RT-68 VS RT-88. Worth the cost to upgrade?

[ben myers]

I have a rt-68u with the latest firmware. I'm just squeezing by getting a signal to my shed. (I have 20 wifi devices connecting to it). I haven't seen any direct comparison between the two. Will it provide farther coverage than my 68?

 

[sfx2000]

Not at the moment - if you don't need the extra ports, you're ok...

 

[L&LD]

I have a rt-68u with the latest firmware. I'm just squeezing by getting a signal to my shed. (I have 20 wifi devices connecting to it). I haven't seen any direct comparison between the two. Will it provide farther coverage than my 68?

Why restrict yourself to this mysterious 'latest firmware' (by which I assume you mean stock Asus)?

Have you tried RMerlin based forks such as john9527's or hggomes? (RMerlin firmware will be more stable than stock, but usually give same performance as stock Asus).

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-3_hgg-final-mod.26524/page-2#post-199549

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-3_hgg-final-mod.26524/page-10#post-232358

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-380-57-hgg-final.29548/page-17#post-234972


Wait for 380.57.4 of the hggomes firmware to be released for your model (fixes minidnla issue from 380.57.3).

380.57.4_HGG-FINAL
==================


RT-N16 - READY.

RT-N18U - READY.

RT-N66U - READY.

RT-AC66U - READY.

RT-AC56S - READY.

RT-AC56U - READY.

RT-AC68U - READY.

- There are some reports on the new driver causing issues (unable to connect/disconnects), specially on 2.4GHZ band.
This doesnt affect everyone but it seems reproducible on some specific devices.
If that's the case use old driver instead, it will fix it.

RT-AC87U - READY.

RT-AC3100 - DELAYED, IN TEST.

RT-AC3200 - READY.

RT-AC88U - DELAYED, IN TEST.

RT-AC5300 => DELAYED, IN TEST.

As you can see from the Status.txt file above, you'd need to wait to get similar performance improvements from the RT-AC88U (although I'm certain he's working on getting it done, asap).

 

[pete y testing]

I haven't seen any direct comparison between the two. Will it provide farther coverage than my 68?

the asus rt-ac68u has already reached max transmission rate allowed by the regs , so the rt-ac88u cant do any better as it has to comply by the same standards

so it is a case if the rt-ac68u cant cover your wifi coverage needs you will need to run a second wireless access point

it also depends what your shed is made of as it its metal you are in a Faraday cage and may need to look at some sort of external access point or antenna to get that signal into the shed

 

[joegreat]

RT-68 VS RT-88. Worth the cost to upgrade?
I have a rt-68u with the latest firmware. I'm just squeezing by getting a signal to my shed. (I have 20 wifi devices connecting to it). I haven't seen any direct comparison between the two. Will it provide farther coverage than my 68?

I went thru the same thinking as my AC68U got bricked during the recent firmware update:
In my case the extra 30 bugs for a AC87U (not 88U) did the trick: For the small margin I got a much better router (actually a wireless monster! ) with 3 way 2.4 GHz and 4 way 5 GHz (incl. Multi-User MIMO) it's far above what the good old AC68U could do!

Of course the range factor is mostly influenced by HGGs open firmware.

But still in my case the coverage of the 5 GHz does not reach all rooms in full speed, and therefore I stay with my 2 router setup - for the 2.4 GHz band one router would be good enough.

 

[Manny]

Hi all,

My new RT-AC88U will be here tomorrow, what is the best firmware for the RT-AC88U

Thank You,

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Hi all,

My new RT-AC88U will be here tomorrow, what is the best firmware for the RT-AC88U

Thank You,

The latest and stable Asus 1354. Check there website for download. You could also use Merlin's but at this point it's not the latest and based on older 878 code.

 

[Manny]

The latest and stable Asus 1354. Check there website for download. You could also use Merlin's but at this point it's not the latest and based on older 878 code.

Ok, thank you. Will this include the MU-MIMO update?


Thank You,

 

[pete y testing]

no

Ok, thank you. Will this include the MU-MIMO update?

as thats still in very early aplha release stage and unless you willing to test dont bother with it as it will just give you headaches

 

[NightOwl326]

Ok, thank you. Will this include the MU-MIMO update?


Thank You,

Do you have the 2 mu-mimo clients ready to go that would make it of use?