Latest news with #AsusRP-AX58
Tom's Guide
13-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Asus RP-AX58 review
Wi-Fi Spec: AX3000Number of Antennas/Removable: 2/NoPorts: 1 Gbps LAN Peak 802.11ax performance: 490.2 Mbps (10 feet from extender)Range: 115 feetSize: 5.9 x 2.8 x 2.2 inchesEstimated Annual Electricity Cost: $7.40 Although it's stuck in the Wi-Fi 6 era of home networking, the Asus RP-AX58 makes the most of the networking spec and comes close to the performance of a Wi-Fi 7 extender. However, it lacks the ability to use the 6GHz networking band, has a gigabit Ethernet port and does without a USB connector for a data drive. Still, it's one of the most economical ways to push a data signal into new areas of a home. My Asus RP-AX58 review will help you decide if this is the best Wi-Fi extender for your home or if you'd be better off with something more powerful or perhaps even upgrading to one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems instead. The Asus RP-AX58 extender sells for $80 in a variety of stores, making it slightly more expensive than the Linskys RE7350 ($70) but a bargain compared to the Netgear Nighthawk EAX17 ($130) or the TP-Link RE655BE ($230). It's been designed to extend a wireless network by upwards of 2,200 square feet. Clothed in a matte white finish, the Asus RP-AX58 extender measures 5.9 x 2.8 x 2.2 inches, making it one of the largest extenders on the market. Its two prong plug means it will work in older houses that lack grounded outlets and its back is covered with vents to keep it cool. The extender can accommodate an adjacent plug and stand on its own if used with an extension cord. The RP-AX58's front has a raised diagonal peak that runs from corner to corner with an angled LED bar at the bottom. When it glows white, the extender is working fine, but red indicates no active signal. Like the others, there isn't an on/off switch, but its WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) key lets you quickly add it to a network. There's also a recessed reset button for starting the setup procedure over again. It works with Asus's AiMesh networking as an additional node, as a generic extender or as either an access point or a media bridge. That said, the RP-AX58 lacks a USB port for adding a data drive. Its gigabit per second wired Ethernet connection is second best compared to the RE655BE's 2.5 Gbps port, though. In a series of real world tests at my 3,500 square foot home using the Keysight IxChariot networking benchmark configured to simulate 10 data-hungry users, the RP-AX58 did an outstanding job of filling in Wi-Fi dead zones. Using a Netgear Nighthawk RS600 router and the extender set up 40 feet away, it was able to wring more data out of thin air than other Wi-Fi 6 competitors. With the extender and Acer Swift Edge 16 test system next to each other, the extender's throughput hit 449.6 Mbps, about 50% off the pace set by the Wi-Fi 7-powered RE655BE's 663.5 Mbps. With 10 feet between the extender and test system, the throughput rose to 490.2 Mbps, well off the RE-655BE's 719.5 Mbps, but well ahead of the other Wi-Fi 6 extenders, like the RE7350's 203.7 Mbps or the EAX17's 383.1 Mbps. At 40 feet, the extender pushed 201.1 Mbps of data to the test system. This is on a par with the EAX17's 197.9 Mbps but well behind the RE655BE's class leading 376.7 Mbps. Its 115 foot range was the longest I've seen for an extender and perfect for those with larger homes. Asus RP-AX58 Linksys RE7350 Netgear EAX17 TP-Link RE655BE 10 feet 490.2 Mbps 203.7 Mbps 383.1 Mbps 719.5 Mbps 40 feet 201.1 Mbps 80.6 Mbps 197.9 Mbps 376.7 Mbps Over the course of two weeks, I used the RP-AX58 daily to move emails, transfer data and watch 4K videos. Its passive cooling kept the extender's temperature below 98 degrees. Its 5.3 watt power consumption was middle of the pack. If it runs all day and night, the RP-AX58 should add about $7.40 to your annual power bills if you pay the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour. Based on the Wi-Fi 6 standard, the RP-AX58 can work with data traveling on the 2.4 and 5.0GHz bands but can't tap into the higher-performing 6GHz band. It uses 2x2 streaming with the data traveling through two internal antennas; neither are aimable. It taps into all the 802.11AX protocols, from beamforming and MU-MIMO to 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) but can't use 320MHz data channels. Over the 2.4- and 5.0-GHz bands, it can move 574 Mbps and 2.402 Gbps for a rated 3 Gbps theoretical peak output. Asus gives the option of using the WPS quick connect protocol to link the extender with a router, using a connected browser to tap into the device's internal interface or the company's Extender app which is available for iOS and Android. I chose the latter and got the Wi-Fi ball rolling by tapping on 'Set up Extender' after it connected. Next up, I picked the extender. Be careful, there are likely to be two nearly identical listings; I chose the one that included '(Connected)'. While the interface said that I needed to wait a few seconds, it took nearly two minutes to connect to the extender and