Asus RT-AC3200 issues and impressions

[L&LD]

Pot, meet kettle, said the owner of a $280 router in a thread for users of a $300 router...

No, not really. Not when one router has the potential to be great with new firmware. The other router will never get an performance or usability update, except when some new magical product is introduced.

 

[ddarko]

No, not really. Not when one router has the potential to be great with new firmware. The other router will never get an performance or usability update, except when some new magical product is introduced.

Different people want different things out of their routers. I would think folks who are willing to pay $300 for a router that many others think is "overpriced" because the router suits their desire for flexibility would be more cautious about applying that term to other routers that might have a different but no less valid appeal for users who have different priorities. I own an 87R myself and an Apple (or other brand) router isn't for me for a variety of reasons (the main being that it's annoying to use with a Windows machine because the settings must be accessed with a separately installed program and not through a browser) but for some people, the Apple router and the price might be perfectly fair.

 

[L&LD]

People do use their routers differently, agreed. That is not the point here.

Nobody pays a high price to get stuck on the lowest performance and features possible, at least not willingly.

The only people that might think an apple router and the accompanying price and features / performance is fair are simply the uneducated ones (in tech) and who possibly have more disposable funds than research skills right now. After all, the internet is accessible to them too.

I have talked with many customers that literally believed that their apple ecosystem would fall apart without an AE. These same customers were quite shocked how a router at half the price or less could do things equal or better than what they once thought of as indispensable.

 

[ddarko]

People do use their routers differently, agreed. That is not the point here.

Nobody pays a high price to get stuck on the lowest performance and features possible, at least not willingly.

The only people that might think an apple router and the accompanying price and features / performance is fair are simply the uneducated ones (in tech) and who possibly have more disposable funds than research skills right now. After all, the internet is accessible to them too.

I have talked with many customers that literally believed that their apple ecosystem would fall apart without an AE. These same customers were quite shocked how a router at half the price or less could do things equal or better than what they once thought of as indispensable.

Actually, the point is not that people use their routers differently, it's that people look for different things when picking their routers

Repeatedly, you come back to features and performance, as if those are the only legitimate and permissible factors to evaluate a router. But not all people care about those things or even if they do care, they care about them to a lesser degree than other factors. An Apple router might be a bad choice IF features and maxed out performance were the most important criteria. Some people may think the Apple's features and performance is "good enough" and not care about maxing out their bandwidth because for their usage, the difference between getting 3200/2400/1900/1300 or 866 Mbps is irrelevant, especially if their internet speed is much lower anyway. Or maybe their overriding buying factor is they like the looks of the router or they like the Apple brand or they want to have an all-Apple ecosystem. Whatever floats their boat. They shouldn't be dumped on or dismissed.

Just because some folks don't have a techie's paramount focus on features and performance doesn't make them "uneducated" or stupid with their money. That's a sweeping, inaccurate and pretty arrogant generalization.

 

[jerry6]

Guys , really this is not an Apple versus Asus forum , does nothing for the thread , "impressions of RT 3200 " .
Besides everybody knows Apple makes the bestus stuff . ;-)

 

[thiggins]

Ok, folks. Back to topic.

 

[hackintoshsr]

Yeah like when the next beta or release that comes out that fixes smart connect

 

[jerry6]

Yeah like when the next beta or release that comes out that fixes smart connect

That would be nice , though seems to be working well without smart on . So far 4 days running no drops of wireless , no reboots , no complaints from anyone in the house about connection , streaming or slow connection . And I'm getting a signal in places none of the other routers , so no complaints

 

[L&LD]

Looks like the RT-AC3200 is very close to prime time. Great to see it up to speed so fast.

ddarko; my definition of 'uneducated in tech' is much different than yours. You are assuming things that I did not state or intend in my post.

 

[David Draper]

That would be nice , though seems to be working well without smart on . So far 4 days running no drops of wireless , no reboots , no complaints from anyone in the house about connection , streaming or slow connection . And I'm getting a signal in places none of the other routers , so no complaints

Sweet

Have had our family on the RT-N66U since the first day it came out. It is struggling now even after flashing, NVRAM clearing and updates. So I decided it is time for a new one. House is starting to have AC devices flow into the upgrade cycle and need more coverage for our 3 story house.


I have one of those "the wifi is out, immediately complain to David" situations so I am hoping with this zero setting I can set it up Thursday and everyone be happy.

Anyone else success with the RT-AC3200 being stable?

