choose a new router

[Jheroen]

hi all,

i currently have a asus rt n 66 u working but can sell the thing, what asus router is a good follower of the rt n 66 u?

i am looking for better performance over all; can anyone guide me?

i did read several issues with new asus routers, i won't buy the new 4 stream router because it's price is way to high (€ 220 )

i hope anyone can guide me

also question: i now have the rt n 66 u version B1, is there also another build?

 

[L&LD]

What aspect of better performance are you looking for?

Range, throughput, features?

The only router I would consider today for myself would be the RT-AC68U. Many customers are happily using this router with the latest RMerlin firmware and are satisfied.

The RT-AC87U would also be a consideration because of the many new features it offers that I've read about here. But for raw performance, these two are the ones I would seriously consider, especially when the RMerlin magic is included.

Afaik, the B1 version is the only version available to consumers. No other builds.

 

[huotg01]

I used to have a 66u, and now I have a AC68u: 2 processors, AC, stable, 3 external antennas...

 

[Lethasniper007]

What about the rt ac66u

 

[Gravityz]

i choose the AC66U, Why.

needed a router in my closet which can be wall mountable(only AC 66U can)
needed a router with not that much power consumption(68 and 87 are beasts)
need a router which will fit my closet(68U and 87U are huge)

if you do normal wifi inhouse with a couple of wired devices the 66U is sufficient.
if you have lot's of devices, want network shares on your router which take up a lot of bandwidth you should go for the 68u or the 87U

AC1750 or AC1900 makes no difference unless you have a second router and want to do bridging.

so bottomline, i would only buy a 68u or 87U if the device is in your living room

What about the rt ac66u

 

[Lethasniper007]

Would the asus rt-ac66u be good with a house hold of 2 Xbox ones gaming online and with two other pcs on line?

 

[Gravityz]

it depend's on if you hardwire your xboxes or you do everything wireless

if you compare the AC66U, AC68U and AC87U you get the following.

AC68U has dual core cpu's and better hardware then the AC66U
this means it can process a lot more bandwidth wired then the AC66U
wireless the difference is minimal(AC1700 versus AC1900)

if you compare the AC68U with the AC87U you see the improvements are mainly on the wifi part(more antenna's more bandwidth AC2400)
you only get this bandwidth when using a second router, NOT with just a wifi client and the router.

so basically,
if you do not need a wall mounted router but one on a stand go for the AC68U. the price difference is not that much and you get way better hardware.

if money is no issue and you want the latest in wifi technology(which you are not going to use) go for the AC87U

Would the asus rt-ac66u be good with a house hold of 2 Xbox ones gaming online and with two other pcs on line?

 

[Lethasniper007]

I have my Xbox going wired and the other is wireless and both laptops also wireless. But the funny thing is when both of us play together online the wirless connection is faster then wired my game feels slow but the Xbox wireless is faster ? My isp speed I'm getting is 150 Mb down and 15 up would that be high Enuff for gaming

 

[Jheroen]

Thanks all for your replies, the rt ac 68 u seems the candidate as follower of the n 66 u. The thing is i read different user reviews on this router also people who did buy the thing do have very different opinions using this router
i want to stick with asus so i guess this is the only choice for a affordable 145 euros, is this right or am i missing some other asus router in this range?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, different network environments, different opinions.

But you are correct that if you want to stick with Asus and RMerlin, this is the best choice right now.

How much is the RT-AC87U in your country? If they're a few Euros more, I would be tempted to buy both and try them out side by side and return the lesser one.

After all, a router is a once or twice in a decade purchase. Not usually something that gets upgraded every year or two for most.

 

[Jheroen]

The RT-AC87U starts a about 220 euros and that is almost 100 euro more than the ac68U

i believe there are more negative user reviews from that one than from the ac68u...

 

[L&LD]

I wouldn't worry about the negative user reviews, all that matters is how it works for you. But at that price difference, I would not bother testing it out either.

 

[Jheroen]

Well of what i see i think that the ac68u does the trick for me... all that new stuff needs new stuff on the other side to

 

[huotg01]

I wouldn't worry about the negative user reviews, all that matters is how it works for you. But at that price difference, I would not bother testing it out either.

As an happy ac68u owner previously "attracted" by the ac87u, I fully second this whole remark...

 

[Jheroen]

http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/410707/asus-rt-ac87u/reviews/
this reviews don't give me a good feeling...

 

[huotg01]

http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/410707/asus-rt-ac87u/reviews/
this reviews don't give me a good feeling...

The common suggestion is to go to the ac68u. Why do you refer to a review about the ac87u ?

 

[Jheroen]

Because the i should test the thing came up it will be the ac68u if replaced

 

[Jheroen]

Last question is there enough difference between the rtn66u and the rtac68u?
that will be the last thing to know, i did read the testreports here on snb...
anyone that can point me to that difference so i can say yes it is a serious upgrade from the 66u lets do this

 

[huotg01]

Last question is there enough difference between the rtn66u and the rtac68u?
that will be the last thing to know, i did read the testreports here on snb...
anyone that can point me to that difference so i can say yes it is a serious upgrade from the 66u lets do this

A lot of differences...

Over the n66u, the ac68u has:
-ac capability (after b, after g, after n, here comes the ac standard: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless80211/a/aa80211standard.htm
-new architecture
-dual core processor, more powerfull
-1 usb3 port

 

[enr00ted]

Lol, stop putting people spend lots of money for things they'll never use. Don't recommend the top of the line just for the cool factor. I've spent the entire week on reviews and trying to figure out wich I would need for my upgrade. I am mostly certain that will be the AC66U, wich as I see is the sucessor of the N66U.

- If you will hook up a hdd to the router for media streaming and share files then yes, the dual core processor + the usb 3.0 can come in hand. Or if you use VPN, Aicloud, the download manager and the other featureas at the same time. This puts alot of stress on the cpu and ram.
- If you only use it for the routing thing and wifi then I really don't see why you would spend that much money.
- Beamforming is quite useless if it's not end-to-end or marginal at best.
- MU-MIMO requires end-to-end compatibility too for best results.
- The 2400 wifi or whatever won't be achieved by even the most high end hardware of today as there is no 4x4 configuration. You would normally get a 2x2 antenna or 3x3 at best in your laptop or pc.
- Asus uses kind of the same power antennas (more or less) so I don't really know how one unit provides better range than the other. I tend to believe it doesn't.
- Future proof does not exist. As I see there are a bunch of other modifications and amendments that the ac will suffer.

My N66U handles 14 devices everyday with all their needs. It's a 600Mhz processor!!! I've never had any problems connecting with my nas, streaming, and all other stuff, so I think AC66U will do the same or better. But hey everyone know what their budget is and what their needs are.

Beware of the marketing, don't believe everything, they'll try to make you spend the largest amount of money you can !