Best for reliability and basic functions?

[foosion]

I'm looking for a new router for my apartment. It's small enough that single router should suffice.

The most important quality for me is reliability (no spontaneous disconnects or reboots), so long as performance is reasonable.

Our main use is internet connectivity (browsing, streaming and occasional file downloading), our connection almost never goes above 200 Mbps (per various speedtests) and it would be rare for more than two people to be active at once (although more that two devices would be connected at once). We also stream video from a wired computer and sometimes transfer files between machines.

We don't use VPN, QOS or other advanced functions, just basic wired and wireless connectivity.

The most popular routers here seem to be the Netgear R7800 (with Voxel) and the Asus rt-86u (with Merlin). For the Asus there are some concerns about 2.4ghz reliability (I have a recent thread here on the subject), although we rarely use 2.4.

Therefore, I'm leaning towards the R7800, as it seems to get as good or better reviews here and elsewhere and the Voxel firmware seems to solve firmware complaints.

We've been fine with an Asus 66u until it recently started random disconnects.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Apologies to the extent this is duplicative of some recent threads.

 

[L&LD]

The R7800 is an example of excellent hardware which is now going onto 4 years old. The Netgear firmware is weaker and not updated as regularly as an Asus router would be. Let alone have the magic RMerlin touch.

The RT-AC86U is a year old router that has great performance and an expected/long (support) life ahead of it. The issues some face may be simple manufacturing defects and/or user error. Most seem to have their issues fixed one way or another (by replacing with another RT-AC86U or reconfiguring the options on the one they got).

There is no doubt in my mind which router I would be buying today. The Asus/RMerlin combo is a tough act to beat. Which is what I've been saying since my first Asus RT-N66U router from so many years ago.

Add the easy benefits of the top scripts available here like amtm, Diversion, YazFi, FreshJR QOS, Stubby and Skynet (with the amtm USB disk checker utility on top of everything else) and the mere thought of putting my own money towards any other system just doesn't make sense.

For the use case specified here. Either router is overkill. A small(er) apartment, single-digit users and client devices too. Less than Gbps ISP speeds. I'm sure either would be suitable.

But for the overall experience, Asus + RMerlin is what I would suggest.

But! Before you go spending money on a new router, you may want to try some or all of the suggestions in my links in the signature area below on your RT-AC66U. And maybe even try the latest john9527's LTS RMerlin based firmware for your older router before trading it in permanently.

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-AC66U_B1 (low cost version of the RT-AC68U) is what I use for the vast majority of my customers. It's a great compromise between performance and price.

I recently found one of them with an uptime of over one year at a customer's small office, so I'd say it's stable.

 

[foosion]

...
Add the easy benefits of the top scripts available here like amtm, Diversion, YazFi, FreshJR QOS, Stubby and Skynet (with the amtm USB disk checker utility on top of everything else) and the mere thought of putting my own money towards any other system just doesn't make sense.

Just to be clear, would any of these be helpful for my use case?

For the use case specified here. Either router is overkill. A small(er) apartment, single-digit users and client devices too. Less than Gbps ISP speeds. I'm sure either would be suitable.

I take it you would agree with RMerlin's suggestion of the RT-AC66U_B1?

But! Before you go spending money on a new router, you may want to try some or all of the suggestions in my links in the signature area below on your RT-AC66U. And maybe even try the latest john9527's LTS RMerlin based firmware for your older router before trading it in permanently.

I'm running the latest john9527 LTS, after having run RMerlin for years. About all I did for configuration is specify the SSIDs and router login info. I'll try the suggestions in your sig.

 

[foosion]

The RT-AC66U_B1 (low cost version of the RT-AC68U) is what I use for the vast majority of my customers. It's a great compromise between performance and price.

I recently found one of them with an uptime of over one year at a customer's small office, so I'd say it's stable.

I've been very happy with your firmware and John's fork, so that router with the fork sounds appealing, especially given the hope of long-term uptime and that the r7800 or ac86u would be overkill for my situation.

I see from your https://www.snbforums.com/threads/cant-decide-asus-rt-ac66u_b1-or-rt-ac68u.42851/#post-365693 that there's no real difference between the rt-68u and the rt-66_b1

 

[Poseidon]

I have an 86U.

Where can we find the scripts to download and more info about them? Link if possible please. Thanks

 

[foosion]

The RT-AC66U_B1 (low cost version of the RT-AC68U) is what I use for the vast majority of my customers. It's a great compromise between performance and price.

I recently found one of them with an uptime of over one year at a customer's small office, so I'd say it's stable.

Do you recommend running John's fork or your latest stable version with that router (for my simple use case, if that matters)?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, the RT-AC66U_B1 would be a good fit for your described network. I don't think john9527's fork will work on an RT-AC66U_B1's hardware though.

