calvin tran
Occasional Visitor
Hi,
I have a RT-AC86A (amazon version) and it had been working good for first a couple years and last few years I had to schedule the weekly reset. My wife complained about the slow internet many times, but then the speed tests showed no problem. A few years back, I also bought the T-Mobile AC1900 and set it up as an AP(wired) in the garage to cover the weak spots (garage and the master bedroom). The router performance is getting worse after each FW upgrade. Last few months, the problem became more noticeable: very slow with basic surfing and my VPN to work drops every 10 minutes. Again, the speed tests did not show problem, matched with my plan 80Mb/s. But when I tested with large download files, I realized my router was not working properly.
I had been actively looking into a mesh or a better router and meanwhile I installed the Asus Merlin firmware as I had nothing to lose. Voila, there are no more complaints about the slow internet since then, but the VPN still drops occasionally. There is no hurry to buy new hardware now but thinking about upgrading in the near future. The RT-AC86U is old, but the price is still very high, I could spend a bit more to get a whole new mesh system at Costco when it is on sale. The upside of buying the RT-AC86U is that my old router can become an AiMesh node.
With the current setup, router+AP, the wireless coverage in my home, two-story house, is very adequate. I can’t believe how many wired and wireless devices I have at home. It is just that I feel the router is working hard with the loads when everyone is at home during the Covid19 pandemic.
Thanks in advance.
Calvin.
I have a RT-AC86A (amazon version) and it had been working good for first a couple years and last few years I had to schedule the weekly reset. My wife complained about the slow internet many times, but then the speed tests showed no problem. A few years back, I also bought the T-Mobile AC1900 and set it up as an AP(wired) in the garage to cover the weak spots (garage and the master bedroom). The router performance is getting worse after each FW upgrade. Last few months, the problem became more noticeable: very slow with basic surfing and my VPN to work drops every 10 minutes. Again, the speed tests did not show problem, matched with my plan 80Mb/s. But when I tested with large download files, I realized my router was not working properly.
I had been actively looking into a mesh or a better router and meanwhile I installed the Asus Merlin firmware as I had nothing to lose. Voila, there are no more complaints about the slow internet since then, but the VPN still drops occasionally. There is no hurry to buy new hardware now but thinking about upgrading in the near future. The RT-AC86U is old, but the price is still very high, I could spend a bit more to get a whole new mesh system at Costco when it is on sale. The upside of buying the RT-AC86U is that my old router can become an AiMesh node.
With the current setup, router+AP, the wireless coverage in my home, two-story house, is very adequate. I can’t believe how many wired and wireless devices I have at home. It is just that I feel the router is working hard with the loads when everyone is at home during the Covid19 pandemic.
Thanks in advance.
Calvin.
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