RamGuy
Senior Member
I have gotten myself into a luxury situation whereas I got these routers and I have to send back three out of four, so the big question is which one I should be keeping.
- Apple Time Capsule (2012)
CPU: Marvell 88F6281 @ 1.2GHz
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 16MB
Other: Consumer grade, built-in hard drive (will barely be used because of file-server), great compatibility with Mac systems but have very limited configuration options through AirPort Utility.
- Asus RT-AC66U
CPU: Broadcom BCM4706 @ 600MHz, MIPS32 74K
RAM: 256MB DDR2
Flash: 128MB
Other: Consumer grade, open source.
- Cisco RV 220W
CPU: Cavium CN5010 @ 400MHz, MIPS64
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 32MB
Other: Small business / SOHO / small enterprise grade,
- Netgear WNDR4500
CPU: Broadcom BCM4706 @ 600MHz, MIPS32 74K
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 128MB
Others: Consumer grade, about non-existent updates from Netgear
I have left out the wireless part of the specification, that’s mostly because I never choose router based of their wireless capabilities, especially with 802.11ac progressing and new access points and adapters should be popping up the next year or two making todays solutions mostly irrelevant in a year or two anyway. I got my D-Link DAP-2553 and will keep using at as an access point until 802.11ac is finalised and I can see what solutions will have based on the final specifications.
The RT-AC66U and the WNDR4500 are very much alike in regards of hardware specification, a slight advantage for RT-AC66U because of its 256MB (vs 128MB) RAM. However, I guess that is barely relevant unless you are actually going to use some of the additional features like connecting external hard drive, or printer using the USB port(s), the various number of download managers and what not. As I’ve got a dedicated file-server and whatnot I won’t touch features like this which tend to have sub-par performance anyway so going over 128MB RAM would be difficult I guess.
For me the WNDR4500 falls short because of its firmware. It lacks features compared to Asus’s one and it seems like Netgear is pushing out new routers every week and abandon their old ones as soon as a new version or revision is released. So the WNDR4500, despite not being an old model by any stretch is barley seeing any updates any longer. Asus is pushing open source making it possible for some very decent third party firmware’s to really shine.
Comparing the RT-AC66U to the Apple Time Capsule is another horse, completely. The hardware is not alike at all, the Marvell SoC seems impressive just because of raw clock speed (1.2GHz vs 600MHz) but routing performance does not favour the Time Capsule and its Marvell SoC.
It is damn hard to conclude anything regarding the Apple Time Capsule, its hardware and raw performance numbers are not on the same level as the RT-AC66U but it is no lacklustre by any stretch of the imagination. The problem is that it behaves just as Apple wants it to, “it just works”. You have barely any advanced configuration options to deal with at all, you simply have to live with it as it is and be happy with that and I can’t really tell if it actually support features like UPNP from Windows clients at all? You have no webui to deal with, everything goes through Apple’s own AirPort Utility making the whole configuration process graphically enhanced and ease from users but again you lack about every advanced configuration aspects you can think of. How does one actually do any port forwarding or anything at all with the latest firmware and AirPort Utility (?). It is weird and does not feel right for advanced users, but my time with the Apple Time Capsule has mostly been flawless, the performance has been plenty from my connection (120 / 120 mbit) and should be plenty in the years to come and even though I have no advanced options everything seems to fix itself anyway and “just works”.
I sit with the same feeling I had when I start using my first Mac two and a half years ago. It does not feel right to give away all those advanced options and live by Apple’s rules but once you settle down and get used to it one start to ask yourself why you would really want to fiddle with all those options to begin with when the end result feels just as good.
The again, considering the hardware, the very limited configuration possibilities, no webui and everything I have a really hard time settle with all this a permanent solution because without any advanced option how are one supposed to get around networking hiccups at might occur in the future? What am I supposed to do with I suddenly get a port I need to forward and there is not port forwarding options in the router, there is no UPNP or DMZ function to activate.
Last, we have the Cisco RV 220W, probably the most advanced router of the whole bunch. The hardware should be on-par with the RT-AC66U and WNDR4500, we got 128MB RAM and a Cavium CN5010 with lower clock speed but it should be an overall better chip than the Broadcom BCM4706. As a Cisco small business product, one should expect it to have firmware development for years to come. In addition, you have decent amount of advanced options in the firmware. However, there is automatic in a small business / SOHO / small enterprise router is better performing than a high-end consumer router and as far as I know Cisco does not really support their small business solutions themselves but outsource it to other companies like TeamF1 whom are developing the firmware for the RV 220W.
My experience with these routers have been next to flawless, making the choice very hard. The only disappointment have been a useless DMZ on the WNDR4500 and lacklustre firmware updates from Netgear, a somewhat useless QoS on the RT-AC66U and the lacklustre advanced configuration capabilities of the Time Capsule after Apple’s latest firmware and AirPort Utility update.
