ASUS bargain hunting

[mwnn]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tool...234-netgear-r7000-nighthawk/1235-asus-rtac68u

Is this graph still relevant?

Particularly the 2.4GHz performance.

Using John's fork seems to highly recommended on the older N66U.

Does it have the same range boosting effect on the AC68U? I'm guessing not.

Presumably sticking at least one directional antenna on a 68U/Nighthawk would get the best of both worlds @ 2.4GHz/5GHz?


Using a cheap £8.50 ASUS N12 (flashed with DD-WRT) grabbed off eBay to repeat a 30Mb Cable connection.

1.5MB/sec ~ (Repeater mode)
2.5MB/sec ~ (Client mode and wired in with Ethernet)

I'll pass the RT-N12 onto a relative who wants something basic.


I was wondering if it's worth acquiring a used 68U/R7000 for a higher price (ending at £80+ used, £130 new)

Or if I should stick with the 66U (£45+ used, £85 new)

We've only got some old Galaxy S2's i9100, laptop and a desktop nearby the router; a mix of Wireless N & G.

We're probably pickup a newer TV sometime this year with either built in Android & wireless AC.

Or a dumb TV with a Firestick & Kodi.

 

[pete y testing]

Does it have the same range boosting effect on the AC68U? I'm guessing not.

no

Presumably sticking at least one directional antenna on a 68U/Nighthawk would get the best of both worlds @ 2.4GHz/5GHz?

no just cock up the mimo as both 2.4 gig and 5 gig use all 3 antennas

I was wondering if it's worth acquiring a used 68U/R7000

yes certainly better

Or if I should stick with the 66U (£45+ used, £85 new)

wifi not as good

2.5MB/sec ~ (Client mode and wired in with Ethernet)

just fyi see


Asus rt-ac88u data throughput
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac88u-data-throughput.31991/

and see the results for the rt-ac5300 in media bridge mode at 25 meters along with the asus pce-ac68 at the same distance

asus pce-ac68

25 meters away Location E

read 18.5 MB/s write 15.2 MB/s sync 175.5

rt-ac5300 in media bridge mode

25 meters away Location E

read 38.7 MB/s write 44.9 MB/s sync 585.5M

sort of puts the N12 to shame

 

[mwnn]

Completely backwards over here in the UK in most areas =\

Even the very best cable package would be 200Mbps.

It's funny really - your getting internet packages which exceed even the best routers; whilst I'm clearly in the opposite camp =D

If I only I could retroactively re-wire the place (built in 1930). I'd love to be able to build a house from scratch.


My only reservation with the 68U and newer models is the signal reach compared against the ancient N66U with SDK5 drivers.

Your floor plan does show you going through a brick wall and several plasterboards walls though...

I'm getting -65 -> -75 at the moment (signal quality 30%), connected to a distant Belkin 332a, in DD-WRT's Repeater mode.

The signal improves to -40 or so when connected as a Client.

I'd estimate the AP is about 20 meters away, same level, through a window.

I don't have any issue picking up the repeated signal downstairs from the N12. The room is around 6 meters in length.

I'll try for a R̶T̶-̶N̶6̶8̶ RT-AC68 and give it a whirl; wireless performance in both bands has got to be better than a relic from 2009.


EDIT:
Well spotted sir

 

[L&LD]

mwnn, I hope you mean the RT-AC68U?

Keep in mind that you can run both the john9527 and the hggomes firmware on this model and both should give a noticeable boost in range and throughput.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-3_hgg-final-mod.26524/page-2#post-199549

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-380-57-hgg-final.29548/page-23#post-237427

 

[dlandiss]

My only reservation with the 68U and newer models is the signal reach compared against the ancient N66U with SDK5 drivers.

My experience has been that in weak-signal areas John's Fork (SDK5 drivers) brings the effective N66U throughput up to similar performance as the AC68U. With newer drivers the N66U's radios suffer.

 

[pete y testing]

My experience has been that in weak-signal areas John's Fork (SDK5 drivers) brings the effective N66U throughput up to similar performance as the AC68U

now you mean coverage not throughput right as on ether band the n66u is limited to 450M max sync , where as wireless AC has a max sync or 1300M

so at distance and through walls etc im still seeing 15 to 20MB/s throughput with AC , whereas the n66u max throughput at 3 feet is about 20MB/s and would be much less that 10MB/s at the same distance

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I don't believe that John's fork uses the SDK5 driver for the N66 rather what's called EM mode. That said with John's fork the N66 has a better signal reach then the 68U but as stated by others signal reach don't always mean better throughput.

 

[doczenith1]

As the OP currently only has N devices does it make sense to save some money and pick up a N66U at close to half the price of the AC68U? Then if or when in the future they upgrade to AC devices that need more speed than N can deliver the price of the AC88U may in their price range and offer more performance and longevity than the AC68U.

 

[mwnn]

I do like the AC68U and Nighthawk but they're selling for £130 ($189) new here.

I've even seen used prices go for £95 ($138) including postage (which is a bit mad with no warranty)

They're literally twice the router compared to the N66U and support the newer standard.

The best price on the N66U is £69.99 ($101) new. (Amazon are asking for £85 ($123) which I think is too much)

£50~ ($72) used.


But as you say our connection speed is only 30/10; even the best packages are 300Mbps.

I saw an old WRT54GL the other day go for a £10 and I was tempted - stick DDWRT on there - not sure what the coverage would be like.

I love those cheap old things. Stick a dish or yagi on there and pick the signals up from miles away!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Venezuela


Used Nighthawk this morning for £70 plus postage; might have a punt at that gents

Got the choice of several firmwares (Kong DD-WRT, Vortex, etc) and it is in the top spot isn't it?

Yes, I'm a cheapskate =P

EDIT:
B**tard! Outbid with £86.99. £88.99 + £5 P&P wins the R7000; at least I made him pay for it
http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=162047683242&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

I think I'll enquire about the N66U.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, I'm a cheapskate =P

It's okay to be a 'cheapskate' with cash. Quite another thing to do it with something even more valuable (time).

If you have the cash, buy the '68U and call it a day.

 

[dlandiss]

now you mean coverage not throughput right

The two are inextricably intertwined. What I actually said was "weak signal areas ... throughput." Specifically I measured the download speed between two specific locations in two different buildings far enough apart that the download speeds were significantly affected-- in this case, in the 20-30Mbps range on a LAN that gives 135Mbps if I am within a few feet of the router.

 

[mwnn]

I picked up the RT-N66U and I'm very impressed with it.

My wireless speeds have doubled to 20Mbps over the same distance in repeater mode.

I don't plan on using the other features really (USB, etc) maybe that's heresy!

ASUSwrt wasn't my cup of tea I'm afraid ='( { The GUI doesn't seem to like Opera either! }

I'm sure it's fine when used in router mode but I found repeater mode to be rather limiting.


So I stuck on dd-wrt.v24-26138_NEWD-2_K3.x_mega_RT-N66U.trx

The two radios in the N66U allow me to do a few interesting configurations.

The fastest would be using the "distance" 2.4Ghz radio to make a one-way link (client) with the main AP.

Whilst the "speed" 5GHz radio covers our house as an AP.

I suppose it's a bit like the Media Bridge mode in ASUSwrt.

For the time being I'll just use the 2.4GHz in repeater mode and disable the 5GHz radio; we've only got our Galaxy S2's that support it.

Not tried hooking up a handed down Buffalo NAS drive yet. Bit of dud model with a gimped CPU - caps out at 20MB/sec when wired into the computer.