Future predictions - which AX router will be supported longest?

[Sky]

Does Amazon have salt mines? Pls link, as I'm in the market for a modest one at reasonable money ...

(my side hustle is being the Admin for an Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune and we need somewhere to store recalcitrant members anyhow, but I suppose a boron mine would do at a pinch)

If boron will do, there's a Jim Dandy down in the Mojave!

 

[Sky]

After going through half a dozen routers from Asus thinking of skipping the next model release and going for Synology.

I'm in the same place, maybe for different reasons.

Our sites are still on the old AC87's. While these routers have served us (and with the very able, capable, friendly and willing help of the members of the forum) exceptionally well over the last 7-years. Now it's time to move on not just for performance but primarily for security. I have not seen a FW update from ASUS since May of 2021 (3.0.0.4.382_52545-ga0245cc) and really don't expect to as the 5/21 update was very pleasantly surprising in itself!
The limits of WPA-2, VPN limited to PPTP and OpenVPN, and actual zero vendor-customer support notwithstanding the FW updates, which have been stellar, imo, are just forcing the issue. For us these AC87R's (the BestBuy version of the AC87) have been absolute beasts with "can't fail" hardware and performance. Oh, there have been many "issues" but by-and-large those have all been PEBKAC arising from negligence, absent-mindedness, and — well — tweaking.

Now, after nearly 7-decades (for me), it's time to get this stuff updated and stabilized for the next soul(s) in my saddle, and I've grown very lazy (selfish) with my remaining time, and very conscientious of the time required of others based on my decisions today. So while I am very, very fond of the Asus brand and have great respect, admiration, and appreciation for their continued FW support of such old tech as our AC87's, I too am considering jumping ship and leaving behind me installed Synology routers, probably in mesh networks.

However… the door is still open. So I'm still Asus v Synology.

My goal is setups of good-to-excellent performance today, with stellar support, and adequate stability to provide for mea heredes to bring themselves up-to-speed over time during their day-to-day functions such that they can provide 95% of the support needed as it occurs, and be able to seek out the remaining 5% either through the OEM, forums such as this, or in last-ditch desperation, with a paid outside expert. It's that old saw — if you can't figure it out in blue water with the assets on-hand your options instantly go to zero.

On the Asus side I've experienced very solid devices*; great FW support & updates; excellent (for the time) built-in OEM features; a first-class UI far better than competing models in the "prosumer" or SMB class; and ASUSWRT-Merlin along with this forum.

On the Synology side is the similitude of the the UI/X side-by-side with our multi-site Synology servers UI/X in DSM 7.1; cross-platform transferable knowledge for the admin and users; single-vendor simplicity (a plus AND a minus depending on the circumstances, e.g., CCP v Taiwan); and the best OEM-customer support I have ever encountered; and a more SMB-to-MNC focused team; but, it also carries limited router hardware experience; new router OS with SRM 1.3 on the RT6600ax; hardware limitations compared to the Asus; etc.

So I am torn.

If anyone has good and/or bad experience with both platforms, I for one would really appreciate your chiming-in with whatever knowledge and/or experience you care to share.

Sky


*Our AC87's are on cabinet tops, two feet of open conditioned air in five directions and elevated about 1/2" on the bottoms for additional circulation, which may have helped their longevity

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

I'm in the same place, maybe for different reasons.

Our sites are still on the old AC87's. While these routers have served us (and with the very able, capable, friendly and willing help of the members of the forum) exceptionally well over the last 7-years. Now it's time to move on not just for performance but primarily for security. I have not seen a FW update from ASUS since May of 2021 (3.0.0.4.382_52545-ga0245cc) and really don't expect to as the 5/21 update was very pleasantly surprising in itself!
The limits of WPA-2, VPN limited to PPTP and OpenVPN, and actual zero vendor-customer support notwithstanding the FW updates, which have been stellar, imo, are just forcing the issue. For us these AC87R's (the BestBuy version of the AC87) have been absolute beasts with "can't fail" hardware and performance. Oh, there have been many "issues" but by-and-large those have all been PEBKAC arising from negligence, absent-mindedness, and — well — tweaking.

Now, after nearly 7-decades (for me), it's time to get this stuff updated and stabilized for the next soul(s) in my saddle, and I've grown very lazy (selfish) with my remaining time, and very conscientious of the time required of others based on my decisions today. So while I am very, very fond of the Asus brand and have great respect, admiration, and appreciation for their continued FW support of such old tech as our AC87's, I too am considering jumping ship and leaving behind me installed Synology routers, probably in mesh networks.

However… the door is still open. So I'm still Asus v Synology.

My goal is setups of good-to-excellent performance today, with stellar support, and adequate stability to provide for mea heredes to bring themselves up-to-speed over time during their day-to-day functions such that they can provide 95% of the support needed as it occurs, and be able to seek out the remaining 5% either through the OEM, forums such as this, or in last-ditch desperation, with a paid outside expert. It's that old saw — if you can't figure it out in blue water with the assets on-hand your options instantly go to zero.

On the Asus side I've experienced very solid devices*; great FW support & updates; excellent (for the time) built-in OEM features; a first-class UI far better than competing models in the "prosumer" or SMB class; and ASUSWRT-Merlin along with this forum.

On the Synology side is the similitude of the the UI/X side-by-side with our multi-site Synology servers UI/X in DSM 7.1; cross-platform transferable knowledge for the admin and users; single-vendor simplicity (a plus AND a minus depending on the circumstances, e.g., CCP v Taiwan); and the best OEM-customer support I have ever encountered; and a more SMB-to-MNC focused team; but, it also carries limited router hardware experience; new router OS with SRM 1.3 on the RT6600ax; hardware limitations compared to the Asus; etc.