The only two scripts you would need are the amtm 'menu' here:
https://diversion.ch/amtm.html

curl -Os https://raw.githubusercontent.com/decoderman/amtm/master/amtm && sh amtm

and the FreshJR_QOS script here:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...ements-custom-rules-and-inner-workings.36836/

curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FreshJR07/FreshJR_QOS/master/FreshJR_QOS.sh" -o /jffs/scripts/FreshJR_QOS --create-dirs && curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FreshJR07/FreshJR_QOS/master/FreshJR_QoS_Stats.asp" -o /jffs/scripts/www_FreshJR_QoS_Stats.asp && sh /jffs/scripts/FreshJR_QOS -install

First, enable the jffs partition. Format it on the next reboot and then reboot the router at least 3 times in the next 15 minutes waiting 5 to 10 minutes between reboots.

Note: if you're already using the jffs partition with any custom scripts, I would still format it but make a copy of your custom scripts first.

Second, install the amtm menu script with the curl script provided above.

Third, insert the fastest USB stick you have into the fastest port and format it to Ext4 with journaling enabled.

Fourth, create a swap file using the amtm menu (not a swap disk).

Fifth, install Diversion Standard and enable pixelserv-tls and allow it to install Entware.

Sixth, install the FreshJR QOS script with the curl script provided above and make sure you enable QOS in the main router's menu. Be patient here, you'll want to give it at least 5 minutes or more to let enable the script and let the router's CPU cores settle.

Now, install any other script you want from the amtm menu.

Note that the FreshJR QOS script will be included in a future amtm release so that it can be installed from the menu too.

As for whether they would be helpful in your case, I would say yes.

The FreshJR QOS script fixes the inherent flaws of the base Asus' QOS implementation (any version). Simply installing the script and enabling it will give a benefit to any fully used ISP connection.

The network level adblocking features of Diversion work great, the swap file install is used by the router (make sure you don't allow the router to flush buffers regularly) and the smooth integration of Entware makes a great base for further customizations in the future as you find (and you will find) more and more uses for these great scripts.

 

[foosion]

Yes, the RT-AC66U_B1 would be a good fit for your described network. I don't think john9527's fork will work on an RT-AC66U_B1's hardware though.

It certainly appears to be the last item of the list of supported routers:

The following routers are supported by this firmware:

• N16, N66U, AC66U (original MIPS based revs)
• AC56U, AC68U (Rev A1,A2,B1), AC68P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router)
• AC68U (Rev C1,E1), AC1900 and AC1900P (and the retail and color versions, R and W, of each router) and the AC66U-B1

 

[L&LD]

It certainly appears to be the last item of the list of supported routers:

Thank you for the correction!

 

[foosion]

Thank you for the correction!

Which brings us back to the question, am I likely to be better off with the mainline RMerlin firmware or John's LTS fork?

 

[L&LD]

Which brings us back to the question, am I likely to be better off with the mainline RMerlin firmware or John's LTS fork?

For me, this is the best of all worlds. I would now have two current, RMerlin based choices to test and decide between!

I would be loading both for a week each and see which one gave me better results. I have a feeling that right now, that may be the john9527 fork. If I were to go from a feeling of the discussions on the forums here.

Myself? I would put the latest RMerlin firmware available which for the RT-AC66U_B1 model would be the RT-AC68U firmware model.

For the why? I would look at the changelogs in this thread https://www.snbforums.com/threads/experimental-bcraffy-openssl-1-1-x-builds.55036/ to see.

You may need to download one of the firmwares in the link above to see those changelogs.

As an additional data point, I have been running the bcraffy experimental builds on my main home router for a few weeks with no issues on my RT-AC3100.

 

[foosion]

My guess is that the john9527 fork, described as "very stable, ... a good choice for those who desire a 'set it and forget it' router solution" may be the better choice for someone looking for stability and simplicity.

However, I'll probably try the current RMerlin firmware first, both for comparison and because it's marginally easier to install (you don't have to use the Asus rescue program).

I ordered the ac66u_b1 this morning and it should be here by the end of the day.

 

[L&LD]

My guess is that the john9527 fork, described as "very stable, ... a good choice for those who desire a 'set it and forget it' router solution" may be the better choice for someone looking for stability and simplicity.

However, I'll probably try the current RMerlin firmware first, both for comparison and because it's marginally easier to install (you don't have to use the Asus rescue program).

I ordered the ac66u_b1 this morning and it should be here by the end of the day.

Sounds good!

john9527's firmware is excellent and is highly regarded for the older models for a good reason. I used his firmware on many customer routers in the past.

 

[RMerlin]

Do you recommend running John's fork or your latest stable version with that router (for my simple use case, if that matters)?

No reason not to go with my firmware since it fully supports the RT-AC66U_B1, and probably will for quite a while as the RT-AC68U family is currently still actively supported by Asus.

As for stability and reliability, see this post.

 

[foosion]

No reason not to go with my firmware since it fully supports the RT-AC66U_B1, and probably will for quite a while as the RT-AC68U family is currently still actively supported by Asus.

As for stability and reliability, see this post.

I'm running your 384.9. So far, so good. About the only config so far is choosing SSIDs and passwords.

Thank you so much for your work on the firmware and thanks to you and L&LD for the advice in this thread. Much appreciated.