Something to replace my AC68U with DDNS, SSL and some other perks?

[YoureAWizardMerlin]

Hi folks. My AC68U is pretty much ancient now. Long out of warranty and has been going really well until about a month ago when I started getting massive battery drain on my network. My router may not be broken (probably isn't most likely) but I've still been looking to upgrade for quite a while.

DDNS is the only feature I absolutely cannot live without. So that's really important. I suppose I could set that up from my server but I'd really rather not. Auto generating SSL certs would also be nice so I don't have to worry about that.

I don't know if I want another ASUS router, but I like that I can install Merlin on them so I'd be okay with another one unless there's really some amazing Linksys or whatever out there instead that also supports Merlin. Still I'd like the device to be a marginal upgrade.

My home internet is 100/10 ADSL2.

Currently I have these devices on my network:

2 - Android Phones
1 - eReader (Kobo)
1 - Printer/Scanner (wireless)
1 - Sony Bravia SmartTV
1 - Xbox One X (wired)
1 - Laptop (wired)
1 - PC (wired)
1 - HP ProLiant Server with Dual Gigabit Ethernet
1 - iLO (on the server)
1 - tp-link 4 Port Gigabit Ethernet switch

 

[thiggins]

If you want Merlin, you'll have to use an ASUS router. The RT-AC86U seems to be the go-to replacement for the 68U.

 

[YoureAWizardMerlin]

If you want Merlin, you'll have to use an ASUS router. The RT-AC86U seems to be the go-to replacement for the 68U.

Thanks for the reply, but is that really much of an upgrade?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the reply, but is that really much of an upgrade?

The RT-AC68U still uses current technology (802.11ac 3x3). That router (and its variants such as the RT-AC66U_B1) are still the main recommendation for people looking for a high-end router without any special need, and without breaking their budget.

The RT-AC86U's main benefits are its more modern CPU, better suited for handling USB disk sharing or VPN duties.

Wifi technology hasn't really evolved since the RT-AC68U release. MU-MIMO is more marketing than actual improvement. 4x4 routers are mostly useless as the vast majority of users only have 2x2 clients (and a few have a high-end 3x3 PCI-E card in their PC). TurboQAM is almost purely a marketing gimmick. And since Asuswrt is the same firmware across their entire range, there's currently very little features that are present in the RT-AC86U but not on the RT-AC68U (unlike some other manufacturers where features will vary greatly between different models).

As for tri-band routers, they serve a very specific purpose. If you don't have enough high performance clients, then there's little need to pay a premium for these.