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[visortgw]

L&LD,
Decided to check what were you talking about - "quad-core 1.8GHz models with 1GB of RAM are woefully underpowered".
Well, I run an AC86U, considered it a beast when I ordered it. (Previous router in its place was TP-Link with 560 MHz CPU and 128 MB RAM.)
Not so impressed now and it seems like I already went too far with it. Swap is pretty efficient on a USB 3 SSD drive but that's a lot of it. The 2 CPU cores are also often maxed out. For some reason, reading / writing files to the SMB shared USB 3 drive just seems to hog the poor thing. Maybe I have to optimize the Samba somehow but that's for another topic.

Unfortunately, these routers were not designed to be pseudo NASs. Yes, occasional file transfers to attached USB drives will go generally unnoticed, but large or continuous transfers indeed bog it down. Consider a dedicated NAS if the SMB shares are accessed on a regular basis.

FYI, I migrated from RT-AX88U to RT-AX86U to GT-AX6000 over time, replacing lesser powered AiMesh nodes with former routers as I went. The difference in performance of the GT-AX6000 (quad-core 2 GHz processor, 1GB ram, newer kernel, ...) compared to all others is absolutely amazing, especially with its 2.5 Gbps WAN and LAN ports. My entire network backbone is now upgraded to 2.5 Gbps. My 2 GB swap is rarely touched despite running a whole list of add-ons (AMTM, Diversion, Skynet, scribe, nsrum, connmon, scMerlin, spdMerlin, and YazDHCP).

 

[L&LD]

Not all quad-core 1.8GHz SoCs are created equal. Nor should you ignore the upgrades to the SDKs, the better-designed RF circuits, and more than likely the superior radios and other related chips around the major parts of what makes a router tick (and not to mention the firmware too).

For example, a single dual-core 1.8GHz 512MB RT-AX68U simply trounced 2x RT-AC86U with their quad-core 1.8GHz and 1GB RAM.

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode


Everything is a beast when it is ordered. That doesn't mean progress stands still for anything newer coming down the road.

 

[Oracle]

For example, a single dual-core 1.8GHz 512MB RT-AX68U simply trounced 2x RT-AC86U with their quad-core 1.8GHz and 1GB RAM.

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode

Everything is a beast when it is ordered. That doesn't mean progress stands still for anything newer coming down the road.

F* me, apparently I messed up. I bought the AC86U 2 weeks ago, while the AX68U was cheaper.
Now I'll have to spend even more money and time and lose the warranty 'cause I just can't tolerate it hitting 89-90 C.

Could have come here and asked and read but I had no idea this great forum existed. Btw, the AC86U is dual core and has 512 MB RAM (at least the one I got). The quad-core probably refers to the AX86U.

I'm not going to change a 15-day old device; I'll just try to use it as efficiently as possible. The TP-Link I mentioned before was less than half the price and served me well for 5 years (actually a pair of those flashed from Day 1 to DD-WRT).

 

[L&LD]

Yes, thanks for the corrections.

If the performance increase in your environment for an RT-AX68U is anywhere close to the difference I saw for my customer in the provided link, I would be changing routers even if it's more expensive now for the RT-AX68U today.

Warranty doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know any that will replace things the moment an issue surfaces. Just another grab by the retail chain to grab more of your money for no real return. And yes, I've heard the stories about people getting new equipment after using something for years. My Pov is that there is no guarantee that either the equipment provided will do what I want at that future time, the store and/or the manufacturer won't be around then, and/or I won't be around either. I'd rather keep my money and use it as I need to, today. Not 'bank' it for some potential future that may never come.

Haven't bought warranties for many decades, the money I've saved has been worth the few pieces of equipment I needed to pay for again (but always upgrading at the same time too).

If you can, buy the RT-AX68U and see if the performance is indeed increased in your specific network. At that point, you can decide on objective facts whether returning a 15-day-old purchase is the right thing to do (or not).

 

[Viktor Jaep]

F* me, apparently I messed up. I bought the AC86U 2 weeks ago, while the AX68U was cheaper.
Now I'll have to spend even more money and time and lose the warranty 'cause I just can't tolerate it hitting 89-90 C.

Could have come here and asked and read but I had no idea this great forum existed. Btw, the AC86U is dual core and has 512 MB RAM (at least the one I got). The quad-core probably refers to the AX86U.

I'm not going to change a 15-day old device; I'll just try to use it as efficiently as possible. The TP-Link I mentioned before was less than half the price and served me well for 5 years (actually a pair of those flashed from Day 1 to DD-WRT).

I keep my AC86U CPU temp at a balmy constant 53C... (and forgive me if I'm bringing up a sore subject for those after the massive new firmware-induced CPU temp panic discussion and fallout of 2021). How?

Get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DXLV5Z6/?tag=snbforums-20

Use a few of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085DZMDKH/?tag=snbforums-20

Ziptie it around the back of your router (doesn't need to look pretty) And you end up with something like this:

Profit.

 

[Oracle]

Appreciate all the advice above.

For the time being, I'll stick to the AC86U. The return policy of the supplier is 14 days. I'm just past it.

For the cooling: I'd rather have passive dissipation, so I'll check the suggested solution to insert copper pads under the heatsink.
In the photo above, is the plastic case cut behind the fan? If not, hardly any air can be forced in the very tiny slits.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

For the cooling: I'd rather have passive dissipation, so I'll check the suggested solution to insert copper pads under the heatsink.
In the photo above, is the plastic case cut behind the fan? If not, hardly any air can be forced in the very tiny slits.

I didn't want to go through all that trouble... my router was literally in the 90-100C range on a normal basis. The fan in this configuration brought it down into the 50's. And yes, it's just blowing directly into the slits across the back. It's very effective, cheap, easy and quick to implement. I've heard people messing up their routers worse by tinkering and removing the CPU/heatsinks.

 

[Oracle]

I ended up with Viktor Jaep's approach to deal with the heat wave (temporary). Put a fan behind, at low noise, low rpm. Weak effect but + fan - lan cables = 10-15 C lower. Probably the router could still fry eggs inside. And I'll need 1-2 LAN cables plugged in.

Now, back to the original topic.
For the fun of it, I was able to make a page that hides / unhides Samba shared folders.
It's a clumsy solution, so I won't share the code but basically works like this:
1) Creates parameters with folder names in the custom_settings.txt file.
2) Allows values Displayed / Hidden
3) Waits for the Good Fairy (cron) to pass by.
4) If parameter set to Hidden, inserts line in smb.postconf that sets "browseable = no" for that folder.

There must be a better way to do this. Is custom_settings.txt the one and only free place a custom page can write to?

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

I keep my AC86U CPU temp at a balmy constant 53C... (and forgive me if I'm bringing up a sore subject for those after the massive new firmware-induced CPU temp panic discussion and fallout of 2021). How?

Get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DXLV5Z6/?tag=snbforums-20

Use a few of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085DZMDKH/?tag=snbforums-20

Ziptie it around the back of your router (doesn't need to look pretty) And you end up with something like this:
View attachment 41725
Profit.

That is one way to create a wifi-drone! Just need a few more of those fans.

Similar to this one....