AC86U to Replace AC68P

[Paliv]

Hey everybody. We are moving to a new house that's a little bigger (1900 sq. ft.) and isn't going to allow for our router to be as centrally located as I'd like. We have to keep it away from the toddling grabby hands. I've been wanting to upgrade to an 86U for a while and this gives me a good reason. Is the wifi range that much better than the 68U? Also, a little timid about jumping in since reading all reviews from people with 2.4 issues. However, I have been trying a non-ASUS secure router (Gryphon), and though I appreciate the security of it I sorely miss the ability to configure the ASUS, especially with Merlin's firmware. The stupid thing doesn't even let you select channels manually. I'm not an advanced user, and don't really use scripts, but I find the ASUS firmware pretty useful. Is this still a recommended upgrade path? Does the 86U have the ability to cover that size house without repeaters or mesh? Are the issues with the 86U still a mystery? Thanks in advance.

 

[Grisu]

range will be allmost the same, power is regulated, maybe a bit faster at the same distance.
But depending where you live, 86U for US now got 1W power for ch. 149+ while 68U has less, for EU you wont see differences.
Anyway you will need a second router for your house and 86U is a good choice, use old 68U as AP or try Aimesh.

 

[Paliv]

range will be allmost the same, power is regulated, maybe a bit faster at the same distance.
But depending where you live, 86U for US now got 1W power for ch. 149+ while 68U has less, for EU you wont see differences.
Anyway you will need a second router for your house and 86U is a good choice, use old 68U as AP or try Aimesh.

Thanks for the info! I tended to use 149+ channels on the 68U as they worked the best, so that’s good to know.

 

[Pierino]

I have both of those inits in an 1800 square foot home. I don’t see any difference as far as range.

 

[Paliv]

I have both of those inits in an 1800 square foot home. I don’t see any difference as far as range.

Also good to know. I also would like the higher specs and abilities of the 86U. But better range would tip the scales.

 

[Klueless]

I'm too lazy to pull up the thiggins reviews right now but he covers "range" in both products.

Anyway, when I upgraded my home from an N66U to AC68U I did not "notice" (empirical observations, no testing) any increase in range. However when I upgraded the car lot from an N66U to an AC86U I was pleasantly surprised to notice an increase in range.

We have two car lots each with an 86U, one has been rock solid flawless and the other has had a few of the hic-cups others have complained about but nothing so bad as to consider replacing it.

Yeah, I hear ya about not being able to "centrally" locate it. I've the same problem at my house. With just a few feet of Ethernet cable I was able to get my router out of the corner and up off of the floor and that was enough (68U, 1800 sq. ft. split). My wife didn't like the looks of that black bug with all the horns so I replaced it with a "wife friendly" blue cave . (No merlin for that though and no noticeable range increase from the 68U. But, because of its "good looks", I did receive permission to move it a couple more feet out.)

 

[Pierino]

My routers are also not centrally located.

 

[Paliv]

Looking around the forum I see that although the range isn’t that much better with the 86u vs the 68u, the throughput at distance does seem to be. Unfortunately I would guess most people can’t centrally locate. One of the nice things about the Gryphon is that it’s esthetically pleasing.

 

[Klueless]

Unfortunately I would guess most people can’t centrally locate

Yet, when it came to television, we always found a way to run a cable : -)

 

[Going_Strong]

Paliv,
Based on my experience and that of two of my colleagues whom I've helped (?) with their router issues, I would absolutely not recommend the RT-AC86U (or anything Asus). But that's just my opinion.
I would definitely go for a TP-Link (e.g. C4000 0r C5400X, both rock-solid in my usage). But again, that's just my opinion.
However, as Grisu noted, you'll need at least two routers to cover your area, no magic there.

 

[username0475]

Hey everybody. We are moving to a new house that's a little bigger (1900 sq. ft.) and isn't going to allow for our router to be as centrally located as I'd like. We have to keep it away from the toddling grabby hands. I've been wanting to upgrade to an 86U for a while and this gives me a good reason. Is the wifi range that much better than the 68U? Also, a little timid about jumping in since reading all reviews from people with 2.4 issues. However, I have been trying a non-ASUS secure router (Gryphon), and though I appreciate the security of it I sorely miss the ability to configure the ASUS, especially with Merlin's firmware. The stupid thing doesn't even let you select channels manually. I'm not an advanced user, and don't really use scripts, but I find the ASUS firmware pretty useful. Is this still a recommended upgrade path? Does the 86U have the ability to cover that size house without repeaters or mesh? Are the issues with the 86U still a mystery? Thanks in advance.

My house is 3K sqft. I have no problems getting at least 2 bars in the most remote distant areas of my house.

Speed is at least 35 mbps where there are 2 bars on 5Ghz. & that's with metals doors around the house too.
Mine is centrally located but in a closet.
Outside the house & outside those metal doors at the mailbox, @~ 50 feet away - still get the 2 bars at 15 mbps.

FWIW -those are my experiences.