Looking for a new router (R7000 or AC68U? IPv6 capable?)

[Margou]

Hi everyone. I'm currently looking for a new router because the old Linksys WRT54GL apparently doesn't support high enough throughput to fully make use of my internet speed (250 down/15 up).

I did a little research and the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk and the ASUS RT-AC68U caught my eye. I read the test on smallnetbuilder.com comparing these two and the R7000 looked better concerning throughput (I might not need it now but might do in the future).
Also I don't really care too much for the wireless part of the router because I won't be using that feature for the forseeable future. Even though I don't need it right now, I do take it as a neat little extra, in case I do need it at some time. But if there is a cheaper/better wired only router I would be interested in this as well.

The thing is, apparently my ISP is going to change to IPv6 soon. I read about the R7000 having problems with that. Is this still true? Will I be able to resolve this issue by using a different firmware or should I just go with the AC68U or some different router?
This is basically my only concern, other than that I do think that the R7000 will be quite perfect for what I need.

Thanks for any help.

 

[joegreat]

Hi everyone. I'm currently looking for a new router because the old Linksys WRT54GL apparently doesn't support high enough throughput to fully make use of my internet speed (250 down/15 up).

I did a little research and the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk and the ASUS RT-AC68U caught my eye. I read the test on smallnetbuilder.com comparing these two and the R7000 looked better concerning throughput (I might not need it now but might do in the future).

Hi,

Nowadays are routers based often on same hardware platforms (e.g. Broadcom) and the only real difference is in software.
Knowing Netgear from the past, I doubt about their update and enhancement capabilities on the software side.

On the Asus part you are much more save (as of now and hopefully in the future) when it comes to updates and big fixing.
Have a look on Merlin's great work for Asus routers and then decide for the right one - as I did!

With kind regards
Joe

 

[Margou]

Hi,

Nowadays are routers based often on same hardware platforms (e.g. Broadcom) and the only real difference is in software.
Knowing Netgear from the past, I doubt about their update and enhancement capabilities on the software side.

On the Asus part you are much more save (as of now and hopefully in the future) when it comes to updates and big fixing.
Have a look on Merlin's great work for Asus routers and then decide for the right one - as I did!

With kind regards
Joe

First off, thanks for your help.

In this test the R7000 does quite a bit better regarding throughput. Also, it apparently has a slightly better CPU installed. And since I plan on using 3rd party firmware anyway, wouldn't that make developer software and update policy kind of unimportant? These are the reasons I wanted to get the R7000 instead of the AC68U. But your comment made me quite uncertain.
Are there any other reasons you'd recommend the AC86U over the R7000 besides the software support?

P.S.: I'm still kind of concerned about that IPv6 problem I read about. So if someone knows more, I'd love to know.

 

[coxhaus]

I would not worry too much about IPv6. You still have time unless you want to be bleeding edge.

 

[RogerSC]

Hi,

Nowadays are routers based often on same hardware platforms (e.g. Broadcom) and the only real difference is in software.
Knowing Netgear from the past, I doubt about their update and enhancement capabilities on the software side.

On the Asus part you are much more save (as of now and hopefully in the future) when it comes to updates and big fixing.
Have a look on Merlin's great work for Asus routers and then decide for the right one - as I did!

With kind regards
Joe

Nowadays *smile* you can get ported RMerlin firmware for the Netgear R7000 (XVortex http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-on-netgear-r7000.71108/). It has the Trend Micro stuff removed since it isn't licensed for use on the R7000, but that's no loss to me. This firmware works quite well on the R7000, very fast and stable.

Or, if you like tomato firmware, you can get Shibby's Tomato ARM firmware for the R7000. There's also DD-WRT firmware for it, as well.

So, if you like the R7000 for being a great piece of hardware, you can get it, and you'll have a good selection of firmware for it. You can always return it, generally before 30 days is up, if it doesn't fill your needs, assuming that you buy it with that in mind *smile*. I've had an R7000 for a couple of years now, and it has been my "go to" router since I got it. I do like to play with new firmware, so I occasionally use the other two routers that I have, but always come back to the R7000.

On the IPv6 side, I have Comcast internet, and IPv6 has worked for me for years. RMerlin on both Asus and the ported RMerlin on the R7000 support IPv6, as does tomato and dd-wrt. I believe the stock firmware for the R7000 and the RT-AC68U also support IPv6. IPv6 isn't something you're likely to need in the next year or so, but it is nice that the firmware that you'll want to use out there supports it. Only one caveat, your ISP may vary, some haven't yet fully deployed IPv6.

 

[System Error Message]

both routers support 3rd party firmware and they both use the same platform however even though on stock the r7000 doesnt have as good firmware it does however handle more wifi clients since it is one of those firmwares that use software to handle wifi clients however with 3rd party firmware there isnt much of a difference.

The stock firmwares do support ipv6 however sometimes the ISP's implementation of ipv6 may not be correct and cause problems.

 

[sfx2000]

The thing is, apparently my ISP is going to change to IPv6 soon. I read about the R7000 having problems with that. Is this still true? Will I be able to resolve this issue by using a different firmware or should I just go with the AC68U or some different router?

Most of the issues with the R7000 revolve around setting up IPv6 tunnels for a native IPv4 connection..

If your ISP provides IPv6 native, the Netgear routers should be fine...

 

[Margou]

Nice! Thanks for all the comments, people. It has been really helpful.