how come ?

[ozgurcnbyz]

i am a software developer working at a global mobile telcom company. Since most of my colleagues are network engineers i talked to them before deciding on a home router. Thats how i found out about Asus routers. i checked each model and the most expensive one was the ac66u (ac68 hadnt shipped on that date).
So i got myself the ac66u and i am very happy with this model. Recently i came across with the ac56u one. its 70 usd cheaper than the ac66u in where i live. one thing i find strange is the fact that ac56u has faster cpu and have usb 3.0 . also because of the cpu type ac66u doesnt support time machine yet while ac56u does. as a consumer i havent seen anything like that before. an older model has better specs (other than the wifi speed). i dont understand why on earth Asus following this strategy on SKU's.

 

[cmillar6]

ac56u is actually a newer model than ac66u, the ac56u is only 2X2 AC1200 so it has poorer wifi specs than the ac66u.

 

[RMerlin]

As cmillar is saying. You might be confusing the RT-N56U with the RT-AC56U - two totally different products. The RT-N56U is an older product.

 

[ozgurcnbyz]

no i am not confusing. as a matter of fact i thought 66 would be newer than the 56. still their strategy don't make sense. a newer model is cheaper and wifi specs are not as good. seriously weird. anyways would you recommend buying the ac56u instead ? would i lose any performance in wifi range and throughput ?

 

[travisnj]

Two different product lines.

RT is ROUTER

AC = ARM

N = MIPS

N56, N66, NXX is not the same as AC56, AC68

U/R is irrelevant

Hope that helps

The specs are difference due to the platform and development of them.

ARM is the newest addition and lacks in a lot of ways in FW/Software (being built daily and will be as robust)

MIPS is widely supported and most versatile with latest in AC (upto manufacturing date)

ARM is the new future to my understanding of high-end (soho) routers

My Two Cents:

(I still own N66... Love it (no match to AC56 on Openvpn).... Replaced mine with AC56... Love it... Range is a matter of opinion and your personal environment.. Performance is all subjective. I have seen results posted here and have done openssl speed tests that differ vastly based upon what level of encryption being done and features on Openvpn.. Still smoking fast... Point? To each his own and do a LOT of researching... Just like the old days when the clock cycles where the easiest way to decide.. That is no longer the case.. Same here...)

 

[ozgurcnbyz]

thanks for the detailed info. i wish i'd done a better research before buying the ac66. ac56u is a better option for me. i guess i'll wait for the newer arm based model

 

[travisnj]

That in it's self is tricky!!!

AC56 has the SAME cpu as AC68....

Bogomips are where I made my decision...

Details, details, and more details... this is the right forum to do the homework... Great article to read is "AC56 AC68 under the hood" ... read up there..

IMHO I would not pay the premium for AC68... You get the same joys in AC56 (yes, even the cpu when you read more on overclocking default on AC56.. They crippled it I believe due to knowing AC68 was in pipeline)

I have active cooling (usb fan) blowing on mine to keep cpu very cool (50 degrees Celsius, just want the longest life possible) and am clocking at 1200Mhz cpu and 800Mhz ram... It smokes through doing some wicked speeds (full wire speed @ 20Mb) with AES-128-CBC and obfuscated encryption, running Transmission, etc. .. Incredible beast...

Default the AC56 is decent but overclocked it is a beast!

 

[Lost Dog]

(I still own N66... Love it (no match to AC56 on Openvpn).... Replaced mine with AC56... Love it... Range is a matter of opinion and your personal environment.. Performance is all subjective. I have seen results posted here and have done openssl speed tests that differ vastly based upon what level of encryption being done and features on Openvpn.. Still smoking fast... Point? To each his own and do a LOT of researching... Just like the old days when the clock cycles where the easiest way to decide.. That is no longer the case.. Same here...)

Thanks for this information... I'm still trying to decide if I should take my N66 back and get the AC56 (same price). In your first sentence are you saying the AC56 beats the N66 in openvpn performance? I use my router for Openvpn but more often I run a ssh tunnel and use foxyproxy to direct my internet browsing though it.

Do you notice a difference in N speed between the AC56 and N66? All my devices are N based and I would not be using AC any time soon.

The N66 is listed as "N900 ultimate performance; 450+450Mbps" and using inssider is shows the rate as 450 in the 5Ghz spectrum.

The AC56 is listed as "AC1200 ultimate AC performance; 300+867Mbps". Is that 300 in N and 867 in AC? Will I be getting less N bandwidth with this?

Decisions, decisions....

Have you run using AES-256 as opposed to AES-128?

Thanks!

 

[travisnj]

Honestly... N is going to net you 300Mbps.. period. IMO.

I would not get all wrapped up into the AC/N and bandwidth issues (marketing jazz). The principal that I understand and am guided by was Bogomips.

Unless your using proprietary AC radios than it really doesn't matter to you. N (5Ghz) is going to net you 300Mbps (my experience radio <-> LAN).. The two factors that I know effect both will be the bus bandwidth and link rate negotiated, I believe they are both on par with each other (N66/AC56 - Not using proprietary radios).

The Bogomips is a different story. That is where your true consideration is; what are you looking for.. For me it was simple. Openvpn performance and AC56/68 had it... Terms of throughput and radio performance... that was very trivial. I am NOT going to be buying more proprietary radio's to take advantage of the marketing buzz words.

I want good throughput, performance and range for the off-the-shelf radio's N/AC and more than all, Openvpn that can perform at wirespeeds from ISP.

All the rest is icing on the cake and trivial at best. I have a timecapsule to use, I have other appliances, etc. on the network, I just need those three so I don't have my laptop/desktop running all night mounted to NAS to run torrents. I want to keep everything quiet, powerful, low voltage.... I have a 50' tower Rhoen, with a 3' omni and a 1.6watt radio (Mikrotik) for all my needs on range, then Overlay SSID on 5Ghz inside for media, appliances and etc. for NAS. So, my topology is different than some out here and others are different from mine..

Thanks to Asus for the best soho solutions you can buy and Rmerlin for the hard work and a great community to go with it.

I am not sure if I answered your questions directly enough, but mostly is going to be your personal analysis and priorities.

I use AES-128-CBC because I subscribe to an excellent VPN provider (my experience: the best I have ever used) by the name of www.bolehvpn.net and thats what they run... Plus they have an added flavor of certs/keys and special sauce (hash-fest) in Openvpn that makes my setup smokin' fast for my needs.

Best in your endeavors!

 

[Lost Dog]

Honestly... N is going to net you 300Mbps.. period. IMO.

I would not get all wrapped up into the AC/N and bandwidth issues (marketing jazz). The principal that I understand and am guided by was Bogomips.

Best in your endeavors!

Thanks for your input. The N66 is back in the box and heading to Best Buy in a few minutes. I'll be ordering the 56u as soon as I get home. Really the AES performance for ssh and openvpn is really the big factor in my decision here... Any streaming I do is wired and wireless is just for phones.