ac87 upgrade?

[EspHack]

hey there,

I've had this AC87U working almost flawlessly since 2018 or so, only issue being it fails to reboot as scheduled from time to time thus needing a manual reboot, and now I've noticed it stops logging network data usage kinda randomly and hangs the whole web UI until a manual reboot, apart from that it works great, but I'm guessing it might be nearing its end so I went looking for replacements,

so far the AC88U caught my eye, basically a steal of a deal just like my old 87U was, the AX86 gets all the praise but out of my budget, AX88 not-so-liked and about same price,

any other models I should consider? my current usage is a single desktop near it, a single phone on 5ghz and the occasional 2.4ghz visitor or the odd day I might need wifi down at the garage, I like the QoS thingy that magically kills lag on games regardless of other devices torrenting or whatever and thats about it for must-have features


interesting to note that my lumia 950 could get ~600-700mbps up/down on 5ghz whereas later phones hardly reach 200mbps

 

[degrub]

You might try replacing the wall wart power supply to the unit. Pretty common failure that can result in weird issues.
Otherwise, i recall a lot of issues with the AC88u and it should be EOL and not supported by now. But confirm my memory.
Save up to upgrade to a better AX-yyy if you want to stay in ASUS. Range will be about the same.
What about using your ISP's wireless router since your needs seem limited ?

 

[Tech9]

any other models I should consider?

I don't know what country you live in, but RT-AX58U V2 (also called RT-AX3000 2V) or TUF-AX3000 V2 are usually under $140. They are good entry-level AX-class hardware build around BCM6756 SoC with quad-core 1.7GHz CPU and integrated 2x2 2.4GHz/5GHz radios. TUF model even has 2.5GbE WAN port for >Gigabit ISP. Both run Asuswrt 4.0 firmware (3.0.0.4.388 code base) and have recent Asuswrt-Merlin fork available from GNUton.

Releases · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

 

[EspHack]

You might try replacing the wall wart power supply to the unit. Pretty common failure that can result in weird issues.
Otherwise, i recall a lot of issues with the AC88u and it should be EOL and not supported by now. But confirm my memory.
Save up to upgrade to a better AX-yyy if you want to stay in ASUS. Range will be about the same.
What about using your ISP's wireless router since your needs seem limited ?

i hate the ISP and huawei enough that I went to the trouble of setting up a fiber modem from ubiquiti

so there are no worthwhile upgrades other than AX models?

I don't know what country you live in, but RT-AX58U V2 (also called RT-AX3000 2V) or TUF-AX3000 V2 are usually under $140. They are good entry-level AX-class hardware build around BCM6756 SoC with quad-core 1.7GHz CPU and integrated 2x2 2.4GHz/5GHz radios. TUF model even has 2.5GbE WAN port for >Gigabit ISP. Both run Asuswrt 4.0 firmware (3.0.0.4.388 code base) and have recent Asuswrt-Merlin fork available from GNUton.

Releases · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

Extends the support of Merlin firmware to more ASUS routers - gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

github.com

can't find that v2 on US amazon/ebay, v1 is a tricore it seems, also noticed the AX68 around that price with 3x3 radios but dual core, its a little newer so would that mean longer support?

AX86S is also around the same price with yet another 5g stream, seems like all decent models are bunched up around 100-140 usd

 

[Tech9]

so there are no worthwhile upgrades other than AX models?

All Asus AC-class models are End-Of-Life now.

also noticed the AX68 around that price

This model is End-Of-Life as well. Early AX model, didn't go very well.

can't find that v2 on US amazon

All new currently sold RT-AX58U and RT-AX3000 are V2. Go to a store, check the box.

 

[cwerdna]

Indeed. OP should look at https://www.asus.com/event/network/eol-product/. I wouldn't buy anything that has hit EOL stage.

 

[EspHack]

I see, its either ax58 or x86u/s then

apparently the ax58/x3000 v2 cant run merlin, but the v1 can, I'm running a modded adaptive qos so thats no bueno