So I am torn.

If anyone has good and/or bad experience with both platforms, I for one would really appreciate your chiming-in with whatever knowledge and/or experience you care to share.

Sky


*Our AC87's are on cabinet tops, two feet of open conditioned air in five directions and elevated about 1/2" on the bottoms for additional circulation, which may have helped their longevity

I had two RTAC87U in the past, they were pretty a head as far as their capabilities when they first launched. The reason why I sold mine was because I could sense their EOL support with asus approaching. That means any newly discovered bugs would no longer be patched by Asus. Since merlin dropped their support shortly after, my suspicions were correct. By no means did I ever have a bad experience with the RTAC87U. It just seems like it was one of those raw one time experiences.

 

[Sky]

I had two RTAC87U in the past… (t)he reason why I sold mine was because I could sense their EOL support with asus approaching.

How did you go about selling them? I've never had much luck trying to sell my old tech.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

How did you go about selling them? I've never had much luck trying to sell my old tech.

Ebay.

 

[Cancellation]

I've been trying to buy the AX86U for nearly a solid year to upgrade my RT-AC88U.

Feels like it's getting a little slow, lucky to pull 400Mbps but direct ISP router pulls min 850Mbps every test.. telling me it's my router!

Always out of stock for months but now back but a tasty £250 regret missing the £185 offer/deal Amazon did sold out by the time I decided "yep upgrade time" lol

Do I now track the AX86U PRO Instead?

 

[doczenith1]

I've been trying to buy the AX86U for nearly a solid year to upgrade my RT-AC88U.

Feels like it's getting a little slow, lucky to pull 400Mbps but direct ISP router pulls min 850Mbps every test.. telling me it's my router!

This is telling me that something might be disabling HW acceleration (Runner and Flow Cache). If I'm not mistaken, Adaptive QoS might be one item that could disable the HW acceleration. There are others that don't come to mind at this moment. Your 88U should have no problem pulling gig speeds with HW acceleration enabled.

 

[L&LD]

I've been trying to buy the AX86U for nearly a solid year to upgrade my RT-AC88U.

Feels like it's getting a little slow, lucky to pull 400Mbps but direct ISP router pulls min 850Mbps every test.. telling me it's my router!

Always out of stock for months but now back but a tasty £250 regret missing the £185 offer/deal Amazon did sold out by the time I decided "yep upgrade time" lol

Do I now track the AX86U PRO Instead?

I wouldn't. The 'pro' model is unproven and more than likely will be more expensive.

The GT-AX6000 or better is what I would be focusing on today.

 

[Sky]

This is telling me that something might be disabling HW acceleration (Runner and Flow Cache). If I'm not mistaken, Adaptive QoS might be one item that could disable the HW acceleration. There are others that don't come to mind at this moment. Your 88U should have no problem pulling gig speeds with HW acceleration enabled.

You're correct. When we shut off QOS on our 87's the speeds more than doubled, an issue not previously noticed until we upgraded our internet service to 1G — the best available at both of our sites.

 

[Cancellation]

This is telling me that something might be disabling HW acceleration (Runner and Flow Cache). If I'm not mistaken, Adaptive QoS might be one item that could disable the HW acceleration. There are others that don't come to mind at this moment. Your 88U should have no problem pulling gig speeds with HW acceleration enabled.

I don't have QoS enabled since it's 1Gbps Down/Up I read it's not worth it.

Did use QoS before but got advised on here to disable with my speed/plan? Is this incorrect?

"At gigabit speeds, there's very little need for QOS for home networks"
"Note: If you use a gigabit Internet connection (300 Mbps throughput or faster), then you don’t need to use QoS."

You're correct. When we shut off QOS on our 87's the speeds more than doubled, an issue not previously noticed until we upgraded our internet service to 1G — the best available at both of our sites.

I wouldn't. The 'pro' model is unproven and more than likely will be more expensive.

The GT-AX6000 or better is what I would be focusing on today.

£324.50 though oof. Maybe Black Friday?

 

[doczenith1]

I don't have QoS enabled since it's 1Gbps Down/Up I read it's not worth it.

Did use QoS before but got advised on here to disable with my speed/plan? Is this incorrect?

Just to be clear, I wasn't insinuating that you had QoS enabled. I was merely stating one (of many) items on the router that can disable HW acceleration. Can you check your router settings and let us know if HW acceleration is enabled or disabled? On Asuswrt-Merlin firmware you can find the status on the Tools tab towards the bottom of the page.

And yes, no need to use QoS with a symmetric gigabit connection.

 

[SomeWhereOverTheRainBow]

And yes, no need to use QoS with a symmetric gigabit connection.

Especially on these routers which have very limited cpu chipsets incapable of adequately shaping a gigabit connections. FQ Codel comes close, but wont get past 500-600mbps with these very limited CPU. Cake barely touches 350mbps while causing the CPU to struggle first.

 

[Tech9]

Do I now track the AX86U PRO Instead?

I would wait for AX86U Pro. It has similar to GT-AX6000 hardware, but with better space saving design and not an ugly face hugger with useless RGB. GT-AX6000 has 2x 2.5GbE ports and this is the only advantage.

 

[wizin]

Just got a used AX-11000 and used my RT-86U as mesh

 

[Cancellation]

Just to be clear, I wasn't insinuating that you had QoS enabled. I was merely stating one (of many) items on the router that can disable HW acceleration. Can you check your router settings and let us know if HW acceleration is enabled or disabled? On Asuswrt-Merlin firmware you can find the status on the Tools tab towards the bottom of the page.

And yes, no need to use QoS with a symmetric gigabit connection.

It's enabled according to the Tools_Sysinfo.asp page.

HW acceleration	Enabled