ASUS RT-AC86U Dual Band AC2900 Wireless Router Reviewed

[randomName]

I wonder how this 86U compares with the GT AC5300 now that several firmwares have been released for both. The reviews are good but as firmwares get released it brings up the same questions in the reviews.

 

[y2jdmbfan]

yah, the problem isant with the hardware, its only some bugs with the FW but Asus will fixing it along the road

Do you guys use smart connect for the WIFI?

Also, I am having troubles to configure the AI protection email alert, is not working anymore with gmail, I had with an ac68u before and I did the same process with a new password from google apps password

Firmware fixed my wired LAN speeds, can get close to Gigabit now. I turned off Smart Connect so I could specify my WiFi channels and such.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Firmware fixed my wired LAN speeds, can get close to Gigabit now. I turned off Smart Connect so I could specify my WiFi channels and such.

Nice to hear that LAN speeds are fixed. Being unable to select wifi channels with Smart Connect was very annoying for me as well. I don't understand why they did that. Even worse was that with Smart Connect, the wifi channels were automatically changing all the time, and often the two 5 GHz bands were on the same channel range. My network has been fine without it.

 

[y2jdmbfan]

Nice to hear that LAN speeds are fixed. Being unable to select wifi channels with Smart Connect was very annoying for me as well. I don't understand why they did that. Even worse was that with Smart Connect, the wifi channels were automatically changing all the time, and often the two 5 GHz bands were on the same channel range. My network has been fine without it.

Anyone know if it is possible to use external antennas with the AC86U? I thought it was going to barely fit inside my AV cabinet where the TP-Link On-Hub was at, but it is too tall even with all the antennas at a 45degree angle.

 

[randomName]

The Broadcom BCM4906 is a 64 bit processor?

 

[maxbraketorque]

Anyone know if it is possible to use external antennas with the AC86U? I thought it was going to barely fit inside my AV cabinet where the TP-Link On-Hub was at, but it is too tall even with all the antennas at a 45degree angle.

All the more knowledgeable people on this forum say that higher gain antennas offer no advantage.

 

[RMerlin]

The Broadcom BCM4906 is a 64 bit processor?

Yes.

 

[garnikg]

hi everyone, pretty interesting and useful resource. and finally I could register (it wont me register, seems there was a spam attack recently).

I recently returned my Netgear X4s (R7800)... I got used to its buggy firmware GUI and software, but after connecting my WD Passport Ultra I could get only up-to 2MB/s on USB3 port, and much lower on USB2 port. I returned it to Newegg as defective (USB3 port) and RMA team accepted that (not sure if they tested though). Then I moved to next router in ranker (skipped pricey ASUS GT-AC5300)... BestBuy has it on sale in my case as well.

I have Asuswrt-Merlin 382.1_2 on. Here is my experience so far...
1. Having daily reboot on - resulted in no lights blinking and dead router in the morning, I had to power-cycle. I guess it could not wake up from reboot for some reason. I turned that off (not sure if I need that anyways, I just saw the option and was trying it).
2. It cant show device names in list. Netgear could. My DSL modem also shows device names, like 'Garnik's iPhone'. For some reason this router can't... I added names manually.
3. I tuned off "Reducing USB 3.0 interference" - seriously, dropping to USB2.0-HSP (480Mbps) speed on USB3.0, by default without asking the user? Although we've seen this before I guess, Samsung was doing that with their first phones which have USB3.0 ports, you had to go somewhere deep in menu to enable it, but it was going back to 2.0 after X amount of time.
4. I turn off WiFi with scheduler, works fine.
5. I have some trouble with accessing HDD connected on router's USB3.0.
5.a. if I write torrents on it, network share becomes unresponsive. Not sure whats causing this. I have the disk mapped as a network drive in Win10. Still figuring this out. Torrent will write lots of pieces, so multiple IOs, I guess that maybe related?
5.b. My TV streams movies from the drive. All is fine except 4K HDR content streaming. It becomes choppy and eventually drops. 4K HDR can go up-to 128Mbps. TV is on WiFi 5G so that's not the bottleneck (I hope). HDD read speeds should also be sufficient. Same movie file on SSD Flash drive directly connected to TV's USB3.0 port - plays fine. I need to try HDD connected to TV's USB3.0 port directly... Any related experience with this?

Thanks!