get the installation going. I needed to name the room it would live in and pick the LAN to be extended. I added the network's passcode. To simplify roaming, I used the same name and passcode. Then, I finished up by adding an administrative password. After a firmware upgrade, it connected on the first attempt. Start to finish, it took 6 minutes and 20 seconds. The app's main screen shows the network topology, the extender's IP address and its names. The '+' sign is for adding another extender. There's something that's rare for a networking app: a handy FAQ section up top should you have trouble. The three line hamburger link in the upper left is for everything else with tips for placement and starting up. That said, the Network Tool includes a nice Network Analyzer that shows all the local Wi-Fi networks and a Wi-Fi Signal page with a signal strength graph. There are Ping and Trace Route diagnostics but it's missing basics like the ability to use the detailed networking data to adjust the extender's settings or turn the LEDs off. Asus matches TP-Link with a two year warranty and unlimited support for the RP-AX58 extender. Others, like Linksys, cover their extenders for a year and Netgear only offers 90 days of support unless you pay extra. In addition to the FAQ help on the app, the RP-AX58 support pages have a lot to offer, including places to get new firmware, help with setup and a deep list of FAQs. Some of the items are generic to the company's extenders and there's no manual available, only a quickstart sheet. It may not be the fastest extender on the planet, but Asus wrings the most performance out of the Wi-Fi 6 standard with its RP-AX58. It misses the ability to tap into Wi-Fi 7's 6GHz data band and 4K QAM but the RP-AX58 is one of the fastest ways to extend a wireless network, particularly close up and will fit right into an Asus AiMesh network as an additional node. While it lacks access to the top performing 6GHz band, getting the RP-AX58 could be the best $80 you can spend on a network if you don't want to upgrade to a mesh Wi-Fi system.
Tom's Guide
06-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
TP-Link RE655BE review: Finally a Wi-Fi extender with Wi-Fi 7 support
TP-Link RE655BE: Specs Wi-Fi Spec: BE11000 Number of Antennas/Removable: 4/No Ports: 2.5 Gbps LAN Peak 802.11ax performance: 719.5 Mbps (15-feet from extender) Range: 90 feet Size: 6.3 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches Estimated Annual Electricity Cost: $11.10 By tapping into the 6 GHz data band, TP-Link takes wireless extenders into the Wi-Fi 7 era with its tri-band RE655BE. With everything from 320Mhz data transmissions to Multi-Link Operations, it has a slew of configuration options the others lack along with a 2.5 Gbps wired networking port. It can also join a TP-Link EasyMesh LAN. Sure, it's in the upper echelon of the best Wi-Fi extenders but it's priced equivalent to two or three more pedestrian extenders and about what a good router goes for. See if it's worth the scratch to fill your home with data. About the most expensive extender available, the TP-Link RE655BE is available at Best Buy for $230 and an identical RE653BE model will be available at Amazon. It can add 2,800 square feet to a wireless network, according to TP-Link engineers. You may like Slim but wide and long, the RE655BE appears to have it all. As a result, it is one of the largest extenders around at 6.3 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches with its four rotatable antennas stowed. When fully extended, the RE655BE becomes 13.4 inches long but if they're arranged perpendicular to the device, it looks like a robotic dog. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Happily, its two prong plug is old house friendly and plugs right into any outlet but it might hog an adjacent outlet though. The RE655BE's vents all around are only partially successful at cooling it. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Designed for the Wi-Fi 7 era of wireless networking, the extender has side buttons for starting the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) connection process and resetting the system. There isn't an on/off key. Its five LEDs show power, its connection and status of the 2.4-, 5.0- and 6.0 GHz Wi-Fi bands; all light up blue unless something bad happens, then they glow red. However, they can be turned off in TP-Link's Tether app. Able to deliver extra Wi-Fi throughput, the TP-Link RE655BE is the first Wi-Fi 7 extender and the top performer available. With the extender 40-feet from the Netgear Nighthawk RS600 router and the IxChariot networking benchmark configured to mimic 10 home users, the Sharp Swift Edge 16 test notebook recorded data flow of 663.5 Mbps up close. This is easily the fastest extender around compared to the 201.7 Mbps to 449.6 Mbps range for the Wi-Fi 6 entrants. With a more reasonable 10 feet separating the router and extender, the throughput jumped to 719.5 Mbps. That's about roughly a third more data than the Asus RP-AX58's 490.2 Mbps and triple that of the Linksys RE7350. Swipe to scroll horizontally Row 0 - Cell 0 Asus