Mirai - my RT-AC66U?

[Mpuk7]

Thanks, much appreciated. The AX86U or S do look appealing but with prices around £200 or so here in the UK I may have to hold off for the moment until after Christmas. In the interim I may look for an AC68U v4 or AC66U B1? Does the B1 compare well to the AC68U v4?

 

[Tech9]

Does the B1 compare well to the AC68U v4?

No, they are different generation routers. B1 is build around 2012 hardware (AC68U was released in 2013), ARMv7 platform, Linux 2.6.x kernel firmware. V4 is similar to AC86U, HND platform around 2016 (AC86U was released in 2017), ARMv8 64-bit CPU, Linux 4.1x kernel firmware. In some tasks like OpenVPN V4 is about 4 times faster. In routing performance it's about 2 times faster. Completely different routers.

I believe AC68U variants (including B1 and V4) support and development will slow down. For longer support get AX class router, ideally AX86 series. AX58U is something to try, if it comes at good price and you have the option to return it. Asus uses the same hardware for 6-7 different model routers, including "gaming" marketed versions, and they can't drop support very soon. There are two issues with AX58U - 2x2 2.4GHz radio (may not perform very well) and the existence of V2 hardware revision (no Asuswrt-Merlin support). AX68U has good specs on paper, but people complain about it quite often. It's pretty ugly router too. This is the reason I recommended AX86S to you. It has active support and development and is perhaps more reliable. Just wait for the right moment because it comes on sale for $140-180 from time to time in North America. £200 price is too high.

If the budget is very limited, I would get B1 second hand off eBay/Facebook (this model is safe) or new (under £100) quickly just to deal with security issues. This model is still perhaps the best budget router with Asuswrt-Merlin support. It's a direct replacement model for your old AC66U - the same flat design style, ports in the same place (except front USB), the same power adapter (you'll have one spare from your old router).

 

[Mpuk7]

Many thanks Tech9, lots to consider there. I'm starting to move towards the AX86S now and start saving as may be some Black Friday deals possibly.
I've changed the OpenVPN to a much higher non-standard port as well so will monitor the activity and logs, I'll look into anything else I can do to further secure OpenVPN too.
2.4GHz stability is important for me, also (yes I know this is horrendously bad) I use mac filtering rather than security keys on my main 2.4GHz network but security key on my guest 2.4GHz. I have some old devices that I need to get round to configuring better (including a webcam about 20 years old doing a timelapse).

 

[Tech9]

About OpenVPN - your current router can do about 10-20Mbps in a good day, B1 can do about 40-50Mbps, but AX86S can do >200Mbps. It will be a big improvement, if you have fast upload speed or with future ISP upgrades.

About Wi-Fi security - use WPA2 Personal + AES, MAC filtering or hidden SSID is not enough. Replace very old devices dragging down the entire network security. You have bad experience already with old devices (your router).