choose a new router

[huotg01]

Don't know if i can use this thread for the question i have now, i thought that merlins fw also has an option to increase the wifi by extending the strength of the wifi radios is that correct?
I read in several topics about the latest stock fws that lowered the (total) output of the radios due to all kind of regulations about wifi signals and their maximum output, can anyone point me to the right direction?

If you expect to just "turn a knob", the answer is no. Better to search on the forum for more. There is a lot of discussion on it. You can learn more abour RMerlin fw at that url: https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki

 

[jegesq]

Originally Posted by Lethasniper007:
Question guys is the asus rt ac56u a dual core router? Would this router be good for gaming and how does it perform with 4 or more clients online? what's the from ac56u or the ac56r. Now if I had to choose from ac66u and ac56u which one? There are 2 Xbox consoles for online gaming and 2 laptops online browsing/ facebook/ YouTube

Personally, I would opt for the AC66U (and have) over the 56U for online gaming and wireless browsing and streaming. Setting aside the differences in the CPU's (both as to speed and architecture) which have been discussed here and elsewhere, the main advantages to the AC66U, in my view, are these if you are primarily counting on the router to route packets (as you no doubt would be for online gaming), and are primarily interested in wireless throughput and speed for using 802.11ac-enabled client devices:

1. External antennas-- The ac66U has three externals vs. the ac56U's two internal antennas. Generally speaking, you will get higher signal gain with the externals, and they are a bit more flexible in the sense that you can reposition them without moving the router itself (for example if you wall mount it...which I understand can't be done 56U).

2. Wireless 5ghz 802.11ac speed: 1750 MB/s (ac66U) vs 1167 MB/s (ac56U)-- 583 MB/s higher wifi speed; these are only theoretical maximum link connection speeds, but if you have a very fast connection to and from your ISP you may actually see consistently faster wireless speeds on 5ghz 802.11ac the closer your wireless clients are located to the router so that you can reach as close to the maximum link connection speeds possible. But a lot will depend on your environment and there's no way to know how one router will behave as opposed to another unless and until you actually try it out in your particular environment, and with your own particular client devices. This is why you read threads that say "XYZ router is the best" and other people say "XYZ router is crap". They all can't be right or wrong. The issue most of the time is that you really can't fix the walls absorbing all the signal or just make your neighbor who transmits on the same channel magically disappear, and a two-antenna device is just that and it won't perform the same as a three-antenna client device (generally speaking).

3. MIMO-- The ac66u can run 3x3 mimo whereas the 56u can run 2x2 mimo. This may not really be a huge factor because you need a very clean signal to get three overlapping signals rather than just two, and besides that, if you don't have 3-antenna clients then 3x3 mimo isn't going to do anything for you. But if you do, then you can theoretically achieve better results than without it.

It's been said here before, but bears repeating. If you're going to use your router for things like VPN, torrenting off a USB drive connected to the USB port on the router, etc., then you're probably going to be happier with a dual-core ARM processor device like the 56U. But if you're primarily doing gaming, online streaming, YouTube, and internet browsing/uploading and downloading, then my preference is to go for the faster implementation of the 5ghz radio capability. If your X-Boxes are all connected via GigE ports, then it probably makes no difference whether you are using the 56U or the 66U, as you're going to be limited by the X-Box's NIC in any event; and come to think of it, since the X-Box's wireless NIC is 802.11n, much of the discussion about 5ghz doesn't matter for you anyway, unless you are using a wireless bridge or repeater and you've assigned it to your 5ghz channels. And by this I mean that if you have lots of 802.11ac devices and have set your 5ghz channels to 80mhz, once you connect an 802.11n device (like an X-Box wirelessly), you're going to limit the width of your 5ghz channels to a maximum of 40mhz in any event, because you'll always drop down to the lowest 802.11 standard when connecting mixed devices (same with the 2.4ghz channels, where you'll be limited to 20mhz...which you probably should be using anyway to reduce interference...once you connect anything below an "n" device).

As always though, reasonable minds can differ, and your mileage not only may, but probably will vary from the experience of others because no one else has your particular environment to contend with, your exact clients, your ISP, etc.

Oh, one last add: If you're at all concerned about price, and not so much concerned with the factors I mentioned but plan to primarily use other features such as VPN, etc., then you probably cannot beat the 56U's price point. Amazon (U.S.) has it for $99 new whereas the ac66U's are selling for $149 (also Amazon U.S.).

And to confirm what my dear friend Gaston said (since he asked for confirmation): "U" vs. "R" does in fact pertain solely to the distribution channel, i.e., how the router is sold and distributed to consumers. "R" is used to designate "retail" (such as Best Buy), whereas "U" is used to designate online or discounters (such as Frys). And the "P" designation now used with the AC68P is apparently a new one, meant to signify a device that is exclusive to Best Buy and then only in the U.S. (and maybe Canada, but I am not sure about that). Physically, there is no difference at all between an RT-AC66U vs. an RT-AC66R, or a 56U or 56R.

 

[huotg01]

...
And to confirm what my dear friend Gaston said (since he asked for confirmation): "U" vs. "R" does in fact pertain solely to the distribution channel, i.e., how the router is sold and distributed to consumers. "R" is used to designate "retail" (such as Best Buy), whereas "U" is used to designate online or discounters (such as Frys). And the "P" designation now used with the AC68P is apparently a new one, meant to signify a device that is exclusive to Best Buy and then only in the U.S. (and maybe Canada, but I am not sure about that). Physically, there is no difference at all between an RT-AC66U vs. an RT-AC66R, or a 56U or 56R.

