Asus RT-BE88U Review (2024)

The Asus RT-BE88U ($349.99) is the most affordable Wi-Fi 7 router we’ve tested so far, but it sacrifices a few key features found on more expensive Wi-Fi 7 routers, such as a 6GHz radio band and 320MHz channel transmissions. It’s a dual-band router that is loaded with networking ports, including no less than six multi-gig ports, and it comes with Asus’ AIProtection software, which offers network security and parental control tools. The RT-BE88U also performs well, achieving strong results on our throughput and signal strength tests. It's a good choice if you require numerous I/O connections and can live without 6GHz Wi-Fi, but you’ll get better all-around performance and two 6GHz bands with its more expensive Editors' Choice-winning sibling, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro.

Design: The Old-School Router Look

The RT-BE88U has a matte black finish and a beveled angular top with a textured grill and a shiny gold Asus badge. The router uses four adjustable, removable antennas and sports several small LED activity indicators along the front edge for WAN, LAN, USB, power, and both radio bands.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

At 2.3 by 11.8 by 7.4 inches (HWD), the 2.3-pound RT-BE88U is not nearly as big and heavy as the 4.1-pound Asus RT-BE96U (8.6 by 13.7 by 13.7 inches), but it still manages to offer more I/O ports. Around back are a 10GbE WAN/LAN port, a 10GbE SFP+ port for fiber-optic WAN connections, a 2.5GbE WAN/LAN port, three 2.5GbE LAN ports (one of which is a dedicated gaming port), and four 1GbE LAN ports. Here, you’ll also find a USB 3.2 port, a power jack and switch, a reset button, and a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The RT-BE88U is a dual-band router that operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands. It has the distinction of being the only Wi-Fi 7 router we’ve tested (so far) that doesn’t offer a 6GHz radio band. However, it does support most other Wi-Fi 7 technologies, including Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Beamforming, Multi-Link Operation (MLO), 4096 QAM, WPA3 encryption, and MU-MIMO data streaming. This router supports 160MHz channel transmissions, but unlike the Asus Rapture GT-BE98 Pro and the Asus RT-BE96U routers, it does not support 320MHz channels.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Powering the RT-BE88U is a quad-core CPU running at 2.6GHz, 2GB of RAM, and 256MB of flash memory. As a BE7200 router, it can hit maximum data rates of up to 1,376Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 5,764Mbps on the 5GHz band, for a total of approximately 7,200Mbps. It’s also an AIMesh device, which means it can be used as a mesh router or a node in a whole-home mesh network if supplemented by other Asus AIMesh devices.

You can install and manage the RT-BE88U using a web console or with the same Asus Router mobile app used to control the RT-BE96U and Rapture GT-BE98 Pro routers. The web console offers more advanced settings, but the mobile app lets you manage the router using your phone. When you open the app, you’ll see the Home screen, which displays the LAN IP and Quality of Service (QoS) icon up top, with bandwidth-priority presets for gaming, streaming, working from home, learning from home, web surfing, and file transfers.

(Credit: Asus)

A large circle in the center of the screen displays real-time traffic graphs, network band names, CPU and RAM usage, and how many clients are currently connected to the router. Tap the arrows on either side of the circle to scroll through the various screens.

Below the info circle are buttons for Internet Status, AiMesh Wi-Fi System, and Mobile Game Mode. The Internet Status button takes you back to the above-mentioned screen, while the AiMesh Wi-Fi System button allows you to add nodes to a mesh network and optimize the system. When you tap the Game Mode button, you’ll open a screen where you can view ping and packet loss statistics and optimize your mobile device for online gaming.

At the bottom of the screen are five function buttons. The Home button returns you to the Home screen from wherever you are in the app, and the Devices button takes you to a screen where you’ll see a list of each connected client. You can view the client’s IP and MAC addresses, limit its bandwidth, and assign it to a family profile. The Insight button lets you view security threats, share Wi-Fi settings, enable remote access, and search for mesh nodes. To access parental control settings, tap the Family button. Here, you can create profiles, assign age-based web filters, and create access schedules.

