How High is "Up" for Upgrade?

[mmcpher]

I have been happily running my Verizon Fios wifi through to my Asus AC66 for a number of years. But we've added a lot of devices and services since then, and I think its time to upgrade. I could upgrade the Verizon router to a "Verizon Fios Quantum Gateway, Model G1100" but I haven't heard good things about it, so my inclination is to buy a better performing 3rd party router. That being the case, with the Verizon router's wifi radio being disabled, I don't think I gain anything from updating that segment.

But getting to the main chance with the 3rd Party Router, I see from SNB the advice that their advice for fastest is a 1900 class router, notwithstanding that there have now been several subsequent generations of routers by those same manufacturers. It seems the newer and higher numbered routers have additional features that are currently of little use, since the devices have yet to catch up with the router manufacturers and aren't capable of running services that would access and take advantage of the features in the latest releases of routers. Normally, I don't mind spending extra $ to prolong the life and high-end status of a router. I would buy a 5300 class router and get more out of it on an if-come basis if devices add on features. But the apparent thing is that not only do the 5300 (and several generations before that) include features I won't use, when it comes to basic use that I will actually need, the later models don't perform as well the older models, all the way down to a 1900 class.

I guess I'm looking for a sweet spot where I will see appreciable speed and coverage improvements, coming from AC66. It seems strange that a 1900 would still be fastest. It could be that an intervening router, say in the 2300, 3000 or 5000 class, would be almost as fast and cover as well as the 1900, but also provide additional features, should they become viable later on.

 

[sfx2000]

I guess I'm looking for a sweet spot where I will see appreciable speed and coverage improvements, coming from AC66. It seems strange that a 1900 would still be fastest. It could be that an intervening router, say in the 2300, 3000 or 5000 class, would be almost as fast and cover as well as the 1900, but also provide additional features, should they become viable later on.

The AC1900 class is the best performance value for the money - you'll see higher numbers because (drum roll), tada! marketing

But in the cold reality of the real world, one isn't going to see any difference from an AC1900 class router/AP to an AC5300, as the client bandwidth is exactly the same...

so if your Asus RT-AC66 is working fine, hang on to it - check out RMerlin's builds perhaps (see release notes), but otherwise, spending $250-350 (or more) isn't going to really do much more than what you have already...

 

[pete y testing]

But we've added a lot of devices and services since then

if many of them are 5 gig and or wireless AC you may want to consider one of the 3200 tri band routers to help spread the wifi load somewhat as thats what they are designed to do

fyi tri band 3200 is 2.4 gig 600M +5 gig low band 1300M + 5 gig high band 1300M

it really depends on if coverage is the issue or just the number of clients connecting , if coverage is the issue a new wireless router prob isnt going to help anyway and you prob should be looking at a second access point somewhere else in the house connected back to the main router by ethernet or perhaps EOP/power line adapters

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AC66U is a first gen AC class router. It was surpassed in many ways with the RT-AC56U if the connecting clients were using 2 antennae or less. To put it another way; it has the same class of hardware as the equally old RT-N66U.

An RT-AC68U is an upgrade over the RT-AC56U (particularly if you happen to obtain the new 1GHz models), doubly true if you have clients with 3 antennae/3 streams. But so is almost every other router above it. What you won't get is performance proportional to the cost differential.

I say, set a budget, try a couple of suitable candidates in your own network environment and decide then if a new router would be suitable.

But the advantages of an RT-AC3100, RT-AC88U and/or an RT-AC5300 with dual 1.4GHz processors, more ram, based on newer SDK's and other design and feature improvements, vs. a router with a single core 600MHz processor that will be 4 years old very soon would be hard to miss, even if the price can't be justified.

 

[mmcpher]

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm groping toward a decision and the feedback is much appreciated. I have moved some devices to and from 2.4 to 5, but what I gain in speed on the 5, I seem to lose with dropped connections. Our neighborhood is thick with 2.4 traffic, and sparse on the 5 side, but it may be a coverage issue. It's an all-brick house, but only 2 floors. I have an Asus EA-N66 that I could use as an access point, I suppose (or might I better adapt the AC66 for that purpose?). I will definitely look into adding another access point on the lower floor. The number of 5 band devices has crept up over time, so I am thinking we might get something out of a tri-band router. Thanks again.