Start Guide
- Warranty card
Product Weight (g)
- 538 g
AiMesh
- AiMesh : Yes
- Primary AiMesh router : Yes
- AiMesh node : Yes
Router APP
- ASUS Router APP : Yes
Game
- Game Boost/acceleration : No
- WTFast : No
Alexa
- Support Alexa skil : Yes
IFTTT
- Support IFTTT : No
AiProtection
- AiProtection : AiProtection Pro
- Router Security Assessment : Yes
- Malicious site blocking : Yes
- Two-Way IPS : Yes
- Infected Device Prevention and Blocking ; Yes
Parental Control
- Parental Control : Yes
- Parental Control Customized Internet schedule : Yes
Traffic Control
- Adaptive QoS : Yes
- Bandwidth Monitor : Yes
- Bandwidth limiter : Yes
- Maximum Bandwidth limiter rule : 32
- Traditional QoS : Yes
- Maximum Traditional QoS rule : 32
- Traffic Monitor : Yes
- Real-time traffic monitor : Yes
- Wired Traffic Monitor : Yes
- Wireless Traffic Monitor : Yes
- Traffic Analyzer : Yes
- Traffic analysis period : Daily, Weekly, Monthly
- Website history : Yes
Wireless
- IPv6 : Yes
- MU-MIMO : Yes
- Wi-Fi Encryption : WPS support, WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise
- UTF-8 SSID : Yes
- Guest Network : Yes
- Maximum Guest Network rule : 2.4GHz x3, 5GHz x3
- WPS : Yes
- Wi-Fi MAC address filter : Yes
- Maximum MAC filters : 64
- Wireless scheduler : Yes
- Airtime fairness : Yes
- RADIUS Server : Yes
- Universal beamforming : Yes
- Explicit beamforming : Yes
- IGMP snooping : Yes
WAN
- Internet connection Type : PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP, Automatic IP, Static IP
- Dual WAN : Yes
- WAN Aggregation : No
- 3G/4G LTE dongle : Yes
- Android tethering : Yes
- Port forwarding : Yes
- Maximum port forwarding rule : 64
- Port triggering : Yes
- Maximum port triggering rule : 32
- DMZ : Yes
- DDNS : Yes
- NAT Passthrough : PPTP, L2TP, IPSec, RTSP, H.323, SIP Passthrough,PPPoE relay
LAN
- DHCP Server : Yes
- IPTV : Yes
- LAN Link Aggregation : No
- Manually assign IP address : Yes
- Maximum manually assign IP address rule : 64
VPN
- VPN Client L2PT : Yes
- VPN Client OVPN : Yes
- VPN Client PPTP : Yes
- VPN Server IPSec : Yes
- VPN Server OVPN : Yes
- VPN Server PPTP : Yes
USB application
- File System : HFS+, NTFS, vFAT, ext2, ext3, ext4
- 3G/4G LTE dongle : Yes
- HDD hibernation : Yes
- Safely Remove disk : Yes
- AiCloud : Yes
- Download master : Yes
- AiDisk : Yes
- Media Server : Yes
- Time Machine : Yes
- Samba Server : Yes
- FTP Server : Yes
- Shared Folder privileges : Yes
Verdict
The ASUS RT-AX3000 wireless router is a fantastic piece of equipment. It provides extremely good Wi-Fi performance, with fast Wi-Fi speed and strong Wi-Fi coverage, and it is quite affordable. ASUSWRT comes with a plethora of useful features and the ability to customize them.
The AiMesh feature is particularly useful since it allows you to connect another ASUS AiMesh router to your network in order to improve Wi-Fi coverage across your house.
The pricing is greater than that of comparable devices such as the TP-Link Archer AX50, but the extensive set of capabilities provided by the ASUSWRT firmware more than makes up for it. The ASUS RT-AX3000 is a high-quality device that will not let you down.