 

[robahearts]

For anyone looking to get this Router. Amazon has it today for $199.79 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752FD3XJ/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[RMerlin]

For anyone looking to get this Router. Amazon has it today for $199.79 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752FD3XJ/?tag=snbforums-20

And if you buy one, use this referral link, so Tim gets some money to pay the bills for this forum.

http://www.amazon.com/ref=assoc_res_sw_logo?tag=snbforums-20

(@thiggins - just noticed that link on the upper right side of the forum still uses http instead of https)

 

[garnikg]

can someone please help decode this message and explain why samba is getting stop/start cycles? btw there is spelling error: waitting

Feb 12 22:20:12 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 2108:notify_rc start_dnsmasq
Feb 12 22:20:12 LAN_network_changes_(%s/%s_-->_%: 192.168.1.4
Feb 12 22:20:12 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 2108:notify_rc stop_samba
Feb 12 22:20:12 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 2108:notify_rc start_samba
Feb 12 22:20:12 rc_service: waitting "stop_samba" via udhcpc_lan ...
Feb 12 22:20:12 Samba_Server: smb daemon is stopped
Feb 12 22:20:13 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 2108:notify_rc restart_dms
Feb 12 22:20:13 rc_service: waitting "start_samba" via udhcpc_lan ...
Feb 12 22:20:13 Samba_Server: daemon is started
Feb 13 10:20:11 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 13955:notify_rc start_dnsmasq
Feb 13 10:20:12 LAN_network_changes_(%s/%s_-->_%: 192.168.1.4
Feb 13 10:20:12 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 13955:notify_rc stop_samba
Feb 13 10:20:12 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 13955:notify_rc start_samba
Feb 13 10:20:12 rc_service: waitting "stop_samba" via udhcpc_lan ...
Feb 13 10:20:13 Samba_Server: smb daemon is stopped
Feb 13 10:20:14 rc_service: udhcpc_lan 13955:notify_rc restart_dms
Feb 13 10:20:14 rc_service: waitting "start_samba" via udhcpc_lan ...
Feb 13 10:20:14 Samba_Server: daemon is started
​

just scrolled through whole log, this is periodic, every 12hrs.

it keeps restarting smb... no idea whats going on

Feb 13 19:16:46 rc_service: httpd 766:notify_rc stop_samba
Feb 13 19:16:48 Samba_Server: smb daemon is stopped
Feb 13 19:17:23 rc_service: httpd 766:notify_rc restart_samba
Feb 13 19:17:23 Samba_Server: smb daemon is stopped
Feb 13 19:17:23 Samba_Server: daemon is started​

 

[rjih]

Has anyone noticed that the ac86u is having sporadic availability issues. The prices are all over the place. As I type this Amazon and Newegg prices are over $300 and B&H shows back ordered. Prices at Amazon have been fluctuating wildly over the last 48 hours.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[garnikg]

Has anyone noticed that the ac86u is having sporadic availability issues. The prices are all over the place. As I type this Amazon and Newegg prices are over $300 and B&H shows back ordered. Prices at Amazon have been fluctuating wildly over the last 48 hours.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's available and on sale at BestBuy Canada, https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/produc...al-band-gigabit-router-rt-ac86u/11281277.aspx

 

[hotsauce2007]

I got it from newegg from 179$ plus 8% cashback after rebate

 

[Skowt]

I've had mine for about a week and I noticed that with Adaptive QoS the Upload limit isn't enforced (set to 10mb but still get full speed) and setting it to Traditional work for both the upload and download but then none of the priority rules work.

Has anyone managed to get the upload and download limits working on Adaptive QoS? I'm wondering how this router gets such good ratings but has so many basic QoS issues : (

 

[randomName]

Micro Center has them at $199 but you end up paying the tax on it. There is a $20 MIR

 

[giant25]

Has anyone noticed that the ac86u is having sporadic availability issues. The prices are all over the place. As I type this Amazon and Newegg prices are over $300 and B&H shows back ordered. Prices at Amazon have been fluctuating wildly over the last 48 hours.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I noticed this as well. I've been waiting for it to come back on Amazon, but it's not looking good. B&H still backordered. Strange business going on....

 

[maxbraketorque]

I noticed this as well. I've been waiting for it to come back on Amazon, but it's not looking good. B&H still backordered. Strange business going on....

I think they are selling faster than ASUS can make them.

 

[Aladuc]

Hi
I just buy the Asus RT-AC86U this week, and he never connect with the modem a try everything and no eternet !! reset, reboot, nothing.
I need Help

 

[CaptainSTX]

Hi
I just buy the Asus RT-AC86U this week, and he never connect with the modem a try everything and no eternet !! reset, reboot, nothing.
I need Help

More information needed:

1. Who is your ISP and what type of connection do you have? Fiber, Cable, DSL, etc.
2. Do you have a modem? What brand and model.
3. Is it a plain modem or is it a combination device?
4. Did you have a router before the AC86 and how was it setup?