Use the Settings button to configure guest networking, run network diagnostics, block access to client devices, enable local file sharing (Samba) for USB drives, and configure Wi-Fi, LAN, WAN, and VPN settings. You can also update the router’s firmware, link the router to your Alexa and Google accounts, and check your internet upload and download speeds.

Testing the RT-BE88U: Speedy Throughput, Slower File Transfers

Whether you use the web console or the mobile app, installing the RT-BE88U is quick and easy. I used the mobile app, which was already downloaded from a previous review, tapped “Set up a new network” on the opening screen, and selected Asus Wi-Fi routers on the next screen. I used my phone to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router, and it was identified immediately. I tapped “Get Started” and followed the instructions to create a network name and password for the Wi-Fi 7 network and for the IoT network.

Next, I created a local login account and waited another 60 seconds or so for the app to apply the settings and set up the new network. I disabled Smart Connect so that I would be able to test both radio bands, checked that my firmware was up to date, and the installation was finished.

The RT-BE88U delivered speedy throughput in our performance tests, especially on the 2.4GHz tests. Its score of 178Mbps on the close proximity test was faster than the Asus RT-BE96U (150Mbps), the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro (148Mbps), and the TP-Link Archer BE800 (175Mbps). On the 30-foot test, the RT-BE88U scored 90Mbps, also a first-place finish.

On the 5GHz close proximity test, the RT-BE88U’s score of 1,661Mbps was faster than the RT-BE96U (1,548Mbps) but not as fast as the GT-BE98 Pro (1,828Mbps) or the TP-Link Archer BE800 (1,880Mbps). On the 30-foot test, the RT-BE88U garnered 808Mbps, a good score but not as good as the RT-BE96U (906Mbps), the GT-BE98 Pro (911Mbps), or the Archer BE800 (978Mbps).

The RT-BE88U did not fare as well on our file transfer tests, in which we measure read and write speeds by moving a 1.5GB folder containing photos, video, music, and office document files back and forth between a USB 3.0 drive and our desktop PC (both of which are connected to the router). It scored 33MBps on both the write and the read tests compared with the RT-BE96U, which scored 82MBps on the write test and 83MBps on the read test. The GT-BE98 Pro scored 89MBps on both tests, and the Archer BE800 scored 102MBps on the write test and 109MBps on the read test.

To test Wi-Fi signal strength, we use Ekahau’s Sidekick 2 Wi-Fi diagnostic device and the Ekahau Survey mobile app to generate heat maps that show the router's 2.4GHz and 5GHz signal strength throughout our test home. (Note: Ekahau is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, read about our ethics policy in the Editorial Mission Statement.) The white circle on the map represents the router's location, and the colors represent signal strength, with darker greens representing the strongest signal, yellows representing a weaker signal, and grays representing a very weak or nonexistent signal.

2.4GHz Wi-Fi coverage heat map for the Asus RT-BE88U (Credit: Ekahau)

5GHz Wi-Fi coverage heat map for the Asus RT-BE88U (Credit: Ekahau)

As illustrated on the maps, the RT-BE88U did a good job of broadcasting strong Wi-Fi signals throughout most of the home, but signal strength on both frequencies became weaker near the back (kitchen) door.

Verdict: Wired Excellence, But Mixed Wi-Fi 7 Support

With the Asus RT-BE88U, you get fast throughput speeds, strong signal strength, and a boatload of high-speed wired connections. What you don’t get is a 6GHz radio band and the wide 320MHz channel transmissions that you get with every other Wi-Fi 7 router we’ve tested. If you don’t have any 6GHz client devices and aren’t planning to add one anytime soon, the RT-BE88U is a solid value, but it doesn’t offer the performance and future-proofing that comes with our Editors’ Choice pick for Wi-Fi 7 routers, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro.