Which AC3200 router?

[Zeral1ty]

Hi guys,

Thanks for a great forum. I'm looking at getting an AC3200 router for my home network that would service multiple cellphones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices that connect wirelessly. I have read through many reviews but cannot decide between the Asus AC3200, Netgear Nighthawk X6 or D-Link Ultra 3200 as each has their pros and cons. As firmwares are constantly being updated, can anyone please advise on which one is the best in terms of stability first and then performance second with the latest firmwares?

I'm leaning towards the Asus with Merlin's firmware but plan on wall mounting this in the lounge and really prefer the look of the Netgear or D-Link. Any help would greatly be appreciated!

 

[netwrks]

I'm a Netgear fan, but their X6 still has firmware issues. Best thing to do, is check the various forums, and see what's up with the latest and greatest firmware releases.

 

[mgolarte]

Hi there,
This might help, Newegg has the ASUS RT-AC3200 for $229 today

 

[Craig Cushman]

I purchased the ASUS RT-AC3200 in March of 2015, since then I had one issue that I had to rescue the router because it would not communicate with anything...meaning the ROM for the router was damaged somehow. So I called ASUS and restored the router by reprogramming the ROM. Excellent feature to have instead of sending it back for two weeks or longer to get back. I have saved the instructions of how to restore the ASUS firmware ROM, and since then I had no issues with it. I think the GUI of the ASUS firmware has a lot of options and best of all they have great support.

 

[thiggins]

First, many of you "multiple cellphones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices" need to be dual-band for AC3200 routers to be most effective.

I haven't found any product's "Smart Connect" implementation to be very smart. No matter which one you buy, you may end up turning off Smart Connect and manually distributing devices between the two 5 GHz radios.

 

[sfx2000]

First, many of you "multiple cellphones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices" need to be dual-band for AC3200 routers to be most effective.

I haven't found any product's "Smart Connect" implementation to be very smart. No matter which one you buy, you may end up turning off Smart Connect and manually distributing devices between the two 5 GHz radios.

I respectfully disagree - the X-stream AC3200 routers basically take up all the useful channels in 5Ghz for 802.11ac...

In a suburban area, it's a bit of noise, but in a dense Townhome/Condo/Apartment environment, it's even worse than Wide Channels in 2.4GHz...

I'm a bit surprised that Broadcom even went down this avenue, consider their railing against Wide Channels during the pre-802.11n situation in 2.4GHz space with Atheros Super-G (Bonded channels there) - I guess they got the religion...

I was expecting more...

 

[thiggins]

sfx: What point(s) in my post are you disagreeing with?

Sooner or later, people are going to realize that for larger areas, multiple 5 GHz APs will be needed to provide good coverage.

With the birth of AC, the ship sailed on 5 GHz having more non overlapping channels than 2.4.

At least some chipsets (QCA's in particular) dynamically change bandwidth use on a packet by packet basis.

 

[sfx2000]

sfx: What point(s) in my post are you disagreeing with?

First, many of you "multiple cellphones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices" need to be dual-band for AC3200 routers to be most effective.
​

Maybe it's just with how the statement above is written - suggesting that if one has multiple callphones, tablets, laptops and other smart devcies, that an AC3200 is the most effective - makes it sound like AC1750/AC1900 is not as effective as AC3200, which I don't think was your intent.

2015 mid-year checkpoint suggests that at the high end - AC1900 class devices have the best value right now, and I see that trend continuing thru end of year with the MU-MIMO products coming on-line at the higher end.

AC1200 has some incredible value plays, and for many, it's likely more than enough for most purposes.

I just can't buy into AC3200 as defined by Broadcom's X-Stream platforms - there really isn't any reason why an AP has to have two AC1900 class radios in a single AP, as they basically eat up so much spectrum in a multiple AP home/small office network, they can actually contribute to worse performance, not better...

Again, everything in one AP like this, defies common sense... I think the only knock-on benefit is to Broadcom is to their shareholders, as it basically doubles the number of 5GHz chips sold - to the end user, no benefit whatsoever...

Much easier answer - put your "slow" devices down in 2.4GHz, and your "fast" devices up in 5GHz...

I think Qualcomm-Atheros, Marvell, and others are on a much better track with more spatial streams and MU-MIMO - streams for the speed, MU-MIMO for capacity benefits.

 

[htismaqe]

Look at the marketing material you just posted - it's all about SPEED.

They're preying on people's sensibilities. "Need more speed, need more speed."

In most average use cases, the "fast" devices aren't even going to notice the "slow" devices when sharing 5Ghz bandwidth. Theoretically, the worst case scenario would be sharing bandwidth between AC, N, and A clients. How many A clients are there out there anymore?

 

[thiggins]

sfx: I am not precluding other dual-band routers. But since the thread is about AC3200, I was pointing out that dual-band devices are required for it to be effective.

htismage: The big number on the box is the most effective marketing tool in technology. Caveat emptor.

 

[RMerlin]

Sooner or later, people are going to realize that for larger areas, multiple 5 GHz APs will be needed to provide good coverage.

With the birth of AC, the ship sailed on 5 GHz having more non overlapping channels than 2.4.

Also, the shorter range on the 5 GHz band is a blessing in disguise. You no longer have to compete with the neighbours from the next three houses down the street. That's why I'm ok with Xstream's idea of having two separate radios in the 5 GHz band.

 

[htismaqe]

htismage: The big number on the box is the most effective marketing tool in technology. Caveat emptor.

No doubt.

 

[sfx2000]

The big number on the box is the most effective marketing tool in technology. Caveat emptor.

Bingo! Totally agree...