I had the rt-AC86U since October 2018 and ever since November 2018 its been a major pain. Finally was able to get ASUS to swap it out July 2019 and that was good for about a year but issues started again and hasn't stopped ever since! The majority of reviews says this is one of the best routers available so I wanted to say I'm the one screwing things up but my colleague who purchased the same router as me has been going through the same experience. Also there are countless forum posts here in these forums and in Amazon reviews describing the same issues as I am having. Before the RT-AC86U I had a used rt-N56U that worked amazingly for over 5 years!! Even resold it and basically recouped all my cost. In essence I know ASUS has good routers and I know how to use ASUS routers. But its obvious there's something wrong with the rt-AC86U and its has tarnished the ASUS brand for me.
With that being said, I'm not ready to replace it yet with a comparable router but I do need something more reliable around the house to WFH. Every time the internet drops, its my head that gets chewed by my lady. What are the best routers under 75$ I can get as back up? I need it for a plex server, Zoom meetings, and steaming apps to about 10-12 devices. I occasionally VPN into my local network and NAS but I don't need this. It would be an added bonus or luxury. Dipped my toes into custom firmware like Merlin but realized this was also more than I needed.
Issues experienced with the ASUS rt-AC86U
Intermittent network drops - reboot sometimes help
Issues experienced with original ASUS rt-AC86U that are no longer present in replacement unit
Non-working 2.4Ghz band
Turning off unit sends router into endless reboot loop
Reset button also sends router into endless reboot loop
Intermittent drops of network
Steps taken to fix that has not worked
Follow L&LD's guide
Troubleshooting and change settings with ASUS tech support
Use Merlin custom firmware
With this being said, if there are any other known solutions to the RT-AC86U issues I can try please let me know! Last time I searched the forums for answers, nobody had any solution to the number of posts describing similar issues.
With that being said, I'm not ready to replace it yet with a comparable router but I do need something more reliable around the house to WFH. Every time the internet drops, its my head that gets chewed by my lady. What are the best routers under 75$ I can get as back up? I need it for a plex server, Zoom meetings, and steaming apps to about 10-12 devices. I occasionally VPN into my local network and NAS but I don't need this. It would be an added bonus or luxury. Dipped my toes into custom firmware like Merlin but realized this was also more than I needed.
Issues experienced with the ASUS rt-AC86U
Intermittent network drops - reboot sometimes help
Issues experienced with original ASUS rt-AC86U that are no longer present in replacement unit
Non-working 2.4Ghz band
Turning off unit sends router into endless reboot loop
Reset button also sends router into endless reboot loop
Intermittent drops of network
Steps taken to fix that has not worked
Follow L&LD's guide
Troubleshooting and change settings with ASUS tech support
Use Merlin custom firmware
With this being said, if there are any other known solutions to the RT-AC86U issues I can try please let me know! Last time I searched the forums for answers, nobody had any solution to the number of posts describing similar issues.
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