New Asus RT-87U

[JGrana]

Wow, no sooner do I upgrade from an RT-AC66U to the RT-AC68U, now Asus has announced YetAnotherACRouter!

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/05/asus-rides-the-2nd-wave-of-802-11ac-atop-its-new-wi-fi-router/

The paints not even dry yet on the RT-AC68U. Since there is no pricing, no picture etc. I suspect we won't see this model for a few months more!

 

[vikesfan80]

That stinks. I just recently invested in 2 RT-AC8U's as well.

 

[zed]

Just as I was about to pull the trigger on a RT-AC68U.

I hate this type of dilemma; I could be waiting months for the RT-AC87U

Hello from a new member by the way. Looks like a great community here

 

[jim769]

Anyone got a pic of this new Ac router ?? Also wanted to add you would think Asus would work out the bugs they already have before they push a new router to the masses. BTW welcome to the forum Zed !!

 

[JGrana]

No pics - so it's very early. I suspect this was done in order to get into the CES product of the year race.

As far as waiting for the RT-87U - it could be months. Us early RT-AC68U folks waited months even after photos were shown.

I can say, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase an upgrade today if I needed a new router. the RT-AC66U is often on sale for ~$150.

I had purchased a 66U, then purchased a 68U for the faster processor and USB 3.0. Both a great routers - when coupled with the firmware Merlin "pimps up" for these devices. I have various scripts running via crontab that automatically backup my large collection (and growing) of photos and videos. While I'm sleeping ;-). The minidlna server runs well and play videos smooth. Great stuff!

I am now using the 66U as a Media Bridge to feed wired Ethernet to my TV, AV Receiver and PS3. Once the RT-87U comes out, I will likely "rotate right" and make the RT-AC68U the Media Bridge and the RT-AC87U as the main router - assuming it has more processing, a bit more memory and all ports USB 3.0.

The 66U might be E-bay'ed or used somewhere else.

In the end, they are all fine machines - when combined with Merlins magic.

 

[zed]

Thanks for the welcome Jim769!

I think I will just got for the 68U. What's this about making back-ups of media through the router? I knew the router would make accessible media stored on attached drives, but how does it back-up?

 

[SoCalReviews]

The RT-AC87U will be using the new wireless chip set from Quantenna. This so called 2nd wave 802.11ac wireless technology will allow simultaneous multiple streams to multiple clients. It is unknown how this will effect third party firmware development for this newer hardware because it will be a departure from the Broadcom based chip sets in the RT-N66U, RT-AC66U and RT-AC68U.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084...-anchors-speedy-first-wave-2-asus-router.html

 

[JGrana]

Thanks for the welcome Jim769!

I think I will just got for the 68U. What's this about making back-ups of media through the router? I knew the router would make accessible media stored on attached drives, but how does it back-up?

By using Asuswrt-Merlin you install Entware. Then install rsync. Rsync has been around as long as I have (quite a long time ;-). I have some scripts that In can send you that mount a remote filesystem (my wifes Windows PC running 8.1) then copy new files from my Photos directory to a USB drive plugged into my AC68U. A few lines of code!

 

[zed]

Thanks, I might take you up on the offer once I have the router.

 

[Kris404]

The RT-AC87U will be using the new wireless chip set from Quantenna. This so called 2nd wave 802.11ac wireless technology will allow simultaneous multiple streams to multiple clients. It is unknown how this will effect third party firmware development for this newer hardware because it will be a departure from the Broadcom based chip sets in the RT-N66U, RT-AC66U and RT-AC68U.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084...-anchors-speedy-first-wave-2-asus-router.html

I was wondering about that myself. It likely will not have third party firmware for a very long time.

On the other hand, the upcoming 4-antenna Linksys AC router has been announced to support OpenWRT via optional firmware.

 

[Pierino]

We will see how long that takes. The new linksys is a Marvell chipset router.

 

[RMerlin]

I was wondering about that myself. It likely will not have third party firmware for a very long time.

That would imply that Asus would scrap Asuswrt and write a whole new firmware from scratch for this to be true. Considering the investment they made into having a common firmware for all their routers, I find that highly unlikely.

Don't forget that Asuswrt already supports different platforms. Right now, Asuswrt supports various Ralink devices (such as the RT-N56U and RT-N65U), various MIPS Broadcom (N66, AC66) and the ARM "Northstar" Broadcom platform (AC56, AC68). Asus could probably easily add the new platform on top of this, and share their existing featureset with this new device.

So long the device will run on Asuswrt, it leaves the door wide open for any customized firmware.

Now, entirely custom FW development (from OpenWRT, or DD-WRT for example) is a different story. DD-WRT runs its own kernel, so BSlayer would probably need to either stick to whichever kernel this new SoC manufacturer supports, or get access to an SDK to build everything himself.

It will be interesting tho to see how opensource-friendly this new SoC maker will be. How much of their stuff will be kept closed-source: just the wifi driver, or a bunch of other things (like Broadcom's CTF) as well?

 

[jlake]

How does Asus have the resources to work on new 87U router firmware when they don't have the resources to get the range issue on RT-N66u fixed?

 

[KGB7]

The range on 5Ghz band is too short and should be number one priority. I have two AC68 routers and i cant use the 5Ghz to connect them together do to distance.

So all this "2 wave" is nothing more then marketing BS for people like my self. At the end of the day, it cost more for me to run a cat6 cable from 1st floor to 4th floor, do to the amount of time, work and the cost of the cable.

You can argue all day long that i can save money by running cat 5e, and to some extent you are correct. But I ran Ethernet cabling in commercial offices and in residential houses for a living, so i would rather do this once and run a quality shielded cat 6.

 

[Find the Door]

I just invested in the 68R, looks like I'll be taking it back once this one drops for an exchange.

 

[whsbuss]

I just invested in the 68R, looks like I'll be taking it back once this one drops for an exchange.

I returned a new AC66U when they announced the AC68U so I have been down this road before. It ends now. So tired having to wait and wait for new technology only to find most device hardware does't even support all these new routers. My new 68R (from BB) works just fine and I'm keeping it.

 

[Find the Door]

I returned a new AC66U when they announced the AC68U so I have been down this road before. It ends now. So tired having to wait and wait for new technology only to find most device hardware does't even support all these new routers. My new 68R (from BB) works just fine and I'm keeping it.

I hear ya, eventually it will get old chasing ghosts, but until I reach that point I'll be enjoying the ride.

 

[sinshiva]

i'm actually thinking of getting an AC56 for routing/vpn and repurposing the N66 as an AP lol. However, this AC87 looks like where i might start using AC WiFi. And i was born in '87. Asus should release both black and white variants simultaneously... i'd buy a white one the day it hits the shelves to use exclusively as an AP, if the price is right.

once again, i'm going to find myself overburdened with networking equipment lol

 

[RMerlin]

I just invested in the 68R, looks like I'll be taking it back once this one drops for an exchange.

I highly doubt you will be able to exchange your router when this one comes out.

We're not talking about something coming out next week here, but months away. If not a year.

 

[Find the Door]

I highly doubt you will be able to exchange your router when this one comes out.

We're not talking about something coming out next week here, but months away. If not a year.

Two year geek squad protection plan that allows me to take it back should I have any issues with it and for the same product or one of my choice.

Doubt relieved.