Upgraded to BT Full Fibre but not seeing full bandwidth

[drinkingbird]

Thanks for the suggestions! I've never downgraded a Merlin firmware version before. How would I go about the process and are there risks involved of potentially bricking the router if it goes wrong?

Should be no different than upgrading. To be safe you can do a WPS button factory reset - minimal config just to get in - downgrade - WPS factory reset again.

Once in you can select "format Jffs on next boot" and restart again, though that may be redundant, I believe the WPS reset does that but can't hurt.

 

[atkinsom]

If you want to downgrade/upgrade/reinstall firmware using the Asus Firmware Restoration utility see link below...works very well and clean as can be. Ignore the why's of using as you can use the tool regardless of situation. Worth a shot as I mentioned in an earlier post as that was the only way I got my 68U working at full speed on Bell Gigabit

How to use Rescue Mode (Firmware Restoration)?

 

[Tech9]

Asus Firmware Resore utility

Not recommended for same branch firmware upgrade/downgrade. The utility has no firmware verification and a small mistake flashing firmware from similar model numbers AC86U, AX68U, AX86U means dead router. This is emergency use utility only and I don't see any emergencies here.

 

[atkinsom]

Not recommended for same branch firmware upgrade/downgrade. The utility has no firmware verification and a small mistake flashing firmware from similar model numbers AC86U, AX68U, AX86U means dead router. This is emergency use utility only and I don't see any emergencies here.

Yes actually you're absolutely right but I was desperate and out of ideas back in the day and damn if it didn't work...no hiccups since that day

 

[routeraround]

B0BHF291D8 is the RT-AX86U Pro...
...If you do still want to get the Pro version it's routinely on sale for £210.99. The current £262 is really bad.

Well I'm in no hurry to upgrade, so I'll wait and see. That price is a little steep right now and my AC68U is chugging along fine.

RT-AX86U Pro is the newer model with upgraded hardware. This router will receive Pro firmware, currently in Beta.

Beta - RT-AX86U_Pro Beta firmware 9.0.0.6.102_3506

This seems to have gone under the radar... https://www.asus.com/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-ax86u-pro/helpdesk_bios/?model2Name=RT-AX86U-Pro ASUS RT-AX86U Pro Firmware version 9.0.0.6.102.3506 Version 9.0.0.6.102.3506 Beta Version 54.47 MB Be noted: This is an...

www.snbforums.com

Pro version indeed has 1x USB 3.2 + 1x USB 2.0 ports, but it's the better router with the fastest currently available hardware.

Thanks to you both for clarification and info. Seems odd to downgrade a USB port for the "Pro" version but this would be of no consequence to me anyway.

As for the GT-AX6000, I'll leave you with the sage critique from my Wife... "No #@?!#!* way!"

 

[gameinn]

Pretty insane deal on ebay right now.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX6000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router AiMesh AiProtection Pro 4711081897019 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for ASUS TUF Gaming AX6000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router AiMesh AiProtection Pro at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

TUF-AX6000 for £130 and free postage. You can get 2 and it will still not reach the price of 1 GT-AX6000.

 

[routeraround]

Pretty insane deal on ebay right now.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX6000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router AiMesh AiProtection Pro 4711081897019 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for ASUS TUF Gaming AX6000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router AiMesh AiProtection Pro at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

TUF-AX6000 for £130 and free postage. You can get 2 and it will still not reach the price of 1 GT-AX6000.

It's only £152 direct from Asus, so why is this so much cheaper than the GT-AX6000 and RT-AX86U Pro?

Hideous looking thing but you could start by putting a coaster on the top I suppose. I really need a vertical form factor though.

 

[Tech9]

We don't have this model around here. Pricing is mostly marketing related. The hardware inside is under $100 for all of them.

 

[Piotrek]

The hardware inside is under $100 for all of them

In my opinion, the cost of hardware (for the manufacturer) is definitely closer to $10.

 

[gameinn]

It's only £152 direct from Asus, so why is this so much cheaper than the GT-AX6000 and RT-AX86U Pro?

Hideous looking thing but you could start by putting a coaster on the top I suppose. I really need a vertical form factor though.

Technically it's worse because it has 512MB RAM compared to the 1GB RAM of the AX6000 and Pro but that's not worth double the price. It's market segmentation gone wild.