Just to complete this excellent post, P seems exclusively used with the ac68.
It is also a slightly different beast than the U. The CPU has been changed and it runs faster 1GHz versus 800MHz for the 68U.
There could be also some other minor changes.

 

[jegesq]

Just to complete this excellent post, P seems exclusively used with the ac68.
It is also a slightly different beast than the U. The CPU has been changed and it runs faster 1GHz versus 800MHz for the 68U.
There could be also some other minor changes.

Precisely.

And there it is....10 characters, in a word, including the period.

 

[huotg01]

Precisely.
...

No added value, but it is very rewarding to receive the Master touch...

 

[jegesq]

No added value, but it is very rewarding to receive the Master touch...

Ah, never discount the added value of subtlety. And let's also not forget irony.

 

[huotg01]

Ah, never discount the added value of subtlety. And let's also not forget irony.

I don't know why, but when thinking about my favorite apostles the words that come to my mind are not subtlety (despite that he probably thinks he is), even less irony... Maybe "frivolity", futility ?

 

[Lethasniper007]

How does the asus rt ac68u/r compare to the netgear night hawk ac1900 dual core ? How fast is the ac68u I know it's a dual core but how fast?

 

[System Error Message]

they all use the same dual core ARM. The speed is the frequency and dualcore A9 architecture speed. They should've gone with A15 considering the amount of watts they all use. If you had a dual core 1Ghz smartphone in 2010-2012 it would be that fast The only difference is hardware switching and NAT and without the graphics part.

The ac87U could've had 5 LAN ports and 1 WAN port considering the number of physical ports the broadcom chip has combined with the quantenna.

 

[Jheroen]

People, can i flash the asus stock fw with the latest merlin fw without problems?

 

[jegesq]

People, can i flash the asus stock fw with the latest merlin fw without problems?

The quick answer is "yes". As long as you flash the right version (i.e., one designed for your particular Asus router model number), you should be able to flash your firmware quite easily and without incident.

Just go to Merlin's firmware website (http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/), look under "Download" and download the firmware version you want to try for your specific router. Once the file is downloaded to your computer, unzip it to a place on your computer where you'll be able to find it (e.g., a specific directory on your hard drive or your desktop). Then go into the router's GUI, go to the Administration page, and look for the "Firmware Upgrade" tab. In the blank space for "New Firmware File" you will then browse to the file you just downloaded and unzipped, and select the file with the ".trx" extension. That will upload that file directly to your router. Hit "Apply" and sit back and wait.

Depending on what version of software you're upgrading from, you may or may not have to do a factory reset. I always do that, and it never hurts to clear the NVRAM to get rid of old settings from prior firmware versions. You can do the factory reset by either holding in the reset button on the back of the router for 15-30 seconds, or you can do a "factory reset" by selecting that option on the Administration "Restore/Save/Upload Setting" page in the GUI. Just hit the "restore" button next to the first entry "Factory Default". You will have to reenter your settings by hand again (do not simply reload a prior saved configuration since that will defeat the purpose of clearing out NVRAM by reloading all of your old settings, some of which may conflict with the version of firmware you just flashed.).

Anyway, that's how you do it. Have fun.

If, on the other hand, you mean by "problems" will you encounter anything that doesn't work as you expect, or performance which is different than you anticipate? Who knows.... Merlin FW is less buggy (read way more stable) than the stock firmware, has more advanced features, and the GUI is well laid out and follows closely the original firmware's GUI. So it's certainly not a radical departure from what you see in the original Asus-wrt's GUI, and the functionality for the basics is pretty much the same (except that Merlin is quicker to fix bugs when they are discovered). But will YOU have "problems"? Impossible to say. Much will depend on your environment, the client devices you're using, your ISP connection, and a whole host of other variables, including selecting the right firmware version for your router and then applying the settings that optimize your particular experience. The settings that work for me and others should also work for you, but there's no telling if something different about your network, you environment, your devices, will make your experience less or more "problematic". Merlin's FW is pretty universally thought of as a huge improvement over the standard official firmware, but that said, the goal of his firmware project is to stick as closely as possible to the official firmware and that to make improvements and offer features to that original firmware. Read his project statement so you get a better understanding of what it's really all about, and so you'll know what to expect: http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about. You should also read the "Readme" text file that comes with every version of Merlin's firmware. It will, in the long run, save you a lot of time and answer a ton of questions about the features included and guide you about how to use them (or what else to Google or search for here at SNB's forums).

 

[jegesq]

Just to complete this excellent post, P seems exclusively used with the ac68.
It is also a slightly different beast than the U. The CPU has been changed and it runs faster 1GHz versus 800MHz for the 68U.
There could be also some other minor changes.

Actually Gaston, when I used the word "precisely" I spoke too soon. We both forgot about the "W" designation (found for example on the RT-68W pictured below)

 

[Lethasniper007]

Is there any asus routers that support IP bandwith control? Would like to give some of my clients lower up and down speeds I know there are some routers that do like the Tp link http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=ac82eb2a79158463ae8aea2a55ce9e55en02

 

[tpgould]

Asus 66r Dual Band

I think the 66r looks like it will fit my needs but does anyone have any hands on config with this router? I am looking to buy this router to be a bridge. I want to connect it to my home router 2.4 band and then create another wifi network on the 5 band for my home lab.

Then also use the NIC ports to connect to my switch for all of my servers to create an internal network over the 5ghz band.

Newegg has the router on sale refurb for 89.99 here goo.gl/CuFrI3

Any ideas or better router recommendations?

Thanks
-T