Need an Asuswrt-Merlin compatible router to replace a dying AC68U....

After years of buying garbage residential routers (all of which died after ~6-9 months), I finally wised up and got a "good" router. At the time I decided on the Asus AC68U. That was five years ago. A couple years in, the 5Ghz antenna died, but I frankly didn't care, because I don't need bleeding fast speeds, I just need reliable connectivity, so I fell back on the 2.4Ghz antenna. At some point, I installed Asuswrt-Merlin to automate some things, and I need those things to keep working, one of them being a PPTP VPN connection (yes, I know... I'm using PPTP for a reason, though).

Anyway, I have two hardline devices (TV and work laptop) and a dozen or so WiFi devices (laptops, tablets, phones, etc). I do casual gaming on one of the WiFi-connected laptops. Over the last few months, I've been having occasional issues with stuttering or severe latency issues, forcing me to restart the router. Then, more recently, even my hardline devices showed issues with connectivity or latency. So, I think it may be time to get a replacement.

My first inclination was to just buy another AC68U, since this one lasted five years (minus the 5GHz antenna going out), but it looks like that model is getting old and I'm concerned it will be harder to find a new (not refurbished) one, or that Asuswrt-Merlin will stop supporting it (as it is listed in the "older platform" list of their supported devices). So, I looked around for other options. My main criteria is that it absolutely must support Asuswrt-Merlin and that it must be reliable and long-lasting. I'm not looking to spend 300 bucks for this and I don't care if there are faster options. I mainly want something that I won't have to be restarting 9 months from now (or even five years from now).

TL;DR... I need a router that runs reliably, lasts a long time, supports Asuswrt-Merlin, can be easily acquired new, and is in the mid-100's price range.

Here are the options I'm currently looking at:

1) Get another AC68U (see concerns above)
2) Get an AC86U. My main concern here is if it runs hot. It's a "gaming" router, and I read some concerns about overheating. Yes, it'll be faster than an AC68, but if the trade-off is having to buy an elaborate system of pulleys and fans to keep it cool, then no thank you.
3) Get an AX-3000. This came up as a good option, but Asuswrt-Merlin's website says it only supports "V1" of this model, and looking at online retailers, they don't specify which "V" they're selling, so I don't know that I'm getting the right version.
4) Get an AX68U. This one has the advantage of being "Wifi 6" (whatever the hell that means), but there have been some negative comments on this forum about this one.

Do any of these come across as a clear winner, or is there another model I should be looking at? Any help would be appreciated.

No winner on your list above.

1) 10-years old tech, growing issues with low NVRAM, no 388 firmware
2) 6-years old in mid 2023, history of hardware issues, unresolved software issues, no 388 firmware
3) No Asuswrt-Merlin support on common now V2, V1 perhaps discontinued and losing Asuswrt-Merlin support
4) Long history of connection issues, replaced by various AX58U based hardware AX3000/AX5400 models now

The cheaper current model I would look at is RT-AX86S. If the budget allows - RT-AX86U. If the budget allows more - RT-AX86U Pro.

The RT-AX68U is far superior to the RT-AX58U suggested by the less knowledgeable.

It easily and definitively surpasses the old Asus/RMerlin AC class 'king', the RT-AC86U.

Getting a new router today with RMerlin support, an AX class router is required for faster ISP speeds as you have.

The RT-AX68U is a great entry-level AX class router for anything below 1Gbps ISP speeds, as is the now long-in-the-tooth RT-AX86U and its (undesirable) variants for up to 1Gbps ISP speeds.

If you want/need or expect to get ISP speeds of greater than 1Gbps or want/need a faster than 1GbE LAN, then the best bang for the buck today is still the GT-AX6000.

Forget the 'pro' designations and the crippled 's' models. Marketing fluff with important features missing vs. the usually cheaper (when on sale) GT-AX6000.

L&LD said:

The RT-AX68U is far superior to the RT-AX58U suggested by the less knowledgeable.

