RT-N66U and RT-AC66U - should I sell both and get something better?

[jat80]

I've got a RT-N66U and RT-AC66U router.

I'm currently only using the AC one with stock firmware (latest to date)

I'm wondering with the current Asus hardware that is out there whether it is worth selling both of them and upgrading to something better and if so, what would you recommend?

I don't have a lot of issues with the AC66U other than the 5ghz band can be a little flaky when using it with my 2013 Retina Macbook Pro but I think it's the Macbook not the router as other AC clients work ok.

Also the coverage is not quite full using 5Ghz band to a back room but ok everywhere else.

Not sure what else to add other than I just want something that would improve the 5Ghz range and help keep up with current hardware as I don't want to upgrade later when the current routers are worth nothing second hand. At least now I can get a good price for them here in NZ to put towards a new router.





Any help or opinions would be appreciated. Happy to answer any further questions about my current network environment.

 

[TonyH]

Why ask? To me you're answering your own question yourself, LOL! If you want to improve 5GHz range.
At least in my case 5GHz signal in our family room where our HTPC controls home theater system, first time 5GHz signal strength came up to 50 + some db range. 2.4Ghz signal is 6-7 db better than 5GHz. I repeat first time. My last router was Linksys EA8500. Before EA8500 it was Netgear R7500 which I didn't care much. Now using Netgear R7800. We don't have many Apple stuffs in the house. Just couple iPAD and an old MBP. Bunch of other Windows boxes running W10, W7, plus two wireless printers, indoor, outdoor WiFi surveillance cameras, Synology NAS, etc. Your environment is different so I wouldn't know if you'll get similar improvement. Tried to move around your router to find a better spot?(to me it is very important)

 

[pete y testing]

I've got a RT-N66U and RT-AC66U router.

you certainly will get better coverage with the rt-ac68u and above as to what you have atm but it maybe your environment or construction materials are blocking the 5 gig as it can and does and adding more power just doesnt do much and we can never guarantee coverage because of this so its a case of suck it and see

however if you got ethernet run from the location of the main router to somewhere toward the back of the house and run a second access point in that location you would then have full coverage and throughput etc

for the same reason i run 2 transmissions

see my floor plan in the link below

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=7D5C...1a0742!812&parId=7d5cb240be1a0742!144&o=OneUp

my main router lives at location A but i get quite high loss in location D and E

so i have had ethernet run from location A to location D and run a second wireless router in AP mode at location D

this way the router at location A serves family room , kitchen , theater room , dinning room and deck

the router at location D serves all the bedrooms

both areas now have full wifi sync and throughput on any device thats connected and as they roam from one area to another they switch transmissions accordingly without too much issue once i set the power transmit levels and the roaming assistant on each router

 

[jat80]

you certainly will get better coverage with the rt-ac68u and above as to what you have atm but it maybe your environment or construction materials are blocking the 5 gig as it can and does and adding more power just doesnt do much and we can never guarantee coverage because of this so its a case of suck it and see

however if you got ethernet run from the location of the main router to somewhere toward the back of the house and run a second access point in that location you would then have full coverage and throughput etc

for the same reason i run 2 transmissions

see my floor plan in the link below

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=7D5C...1a0742!812&parId=7d5cb240be1a0742!144&o=OneUp

my main router lives at location A but i get quite high loss in location D and E

so i have had ethernet run from location A to location D and run a second wireless router in AP mode at location D

this way the router at location A serves family room , kitchen , theater room , dinning room and deck

the router at location D serves all the bedrooms

both areas now have full wifi sync and throughput on any device thats connected and as they roam from one area to another they switch transmissions accordingly without too much issue once i set the power transmit levels and the roaming assistant on each router

Thanks Pete. I was thinking of doing that using the N-66U. But was also looking at the RT-AC68U as you suggested.

Just wondering how you setup your SSID's with this setup? I currently have 2 SSID's one for the 2.4 and one for the 5 so the user will need to select which one they would like to connect to.

With the additionally AP do you have 1 or 2 SSID's?

JT.

 

[pete y testing]

Just wondering how you setup your SSID's with this setup? I currently have 2 SSID's one for the 2.4 and one for the 5 so the user will need to select which one they would like to connect to.

its always my preference to run different ssid name for each location so i can identify them , its important as i do a lot of testing and sometimes i would forget to turn off the other transmission and confuse myself lol

i use different channels for both 2.4 gig's and 5 gig'

i set the roaming assistant on and set it to -70db

and turn down the power so they dont overlap too much and it seems to work fine