Considering Netgear R7000 or ASUS RT-AC86U

[Dirk Diggler]

Long time lurker here, love this website. Time for a new router, and I was doing research on here.

Right now there's about a $50CAN difference between these two routers, the ASUS being the more expensive.

Looking at the router tests on here, it's clear the ASUS has newer hardware, and therefore runs faster in many respects. However, the wireless tests show the older R7000 having far better range in both 2.4 and 5mhz frequencies.

The R7000 showed it can hang onto a 2.4mhz download connection at 63db of attenuation and still pull off 30Mbps. The AC86U could barely hang onto a connection at 54db, only getting 5Mbps. Results were similar for 2.4mhz upload as well.

On the 5mhz side for download, the R7000 again managed to hold a connection at 45db of attenuation, and get 111Mbps. The AC86U could only muster 42db of attenuation, and a measly 6Mbps. Similar results for upload as well.

I'm not sure how this translates into the real world, but just looking at charts, it appears the older and slower R7000 has far better range than the newer and faster 86U.

I know Tim has gone through several revisions of testing processes, so I'm not sure if that's causing the discrepancy, or the client used in the test, etc.

Thoughts? Can I assume the R7000 is better for range?

 

[umarmung]

You are highly unlikely to find anyone that would recommend a Netgear R7000 over the latest consumer Asus router, i.e. the Asus RT-AC86U.

Netgear R7000 is five years old and from a manufacturer that has a poor reputation for length of support and quality of updates. Even Netgear recommends the Netgrear R7000P as a direct replacement for the R7000.

If you actually need better coverage and average performance, you should add access points or routers as access points, not rely on very marginal differences in a single standalone router for range or peak performance that may no longer exist due to changes in firmware or hardware revisions. These days you can buy cheap, high quality APs or routers as APs for as little as $50. In addition, APs often have better performance than consumer wireless routers anyway.

Better to ask why such an old device is being priced not that dissimilar to a very new one, though to be fair, for many people a 25% price difference can be make or break.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Thanks for your reply Umarmung. I did end up going with the 86U, and it's signal strength is far stronger than the Wireless-N Time Capsule it replaces.

I agree with everything you said, however the signal strength differences between the two tests did strike my curiosity. The 86U would appear to be a step back in wireless coverage compared to the R7000, and I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.

 

[microchip]

NETGEAR has a few routers that have superior signal strength compared to others. Further, NETGEAR has very decent hardware. The problem with NETGEAR is its firmware, which is quite buggy and lags behind that of ASUS or Linksys.

I used DD-WRT, OpenWRT, Tomato and XVortex. Out of all, I found Tomato to be the best experience I had so far. Sadly, in a psychotic breakdown, I gave away my R7000 to someone I know. A year later, I bought the R7800 which still tops many charts. I wasn't planning in using 3rd party firmware as I'm not very demanding and stock provides all I need. I bought the R7800 mainly for its hardware and my preference for QCA-based routers instead of Broadcom ones. Also, the price difference between the R7800 and the RT-AC86U was 100 euros more for the latter. Excuse me, but I wasn't going to throw 250 or more euros for a router

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Then again, if you look at the R7000P review, Tim pits it against the R7000. The R7000 didn't stay connected anywhere near as high in attenuation as it did in it's original review. In this review, the R7000 loses in range to the 86U, but in it's original review, it shows having better range than the 86U. Not sure why, perhaps some changes in his revision from one test to the other??

 

[phusebox]

I have had an R7000 for five years. Bought an AC86U as replacement, but it's no match for the R7000. Speeds and range are all lower. Featurewise (as settings go) it's also lacking.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have had an R7000 for five years. Bought an AC86U as replacement, but it's no match for the R7000. Speeds and range are all lower. Featurewise (as settings go) it's also lacking.

I wonder if FCC changes to allowed WiFi power could be a factor here?

OE

 

[phusebox]

I wonder if FCC changes to allowed WiFi power could be a factor here?

OE

I am guessing those don't apply in Europe? Also the R7000 has the latest firmware, so they should've been limited if it indeed would apply.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I am guessing those don't apply in Europe? Also the R7000 has the latest firmware, so they should've been limited if it indeed would apply.

You could be right!

OE