Whats the best Asus router that i can use this fw with?

[zekesdad]

I have an ac68u and it just doesn't seem to be handling higher bitrate 4k streaming very well, especially if there is more than more going concurrently, so im looking to upgrade and hopefully fix the issue. Is the RT-AC5300 the best router that currently is supported with the merlin fw? Is there another product coming out next tuesday that I should wait on? Thanks for any input.

 

[skeal]

I have an ac68u and it just doesn't seem to be handling higher bitrate 4k streaming very well, especially if there is more than more going concurrently, so im looking to upgrade and hopefully fix the issue. Is the RT-AC5300 the best router that currently is supported with the merlin fw? Is there another product coming out next tuesday that I should wait on? Thanks for any input.

My choice would be the AC86U. Great router. What is coming out next Tuesday?

 

[zekesdad]

Oh, nothing that i know of, I just dont want to spend $350 on a router if the new one is supposed to hit in september.

 

[z3r0k3wl]

I've been using 86U since it came out. So far best router I've owned aside from the 68U.

I've ordered a 2nd one cause they're that good. BTW, if you happen to live in Canada, it's on sale at Staples.ca for $199.99 and free delivery. I think that's the cheapest I've seen it north of the border.

https://www.staples.ca/en/asus-ac29...uter-rt-ac86u-ca/product_2860115_1-CA_1_20001

 

[DonnyJohnny]

I have an ac68u and it just doesn't seem to be handling higher bitrate 4k streaming very well, especially if there is more than more going concurrently, so im looking to upgrade and hopefully fix the issue. Is the RT-AC5300 the best router that currently is supported with the merlin fw? Is there another product coming out next tuesday that I should wait on? Thanks for any input.

Asus numbering always misleading. ac88 is not as good as ac86. If u check the spec of ac5300 and ac86, ac86 seems faster.

[URL]https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC86U[/URL]
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC5300

There is no doubt in ac86 one of the best. It’s linux kernel version also higher than ac5300 if not wrong. 2.6 vs 4.1

 

[Grisu]

Nothing next days or month.
And 86U is much better and even much cheaper than 88U!

 

[zekesdad]

Nothing next days or month.
And 86U is much better and even much cheaper than 88U!

Ok, about that...

What could possibly be the reason for that naming scheme, doesn't that have to confuse people? Like, if nvidia had the 1060, 1070, and 1080 and the 1070 was the better one?

 

[Grisu]

ask asus ...
others compare in many situations senseless ACxxxx values, they dont reflect real live perfomance too!

 

[Mutzli]

I think a new router series is coming in November with 802.11ax support. The RT-AX92U and RT-AX88U look very interesting. But we don't know if Merlin will support any of the new routers yet. I guess it'll all depend on what ASUS plans are to release any source files. But until then the RT-AC86U is your best bet. I have an RT-AC87U that needs an update, but at this point I'll definitely wait and see what the near future brings.

 

[Kingp1n]

Newegg currently has the ac86u refurbished units for $140....not too bad. Might be good deal if youre looking to upgrade

 

[sfx2000]

I have an ac68u and it just doesn't seem to be handling higher bitrate 4k streaming very well, especially if there is more than more going concurrently, so im looking to upgrade and hopefully fix the issue. Is the RT-AC5300 the best router that currently is supported with the merlin fw? Is there another product coming out next tuesday that I should wait on? Thanks for any input.

I would put more emphasis on the playback machine rather than the router - the RT-AC68U is still a very relevant device, and replacing it without looking at the client side is a bit short-sighted. Just replacing the router, you may not see any difference at all.

Questions to think about:

• What are you doing 4K playback on and what kind of media?
• Are you doing HEVC and/or H.265?
• What bit rates is your content coded at?

I've got a little AllWinner H3 based Android Box (Beelink X2), that nominally will do 4K playback (just barely), but definitely struggles with it's built-in WiFi (it's 802.11n 2.4GHz)...

Replacing the router would not make things any better, as it's client limited.

The router just carries bits - and the RT-AC68U, like any AC1900 class Router/AP, does a fair job of that - with 4K media, it's more about the display device and content.

 

[zekesdad]

I would put more emphasis on the playback machine rather than the router - the RT-AC68U is still a very relevant device, and replacing it without looking at the client side is a bit short-sighted. Just replacing the router, you may not see any difference at all.

Questions to think about:

• What are you doing 4K playback on and what kind of media?
• Are you doing HEVC and/or H.265?
• What bit rates is your content coded at?

I've got a little AllWinner H3 based Android Box (Beelink X2), that nominally will do 4K playback (just barely), but definitely struggles with it's built-in WiFi (it's 802.11n 2.4GHz)...

Replacing the router would not make things any better, as it's client limited.

The router just carries bits - and the RT-AC68U, like any AC1900 class Router/AP, does a fair job of that - with 4K media, it's more about the display device and content.

Oh, no doubt. I'm just waiting for the 9700 to come out so I can upgrade my gaming PC and move the turn the 7700 into my media server.

 

[sfx2000]

Oh, no doubt. I'm just waiting for the 9700 to come out so I can upgrade my gaming PC and move the turn the 7700 into my media server.

????

those numbers don't mean much to me...

 

[wizin]

My choice would be the AC86U. Great router. What is coming out next Tuesday?

I suppose https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/5/17429032/asus-80211ax-routers-announced-rog-gaming

I just the 86U as well and have 15 days to return - its awesome but if something is that new then would be interested

Staples is sold out and I went to price match it, in memory express, they said cannot for out of stock items

 

[RMerlin]

Wifi is a two-way street - make sure the bottleneck isn't the network interface on your clients. A client with a single stream (466 Mbps) wireless interface won't be any faster with a newer/bigger/faster router.

CPU-wise and wifi-wise, the RT-AC68U shouldn't have too much trouble handing that, provided the client can match it.

 

[sfx2000]

A client with a single stream (466 Mbps) wireless interface won't be any faster with a newer/bigger/faster router.

Just to add - assuming 2.4GHz, might even be limited to 72Mbps (or lower) for a single stream client device.