ASUS RT-N66U - my review

[Greg_Elite]

Ddns does work on stock firmware.

Forward all bugs to XX.

Edit: Contact info removed at Asus's request.
Edit2: In a followup message, Asus authorized networking_Support@asus.com for public use with "bug reporting and issues."

 

[njweb]

Ddns does work on stock firmware.

Thanks, glad it is working fine. I was curious since the report seemed isolated.

As a quick update after 3 full days - I am very happy with the stock firmware's stability. I was online for hours on an online gaming site for testing purposes (good for testing since their software seems to reports even minor issues in the connection as 'disconnects') and not one disconnect or performance issue.
Web surfing is not a great test because it often won't reveal minor issues.
My E4200 v1 and Amped were also very stable for wifi but each had several reasons for not liking them nearly as much as the Asus.

I'm glad I decided to take a chance on the RT-N66U given the superior signal strength and throughput at long range (compared to the E4200 v1) and stability.

Google shopping is not working (most of the 20+ merchants disappeared, even ones that have some in stock like Microcenter).

 

[KeithKman]

The range of the WiFi on the RT-N66U is AMAZING. I was around the corner on another street and had 2 out of 3 bars on my iPhone. Pretty cool.

No one answered my question so I'll ask it again. I am running an old Ambit U10C018 cable modem. What would I gain by running a new Cisco DOCSIS 3.0 modem, if anything?

 

[KeithKman]

Few pictures of my RT-N66U.

 

[Greg_Elite]

The range of the WiFi on the RT-N66U is AMAZING. I was around the corner on another street and had 2 out of 3 bars on my iPhone. Pretty cool.

No one answered my question so I'll ask it again. I am running an old Ambit U10C018 cable modem. What would I gain by running a new Cisco DOCSIS 3.0 modem, if anything?

Good to hear!!!
As far as a DOCSIS 3 modem I believe it just uses channel bonding vs DOCSIS 2. That's at least what my cable man and I were discussing when I got mine. Some ISP's make you fight for them. Mine the only way to get one is a tech coming out to your home. They don't have any in the "walk in" stores.

Also I remember I was actually having issues with the Cisco DOCSIS 3.0 modems (witch was surprising as this is the company that makes the big nice switches that run IOS - and aren't affiliated with Linksys). I remember I was getting some absurd low down speed and packet loss. I ended up getting a Arris DOCSIS 3.0 modem and I couldn't be happier and highly recommend it.

 

[Greg_Elite]

I think I'm gonna just wait until theres more to go around. Maybe it'll go down in price a little. $200 is a little steep for me right now. $150 I think I'd buy it immediately.

 

[Creep89]

This is so disappointing. You still can not buy this router in Germany because it's not available while in Sweden you can buy this router since last year. Shame on you Asus. From week to week the only thing you hear is sth. like "It's available in small stock next week..". Yeah, for sure.

 

[dunkin]

This is so disappointing. You still can not buy this router in Germany because it's not available while in Sweden you can buy this router since last year. Shame on you Asus. From week to week the only thing you hear is sth. like "It's available in small stock next week..". Yeah, for sure.

It is Chinese New Year's eve. Workers are all in their hometown. I don't think they are producing anything in a couple of weeks. You probably have to wait a while.

 

[njweb]

This is so disappointing. You still can not buy this router in Germany because it's not available while in Sweden you can buy this router since last year. Shame on you Asus. From week to week the only thing you hear is sth. like "It's available in small stock next week..". Yeah, for sure.

Wow, I did not realize it has already been 3 weeks since Geraner first posted. Time flies.

Have you tried any other site outside Germany that ship internationally or is it too expensive for you?

That being said, these are becoming very difficult to find in stock (google 'shopping' has been updated to remove a lot of them - not sure if this is by design, assuming it is removing sites with no stock, or if it is a glitch. Last week it returned at least 20 merchants, now only 2 and I know at least one of those two has it on back order).
There is one store in my area that has it but it is $229.xx plus 7% tax which is a lot more than amazon and newegg.

 

[darksamus]

I got mine running toastman's vlan-vpn build for 24/hrs now. So far the range and throughput is just as good as the stock. Toastman's build allow you to overclock the cpu, where shibby's does not.

When it comes to overclocking the cpu, toastman's build only allows up to 533mhz. I have sent him a message to see if he can release a new build to allow to lock down the speed to 600mhz..

The data rate on the main page still shows 13.5mbps for 5ghz. If you look at the tx/rx speed for each hosts, it shows up as 150mbps. Shibby's build shows the same, so I think it is a cosmetic issue...again I have sent toastman about issue.

On 2.4ghz mix mode, the data rate shows up as 72mbps..sames goes for each hosts.

I really like toastman's build except for the minor issue mention.. If toastman fix the issue, I will upgrade.

For all of those who like tomato builds. I would recommend toastman's builds. Below is the link for firmware.

http://www.4shared.com/dir/v1BuINP3/Toastman_Builds.html#dir=144421833

 

[Geraner]

For all of those who like tomato builds. I would recommend toastman's builds. Below is the link for firmware.

http://www.4shared.com/dir/v1BuINP3/Toastman_Builds.html#dir=144421833

Thanks for the link darksamus!

