Will the ASUS RT-N66U fill my needs?

[dream3]

Hi there guys!

I'm about to change my ISP and for some weird structural reasons, the ISP's cable will not be right next to my desktop computer as it is now. It will actually be in another room, 15m away.

So I was thinking I needed a setup like this:

1. ISP modem wired to wireless router.
2. Router broadcasts signal in 5ghz to avoid interference.
3. In my room, another router wired to desktop pc grabs the 5ghz signal.
4. The second router broadcasts 2.4ghz for the rest of the house.

Would that be possible with 2 asus rt-n66u routers?

I guess that would be the optimal setup for me. I need a stable and fast connection for my desktop pc, and I need a long-range signal for the house wifi. I guess the tricky part would be making the second asus receive 5ghz and broadcast 2.4ghz.

Thank you!!!

 

[Pierino]

That should work. I'm not sure if stock asus fw on the second would allow it, but if you put dd-wrt on the second rt-n66u, you can set it up following the client bridged wiki for the 5ghz band and then set the 2.4ghz band as an access point.
It's what I do with my netgear r6300, rt-n66u and wndr3700v3.

 

[slidermike]

I agree with Pierino.
Neither stock or Merlin (which is a better than but keeps inline with stock) firmware do not support strictly bridge mode.
They do support repeater mode but that's not exactly the same thing & not what you asked for.

I found that tomato does have a strictly bridge mode.
It works well.

I believe dd-wrt does also but do not have personal experience with it on the N66u.

 

[dream3]

Hey guys, I ended up getting 2 ASUS n66u.

Now I set one in regular router PPoE mode and the other one in repeater mode. Both stock but latest firmware.

The first one is broadcasting both signals 2/4 and 5ghz but the repeater cant see the 5ghz signal, only the 2.4ghz..

Id like to know if Im doing something wrong or maybe repeater mode doesnt support 5ghz with stock firmware?

ps: Should I create another topic?

 

[L&LD]

I don't think a new topic is required...

But 15M and how many walls/obstructions? Same floor? Have you tried different channels? It may be at the far end of the 5GHz range (indoors).

I do know that the RT-N66U is far less capable (range wise) with the stock Asus firmware - try the RMerlin firmware; the latest -36Beta1 SDK5 which works great on my N66U.

You may also consider replacing the N66U's for a couple of AC68U's. They have much better range and throughput than the N only router.

 

[dream3]

I don't think a new topic is required...

But 15M and how many walls/obstructions? Same floor? Have you tried different channels? It may be at the far end of the 5GHz range (indoors).

I do know that the RT-N66U is far less capable (range wise) with the stock Asus firmware - try the RMerlin firmware; the latest -36Beta1 SDK5 which works great on my N66U.

You may also consider replacing the N66U's for a couple of AC68U's. They have much better range and throughput than the N only router.

It would be 15m, same floor, 2 walls obstruction.

But I'm currently setting them up side by side and it won't "see" the 5ghz signal!

Is the Merlin worth it? Is the interface user-friendly? I've managed to set them up pretty damn easily, like I never did before.

And ac68u are out of my budget, unfortunately. But maybe the n66u work out alright, just have to figure out these little issue so I can truly test its performance.

 

[L&LD]

The RMerlin firmware is my preferred way to run Asus routers.

They are as easy as the official Asus ones - without the little glitches.

Make sure you do a 'restore to defaults' after flashing to the SDK5 version and do a manual shut down (wait 5 min) and reboot.

(Oh, and I would be flashing both, btw. Keep in mind that one of them may be faulty, hardware-wise).

Tell us how it goes.

 

[messerchmidt]

I am surprised you did not go rt68u, as the price difference is not much.

Use merlin or ddwrt

if you need mroe range, get some 9db dual band wifi antennas from wifiexpert52 on ebay, using them and loving them.

 

[dream3]

I am surprised you did not go rt68u, as the price difference is not much.

Use merlin or ddwrt

if you need mroe range, get some 9db dual band wifi antennas from wifiexpert52 on ebay, using them and loving them.

It was the ac68u, ac66u or the n66u, thats all the was available at the store.

Read bad reviews about the ac66u, ac68u way to expensive so Im left with n66u!

Installed merlin, did a fresh reset and it's all smooth now. Great router btw!

For more range Im using an old linksys wrt54g, but Im might replace it for a wr1043 which I was using before the n66u!

 

[bodean]

Read bad reviews about the ac66u, ac68u way to expensive so Im left with n66u!

Dont know what review you read of the AC66U. Have had mine well over a year, no issues, been great. Highly rated on newegg.com also.

 

[Lost Dog]

Dont know what review you read of the AC66U. Have had mine well over a year, no issues, been great. Highly rated on newegg.com also.

I had the same decision recently and I went with the N66 as well. From what I've read both the n66u and the AC66u use the same Broadcom BCM4706 @ 600Mhz. I've heard mixed reviews on the N performance of the AC6u. No gain in processing power and no gain in N throughput why pay more?

With the current low adoption (for now) of AC and if you have only N devices why not go for the lower cost option then move to AC in a few years when the dust has settled on the standard?