Asus ac86u vs Netgear R7800 Nighthawk X4S

[JamesTLUK]

Hi everyone,

I know there are a few threads on this but I want to get a late 2018 opinion if possible.

I currently have an Asus ac68u which has served us well for about 4 years. My parents need a new router so I'm going to give it to them meaning I need to get a new one.

I bought the ac68u originally because of the impressive wi-fi range and strength across the house we had (at the time 3 floors).

Looking at the newer options available I can see that the ac86u and R7800 seem to come out as the best options for strong performance. I'm looking to be able to get good wi-fi coverage across a 2 level mid-sized house. My PC will be above and away from the router - I may decide to connect via ethernet or powerline adaptor if performance (some gaming, backing up to NAS connected to router) over wi-fi isn't strong enough but ideally would like to rely on wi-fi initially.

We'll also be doing the usual streaming Netflix, using smart devices, possibly some security video devices etc.

I am used to the Asus software and interface but I'm no networking expert and any changes I make in their are from following instructions. I want something that's a bit future proof and will offer good performance longer term as well as reliability and little need to keep accessing the software or changing settings.

The Netgear seems to come in slightly lower in price in the UK than the Asus but I am not so worried about the small difference. From what I read the ac68u has been a robust and dependable router and the newer generation perhaps don't have quite as good reputations.

Any advice on the above from users of either router? Would appreciate thoughts before taking the plunge after Christmas and hopefully during sales!

James

 

[psychopomp1]

I would go for the R7800 instead of the AC86U as the Wi-Fi on the Netgear is better. The R7800’s price regularly drops to around £130 on Amazon UK which is a great price for arguably the best router for Wi-Fi out there.

 

[JamesTLUK]

That's great, thank you for that - it is the one I'm leaning towards my only temptation with Asus being the good experience that I've had with the ac68u. But the ac86u doesn't seem to garner the same love!

I just came across AmpliFi HD by Ubiquiti too which sounds like an interesting mesh type option although I think I prefer the old traditional type router configuration.

 

[mosmos]

I tried the R7800 and it was not stable enough in my home envronment.
For me, the best router is one just works with no drama that you even forget all about it.
I can understand the need to "future proof" but to be honest, the performance improvements in the new strandards are not really significant in a typical use case. i.e. mobile devices.
The only realistic chance getting anywhere near the speeds quoted with the multiple NxN radios is if you have the to identical routers working working as a wireless bridge.
If the current router works for your current demands i.e. TV streaming etc. then I would stick with what works unless there is a specific need to upgrade.

 

[JamesTLUK]

I tried the R7800 and it was not stable enough in my home envronment.
For me, the best router is one just works with no drama that you even forget all about it.
I can understand the need to "future proof" but to be honest, the performance improvements in the new strandards are not really significant in a typical use case. i.e. mobile devices.
The only realistic chance getting anywhere near the speeds quoted with the multiple NxN radios is if you have the to identical routers working working as a wireless bridge.
If the current router works for your current demands i.e. TV streaming etc. then I would stick with what works unless there is a specific need to upgrade.

Thank you - yeah I need to upgrade as my folks are taking my current router.

 

[Dave Parker]

No experience with Netgear routers but years ago I purchased an n66u then upgraded to an ac68u and recently to the ac86u. All have provided great service. The 86u has noticeably better WiFi strength than the 68u. Located in the same place the 68u was. No regrets here.

 

[JamesTLUK]

No experience with Netgear routers but years ago I purchased an n66u then upgraded to an ac68u and recently to the ac86u. All have provided great service. The 86u has noticeably better WiFi strength than the 68u. Located in the same place the 68u was. No regrets here.

Thank you Dave, that's actually interesting to read - as I mentioned I like the 68u and I spent a long time swapping between routers unhappy with their performance before getting it. I assumed that the 86u would be a new and improved version but having read a few reviews and write up, people upgrading from the 68u didn't seem to be as impressed. Hence I have been looking at alternatives.

Makes my final decision more difficult! The consensus seems to be split between the two!

 

[Dave Parker]

Kinda boils down to personal preference. Both should provide good service. Maybe which one is the least expensive.

 

[psychopomp1]

Thank you Dave, that's actually interesting to read - as I mentioned I like the 68u and I spent a long time swapping between routers unhappy with their performance before getting it. I assumed that the 86u would be a new and improved version but having read a few reviews and write up, people upgrading from the 68u didn't seem to be as impressed. Hence I have been looking at alternatives.

Makes my final decision more difficult! The consensus seems to be split between the two!

