After few years with Asus routers I'm done with this.

[lostindark]

After my experience with Asus routers I'm finished my saga. I'm started with N66, after that 87U (best router if you use Merlin firmware) and 86U. For all this more than six years I can tell you that Asus routers can be compared with old whiskey - how old is the router than it will be more stable (firmware has less bugs).
I don't understand how you can build something and after that you can't build software to control it. Every update is some kind of pain - one thing is better but other thing is broken. You have to spend a lot of time to check your logs , to write some topics in forums and than may be yoy will find the solution. Thanks to Merlin to this that support this brand otherwise asuswrt is one buggy firmware. After another disappointing from new model 86u and problems with usb hub, communication with Asus tech support and few mails, they can't understand their own log from last firmware and can't find where is the problem. Than I bought Synology rt2600ac and wow... what a beast everything works just from the beginning till now without one restart. Perfect throughput from wan to lan, also perfect wireless speed on both bands. And even that I've stop to check my logs.. because everything runs smoothly and fast.

RIGHT NOW I UNDETSTAND WHY ASUS SAID GAMING ROUTER... BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PLAY WITH IT.

Bye Asus..

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Blinkyz]

I don't understand how you can build something and after that you can't build software to control it. Every update is some kind of pain - one thing is better but other thing is broken. You have to spend a lot of time to check your logs , to write some topics in forums and than may be yoy will find the solution.

You are perfectly right.
Tired of being a beta tester for asus.
That's why I decided to stay on the last version of 380 series, until there is a huge security breach discovered, so I'll change brand.
Synology ac2600 looks really good

 

[microchip]

Well, the grass isn't that greener on the other side. I went for NETGEAR again, thought to give them a second chance. In the past I had many issues with it but now seems to perform well. Had to hack a few scripts in its firmware for IPv6 so it can work nice with my ISPs DHCPv6. For the rest it offers all I need. I don't do advanced things on the router like VPN or Parental Control, QoS, etc

 

[coxhaus]

I ran a couple of other brands and found the same thing. I run my small business Cisco gear and forget it is there. I ran for several years until I decided to upgrade my wireless from Cisco WAP321 to WAP371 wireless APs. I never really did any changes or debugs over those several years. It was just use it and not worry. I had maybe 3 firmware upgrades over those years.

 

[RMerlin]

You're going to get pretty much the same from every of these manufacturers, where profit margins are low, and the need to provide killer features on a predictable release cycle outweights quality/validation. You'll have to look into the business market segment if you want something with fewer fancy features but that has been through better QA. This is why these products often cost much more.

 

[TonyH]

I ran a couple of other brands and found the same thing. I run my small business Cisco gear and forget it is there. I ran for several years until I decided to upgrade my wireless from Cisco WAP321 to WAP371 wireless APs. I never really did any changes or debugs over those several years. It was just use it and not worry. I had maybe 3 firmware upgrades over those years.

It is not only in the router business. Literally in every business. automobile electronics system has lots of bugs, iOS, Windows operating system. They are in competition, have not enough time to write reliable softwares compared to making hardware. This is reality on everything.
Revision after revision softwares get updated but never reach perfectness, then new hardware comes out repeating the same cycle. Now even residential appliances. like washer, refrigerator, dish washer, etc. getting smart with lots of bugs. In my working life spanning almost 40 odd years I never saw a 100% perfect software or firmware. Some times updated version gets worse than before the update. Same goes for hardware to a degree.

 

[OzarkEdge]

You're going to get pretty much the same from every of these manufacturers, where profit margins are low, and the need to provide killer features on a predictable release cycle outweights quality/validation. You'll have to look into the business market segment if you want something with fewer fancy features but that has been through better QA. This is why these products often cost much more.

Where would you say ISP gateways/routers fit into this assessment?

OE

 

[RMerlin]

Where would you say ISP gateways/routers fit into this assessment?

OE

ISPs simply take off-the-shelves home routers from Zyxel/Asus/D-Link/etc..., so they come from the exact same pile. One local ISP used to provision a Cisco router (a real Cisco, not Linksys) for their business customers with a static IP. A few years ago, they replaced the Cisco with a DLink. Talk about a major downgrade...

