ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U) vs Linksys EA9500 (AC5400)

The ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U) was loved by reviewers at mbreviews.com, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. It did great in its "Best Wireless 802.11ac routers under 200 dollars in 2019" roundup where it was named its "Ranked 1 out of 9", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering.

Moving on to the Linksys EA9500 (AC5400): it was unable to reach the very top of any roundups from sources that conduct reliable and unbiased testing. Nonetheless, it still managed to impress reviewers from a number of such sites, like Expert Reviews, Technically Well, TechSpot, hardwarezone.com.sg, PCmag, and CNET, enough for them to include them on those lists.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. TechSpot and CNET, for example, preferred the ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U), while PCmag rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U) got reviewed the highest by Techradar - it gave it a rating of 10, while the Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) most impressed reviewers at Expert Reviews, which gave it a score of 10.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Wi-Fi Routers on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Wi-Fi Routers being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U) and Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) managed averages of 8.8 and 8.8 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct ASUS AC2900 (RT-AC86U) vs. Linksys EA9500 (AC5400) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.