One of the main reasons the AC86U is popular on SNB is due to fact that its arguably the fastest consumer router out there for OpenVPN. However if you don't have any plans to use VPN then I would go for the R7800.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

For me i don't use any fancy features just want solid wifi. I have owned many Asus routers and ever since the FCC scared them there routers are weak and lacking in signal at distant devices. I picked up the R7800 and wow what a difference in propagation thats all i can say. Asus routers are good but weak.

 

[psychopomp1]

The only realistic chance getting anywhere near the speeds quoted with the multiple NxN radios is if you have the to identical routers working working as a wireless bridge.

I guess you've never heard of the Asus PCE-AC88 adaptor then?

 

[psychopomp1]

For me i don't use any fancy features just want solid wifi. I have owned many Asus routers and ever since the FCC scared them there routers are weak and lacking in signal at distant devices. I picked up the R7800 and wow what a difference in propagation thats all i can say. Asus routers are good but weak.

+1
For great wifi you can't beat the R7800

 

[Klueless]

I usually lean towards Asus because of their built-in traffic monitor. I have three sites that, until recently, all ran low speed Internet. When I had trouble I'd call my ISP and they'd either tell me to upgrade (buy more bandwidth) or that it was my problem. I was flying blind.

When I switched to Asus I could "see". If I had low utilizations I kinda knew I didn't need to buy more bandwidth. Low utilizations would lead me to look outside my network. Several times I found a bad router in the ISP's cloud, one time I found their name server was faulty.

High utilizations would lead me to look at my network. Traffic monitor would help me locate (and fix) the culprit (often a new iPhone synching or someone playing games at work). Traffic monitor also led me to learn about and fine tune QoS until we were near bullet proof.

Now that we've a new ISP and higher speed Internet I find I have little use for traffic monitor but it's hard to give up an old friend. He still tells me when my cameras are down of if someone's rebooted my router.

In any case, when someone's on the fence between two routers, I'll often suggest using "traffic monitor" as a tie breaker.

 

[HWDan]

I actually have both of these running side-by-side (different non-overlapping channels of course), one on cable internet, the other on DSL internet, with both bands active. I know the Asus can be setup as dual WAN but I prefer to keep both internets available rather than in a failover setup)

They both can equally cover my approx. 2500 sq ft 2 story home with them in the basement, with more-or-less similar signal strengths in any room. The Netgear also has no trouble reaching a WiFi enabled mousetrap in my attic.

I stuck with .46 firmware (3 back) on the Netgear and the 2nd latest on the ASUS and both are rock solid, never needing reboots or devices losing or dropping connections. (I don't run any benchmarks, everything works fine for me including media streaming on either one and I have about 10-20 devices connected to either from laptops, various android phones, Android TV's, Bluray players, Android tablets and an iPad).

 

[wesbez]

I can also thoroughly recommend the AC86U. Very solid. The vpn throughput is effortless. After my tv Provider (BT in the UK) brought out 4K content through iptv my old 56u couldn’t handle it on the cpu. Got mine over Black Friday for £152 and couldn’t be happier. Using Merlin software. Wireless is also solid that I could actually do without my AP.

 

[umarmung]

At the end of the day the Asus RT-AC86U is a (much) better router than the R7800 and the R7800 is a (moderately) better WiFi AP. So, pick your poison.

However, keep in mind that you can get cheap and dedicated APs at any time, especially when it is recommended to have multiple APs if coverage is an issue. That is, having a single super fast, expensive AP is much less valuable than having multiple cheap APs in most situations.

 

[Dave Parker]

The deal breaker for me would be you can't run Merlins firmware on a Netgear router.

 

[Sachb]

At the end of the day the Asus RT-AC86U is a (much) better router than the R7800 and the R7800 is a (moderately) better WiFi AP. So, pick your poison.

However, keep in mind that you can get cheap and dedicated APs at any time, especially when it is recommended to have multiple APs if coverage is an issue. That is, having a single super fast, expensive AP is much less valuable than having multiple cheap APs in most situations.

But in the EU version of the AC86U, certain channels are locked on Asus, therefore one cannot use Upper band channels such as (Channels 149-165), therefore if you have 2 routers in the same band channels or same channel, one would drop. It has happened to me, plenty of times. The last available channel on my AC86U is channel 112

DFS channel is not a solution, I tried it on my R7800, I picked a good DFS channel, but the router on its own switched to upper band channel 161.

So in reality, (38-48) & (149-165) give the best results, if the DFS channels detect radar.