AC68U and AC86U Asus firmwares from 2025:

[bibikalka]

It seems Asus keeps updating these AC models, so not clear what EOL announcement really meant back in the day ...

I guess AiMesh is an important component for Asus and that's being used in combos of the new plus these older AC routers, so they cannot really leave this alone.

Looking back, I wish Asus did not really talk EOL back in 2024 given that we lost Merlin's support because of that Asus probably wanted to nudge people to spend $ on the new hardware, so I guess that was a successful psyop from that perspective for them, but nothing changed with the actual firmware updates.

#########
ASUS RT-AC86U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_52294
Version 3.0.0.4.386_52294
66.52 MB
2025/10/28

ASUS RT-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_52062
Version 3.0.0.4.386_52062
99.39 MB
2025/10/27

 

[bennor]

From the ASUSWRT - Official subforum, release discussion threads for those two routers.

Release - ASUS RT-AC68U / RT-AC66U B1 / RT-AC1900(P/U) Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_52062 (2025/10/27)

Version 3.0.0.4.386_52062 99.39 MB 2025/10/27 - Enhanced system stability. - Enhanced input validation and refactored legacy string handling routines to ensure robust memory management. - Mitigated security risks in AiCloud service by enforcing strict credential verification, implementing...

www.snbforums.com

Release - ASUS RT-AC86U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_52294 (2025/10/28)

Version 3.0.0.4.386_52294 66.52 MB 2025/10/28 - Enhanced system stability. - Enhanced input validation and refactored legacy string handling routines to ensure robust memory management. - Mitigated security risks in AiCloud service by enforcing strict credential verification, implementing...

www.snbforums.com

 

[wouterv]

Talking about the RT-AC68U, that is by now and technically seen an ancient router.
Yes, I am still using it my self mainly because ASUS now and then releases new firmware and speed is not an issue for me.
The EOL statement is to warn those router owners that support is ending, either immediate or gradually.
One of the ancient parts of the RT-AC68U which ASUS cannot fix is that WPA3 is not supported.
No support of WPA3 does not make the router unsafe per definition, compare it with all the features of todays cars like lane assist.
The router will for sure be unsafe when there is big security hole that allows remote access over the Internet.
Finally, the consumer router is a cheap thing. How often do you buy a new smart phone - how often do you buy a new router?