Author's Note: The original review can be found at my blog - ASUS RT-AC86U Review @ JayceOoi.com.

Important Note - Do buy local unit with Asus Malaysia warranty at Lazada. Install fans to avoid overheat issue.



Introduction
A surprise gift from GearBest. I was not expecting ASUS RT-AC86U AC2900 Dual-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Router with MU-MIMO at all. In short, ASUS RT-AC86U is the replacement for the popular ASUS RT-AC68U that serve me well for past 3 years. Loaded with built-in WTFast, faster AC2900 speeds boosted with NitroQAM, MU-MIMO, 256MB flash, 512MB RAM and newer PC-grade 1.8GHz dual-core processor. How does it perform compare to older RT-AC68U? Let's find out...

Special Thanks
This review is possible thanks to below companies. Be sure to check them out...

• GearBest for this ASUS RT-AC86U
   
  
• Kingston for 480GB Kingston SSDNow UV400 SSD
   
  
• ORICO for ORICO 6139U3 HDD Dock
  

Package Content
My ASUS RT-AC86U is China version as you can see. Well protected as well. In short, it shares the same packaging as my existing RT-AC68U. Once taken out RT-AC86U, you can find 3 detachable antennas, 19 V with max. 1.75 A power adaptor (US plug), RJ-45 cable, warranty info and quick start guide (in Chinese). No worry, you can download both English quick start guide and user manual at ASUS Website.





Build quality & Design
If you own / seen ASUS RT-AC68U previously, then you will familiar with RT-AC86U too. Basically, they are the same in shape and design. RT-AC86U has cooler and simpler cyber design at front while RT-AC68U has stylish diamond pattern design. By the way, RT-AC86U is a bit heavier at 872g. Having LED light indicators for 4 LAN ports, Internet WAN, 2.4GHz & 5GHz Wi-Fi and power status. Missing USB ports status from RT-AC68U. That's the major different. The rest are the same.



At back, there are reset button, power button, DC input, USB 2.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, WAN port, LED on/off switch and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. By the way, the back ASUS panel does not lit up anymore too (if you care about lighting effect).



Wi-Fi on/off and WPS buttons are located at the right as usual.



3 antenna jacks on top for detachable antennas. And another internal 3dBi antenna hidden inside for 5 GHz 4 x 4 connection.



Finally, there are 2 long anti-skid pads at bottom to provide stability.

Not really. Saw one case using local unit with fans installed since day 1, still have hardware issue after few months. Totally up to your luck. 

So better get local unit with Asus Malaysia warranty to avoid send it back to China. 

Bought mine via Shopee. Seller is based in Subang. Price of the fan kit is around RM30+

I got the recommendation from posts in previous pages as well

I’m using this fan. So far my router still stands strong since Jan this year..haha

make sure your next router is supporting wifi-6.
that little dinosaur is easier to handle compared to this 86U, i mean in term of stability and robustness. the only drawback is we will stuck with older firmware.

no. but let's wait for apple device support for it, other will follow. personally, i'm still okay with my current setup (AC86U). I know exactly my requirement and limitation that i can live with.