 

[hackintoshsr]

Sweet

Have had our family on the RT-N66U since the first day it came out. It is struggling now even after flashing, NVRAM clearing and updates. So I decided it is time for a new one. House is starting to have AC devices flow into the upgrade cycle and need more coverage for our 3 story house.


I have one of those "the wifi is out, immediately complain to David" situations so I am hoping with this zero setting I can set it up Thursday and everyone be happy.

Anyone else success with the RT-AC3200 being stable?

Mine is very stable with smart connect off. Range is ok. I just wish the smart connect feature worked, but I guess in the end I am happy with finally having a stable router (coming from 87u) . I did read 87u is much more stable now but oh well.

 

[doubleroll]

Isn't the main reason to purchase this AC3200 router the smart connect feature? I hope they get it right soon as I would love to try it...currently I have a FiOS gateway and my AC66 and just distribute my clients across these two where it makes sense...

 

[qsyang]

Mine is very stable with smart connect off. Range is ok. I just wish the smart connect feature worked, but I guess in the end I am happy with finally having a stable router (coming from 87u) . I did read 87u is much more stable now but oh well.

Mine has been pretty stable as of late. Reverted back to stock .4145, did the reset to factory default and the whole nine yards. Two days without any drops while leaving the Key Refresh as the default of 3600, and now another 3 days since changing it to 0. So far so good, again Smart Connect is off.

 

[David Draper]

Mine has been pretty stable as of late. Reverted back to stock .4145, did the reset to factory default and the whole nine yards. Two days without any drops while leaving the Key Refresh as the default of 3600, and now another 3 days since changing it to 0. So far so good, again Smart Connect is off.

How's your range?

 

[civiksi]

Anyone have a problem with tablets? I have two android tablets (Samsung Note 10.1 and a Nexus 7)and whenever they wake up from deep sleep they are never connected to the router. They are set so wifi is always on even if sleeping. I have tried a netgear R8000 and D-link ac3200 and neither did this. And the only device I have that has dropping connection problems is the Nexus 7. It has been there on every firmware release and I am currently trying out Merlin.

 

[qsyang]

How's your range?

2.4G band is superb! My router is in the basement, two floors up, it's still in the -30s dBm range as per Wifi Analyzer. 5G isn't too great, always in the -70s range with the same location.

 

[qsyang]

Anyone have a problem with tablets? I have to android tablets (Samsung Note 10.1 and a Nexus 7)and whenever they wake up from deep sleep they are never connected to the router. They are set so wifi is always on even if sleeping. I have tried a netgear R8000 and D-link ac3200 and neither did this. And the only device I have that has dropping connection problems is the Nexus 7. It has been there on every firmware release and I am currently trying out Merlin.

I have a few , including Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, iPad, I think I've only seen it once with the Nexus 7.

 

[civiksi]

I have a few , including Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, iPad, I think I've only seen it once with the Nexus 7.

My wife has the iPad. Never complains so I'm assuming it works. I have the Note which always does the no wifi on wake thing. My son has the nexus 7 which he brings it to me now and then when youtube isnt working. I also have a Nexus player and I notice hiccups in the video streaming. None of this was present when I tried the R8000. Sucks. I want to like this router so bad.

 

[thiggins]

Isn't the main reason to purchase this AC3200 router the smart connect feature? I hope they get it right soon as I would love to try it...currently I have a FiOS gateway and my AC66 and just distribute my clients across these two where it makes sense...

The key feature of ALL AC3200 class routers is the dual 5 GHz radios. This provides higher total bandwidth than any other class router at this point, IF you have enough dual-band devices to connect to the two 5 GHz radios.

ASUS' implementation of Smart Connect is a work in progress. Works for some folks, not for others. But you can still get the higher bandwidth of the dual 5 GHz radios by disabling Smart Connect, setting different SSIDs for the two radios and manually connecting devices.

 

[doubleroll]

The key feature of ALL AC3200 class routers is the dual 5 GHz radios. This provides higher total bandwidth than any other class router at this point, IF you have enough dual-band devices to connect to the two 5 GHz radios.

ASUS' implementation of Smart Connect is a work in progress. Works for some folks, not for others. But you can still get the higher bandwidth of the dual 5 GHz radios by disabling Smart Connect, setting different SSIDs for the two radios and manually connecting devices.

Got it. Thanks! So basically I am doing the same thing distributing clients across the two 5GHz radios - FiOS Gateway 5GHz @ Ch 44 - SSID 5GHz_2 and Asus AC66R @ Ch 157 SSID 5GHz_1...and also have the benefit of 2 2.4Ghz radios as well. Still would be nice to have smart connect. Netgear's implementation was horrible...Thx again!