ASUS RT-AC87 Firmware - Official Releases

[phloid01]

Does anyone know if it fixes the Access Point functionality issues? This is the big one for me (and several others).

 

[DaveMishSr]

Agreed - it's noticeably better, especially the responsiveness of the Admin GUI. Doesn't fix my unusable 5Ghz channel though.

The 5GHz issue seems to be tied to a poor thermal interface between the chipset and heatsink. Several tricks have been mentioned here in this forum the most effective of which seem to be:

1) Get a USB laptop cooler and put the router on top of it.
2) Mount the router on a wire shelf.
3) Use toilet paper tubes (empty) to raise the router.

All of these trick promote airflow underneath the router. That in turn helps keep the router cooler and the 5GHz band from crapping out. Good luck!

BTW, I use the toilet tube trick and my 5GHz performance is terrific.

 

[Find the Door]

What's funny is I posted a thread a while back about how people were cooling their routers. Many said "you don't need to do that, that'sounds preposterous."

...... eat crow

I now will be purchasing a new router (probably r8000) as this is a hardware issue. No amount of firmware will fix it. Asus needs to do us a solid and recall a clearly defective product. No one buys a nearly $300.00 MSRP router to have it never function properly (and in order to do so it has to look like it's in a janitorial office).

 

[dsring]

Any problems with UPnP on the latest beta? I had NAT issues on my gaming consoles with the public releases.

 

[psychopomp1]

Another good option might be a cooling pillow such as this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002CQI0T8/?tag=smallncom-21

 

[RMerlin]

Another good option might be a cooling pillow such as this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002CQI0T8/?tag=smallncom-21

Water cooling for novices

 

[IAAI]

Another good option might be a cooling pillow such as this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002CQI0T8/?tag=smallncom-21

Water cooling for novices

it says to activate add water . Merlin plz support this pillow with your next build

 

[PaperFriend]

Does anyone know if it fixes the Access Point functionality issues? This is the big one for me (and several others).

Recently, I purchased another AC87 to use as an access point and it worked terribly even with the new firmware. I ended up returning it. This is the second time I have ordered an additional unit to use as an access point and ended up returning.

It is a pain to have every device connected to the access point lose internet regularly.

 

[TheDude54]

Put me in the "overheating" camp

I bought the re-ac87r months ago when Best Buy was the only seller. I have been flashing to the new firmware as they have become available - I have been using Merlins 376_48_1 for a few weeks now. My overall experience with the router has been good. I have been very happy with the 5ghz range. The main problem I was having is that the 5ghz kept going away - sometimes the 5ghz light on the router would not even come on. Originally, I located the router in a fairly cool area and had very few wireless drops. The I moved the router on top of my entertainment center (not thinking about possible heat issues) and I started having 5ghz drops quite frequently. Once again I moved the router (still focusing on range not thinking about heat) - I moved it to a cooler spot on top of a 4 row dvd rack which I was not using for anything else. It has been there for over a week and I have (knock on wood) had no 5ghz drop outs.. none. the router sits on top of the rack which allows for the bottom of the router to touch pretty much nothing but air... I have not tested the actual temp. but I am convinced this is a hardware issue (overheating).. seems we need to come up with our own cooling solutions.. unless we can convince ASUS of the theory..

 

[samb]

Hello,

I am at a real crossroads with this router, while my signal seems fine I am seeing a lot of timeouts on webpages, I click a link the browser spins and I need to re-click to move forward. I have tried the firmwares I can find and nothing seems to help, currently using Merlin latest version and it does seem to be the bet yet but still one out of every 30 clicks I see some sort of timeout (across multiple devices).

At this stage I am considering simply returning the unit and having it swapped for a WRT1900AC.

Thanks
Sam

 

[RMerlin]

What's funny is I posted a thread a while back about how people were cooling their routers. Many said "you don't need to do that, that'sounds preposterous."

...... eat crow

I now will be purchasing a new router (probably r8000) as this is a hardware issue. No amount of firmware will fix it. Asus needs to do us a solid and recall a clearly defective product. No one buys a nearly $300.00 MSRP router to have it never function properly (and in order to do so it has to look like it's in a janitorial office).

People have been saying that the N66 was overheating, the AC66 was overheating, the AC68 was overheating, and now that the AC87 was overheating. At one point, if you keep repeating the same statement, it's bound to become correct at _some_ point...

Nobody provided any *proof* with all those previous claims.

So, let me declare that, from now on, every single router released by Asus, Netgear and Linksys are overheating. I'm sure that at some point, ONE of them will be true, eh?

