ASUS RT-AC86U Dual Band AC2900 Wireless Router Reviewed

[badboyme]

I gave storage testing one more shot and this time it worked. Article and Router Charts updated with the results, which were pretty good. For USB 3.0/NTFS, results were 71 MB/s write and 104 MB/s read.

Those numbers are in line with my own tests here with the stock firmware.

This is a very good news, this USB 3.0 speed is really great!!
But I don't understand that the Netgear 8000P Router, with tha same identical CPU, run at 100MBytes/sec+ both in write and read speed.
It sounds very strange to me. Is there an optimization on netgear firmware that it is not present in asus-WRT??

Can someone test write/read usb 3.0 speed in case the attached drive is formatted with EXT2/EXT3 File System??

Thank you all in advance.
Regards,
Filippo.

 

[RMerlin]

But I don't understand that the Netgear 8000P Router, with tha same identical CPU, run at 100MBytes/sec+ both in write and read speed.
It sounds very strange to me. Is there an optimization on netgear firmware that it is not present in asus-WRT??

I can reach 100 MB/s write speed with my firmware, through CPU affinity tweaks.

 

[Feren]

I’m perplexed by Asus’ choice of a patch instead of dipole (rubber ducky) as the 4th antenna for 5Ghz radio. Can you suggest explanation; and, impact?
(Surely, for Beamforming, identical antenna emission radiation pattern is advantageous.)

 

[badboyme]

I can reach 100 MB/s write speed with my firmware, through CPU affinity tweaks.

Hi RMerlin!
So you can reach 100MB+/s in both write and read operations? Wow!! It's Fantastic!!
But are you using NTFS File System on the attached USB 3.0 drive?
Can you explain me how to change the CPU affinity on the RT-AC68U with your latest firmware, please (if it's possible, of course)?
Some telnet command to change the CPU affinity?

Thank you again, RMerlin!!

 

[RMerlin]

But are you using NTFS File System on the attached USB 3.0 drive?

Yes.

Can you explain me how to change the CPU affinity on the RT-AC68U with your latest firmware, please (if it's possible, of course)?

This is already done automatically by the firmware, end-users don't need to do anything.

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-me...f469974#diff-dad6834412488225e9742c2e2445ae02

 

[badboyme]

Yes.



This is already done automatically by the firmware, end-users don't need to do anything.

https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-me...f469974#diff-dad6834412488225e9742c2e2445ae02

Thank you again, RMerlin !!
Regards.

Filippo.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Click the "Performance" link on the Ranker for the two products and compare the sub-ranks.
You can also use the Rank selector to compare sub-ranks.

I finally had a chance to do this, and the R7800 clearly beats the AC86U in the wireless tests. The R7800 is comparable to the AC86U in routing performance except for the HTTP tests - for those two tests the R7800 is about half the AC86U. Are those two tests so important to perceived router performance that they outweigh the class leading wireless performance of the R7800?

 

[thiggins]

Are those two tests so important to perceived router performance that they outweigh the class leading wireless performance of the R7800?

Thanks for digging in and checking.
It turns out you found a flaw in the Router Ranker algorithm. Grouping all the routing sub-categories into one, overweighted its effect on total rank.

The ranking algorithm has now been corrected and properly reflects ranking that gives more weight to wireless benchmarks (70% of total rank) than wired routing.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Thanks for digging in and checking.
It turns out you found a flaw in the Router Ranker algorithm. Grouping all the routing sub-categories into one, overweighted its effect on total rank.

The ranking algorithm has now been corrected and properly reflects ranking that gives more weight to wireless benchmarks (70% of total rank) than wired routing.

Thanks for the follow up. The ranking makes more sense now. AC86U still does well, but R7800 leads as it should based on the excellent wireless performance.

 

[wouterv]

For what it is worth, does this RT-AC86U support MU-MIMO or not?
As far as I noticed the review makes me believe it does not while the Asus webpage specifications do list MU-MIMO.

 

[thiggins]

For what it is worth, does this RT-AC86U support MU-MIMO or not?
As far as I noticed the review makes me believe it does not while the Asus webpage specifications do list MU-MIMO.

The spec says it supports MU-MIMO. I don't test MU-MIMO.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/33100-why-you-don-t-need-mu-mimo

 

[Ryan_C]

ASUS' RT-AC86U Dual Band AC2900 Wireless Router aims to replace the RT-AC68 as ASUS' mainstream midrange router.

Read on SmallNetBuilder

Thanks for the review. Looks awesome!

On the other hand, I would highly recommend you test the TP-LINK Archer C3150 V2 as well. The V2 was reported to be noticeably better then V1 (also compared by a YouTuber). You have tested V1 in Revision 9, which is similar to R7800 in terms range/throughput. This makes me really curious if that V2 could be the best on the market today...

 

[nimkip]

Any chance wireless throughput could improve as the firmware matures? Or should we expect this to be pretty much it?

 

[badboyme]

Hello guys!
Is there difference between RT-AC86U chinese version Vs RT-AC86U European/Italian version?
That question is because on the gearbest website the router is shipped at 160+ euros, instead of amazon Italy website where it is shipped at 245+ euros.
Can Chinese version be used in Italian country and firmware normally upgradable?

Thank you in advance.
Regards,
Filippo.

 

[loWie]

I can reach 100 MB/s write speed with my firmware, through CPU affinity tweaks.

i only get 12 mb/s :/

i tested a usb ssd, usb hdd and a flash drive, all are able to get above 100mb/s. i also disabled the USB 3.0 interference option. no change for me. smb2 ... smb ... ftp all the same 12 mb/s.

(gigabit lan connection)

some ideas? thanks

 

[avtella]

Almost seems like you are rate limited to 100 Mbps. Is this only happening with external storage on the router or in general? Could be the ethernet driver if the latter is the case, as in detecting it as a 10/100 link.

 

[loWie]

Thanks for your reply.

Its only happening with external storage on the router. I get my full 200/12 from the internet.

 

[badboyme]

i only get 12 mb/s :/

i tested a usb ssd, usb hdd and a flash drive, all are able to get above 100mb/s. i also disabled the USB 3.0 interference option. no change for me. smb2 ... smb ... ftp all the same 12 mb/s.

(gigabit lan connection)

some ideas? thanks

Uhm...this sounds to me very strange!
All the USB 3.0 attached drives you tested on the router were formatted with NTFS (Windows) File System?
Are you using Merlin FW 382.1 during your transfer tests?
Can you repeat your test formatting one usb 3.0 devices again?

Thank you!
Regards,
Filippo.

 

[netok]

What do 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Range mean in Ranker? I cant find how it is computed in testing methodology.

 

[telUK]

Can I ask any owners of this device how the 2.4ghz band is, the review mentioned dropouts, I have a few devices that use only 2.4ghz so Im still unsure on buying it due to this issue they mentioned in the review.

Has it been fixed?

thanks