RP-AX58 Linksys RE7350 Netgear EAX17 TP-Link RE655BE 10 feet 490.2 Mbps 203.7 Mbps 383.1 Mbps 719.5 Mbps 40 feet 201.1 Mbps 80.6 Mbps 197.9 Mbps 376.7 Mbps At 40 feet, the RE655BE continued to lead at 376.7 Mbps, nearly double what the RP-AX58 (201.1 Mbps) and EAX17 (197.7 Mbps) delivered. It was 4 times as fast as the RE7350's 80.6 Mbps. The RE655BE had a 105 foot range but ran on the warm side at 114 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 20 degrees warmer than the other extenders I tested. While streaming data, it consumed 7.9 watts of power. If it runs 24/7 that equals an annual power bill of $11.10 if you pay the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity. It worked well with everything from 4K videos and online gaming to playing music and swapping emails. Able to cover all three Wi-Fi 7 bands, the RE655BE is a unique extender with the power to push high-speed data to a home's extremes using 320MHz data channels, Multi-Link Operations (MLO) and 4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Able to move up to 5.7 Gbps over the 6 GHz band as well as 4.3 Gbps and 688 Mbps using the 5.0 and 2.4 GHz bands, its 10.8 Gbps theoretical peak throughput blows other extenders away. The RE655BE uses the company's Smart Roaming technology to scan the area and select the most efficient way for the data to travel back and forth. The RE655BE can be a node in a TP-Link EasyMesh network, a traditional repeater or a wired access point. Finally, the RE655BE's 2.5 Gbps networking port worked with a computer, but would be just as good for a printer, a wired storage device or any other wired device for that matter. It outdoes the 1 Gbps LAN ports on other extenders but lacks a USB port. Getting the RE655BE online can be accomplished using the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), a connected browser or the TP-Link Tether app; there're versions for iOS and Android. After installing the app on my Samsung Galaxy S24 phone, I plugged the RE655BE into an outlet next to the router as outlined in the Installation Guide. I accepted TP-Link's license but declined their kind offer to share my connection data. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) I created a TP-Link ID, responded to a verification email and set the phone's network connection to the RE655BE's 'TP-Link_Extend'. After I added an administrator password, I chose the type of equipment I was installing. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) It found the extender and I chose the network to extend, with a configuration summary showing up. Everything looked good, so I moved the RE655BE to its final location 40 feet from the router and the notebook connected on the first try. It all took a longish 10 minutes and 45 seconds. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The Tether app's Network page shows it's online, connected clients and the status of the main and extended networks. It's easy to add another extender with the '+' symbol. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The tabs below include Security, with a vulnerability scan that has a password strength appraisal and whether two factor authentication is activated. There are items for real time protection and access to TP-Link's VPN but both require a $110 a year On the Go Antivirus protection plan; the first year is $40. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Its More tab is intriguing with a place to redo the setup, connect to a TP-Link EasyMesh network or block devices. After I turned off the LEDs, I scheduled on/off times for the extender, a feature none of the others provide. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Switching to the connected browser interface reveals an excellent Status page with everything at a glance, including network topology, connection condition and how many clients are online. The network's name is shown but no passcode is identified. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) There's even a way to tailor the signal strength to keep your networking from spilling over into the neighbors. There are three choices. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The RE655BE extender includes a two year warranty and unlimited lifetime support. That's much better than Netgear's 1-year warranty and a meagre 90 days of support unless you pay extra for it. Should you need any help, TP-Link's support site is chock full of videos, downloads and helpful advice. The FAQs are very deep and require some digging to get past the generic items. Still, it's one of the best. The first Wi-Fi 7 extender, the TP-Link RE655BE certainly won't be the last. Able to push a Wi-Fi network to the extremes, the triband extender has everything from 6 GHz transmissions and 320MHz data channels to a 2.5 Gbps wired Ethernet port and the ability to work with a TP-Link EasyMesh network. Other things being equal, it's among the most expensive range extenders on the planet, but other things aren't equal with the top throughput for an extender of any kind. In other words, it's the current top dog extender and able to enliven Wi-Fi dead zones with data.
