87u upgrade to 86u, 3100 or 5300 with Merlin

[Goofie Newfie]

My 87u is acting up. Rebooting etc. Merlins firmware has kept it alive this long, thanks man.

So my requirements are as such

1. Merlins firmware REQUIRED. You rock!
2. strong 2.4 for security camera's. Several
3. I have a 1gig 24 port Procurve, not much need for 8 ports on router itself.
4. 3 PC's wired, 3 tablets, 4 Nest protects, smartv wireless 5gig, rasberri pi/ kodi wired, 2 phones (iPhone 7 and S9),2 Xbox ones with one being wireless, PS3/PS4 pro wired, 11 cameras (6 wireless 2.4gig) running 1080p, 2 laptops wireless, 2 smart av receivers wired...probably some more I'm missing. Not a lot of these are on at the same time. Only two adults, no kids. But I am a tech guy, IT admin, fiber 200meg, and have sinology cubes also wired doing r-synch backups from remote sites too. Yeah so It's a lot. Anything that can be wired is.
5. Plus I have one dead spot that no router has been able to cover by itself. The 87u barely gets 2.4 out in that corner so maybe I'll consider using the 87u as a extender in that corner if needed...would prefer one router though.
6. Link Aggreg. would be nice but not required
7. Reliable and stable. 87u has pushed my nerves. Have had fan on it since day one, runs hot.
8.. Must have iptv option. I only feed internet through it but I refuse to use Bell's fiber router so I need to set lan one to vlan 35


I picked these three from reading here, but also price drops. I'm in Canada. RT-5300 is now 399, 3100 is 299, and 86u around 300....but honestly didn't price 86u much yet.

Too tired now, maybe I missed something above, had to rebuild and reconfig the 87u tonight from scratch. Give it one last try. I lock everything down via MAC filtering and dhcp reservations...lots of work....

 

[VANT]

i chose 86u (also from 87u)

 

[Goofie Newfie]

I didn't realize I didn't post this in the proper section. I had so many windows open last night while reading as much as I could. Delete it, move it, whatever, sorry.

 

[Goofie Newfie]

So after reading far too many posts I've gotten only more confused.

86u seems highly rated. I'm ruling out the 3100 (non 88u) But I'm not ruling out the RT-5300. About a $140 difference in cost between the 86/5300 which is Canadian. Nothing to sneeze at but willing to pay it if it gets more distance on the 2.4 and 5. GT-5300 not supported by merlin, and way too $$$ anyways over the RT. RT seems supported by Merlin.

Only advantages of the 86 seem to be: Newer, better CPU, cheaper, better VPN which I don't use or care for. Better USB writes, which I don't care for. Certainly better looking. If I could get two on sale, maybe use the mesh but reading up on that seems to indicate it's not reliable, and I can't use Merlin's if I want Mesh, plus Merlin's firmware for this is still "figuring it out"?

5300 is tri band, ugly af. slower cpu, Merlin seems to support it. Every test I've read so far seems to give it the edge over the 86 in distance, speed, and has link aggreg. which I would use to my HP switch. Large, and runs a little warm. Sp performance wise this seems to be the winner - it's just ugly and more $$$ But is it an oddball that Merlin won't support soon?

So, do people just go for the 86u simply due to value....because it's quick but cheaper?

I flattened and redid my 87u last night, just waiting to see if it fixed it. If it did the option of using it as a bridge or extender could be an option too, but I'd rather one router solution. I did the multiple home router thing with WRT years back and it had it's issues too,

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Unless you are heavy in to VPN there is NO advantage to wasting your money on a new 86U. Most people on this forum are buying 86's because of Merlin support that they feel will last longer. Truth is aside from the faster nature of the CPU it has NO major advantage over a 68 or any other recent Asus router. Example my 3100 has been a rock solid performer since 2015.

Not to mention the 68 and the 86 are just ugly routers. I hate the stand up format.

 

[sfx2000]

Unless you are heavy in to VPN there is NO advantage to wasting your money on a new 86U. Most people on this forum are buying 86's because of Merlin support that they feel will last longer. Truth is aside from the faster nature of the CPU it has NO major advantage over a 68 or any other recent Asus router. Example my 3100 has been a rock solid performer since 2015.

Actually... it does.

86U is going to be current a couple of years longer than the very nice 3100 you have.

 

[maxbraketorque]

I don't know if the AC86U will have better range than the AC87U, but it definitely beats the AC68U. Based on SNB tests, I think the AC5300 will have better range than the AC86U. If most of your wireless devices are centrally located, then AC5300 makes good sense, especially if your poor signal area doesn't see wifi devices often. However, if your wifi devices are spread all around your residence, I suggest two AC86Us connected by ethernet. That's what I have, and its been a great setup for my house where I have realized that no single router setup can provide full speed wifi reception in the downstairs bedrooms.

When the AC86U first came out, I thought it was going to be a watered down AC3100, and I said to myself that I wouldn't buy one. I had planned to holdout for the RT-AX88U because I figured that it was going to be the new ASUS flagship, and there would be some secret sauce that would get me good wifi reception in my downstairs bedrooms. I somehow ended up buying an AC86U, and after proving to myself its a winner, I bought a second to cover downstairs and haven't looked back. AC86U "just works". No muss, no fuss.

 

[Goofie Newfie]

I wouldn't consider the 68 again. Tried it, never covered entire home, returned it ended up with 87u. The 87u covered the house for the most part except....my bed. That corner of the house is a pita. And it's only off by a few feet. It works most of the time but just another little bit would make it solid. 87u is holding steady since I redid it so far. Maybe it just needed a complete wipe and setup again. We shall see. Thanks for the help folks. Maybe two 86's are a decent option, but I'd be giving up Merlins firmware. I can't even remember what I'd be giving up now it's been so long since I seen the asus firmwares. I even have a wired connection in that bedroom I could use to plug it in.

 

[maxbraketorque]

... Maybe two 86's are a decent option, but I'd be giving up Merlins firmware. ...

So far, I am using the traditional router+AP configuration rather than AiMesh. Only thing I did was enable roaming assistant on the main router to encourage switching over to the AP at the optimal signal signal strengths. Works perfectly fine. But if your 87U is working for you again, then no reason to spend money.