What often makes it worse with these ISP-provided routers is they often use a customized firmware, that gets very little in terms of security updates. One local ISP used to provide a modem/router where they had disabled bridge mode support, for God knows why...

 

[Latzz]

You're going to get pretty much the same from every of these manufacturers, where profit margins are low, and the need to provide killer features on a predictable release cycle outweights quality/validation. You'll have to look into the business market segment if you want something with fewer fancy features but that has been through better QA. This is why these products often cost much more.

In agreement here. Most consumer routers are no better than ASUS.

Exception being AirPorts which are very stable. Been using a number of AirPorts since one of the early models way way back and it had been setup and forget. You can downgrade and upgrade firmware versions in any manner you choose, restore any configuration files from years back, and it just works. Unfortunately, AirPorts had not received updates, apart from security fixes, for some years now.

The recent AC86U purchase, was initially, so problematic that for the first time the network would need weekly reboots, monitoring the system logs, client issues, etc. Pretty much freaked out. However looking at what is available in the market, it is still a decent alternative (without getting overly technical) than entry level "enterprise" routers which would cost as much (router +AP) with "free" router OS and community forum based support.

@arthurlien who as a "community manager" is probably unpaid by ASUS for this role and is kind enough to donate his time here. That helped heaps as it shows ASUS development folks are committed to making things work. Do not believe other consumer router vendors participate and support in a similar manner. As an example, after the many posts here, the AC86U firmware 384_20648 is so stable apart from one minor issue that its not going to get replaced for a while. Rock solid firmware after surviving the stress and functional tests it was put on, as needed to be sure it works near flawless. Almost everything comes in through the fibre connection and downtime will create havoc Was at one point prepared to junk it for enterprise class gear if it did not meet high expectations as time is better spent elsewhere.

Of course, for enthusiasts who wants a little more, there is always the Merlin firmware and other forks. And @RMerlin depth and experiences in software development shows, judging by how you articulate your decisions on security, features, etc.

With everything taken into consideration, it is pretty much a good choice with ASUS at this point as you have decent options from the vendor and enthusiasts alternatives. It is like having the cake and eat it (almost).

 

[dlandiss]

Everybody who is fed up with ASUS routers is free to send me a private message to get a shipping address for their unwanted gear. I will gladly give it a loving home.

 

[AndreiV]

I don't like the way ASUS do things but I read all the complaints and wonder what I am doing wrong/different ......

My AC3200 got plugged in August 2015 , flashed with Merlin and just runs, week after week and needs no help at all. I see no issues with settings , WiFi , Ethernet failing , it just does what it is supposed to do.

I've never had a Wireless issue after firmware upgrades , never had reboots or GUI problems.

Reading some of the threads I do wonder if a lot of folk just do too much faffing around with their routers and cause a lot of issues .

 

[dlandiss]

I've never had a Wireless issue after firmware upgrades , never had reboots or GUI problems.

We have about 3 dozen ASUS routers in service around St. Louis--as many as 5 in some of the bigger houses, mostly with John's Fork firmware. They "just keep on ticking."

 

[maxbraketorque]

Its interesting to read all the responses. Many sound a bit like excuses. I'm at a point now where if I want to, I have no problem to explore other brands, and I have considered trying the Synology AC2600, the Netgear R7800, and the Netgear XR500. Its pretty hard to bring myself to do it though when everything just works for the RT-AC86U. But its important to know the strength and weaknesses of any brand. I bought ASUS with the understanding that while their wifi performance is generally very good, they make frequent improvements to their firmware, and Merlin is helping Asus to improve their firmware, their router-based NAS performance was likely to be more problematic than other brands. That didn't matter to me though because I have a standalone (Asustor) NAS. If I had wanted a router-based NAS, I probably would have went with Synology.

 

[Latzz]

I've never had a Wireless issue after firmware upgrades , never had reboots or GUI problems.

Reading some of the threads I do wonder if a lot of folk just do too much faffing around with their routers and cause a lot of issues .

It depends on the specific router. The official firmware change logs the past couple of releases did indicate display issues fix, etc. Only until the last firmware, was for the case of the AC86U, it went well.

