Asus RT-AC87U - Issues from release fixed?

[jackzonztyl]

Hi Guys,

I just ordered the AC87U and i'm reading that this model is rushed with releasing and had stability issues, 5ghz is not stable and the 4x4 antennas does not work properly. but most of the reviews and test are from 2014/2015

So i was just wondering are all the stability and range issues fixed now? and does Merlin fork miss anything like the newer drivers for the antennas or stuff like that? with the n66u it was always up-to-date and i loved the Merlin fork.

Will i miss anything if i use Merlin firmware over the Asus firmware?

 

[L&LD]

I would cancel the order now.

There are much better options today.

Pick up the RT-AC3100 for $191.99 (on sale) if you can and leave the mess that the Quantenna based 'AC87U is still known for.

RT-AC87U today when you need stability and performance? Not a good idea.

 

[thelonelycoder]

I would cancel the order now.

There are much better options today.

Pick up the RT-AC3100 for $191.99 (on sale) if you can and leave the mess that the Quantenna based 'AC87U is still known for.

RT-AC87U today when you need stability and performance? Not a good idea.

On my 87U, the 5ghz wlan is always disabled, it's basically useless to me with all the problems it has. I just keep the router running because it is setup for the rest of my network and does a good job at that.
And it's another test device for AB-Solution. Do as @L&LD suggests.

 

[cybrnook]

Here a good deal if you are in the U.S. ($60 with code at the bottom), can be flashed to an RT-ac68U:
https://www.t-mobile.com/accessories/t-mobile-wi-fi-cellspot-router.html

guide to flash:
https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=73690012&postcount=3895

If you go to the last page, I have offered some suggestions to the OP to make the process a bit easier, and some things to look out for:
https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=91930815&postcount=5792

 

[cowboy]

Here in Europe the RT-AC88u is just not worth the money, it is 350€ !!!
I on the other hand love my RT-AC87U

 

[Beherit]

I started a thread just like this before buying my RT-AC87U two months ago: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/has-the-rt-ac87u-been-fixed.34756/

I have no issues at all with my RT-AC87U. It performs much better than the RT-AC66U it replaced and has no stability issues whatsoever. I'm running ad-solution, openvpn servers, samba, nfs, adaptive qos, tunneling iptv, aiprotection and that's just probably half of what I can remember right now.

That said, I don't know if I'm just lucky to not get a dodgy one, or if the reported issues are all a thing of the past that doesn't plague recent factory batches.

 

[elorimer]

I've been happy with the 87U I got a year or so ago as a refurb for $150. It is $180 new at Newegg now. I had the board go bad in a few weeks, and it was handled under warranty by Asus with no drama. Been fine since, although I confess I only have a few ac devices. I have a 4TB drive hooked up to it and use it as a VPN server heavily. 47 things connected to it (20 of them wired).

But I've been just as happy with the 56U I got as a refurb for $50.

 

[jackzonztyl]

Thanks for all the replies! I live in Europe (Netherlands) and the RT-AC3100 is just to expensive for me, i got the u87 on sale for a relatively good price! ( it is arround 180euro i got it for 130)

There are mixed replies some love it some hate it. now i don't know what to do. I got the white one and really like the look of it.

I don't plan to do fancy things with my network. I just want FAST 2.4 and 5ghz and a good range. i don't want to mess with extenders and stuff. just 1 main router that handles every device without losing connection.

I will use my main computer wired and don't want a unstable connection

* i will receive it in 1/2 weeks so untill then i don't have any experience with the router. I use the n66u right now.

 

[thelonelycoder]

Mine is about a year old, if that helps.

 

[bidi]

i got mine in January 2015. the stock firmware was a mess. RMerlin did an awesome job, and so did ASUS (they could have just dropped it to cut their losses). this year the firmware got better and better, and i think back in spring i started seeing actually stable releases (not needing restarts every once in a while). it's very good now, what a router should be - set and forget. well, most of the time. i have an USB stick in the USB 3 port, and soft resets still cause it to become unmounted, needing me to plug it back in physically.

also, i've started seeing some unusual messages in openvpn on the client site (the router is the server, i use TAP-UDP). i'm not sure where the problem is, the file transfers seem to work fine.

 

[Beherit]

I'll make a guess that worst case scenario if you have hardware issues, is to return it and get a new one. Repeat until you get one that works.

 

[taDAha]

i bought a cheap set from China (taobao.com) for about US$140, hardware rev was v1.5, one of the older ones.
It has issues with the 2.4 GHz band, whenever anyone tries to connect to the 2.4 GHz, it will break the WAN connection.
So i had turned off the 2.4GHz and use my old RT-N56U as an AP for 2.4 GHz.
The 5 GHz and CPU chips are known to have heat issues, so i had to do my own modifications to the chassis to include a couple of fans to cool it down.
It's totally not worth the money if you ask me.
Unless you're going for the MU-MIMO, else i suggest you get the Linksys WRT1900ACS, currently selling at $144 at amazon.

 

[jackzonztyl]

So there are different hardware revisions? good to know i wonder what the newer revisions are or what to look for ones it arrives.

 

[Beherit]

How do I see what revision I have? Turned it upside down but all it says is serial number, MAC and PIN NO. Can't find anything in dmesg either.