No this is not a wave 2 router. This is a router based on a revised broadcom platform designed to maximize current 802.11AC performance while focusing on heavy 802.11AC client environments.
Does this router support MU-MIMO?
No this router does not support MU-MIMO. For those interested in support of MU-MIMO please consider our RT-87U.
Stay tuned for more information. If you have any questions or comments feel free to send them to PCDIY@ASUS.COM or post in the comments section. As more information becomes available I will update this post.
RT-AC3200 vs RT-AC87U – Don’t Be Confused
the case for buying the AC87U
if your talking about max performance in the home. The 87U will provide a 1700Mbps 5GHZ 802.11AC 4×4 Bridge between the two routers… and if you can get your clients laptops with build in 802.11AC (like the Intel AC7260 card) connected on the 5Ghz you will get 866mbps 2×2 Max connection (until someone releases a 3×3 internal card or USB device then 1300Mbps)
in this case if you have 2-3 older 802.11N or G devices connect them to the 2.4ghz radio with a 40mhz channel if no other networks are nearby (or a 20mhz wil give better throughput if it’s there are lots of other wireless networks around)… my understanding this will NOT slow down your 5Ghz 1300 bridge or 866mbps clients
(if you attempted to connect your 802.11N 5ghz to the existing 802.11AC 5ghz it would slow down your overall network
So why buy the AC-3200
the Speed of this Router is Slower… limited to 1300Mbps 3X3… (you cannot bond for a single 2600Mbps connection) it’s “Tri-Band” meaning in the case above your bridge would be limited to 1300Mbps not 1700mbps but the big advantage is that a slower client would not slow down the rest of your network
so you have all your 802.11AC 5Ghz clients connect to Radio #1 – your 802.11N 5GHZ would connect to Radio #2 and your older 2.4ghz would connect to Radio #3 – so for an office or “mix mode” office this would be a better router..
to make this more confusing some companies like Cisco are introducing 802.11AC routers with 4 physical antennas but still 1300Mbps – the forth antenna is basically used for better reception – but consumers see 4 antennas and think it’s faster.
basically what you want is an 802.11AC routers with the largest channel size like 160mhz vs 80mhz and the greatest # of streams.. take a look at the visual chart below it explains things in more detail – so you want to buy a router with 8 Streams on the 160mhz channel for 6.92Gbps throughput – but this doesn’t exist yet. (if I have said anything wrong in this post… please let me know :-)
MU-MIMO needs client support. If your client is not capable of doing MU-MIMO, you won't get the MU-MIMO benefits. At this moment, there are no client devices I know of that would support it.
On the other hand, the XStream technology used in the AC3200 routers like the R8000 or the upcoming Asus AC3200 are completely independant of the client. That technology works even with the oldest Wifi clients.
That's why I said earlier that the AC3200 routers might actually be a better choice for most people, because it works out of the box and brings you better throughput for all your devices.
Also note that there are no Wifi clients out there that could make use of the AC87's 4x4 design.
The only situation where the AC87 would bring you an advantage over the prvious models (throughput-wise) right now would be linking two AC87 together in a bridge mode setup. The link between the two would make use of the 4x4 design, e.g. bring the link up to 1750 mbit.
The benefits of the AC87 will only be visible once MU-MIMO and/or 4x4 clients become available.
Of course, as Merlin said, the AC87 is not just about the higher link speed, it also offers some other nice features.