So the big question remains, which one to pick and why?
- Apple Time Capsule (2012)
CPU: Marvell 88F6281 @ 1.2GHz
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 16MB
Other: Consumer grade, built-in hard drive (will barely be used because of file-server), great compatibility with Mac systems but have very limited configuration options through AirPort Utility.
- Asus RT-AC66U
CPU: Broadcom BCM4706 @ 600MHz, MIPS32 74K
RAM: 256MB DDR2
Flash: 128MB
Other: Consumer grade, open source.
- Cisco RV 220W
CPU: Cavium CN5010 @ 400MHz, MIPS64
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 32MB
Other: Small business / SOHO / small enterprise grade,
- Netgear WNDR4500
CPU: Broadcom BCM4706 @ 600MHz, MIPS32 74K
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Flash: 128MB
Others: Consumer grade, about non-existent updates from Netgear
I have left out the wireless part of the specification, that’s mostly because I never choose router based of their wireless capabilities, especially with 802.11ac progressing and new access points and adapters should be popping up the next year or two making todays solutions mostly irrelevant in a year or two anyway. I got my D-Link DAP-2553 and will keep using at as an access point until 802.11ac is finalised and I can see what solutions will have based on the final specifications.
The RT-AC66U and the WNDR4500 are very much alike in regards of hardware specification, a slight advantage for RT-AC66U because of its 256MB (vs 128MB) RAM. However, I guess that is barely relevant unless you are actually going to use some of the additional features like connecting external hard drive, or printer using the USB port(s), the various number of download managers and what not. As I’ve got a dedicated file-server and whatnot I won’t touch features like this which tend to have sub-par performance anyway so going over 128MB RAM would be difficult I guess.
For me the WNDR4500 falls short because of its firmware. It lacks features compared to Asus’s one and it seems like Netgear is pushing out new routers every week and abandon their old ones as soon as a new version or revision is released. So the WNDR4500, despite not being an old model by any stretch is barley seeing any updates any longer. Asus is pushing open source making it possible for some very decent third party firmware’s to really shine.
Comparing the RT-AC66U to the Apple Time Capsule is another horse, completely. The hardware is not alike at all, the Marvell SoC seems impressive just because of raw clock speed (1.2GHz vs 600MHz) but routing performance does not favour the Time Capsule and its Marvell SoC.
It is damn hard to conclude anything regarding the Apple Time Capsule, its hardware and raw performance numbers are not on the same level as the RT-AC66U but it is no lacklustre by any stretch of the imagination. The problem is that it behaves just as Apple wants it to, “it just works”. You have barely any advanced configuration options to deal with at all, you simply have to live with it as it is and be happy with that and I can’t really tell if it actually support features like UPNP from Windows clients at all? You have no webui to deal with, everything goes through Apple’s own AirPort Utility making the whole configuration process graphically enhanced and ease from users but again you lack about every advanced configuration aspects you can think of. How does one actually do any port forwarding or anything at all with the latest firmware and AirPort Utility (?). It is weird and does not feel right for advanced users, but my time with the Apple Time Capsule has mostly been flawless, the performance has been plenty from my connection (120 / 120 mbit) and should be plenty in the years to come and even though I have no advanced options everything seems to fix itself anyway and “just works”.
I sit with the same feeling I had when I start using my first Mac two and a half years ago. It does not feel right to give away all those advanced options and live by Apple’s rules but once you settle down and get used to it one start to ask yourself why you would really want to fiddle with all those options to begin with when the end result feels just as good.
The again, considering the hardware, the very limited configuration possibilities, no webui and everything I have a really hard time settle with all this a permanent solution because without any advanced option how are one supposed to get around networking hiccups at might occur in the future? What am I supposed to do with I suddenly get a port I need to forward and there is not port forwarding options in the router, there is no UPNP or DMZ function to activate.
Last, we have the Cisco RV 220W, probably the most advanced router of the whole bunch. The hardware should be on-par with the RT-AC66U and WNDR4500, we got 128MB RAM and a Cavium CN5010 with lower clock speed but it should be an overall better chip than the Broadcom BCM4706. As a Cisco small business product, one should expect it to have firmware development for years to come. In addition, you have decent amount of advanced options in the firmware. However, there is automatic in a small business / SOHO / small enterprise router is better performing than a high-end consumer router and as far as I know Cisco does not really support their small business solutions themselves but outsource it to other companies like TeamF1 whom are developing the firmware for the RV 220W.
My experience with these routers have been next to flawless, making the choice very hard. The only disappointment have been a useless DMZ on the WNDR4500 and lacklustre firmware updates from Netgear, a somewhat useless QoS on the RT-AC66U and the lacklustre advanced configuration capabilities of the Time Capsule after Apple’s latest firmware and AirPort Utility update.
So the big question remains, which one to pick and why?
