RT-N66U or RT-AC66U?

[waffles]

I am trying to decide between those 2 routers.

Key for me is router robustness and stability.

Running Merlin f/w therefore seems to be the way to go.

I am leaning towards the AC, as it offers a bit more future proofing - that said, none of my existing devices support AC yet.

After reading through the official reviews and posts, I got the impression that the AC is not yet ready for prime time. However, some of these reviews were already a few months old and I suspect that in the meantime the f/w maturity level has improved. So this impression may no longer be true.

Again, I am mainly interested in system stability, so the question is ' is the AC there yet' or should I better stick with the proven N?

I would appreciate your insights!

 

[mgunner76]

I just purchased the RTAC version the other day and couldn't be happier. While my clients are a mix of G/N, I plan on buying another one and putting it in bridge mode so they can take advantage of the higher speeds. I also added my old G router to the mix as an AP so I didn't limit my N speeds.

I was hesitant in upgrading to AC based on the threads here, but I haven't had any problems. I haven't upgraded my FW and am using version 260 that shipped with the router.

 

[waffles]

Thanks for your comment, mgunner76!

 

[tijaune]

I plunged for rt-ac66u after months of indecision weighting with rt-n66u. I'm just afraid not having the same management facility as provide by Toastman Tomato on rt-n16. It is been running solid since 2 weeks on Merlin 3.0.0.4.270.25, just upgraded to .26 today.

Currently I miss 1) the Tomato static dhcp editable page where ip and hostname can be moved around easily (maybe we can suggest Merlin a future option just for ordering when clicking on column title). Also 2) is the Tomato device status page where rssi and rx/tx can be all seen at a glance (it is still available under wireless log on Merlin). I'm glad that Merlin is based on Asus and itself on Tomato .

 

[waffles]

tijaune, thanks for your feedback.

Re: the features you are missing, isn't Merlin's feature set the same for N and AC? In other words, neither one has currently the features you are missing from Toastman's f/w, correct?

Thanks!

 

[tijaune]

I'm not sure to grasp your question but my main criteria was it has to be supported by any Tomato variant and here I am with the AC, still satisfy by Merlin alternative. The 2 mentioned items were not missing, it is just easier with Tomato.

 

[waffles]

Understood - thanks!

I got my 'AC' today. Flashed it right away to the latest Merlin f/w and am now in the process of setting it up... so far so good.