It easily and definitively surpasses the old Asus/RMerlin AC class 'king', the RT-AC86U.

Getting a new router today with RMerlin support, an AX class router is required for faster ISP speeds as you have.

The RT-AX68U is a great entry-level AX class router for anything below 1Gbps ISP speeds, as is the now long-in-the-tooth RT-AX86U and its (undesirable) variants for up to 1Gbps ISP speeds.

If you want/need or expect to get ISP speeds of greater than 1Gbps or want/need a faster than 1GbE LAN, then the best bang for the buck today is still the GT-AX6000.

Forget the 'pro' designations and the crippled 's' models. Marketing fluff with important features missing vs. the usually cheaper (when on sale) GT-AX6000.

[ 386.4 alpha Build(s) ] Testing available build(s)

There are some odd regressions being discussed on the dnsmasq-discuss list from the PiHole guy (Dominik). https://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/pipermail/dnsmasq-discuss/2021q3/015598.html https://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/pipermail/dnsmasq-discuss/2021q3/015596.html I see Merlin is testing 2.86 out...

www.snbforums.com

Click to expand...

OK, thanks. I don't have 1Gbps ISP speeds, and even if I did, I wouldn't care about making full use of them over WiFi. Are you saying I should consider the AX68U despite some concerns mentioned elsewhere? As for the GT-AX6000, that's more than I want to plunk down for a router.


Also, as an FYI, my current Asuswrt-Merlin firmware is 384.19. I'd like to be able to transfer as much of the settings as I can. Is this possible when moving from the AC68U? Or do I just have to reconfigure everything?

Tech9 said:

No winner on your list above.

1) 10-years old tech, growing issues with low NVRAM, no 388 firmware
2) 6-years old in mid 2023, history of hardware issues, unresolved software issues, no 388 firmware
3) No Asuswrt-Merlin support on common now V2, V1 perhaps discontinued and losing Asuswrt-Merlin support
4) Long history of connection issues, replaced by various AX58U based hardware AX3000/AX5400 models now

The cheaper current model I would look at is RT-AX86S. If the budget allows - RT-AX86U. If the budget allows more - RT-AX86U Pro.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will look into the AX86S.

WATYF said:

Also, as an FYI, my current Asuswrt-Merlin firmware is 384.19. I'd like to be able to transfer as much of the settings as I can. Is this possible when moving from the AC68U? Or do I just have to reconfigure everything?

Click to expand...

Take screenshots and plunk them down in a Word docx... then, when you're setting up your new router, replicate as many as you possibly can. Knowing that there may be some feature differences between your AC68U and whatever you're getting.

WATYF said:

Are you saying I should consider the AX68U despite some concerns mentioned elsewhere?

Click to expand...

Avoid this model. Often comes cheap for a reason. Stores are clearing out whatever is left. Here in Canada it disappeared long time ago. One only person on SNB Forums is actively advertising this model. The rest are in issues threads. Not too many as it was never popular.

All models have some 'concerns' for a small set of users. Just ignore certain posters' advice who don't actually use any Asus products in the first place.

Nobody is advertising them (the same poster likes to twist the truth to his benefit, in addition to making things up to 'prove' how smart he is in his own mind).

As @Viktor Jaep stated, manually configure the new router. There are some settings and other options which are not in your current firmware or are even entirely opposite to what you may know today.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I ended up ordering an RT-AX86S. They're running about half the price of the AX86U's right now (and even a little cheaper than the AX68U's), and since I don't really need the extra performance of the 86U, I think the 86S will work just fine (it's a far cry better than my current AC68U anyway).

Better choice. The AX68U model you were looking at was the only one built around BCM6710 radios and things didn’t go well. No other model after came in this hardware configuration. This chip was used for 2.4GHz band only in few models. It had long time issues with Broadcom provided wireless drivers and 5GHz band. Enjoy!