I don't think the cost to the manufacturer is $10... probably $15.

 

[Tech9]

The previous popular AC86U model was about $50 rough estimation.

 

[Piotrek]

I don't think the cost to the manufacturer is $10... probably $15.

Inflation?

The previous popular AC86U model was about $50 rough estimation.

Back then, the cost was probably less than $5.

 

[Tech9]

Back then, the cost was probably less than $5.

No. I know what's inside and approx volume price. You can't go that low for this product. I had device manufacturing in China before.

 

[Piotrek]

You can't go that low for this product.

If the estimated consumer price is $130 for RT-AX86S (standard price without tax in my country plus 20-30% off in the promotion), what is the hardware cost?
Where is the profit of the store, reseller, distributor, country representative of the manufacturer, factory and manufacturer (from Taiwan)?
Where is the cost of packaging, storage, transport, technical support, 3 years warranty, software, design, marketing, management, etc.?
Of course, these are just my assumptions resulting from the observation of the prices of equipment from other manufacturers and experience on the electronics and IT market.

 

[gameinn]

Inflation?

Haha most likely.

It's hard to say what device costs are for a multi billion dollar company like Asus. Prices that Chinese manufacturing firms will not give you magically become accessible for them.

I think most of the actual price is the cost of transport and distribution.

 

[Piotrek]

For many of these products, it's also marketing and salaries.
Many products are sold under a different name for different amounts, even though there is practically the same hardware inside (like RT-AX58U = TUF AX3000 = RT-AX82U).

 

[Tech9]

If the estimated consumer price is $130 for RT-AX86S... what is the hardware cost?

I have to open it for a better view, but I expect under $50. It's not $10 though.

Keep in mind products with 3rd party software involvement may generate additional revenue. It may not be the device manufacturers paying TrendMicro for using their products. It can be TrendMicro paying the device manufacturers for using their user base for data collection. The data is used for commercial products improvement or something else generating revenue for TrendMicro in return. It's a bit more complicated than just cost of hardware.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

@routeraround B0BHF291D8 is the RT-AX86U Pro

The £292.21 is the RT-AX86U but it's preowned. The price is just from when someone bought it at Amazon when it was £300+ and their system does not update the price to reflect current market.

I wasn't a fan of the RT-AX86U Pro though. It had worse range in my testing (about 20 foot worse) than the much cheaper RT-AX82U. It also had trouble keeping legacy 2.4 Ghz devices connected. I also had this weird bug that if you connect an ethernet cable it has a random chance to confgiure itself to 10Mbps (never happened on anything else). Unfortunately it seems like Asus has discontinued the RT-AX86U in the UK. If you do still want to get the Pro version it's routinely on sale for £210.99. The current £262 is really bad.

If you're willing to not wait for the Smart Hub 3 launch and can put down £262 you may aswell get the RT-AX88U Pro as it's only about £40 more and much better range: https://dongknows.com/asus-rt-ax88u-pro-review/

Else the GT-AX6000 (also better) is £270 on routine sale.

I purchased the RT-AX88U Pro from Amazon a couple of days ago as the price had dropped by about £40. It seems really good so far and I've mounted it on the wall at the top of the stairs. The little push button for turning off the leds is useful too and they then stay off until the router reboots. Nice touch. The only problem I am having at the moment is trying to get SNMP working, so that I can use Networx to monitor my network data usage/speeds as I don't really want to switch on UPnP (the only other option that Networx can use to monitor all the traffic coming in and out of the router).

 

[dandle]

Should be no different than upgrading. To be safe you can do a WPS button factory reset - minimal config just to get in - downgrade - WPS factory reset again.

Once in you can select "format Jffs on next boot" and restart again, though that may be redundant, I believe the WPS reset does that but can't hurt.

Hi. Sorry for the late reply on this. So I went ahead with your suggestions and can confirm that my trusty old AC68U is now ustilising the full 500 Mbit connection. Thank you for the tips, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Eventually I'll look into upgrading but unfortunately not at this moment. Thanks again.

I understand that .9 and .10 have issues with NVRAM as you mentioned. Could this be rectified in a potential .11 future firmware for the AC68U?

 

[gameinn]

Amazon actually has Asus routers on sale today.

RT-AX86U Pro for £210 or GT-AX6000 for £270