New Asus RT-87U

[Raiu]

Merlin, will the 68u get these features with the Qos or do I need to get this router to get them? Also for reading that one post if I'm reading it correctly since I have a ton of legacy devices and newer ones with ac the 87 would help out with with link speed and through put?

 

[Hello World]

Do I need the 87U?

I was hoping Mr. Merlin could answer a question for me.

I have 5 PC's. 4 use Win-7 and 1 uses WIN-XP. Two Apple Ipad's, 2 Iphones (3GS/5S) two Sony Blu-Ray players (Using NETFLIX), an X-Box 360, a Wii and a Smart Tv (using NETFLIX), a guest network which routinely uses Iphones/ipPads) all wireless. It's a veritable cornucopia of B, G and N wireless. I'm on Time Warner ISP and routinely get 15-20 Mbps download. I currently use a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Router Flashed with DD-WRT. My router is working fine, but occasional i get audio drop-outs using my Smart Tv with NETFLIX (could be NETFLIX Problem). I would like to be able to set up a WD External Hard drive as a NAS.

Question: Is the ASUS 87U/R the right router for me? Will I see any noticeable improvement using this router?

Thanks

 

[Wolf26pack]

It can't come soon enough

For anyone interested, here's our unboxing and setup video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWABCJKaSFE&hd=1

Wow, I dont know who your provider is,or what speed your paying for but it leaves me severely optimistic about this router. Seeing that speed shoot up like that gave me shivers lol j/k but its impressive none the less. And thanks to those answering my question about Bestbuy. Kudos to All!!

 

[RMerlin]

Merlin, will the 68u get these features with the Qos or do I need to get this router to get them? Also for reading that one post if I'm reading it correctly since I have a ton of legacy devices and newer ones with ac the 87 would help out with with link speed and through put?

No idea what are Asus's plans for the AC68U. I know that one problem is the firmware partition is currently too small on the AC68U to contain this, however there are various ways to work around it. I did by removing the built-in Download Master packages (so they get downloaded at install time instead of unpacked from the firmware).

Personally I should be able to support it, however I won't know for sure until I get the final source code, as things might have changed. There are a lot of pieces that must fit together, including the wireless driver. But currently I've been running the new stuff (older beta version) on my AC68U without any problem.

An AC87U might not be mandatory, however it will definitely provide a better experience than with an AC56/AC68, due to its faster CPU. That new stuff can get CPU intensive at times.

I can't really answer on the wifi performance bit as I'm not sure I understand 100% of how MU-MIMO works (or even how different wifi clients interact with one another - wireless radio stuff isn't exactly my expertise). I have a feeling that it won't help you much, unless you were to keep those legacy clients on the 2.4 GHz band, and keep the 5 GHz band for the faster ones.

 

[maxtoid]

Wow, I dont know who your provider is,or what speed your paying for but it leaves me severely optimistic about this router. Seeing that speed shoot up like that gave me shivers lol j/k but its impressive none the less. And thanks to those answering my question about Bestbuy. Kudos to All!!

haha yeah... would you believe we only pay $70 a month for unlimited gigabit internet? Had a job offer in another city across the US... turned it down because I literally can't leave the area. Honestly, our ISP is what spurred this whole desire for the best router.

 

[Wolf26pack]

haha yeah... would you believe we only pay $70 a month for unlimited gigabit internet? Had a job offer in another city across the US... turned it down because I literally can't leave the area. Honestly, our ISP is what spurred this whole desire for the best router.

Have you got Google Fiber? I'm paying stupid AT&T about $43/month including taxes for freaking 12Mbs. I hope google fiber makes its way to Los Angeles one day soon.

 

[maxtoid]

Have you got Google Fiber? I'm paying stupid AT&T about $43/month including taxes for freaking 12Mbs. I hope google fiber makes its way to Los Angeles one day soon.

lol I have the only company that beat Google at anything... and by a decade.

http://chattanoogagig.com/

 

[Wolf26pack]

lol I have the only company that beat Google at anything... and by a decade.

http://chattanoogagig.com/

Seems Los Angeles is far behind the times

 

[funkahdafi]

I just need a clarification. As you guys know that MU-MIMO is a wave 2 version of 802.11ac.

Is MU-MIMO a AP/router only functionality? If it is, does it mean that the Wave 1 802.11ac clients or even N 5 GHz clients benefit from MU-MIMO due to it being depended on the router's TX stream?

MU-MIMO needs client support. If your client is not capable of doing MU-MIMO, you won't get the MU-MIMO benefits. At this moment, there are no client devices I know of that would support it.

On the other hand, the XStream technology used in the AC3200 routers like the R8000 or the upcoming Asus AC3200 are completely independant of the client. That technology works even with the oldest Wifi clients.

That's why I said earlier that the AC3200 routers might actually be a better choice for most people, because it works out of the box and brings you better throughput for all your devices.

Also note that there are no Wifi clients out there that could make use of the AC87's 4x4 design.

The only situation where the AC87 would bring you an advantage over the prvious models (throughput-wise) right now would be linking two AC87 together in a bridge mode setup. The link between the two would make use of the 4x4 design, e.g. bring the link up to 1750 mbit.