I just posted a video with a short going trough the TomatoUSB shibby firmware on the ASUS RT-N66U running for one day now.
http://youtu.be/FnfdmN-Oq58?hd=1

Enjoy watching!

 

[Creep89]

Wow, I did not realize it has already been 3 weeks since Geraner first posted. Time flies.

Have you tried any other site outside Germany that ship internationally or is it too expensive for you?

That being said, these are becoming very difficult to find in stock (google 'shopping' has been updated to remove a lot of them - not sure if this is by design, assuming it is removing sites with no stock, or if it is a glitch. Last week it returned at least 20 merchants, now only 2 and I know at least one of those two has it on back order).
There is one store in my area that has it but it is $229.xx plus 7% tax which is a lot more than amazon and newegg.

Well, so far I found only shops from USA and Sweden. While the shop located in Sweden does not ship to Germany, the shop located in the USA charges about 50€ for international shipping. So far I think the best solution is to wait. Tomorrow I'm going to buy a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND, because my old "FritzBox" is too slow for my new internet connection (128MBit/5MBit) and reboots randomly under heavy load.

I don't understand why you guys in Sweden already this beast of router and a lot of other countries still have not got anything

 

[KeithKman]

Here is my theory: Asus released a small amount of routers, people returned them because the firmware was broken. Asus fixed the issue with firmware update .90 but the Chinese New Year has come and everyone is off work. As soon as everyone comes back to work they will be ramping up and shipping out a ton of these with the .90 firmware. I bet by mid-Feb we wil be seeing these everywhere.

 

[KeithKman]

Question: on 2.4 should I be running 20, 20/40, or 40? Default is set at 20.

 

[njweb]

Here is my theory: Asus released a small amount of routers, people returned them because the firmware was broken. Asus fixed the issue with firmware update .90 but the Chinese New Year has come and everyone is off work. As soon as everyone comes back to work they will be ramping up and shipping out a ton of these with the .90 firmware. I bet by mid-Feb we wil be seeing these everywhere.

Mine (shipped to the USA) did not have any firmware GUI or update problems that others reported. I went via the GUI to configure it (just wifi) and then upgraded it via the GUI's firmware update option.

If it is not a browser issue, then I suspect that they corrected something in the firmware version and some shipped out with a different build of the same version.

I used Windows 7 and Firefox if that makes any difference.

 

[Geraner]

Question: on 2.4 should I be running 20, 20/40, or 40? Default is set at 20.

The difference between 20 and 40 is that the router in 40 MHz is using more channels for the Wifi than in 20. It's using a wider channel range.
You can either set it to 20/40, then the router is checking how many other wifi networks are around you and is using either 20 or 40 MHz. If you have many other Wifi networks in the 2,4 GHz around you, then it is not recommended to use 40 MHz because it causes performance issues for your neighbours.

So it's up to you. I would suggest to put it to 20/40 and let the router itself decide what to use.

 

[KeithKman]

Mine (shipped to the USA) did not have any firmware GUI or update problems that others reported. I went via the GUI to configure it (just wifi) and then upgraded it via the GUI's firmware update option.

If it is not a browser issue, then I suspect that they corrected something in the firmware version and some shipped out with a different build of the same version.

I used Windows 7 and Firefox if that makes any difference.

I to used Firefox and and Win7 to setup the router. The version was .72 but for me the firmware was fine and I had no issues just like you. I still updated to .90 and have had no issues.

 

[KeithKman]

The difference between 20 and 40 is that the router in 40 MHz is using more channels for the Wifi than in 20. It's using a wider channel range.
You can either set it to 20/40, then the router is checking how many other wifi networks are around you and is using either 20 or 40 MHz. If you have many other Wifi networks in the 2,4 GHz around you, then it is not recommended to use 40 MHz because it causes performance issues for your neighbours.

So it's up to you. I would suggest to put it to 20/40 and let the router itself decide what to use.

Awesome. I'll change it when I get home.

 

[though]

Thanks for the link darksamus!

I just posted a video with a short going trough the TomatoUSB shibby firmware on the ASUS RT-N66U running for one day now.
http://youtu.be/FnfdmN-Oq58?hd=1

Enjoy watching!

thanks for the video. if you like the tomato firmware and want the "guest" network feature, you will need toastman's VLAN build which is:

http://www.4shared.com/get/xhcrnhcJ/tomato-K26USB-12804943MIPSR2-T.html

 

[Geraner]

thanks for the video. if you like the tomato firmware and want the "guest" network feature, you will need toastman's VLAN build which is:

http://www.4shared.com/get/xhcrnhcJ/tomato-K26USB-12804943MIPSR2-T.html

Thanks. And how to activate the guest network there?

BTW: I just flashed my router back to ASUS origin firmware version .90.
Wifi speed is about 10 Mbit/s faster than with Tomato firmware. Just had to test it once again. And I got my Guest-Wifi back.