Asus RT-AC66U vs Linksys EA6500

[Ellsherlock]

Hi all,

So I'm new here and I've actually just signed up in the hope I could pester one of you geniuses about buying a new router. I've done some research over the past few days and I'm completely torn between the RT-AC66U and the EA6500.

They both seem appealing to me and both seem to have certain pro's and con's.

From what I've read the RT-AC66U appears to have the superior range/signal strength, I'm still under the assumption that a router without antennae will almost always produce an inferior signal and in this case I believe I'm correct. To add some background info my router will be situated in my room (upstairs) in the corner of the room) a situation I personally think antennae would be beneficial.

Although I admit I am slightly leaning towards the RT-AC66U I'm torn for a few reasons. The EA6500 seems to have what appears to be a BRILLIANT media prioritization feature using QoS, This particular feature appeals to me because I actually have a friend living with me and an annoying leeching brother. I'd LOVE to be able to simply prioritize myself so I didn't get the brunt of it when they're both downloading. I'm curious though whether the AC66U had a similar feature that perhaps isn't marketed as much/well as the EA6500 (so i don't know it exists?)

Another feature I love is the addition of Smartphone viewing and being able to configure stuff from anywhere on the fly is a real plus..

Basically I really want to buy the AC66U however at the moment in time I fear i'll probably have to buy the EA6500 mainly for the Media Prioritization QoS feature but also for the ease of smartphone integration and also the app facility is nice and the IP camera function would be great seeing as I've been broken into one too many times.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of such features on the AC66U?

I look forward to hearing your intellectual concise informative genius responses

 

[thiggins]

We haven't found that external antennas produce better performance. Also haven't found that draft 11ac routers perform better than 11n routers.

Yes, the Media Prioritization feature on Cisco Linksys EA routers is interesting. But it may not do what you want it to do. What may serve you better is the ability to throttle bandwidth use vs. prioritize services. The ASUS can do that. But the controls are a little, uh, hard to parse.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/images/stories/wireless/asus_rtac66u/asus_rtac66u_qos_manual.jpg

 

[Ellsherlock]

Hi Thiggins,

First off many thanks for your response. I was under the impression that was the case but i stand corrected! I only said that because in my own personal experience every router I've had that's not had an antenna has lacked signal strength/range but then again i've never invested in a premium router such as these two before.

I opted for routers that support the .ac standard simply because I saves me having to sell the router and buy a new one when the standard becomes more widespread

Yeah i did note that the Asus had a QoS feature however looking at the picture it's giving me a headache. I'm no IT expert but I'm far from moronic and I feel I'm fairly IT literate/savvy but from looking at the picture I can't see how you'd similar prioritize a user/service/program. All i want is to prioritize my own phone/ipad and pc which i believe the Linksys accommodates.. that being said I'd MUCH rather get the AC66U if i could work out how to prioritize my devices! Is there any walkthroughs/guides that show how this would be done?

In your personal opinion what would you opt for?

 

[thiggins]

802.11ac is still a DRAFT standard. Current router will probably work when the standard is released late in 2013. But I suspect 2nd generation 11ac chipsets are around the corner. Buying draft 11ac now does not necessarily "future proof" your purchase.

Priority-based QoS controls when your packet goes in the inbound/outbound queue and is usually used to prioritize one type of traffic vs. another, i.e. real-time streaming vs. downloading. But if two of you are downloading and you want your downloads to go faster, priority-based QoS probably isn't going to do what you want.

Bandwidth-based Qos on the other hand, ensures that a service or IP/MAC address gets no more (or less) than the bandwidth allocated.

I would not buy either draft 11ac product. Why are you buying a new router anyway?