Just because you can toss a coin and keep claiming it will fall on head does not mean you are able to predict the future, if after three coin toss, it finally lands on head.

Meanwhile, mine still has the same temperature as everyone else, and it's perfectly stable. I'm up to two weeks without a single reboot right now, and two nights ago I spent the whole night on the laptop, connected on the 5 GHz band.

 

[keenism]

Was a chilly night last night, so naturally...use the woodstove. Well my ac87 is about 30 feet from that monster so I check the temps, which peaked when the macbook pro started backing up. Temps hit 2.4G: 54C 5G: 71C CPU: 88C (Yes 190F)...and guess what, the router and its 14 clients didn't care and went on happily streaming, browsing, and gaming without a single disconnect...

So no you aren't "overheating" unless you're topping those numbers...wireless is screwy, it's 80% luck imo, my previous router was an r7000 that had quite a few problems that many people probably never experienced, no I don't think it was overheating...just didn't work with my assemblage of devices..

 

[xDonkey]

Download Master - task list is full

Okay, what is this Download Master popup and how to fix it?

Adding new downloads gives this popup immediately. Tried to fix by unmounting disk and rebooting router.

 

[bodean]

Okay, what is this Download Master popup and how to fix it?

Adding new downloads gives this popup immediately. Tried to fix by unmounting disk and rebooting router.

What does this have to do with " AC87 Firmware - Official Releases ? "

 

[xDonkey]

What does this have to do with " AC87 Firmware - Official Releases ? "

I thought we already went this through once since this is a second time you ask the same question.

1. I'm using RT-AC87U router
2. Download Master is bundled to be part of official release
3. There are people who thinks AC87 related DM posts are useful in this thread
4. RMerlin said that he will move unrelated posts to separate thread (http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=129347&postcount=2). He did not move previous DM posts so I think it's okay
5. Official Asus representative started this thread so I think it's okay to ask AC87 DM help here
6. My DM post is far more related to topic in this tread than your "What does this have to do with 'AC87 Firmware - Official Releases ?'" comments

 

[Find the Door]

I thought we already went this through once since this is a second time you ask the same question.

1. I'm using RT-AC87U router
2. Download Master is bundled to be part of official release
3. There are people who thinks AC87 related DM posts are useful in this thread
4. RMerlin said that he will move unrelated posts to separate thread (http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=129347&postcount=2). He did not move previous DM posts so I think it's okay
5. Official Asus representative started this thread so I think it's okay to ask AC87 DM help here
6. My DM post is far more related to topic in this tread than your "What does this have to do with 'AC87 Firmware - Official Releases ?'" comments

Yes yes, I champion this response! No one likes a hall monitor.

 

[mromero]

Meanwhile, mine still has the same temperature as everyone else, and it's perfectly stable.

Is this based on nonempirical or anecdotal studies?

How can your RT-AC87 router have the "same temperature as everyone else"?

Or has Asus conducted an internal review that we not privy to - yet ;o)

 

[mromero]

Okay, what is this Download Master popup and how to fix it?

Adding new downloads gives this popup immediately. Tried to fix by unmounting disk and rebooting router.

That is odd and I have never seen this - yet. Are you physically removing the USB drive, perhaps deleting files on another computer, and then connecting the drive to the router?

Perhaps the router gets confused about what files have been downloaded, deleted are in queue, paused, removed etc.

If so, I suggest you EJECT the USB drive before removing it from the router. You can do this by clicking on the USB icon.

Then connect it again to the router, then reboot, maybe a couple of times.

I would also suggest not going hog-wild on Download Master.

It is a nifty feature but the router is not a real computer.

Be very conservative. I find that having just two items in queue is best. Otherwise I get frequent disconnects.

Using only the the latest ASUS RT-AC87 FIRMWARE OFFICIAL RELEASE.

 

[RMerlin]

Is this based on nonempirical or anecdotal studies?

How can your RT-AC87 router have the "same temperature as everyone else"?

Or has Asus conducted an internal review that we not privy to - yet ;o)

There's half a dozen posts on this forum alone were people have posted their temperature, including some with stability issues. That makes it quite easy to compare with them.

 

[mromero]

There's half a dozen posts on this forum alone were people have posted their temperature, including some with stability issues. That makes it quite easy to compare with them.

Merlin, posts from 6 users brave enough to face the Forum Police and share their alleged EXACT TEMPERATURE, is anecdotal mad scientist data.

I would never write a story based on the data supplied by 6 individuals extrapolated over thousands of customers that have purchased the ASUS RT-AC87 router.