RT-AC68U AC1900 On Amazon UK

[copydeskcat]

Hi folks,

First time post - so please forgive if this has been posted before.

Im looking to get this router here, the RT-AC68U AC1900 on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FB45SI4/?tag=smallncom-21

Can anyone tell me if this router can be flashed with ASUSWRT?

I want to be able to use ProtonVPN with it (it supports OpenVPN).

Can anyone advise any further?

Best,


CDC

 

[ColinTaylor]

That is a standard Asus model (I know, that's exactly the item I bought according to Amazon ). All Asus routers run AsusWRT, so you don't need to flash anything.

 

[copydeskcat]

Ah. Thank you.

What I meant was, does it support ASUSWRT-Merlin?

Or, will I need to do any Merlin flash on it to be able to input my VPN client details from ProtonVPN?

I might be picking this up wrong from other guides, but as I understood it, there’s no way on the default ASUSWRT to input VPN client details, only to set up the router as a home VPN (ie. for connecting to your home network when offsite)? Or is that wrong?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yes it supports ASUSWRT-Merlin, no problem. I belive the stock Asus firmware now supports an OpenVPN client although I don't know how versatile it is. But you shouldn't have any problem with Merlin, other than being overwhelmed with options . Use the search function on this site to see if there are any other ProtonVPN posts, just in case there's some gotcha with them specifically.

 

[copydeskcat]

Brilliant. Thank you. I’ll have a dig around.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Ah. Thank you.

What I meant was, does it support ASUSWRT-Merlin?

Or, will I need to do any Merlin flash on it to be able to input my VPN client details from ProtonVPN?

I might be picking this up wrong from other guides, but as I understood it, there’s no way on the default ASUSWRT to input VPN client details, only to set up the router as a home VPN (ie. for connecting to your home network when offsite)? Or is that wrong?

The Merlin website lists supported routers: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

I believe the stock firmware supports VPN server and VPN client configuration, although I'm not sure it supports the flavor you want to use. Merlin likely supports same and/or better.

Note that the 86U has significantly stronger hardware for VPN.

OE

 

[copydeskcat]

The Merlin website lists supported routers: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

I believe the stock firmware supports VPN server and VPN client configuration, although I'm not sure it supports the flavor you want to use. Merlin likely supports same and/or better.

Note that the 86U has significantly stronger hardware for VPN.

OE

Yeah. I’ve been looking at that one too - although it’s about £50 more expensive

 

[copydeskcat]

The Merlin website lists supported routers: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

I believe the stock firmware supports VPN server and VPN client configuration, although I'm not sure it supports the flavor you want to use. Merlin likely supports same and/or better.

Note that the 86U has significantly stronger hardware for VPN.

OE

Am I right in saying the 68U has a dual core and can cope with up to 100mbps?

I have Virgin Media cable broadband 100mbps - I’m planning to use the router to policy route most websites through the VPN, but data-intensive websites such as Netflix and Youtube etc will go through the normal connection.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I don't think there's any way you'll get 100Mbps through a VPN with that router. There are lots of posts discussing such things. From what I've read you'd be lucky to get 50Mpbs. The AC86U should easily give you over 250Mbps because of the hardware crypto.

 

[copydeskcat]

I don't think there's any way you'll get 100Mbps through a VPN with that router. There are lots of posts discussing such things. From what I've read you'd be lucky to get 50Mpbs. The AC86U should easily give you over 250Mbps because of the hardware crypto.

Thanks C.

I could live with 50, but I’ll give the 86u some consideration.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Hi folks,

First time post - so please forgive if this has been posted before.

Im looking to get this router here, the RT-AC68U AC1900 on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FB45SI4/?tag=smallncom-21

It says it has twin USB 3.0 ports in the heading and the features text (so its not a typo). That's incorrect and makes that 3rd party seller suspicious. The photos clearly show one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0.

 

[copydeskcat]

It says it has twin USB 3.0 ports in the heading and the features text (so its not a typo). That's incorrect and makes that 3rd party seller suspicious. The photos clearly show one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0.

It’s sold by Amazon, not a third-party? Might just be a mistake in the listing?

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

It’s sold by Amazon, not a third-party? Might just be a mistake in the listing?

It guess it depends on how you log-in - mine shows"Dispatched from and sold by JumboComputerTrading Europe". But opening the other sellers it shows it is available from Amazon and others. Definitely a mistake.

 

[copydeskcat]

No - it is listed by Amazon - "Dispatched from and sold by JumboComputerTrading Europe".

Where are you seeing that? This is what I’m seeing.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It guess it depends on how you log-in - mine shows"Dispatched from and sold by JumboComputerTrading Europe". But opening the other sellers it shows it is available from Amazon and others. Definitely a mistake.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't buy from "Jumbo". A company that ships from Hong Kong with a 14% rating.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Where are you seeing that? This is what I’m seeing.

Yes, just edited my post - we are seeing slightly different default sellers. Not sure if it is because I have a US Amazon account or some other logic Amazon uses to show the default seller.

 

[copydeskcat]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't buy from "Jumbo". A company that ships from Hong Kong with a 14% rating.

I don’t know whether it’s Ronald’s settings - but that’s not what I’m seeing. It’s listed as coming from Amazon. In any case, you’ve now got me looking at the 86u

 

[bbunge]

Shop around foe a RT-AC66U_B1. Same hardware as AC68U.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

 

[heysoundude]

The Merlin website lists supported routers: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

I believe the stock firmware supports VPN server and VPN client configuration, although I'm not sure it supports the flavor you want to use. Merlin likely supports same and/or better.

Note that the 86U has significantly stronger hardware for VPN.

OE

I'd choose more capable/modern radios over processor clock speed given essentially equal RAM, making for only one choice as far as I'm concerned:
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Product-...TdyKXDK,FuSr2UwZNsqc7PRa,assWQeKLLsXNBIXl&b=0

It's the VPN that will bottleneck your speeds as already noted...which is why I'm interested in seeing someone run WireGuard on their router (https://www.wireguard.com/performance/).
I had quite good results testing AzireVPN's recently ended free beta on my desktop vs OpenVPN on my router; not an apples-to-apples comparison, but I'd wager it scales. WireGuard is available under entware, if you're planning to run Diversion etc for ad-blocking.

 

[MarkyPancake]

As great as the AC68U is, I'd go for the newer AC86U now. I replaced my 68U with an 86U a couple of months ago and even for general router duties, you can tell its updated hardware and higher spec makes a difference.