The benefits of the AC87 will only be visible once MU-MIMO and/or 4x4 clients become available.

Of course, as Merlin said, the AC87 is not just about the higher link speed, it also offers some other nice features.

 

[Raiu]

MU-MIMO needs client support. If your client is not capable of doing MU-MIMO, you won't get the MU-MIMO benefits. At this moment, there are no client devices I know of that would support it.

On the other hand, the XStream technology used in the AC3200 routers like the R8000 or the upcoming Asus AC3200 are completely independant of the client. That technology works even with the oldest Wifi clients.

That's why I said earlier that the AC3200 routers might actually be a better choice for most people, because it works out of the box and brings you better throughput for all your devices.

Also note that there are no Wifi clients out there that could make use of the AC87's 4x4 design.

The only situation where the AC87 would bring you an advantage over the prvious models (throughput-wise) right now would be linking two AC87 together in a bridge mode setup. The link between the two would make use of the 4x4 design, e.g. bring the link up to 1750 mbit.

The benefits of the AC87 will only be visible once MU-MIMO and/or 4x4 clients become available.

Of course, as Merlin said, the AC87 is not just about the higher link speed, it also offers some other nice features.

I really need the Qos and other features.

 

[damir]

This will be good futureproof router

 

[Gary Key]

Our first client for the AC87U will ship in late August.

 

[zaczac]

Just curious before I buy a new router, how is the CPU on this? is it any better then say the RT-AC56U? I planned on running openvpn on the router and want the most out of my 50/10 connection.

Also tried searching but didn't find much info. But how fast should I expect my connection to be when running the vpn on the router?

Thanks!

 

[damir]

Should be 1GHz (dual core)
Exact specs, i think ... you will hear about it tomorrow.

 

[wouterv]

In general I would say:
At this moment only 802.11n is fully developped and widely integrated, although still many 802.11n clients (laptops and such) only partly support it due to a limited number of antenna's/radios.
Have a look here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...0211ac-will-kill-the-5-ghz-wi-fi-band?start=1
the 802.11ac standard is defined, but equipment is in full development.
The 802.11ac standard describes the maximum number of data streams (8), the maximum allowed bandwidth (160MHz), modulation method (Quam), Multiuser streams and much more. The standard leaves it to manufacturers to what out of the set of specifications they build in to their devices.
For wizzkids, have a look here:
www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/files/ieee802-11ac-the-next-evolution-of-wi-fi.pdf
No matter what you buy, both ends of the wireless connection shall be compatible for the best possible results.
An old 802.11g network adapter connected to a 802.11ac router will result in only 802.11g performance.
The same is true for devices that only support parts of the 802.11ac standard, the final performance depends on the highests supported standard that both ends have in common.
My old complain is regarding poor DFS support. Because 802.11ac only works on 5 GHz, DFS MUST work flawless to allow good 802.11AC support in many regions of the world.
Keep a clear eye on your budget and your real needs and buy today what you can afford and what you need today. Do NOT buy this kind of equipment for the future, you will be disappointed (next month and next year new, more fancy equipment will be available).

 

[funkahdafi]

An old 802.11g network adapter connected to a 802.11ac router will result in only 802.11g performance.
The same is true for devices that only support parts of the 802.11ac standard, the final performance depends on the highests supported standard that both ends have in common.

Not just both ends. An old 802.11g client will only receive 802.11g speeds of course, but if it is connected to the radio the same time you have a fully compatible 802.11ac client on there, the speed for the 802.11ac client will also suffer. Severly.

And that is exaclty what the XStream (AC3200) devices can prevent. MU-MIMO on the other hand cannot prevent this.

As long as you have a mixed client environment, your wifi will operate based on the slowest common denominator. You have old g devices and new ac devices, the ac devices will suffer.

 

[inc77]

Perfect timing... my old router is crapping out on me... will probably pick this up today

 

[thiggins]

I would say for most people it's probably irrelevant. If you want the highest possible link speed, the AC2300 routers like the AC87 will be your best bet (also for range). If you can live with current AC1900 speeds, but you have a large amount of mixed devices AND you need a rock solid, high speed wifi bridge for bluray streaming, the AC3200 is the better choice.

Like AC1900 and AC1750 routers, very few devices benefit from the higher link speeds possible with 3x3 and now 4x4 routers. The bigger number is mainly a marketing ploy aimed at the majority of buyers who have been trained to think the bigger number on the box is better. And for people who buy two routers and run one in bridge mode, the highest link rate is available only at short distances.

4x4 routers that support MU-MIMO will provide a possible benefit, once clients that support MU-MIMO are available. But actual total throughput gain depends on a LOT of factors. So the real result, just as with Broadcom's XStream, remains to be seen.

 

[thiggins]

This will be good futureproof router

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...32183-5-tips-for-buying-a-future-proof-router

 

[IAAI]

Asus ac2400/rt-ac87r

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...32183-5-tips-for-buying-a-future-proof-router

R u planning to review ac87 anytime soon ?

U r reviews help me a lot making my decision