Linksys WRT160NL vs Asus RTN66U

[randomName]

Recently found a router I bought for a family member that is not being used. I have an Asus RTN66U, found this Linksys WRT 160NL not being used. Which is a better, safer/more secure, gaming router?

 

[remixedcat]

Linksys has a huge vulnerability going on so the Asus is safer

 

[jlake]

Recently found a router I bought for a family member that is not being used. I have an Asus RTN66U, found this Linksys WRT 160NL not being used. Which is a better, safer/more secure, gaming router?

The linksys vulnerability he is referring to only applies to those who enable remote management. Remote management is disabled by default on linksys routers.

Just update the firmware to latest on both routers. Go directly to asus and linksys respective website to find the latest firmware.

Again, don't enable remote management on linksys until they release a firmware update or you find out that it's not one of the models affected.

http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/routers/WRT160NL

 

[randomName]

I've downloaded the lastest Linksys firmware for the WRT160NL. How is the dd-wrt firmware? I've never used it before.

 

[jlake]

Most people put ddwrt on the 160L since it's the "L" model. I've never used it.

The asus n66 is the better router though.

 

[randomName]

What's the "L" model mean?

 

[Marinemaster]

Linux that is what it stands for.

 

[randomName]

Ah, cool. Thanks

So for a gaming router, which is better?

 

[RMerlin]

Linksys has a huge vulnerability going on so the Asus is safer

The vulnerability relies on HNPA, so only their E series should be affected.

 

[randomName]

Thanks all for the replies.

 

[sfx2000]

Recently found a router I bought for a family member that is not being used. I have an Asus RTN66U, found this Linksys WRT 160NL not being used. Which is a better, safer/more secure, gaming router?

For most folks - WRT610NL will be fine... flash to current Firmware, disable external admin... and be happy.

It's a single band N300 class router with 100-Base-T ports - performance is good with factory firmware - go off the range with DD-WRT and derivatives, and you're pretty much on your own...

It supports NAS functionality, but it's slow and limited at best compared to other solutions.

BTW - NL stands for Linux-based - the WRT160N was VX-Works with a smaller memory footprint - lore says that the NL was more stable - and it's got external/removable antennea to boot for folks that care about that sort of thing.

There's a review of this device here on the site...

 

[remixedcat]

The vulnerability relies on HNPA, so only their E series should be affected.

The Ars technica article has some commenters that mention that more then just the E series are affected. Also I looked into other sites as well and that seems to be the case. A friend has both an E series and a WRT series and he said both are affected as well from his own findings.

 

[jlake]

For most folks - WRT610NL will be fine... flash to current Firmware, disable external admin... and be happy.

It's a single band N300 class router with 100-Base-T ports - performance is good with factory firmware - go off the range with DD-WRT and derivatives, and you're pretty much on your own...

It supports NAS functionality, but it's slow and limited at best compared to other solutions.

BTW - NL stands for Linux-based - the WRT160N was VX-Works with a smaller memory footprint - lore says that the NL was more stable - and it's got external/removable antennea to boot for folks that care about that sort of thing.

There's a review of this device here on the site...

Actually "N" stands for 802.11n
"L" stands for Linux not "NL"