 

[Mark1958]

Any more the big players in this industry like Linksys, Belkin, Netgear, and many others release a new product and only support it for a couple of years, then decide it's cheaper to release a new product and Stop supporting the units already in the field.
Then forcing the customers of those products to buy new units for security reasons.
I still remember the first router I owned a Wrt54g more than 10 years ago, and some models of that router are still being supported today by DD-Wrt today.
I just want a unit that is supported by alternative source that will be secure and supported for more than a few years!!!

And the sad truth is you don't have to look far into the forums of the three players I mentioned above to see complaints,!!! of having to reboot their routers daily, wireless dropping connections constantly, No Vpn support just to mention a few.

And that's not even taking into account the FCC forcing these same players to lock down their firmware so we can't keep them running securely for a fare amount of time or even load an alternative source firmware.

I myself my move toward Asus, as I have heard nothing but good stuff about the RT-AC86U, I know there is no DD-Wrt support and may never be, but it does support Merlin which I have also heard good things about.

As far as the Synology rt2600ac goes it is still a entry level router, that may or may not be well maintained with a secure firmware only time will tell, but there is still No alternative firmware for it other than what Synology releases so your still at their mercy.

I hope it works well for the OP time will tell.

Mark

 

[Treadler]

After my experience with Asus routers I'm finished my saga. I'm started with N66, after that 87U (best router if you use Merlin firmware) and 86U. For all this more than six years I can tell you that Asus routers can be compared with old whiskey - how old is the router than it will be more stable (firmware has less bugs).
I don't understand how you can build something and after that you can't build software to control it. Every update is some kind of pain - one thing is better but other thing is broken. You have to spend a lot of time to check your logs , to write some topics in forums and than may be yoy will find the solution. Thanks to Merlin to this that support this brand otherwise asuswrt is one buggy firmware. After another disappointing from new model 86u and problems with usb hub, communication with Asus tech support and few mails, they can't understand their own log from last firmware and can't find where is the problem. Than I bought Synology rt2600ac and wow... what a beast everything works just from the beginning till now without one restart. Perfect throughput from wan to lan, also perfect wireless speed on both bands. And even that I've stop to check my logs.. because everything runs smoothly and fast.

RIGHT NOW I UNDETSTAND WHY ASUS SAID GAMING ROUTER... BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PLAY WITH IT.

Bye Asus..

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Are you still having a good run with your Synology?

 

[SwampKracker]

I just don't understand why people expect so much from consumer grade products that are sold with extremely thin margins. If you want something better, buy business grade products or build/buy a system and run any of the open-source firewall distributions available. Stop expecting companies to spend any amount of money to make perfect products that rely so heavily on software, which will never be perfect.

I am not making excuses for any manufacturer that sells an imperfect product. If people were to stop buying the latest shiny thing that is guaranteed to have problems due to manufacturers rushing product to market before it is ready, then maybe we would have to pay more but have a much better product as a result.

 

[wouterv]

At least Asus demonstrates long term firmware upgrade support.
For some routers more then others, which may be related to support of their suppliers.
The RT-N66U is a nice example, released in 2011 and last month another new firmware release.
Issues with fancy features may never be solved, most consumer "routers" shall still be seen as the golden triangle of Router + Network Switch + Wireless Access Point, nothing more.

 

[Mark1958]

I just don't understand why people expect so much from consumer grade products that are sold with extremely thin margins. If you want something better, buy business grade products or build/buy a system and run any of the open-source firewall distributions available. Stop expecting companies to spend any amount of money to make perfect products that rely so heavily on software, which will never be perfect.

I am not making excuses for any manufacturer that sells an imperfect product. If people were to stop buying the latest shiny thing that is guaranteed to have problems due to manufacturers rushing product to market before it is ready, then maybe we would have to pay more but have a much better product as a result.

I couldn't agree more, I picked up two of the 86U's from Micro Center on sale and couldn't be happier.
They have been running flawlessly, one is setup on a Vpn and the other just stock with Merlin 384.5 on both.
For the price after rebate 150.00 each, I dare you to find another router with the same features and performance for the price.
Mine have been up and running since May 1 with one firmware update, and all I will say is they just Run!!!
And I have had Linksys Wrt 3200 with horrible wireless at over $200, and a Netgear R8000P that cost $250 which I truthfully think is worse than the Linksys 3200 at least it had a stable Lan, there are a bunch of unhappy campers over Netgears site with the R8000P.