Major Issues w/RT-AC86U

[Dave Parker]

Been using my 86u since November last with no issues at all. Currently on Merlin 384.10.2. And I purchased mine used on Ebay. As others have mentioned this is probably not the router for someone looking for a pnp device. Although anyone willing to do a little research should be able to able to set it up with no problems. BTW, I use a Cyber Power 1500 ups for my computer and all my network stuff.

 

[indark]

@OzarkEdge Good point! Hadn't thought of that!
@indark Yeah, maybe a UPS is a good idea. I don't have or otherwise, need one, but maybe don't need a very powerful or expensive one if it's only for the router.
Also, are you saying you've had a good warranty experience with Asus? Please describe, as it seems atypical here.

I picked up APC BN450M when it was on sale. It's more than enough to prevent the router getting damage from power flickering I think.
I am not sure how bad people experience with their warranty claims, it's honestly no different from file claim with other company(EVGA, Logitech, who I believe are known to have good warranty ?).
I describe the issue as detail as possible, walk thru the troubleshooting and provide the result.
If they can not fix it, they ask for documents and I simply file claim as instructed.

here are some example that I had file claim w/ ASUS
-RT-AC66U, with wan malfunction. simply just file the claim after they couldn't figure out what was wrong, within warranty of course.
-GTX-470 graphic card. same, file the claim and no issue.
-PCE-AC66?, a wifi card known to have issue w/ win 10. Asus really bad at software and they couldn't fix it.
They upgrade that to PCE-AC68U for me after a year of purchase.
-PCE-AC88, same procedure, troubleshoot first,ASUS couldn't fix it, sent in for repair, they couldn't fix it so they replace it. no need to jump thru the hoop

So I dont know, I haven't had issue to file warranty claim (regardless of company) as long as the product is covered within warranty.

 

[st3v3n]

We've never bought a router due to Amazon reviews or ratings. Many reviewers feel compelled to write something about every gadget, widget or pair of fuzzy pink slippers they buy, as they feel appreciated when another customer posts a comment about their review. Not sure why negative reviews on Amazon would be a perceived as a mark against the quality of a product, except perhaps the fuzzy slippers. SNB and similar forums are a far better means of helping router minded folks learn and appreciate what an RT-AC86U can do for them.

The RT-AC86U is a very good router at a great price. A negative review shouldn't lead anyone to consider this is a poorly-performing router. There's a definite learning curve involved with the 86U router that an average (or negative) Amazon review won't prepare a first-time owner for. Anyone who is comfortable with router technology and their skill level should be prepared to fully test the router as soon as it arrives, or to have a qualified technician perform the chores for them. If this level of testing is undertaken and performed continuously during the first 30-days of ownership, the chances are very slim that barring an electrical hazard, the 86U will deliver the performance it's known for as long as one is happy with it's capabilities. (We have all of our devices running on/protected by UPS units; since 1980, UPS units have saved us from far more in damages than than they cost). We had two new routers that exhibited malfunctions within the two weeks of testing, and both were immediately replaced with new routers by Amazon. That was an unusual exception which proves it doesn't pay to put off testing. If we'd waited, we'd have had to endure the Asus warranty regime. Did that once with an Asus MB, due to bad caps. Cheers.

 

[NoelS]

Thanks @indark for your detailed reply. You must be lucky or blessed. There are numerous threads here about Asus warranty claims that first took weeks of Asus support "passing the buck" from specialist to specialist for days/weeks trying to deny a h/w problem. Then many posts about eventually being able to RMA (at customer delivery expense), and then waiting a month for more or a repair or replacement.

 

[NoelS]

Update: Fron only yesterday, with "me too's":
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/help-please-rt-ac86u-troubles.56347/
Add to that 34 confirmed purchasers on Amazon statting the 2.4Ghz radio out-and-out failed.
My unscientific analysis says the 2.4Ghz radio IS a major problem on this unit!

 

[L&LD]

Update: Fron only yesterday, with "me too's":
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/help-please-rt-ac86u-troubles.56347/
Add to that 34 confirmed purchasers on Amazon statting the 2.4Ghz radio out-and-out failed.
My unscientific analysis says the 2.4Ghz radio IS a major problem on this unit!

Unless you have a scientific analysis with at least 100 or 1000 times more units, then it will be a major problem. This is in the range of normal, for the number of units that have been probably sold.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Update: Fron only yesterday, with "me too's":
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/help-please-rt-ac86u-troubles.56347/
Add to that 34 confirmed purchasers on Amazon statting the 2.4Ghz radio out-and-out failed.
My unscientific analysis says the 2.4Ghz radio IS a major problem on this unit!

Buy a different router and quit worrying about it.

OE

 

[CriticJay]

1. Are people talking about the 68U or the 86U? It's partly ASUS fault for not recognizing that due to frequent typos and minor dyslexia, people will interchange the numbers frequently

2. Y'all ever heard of Fakespot? Ever since I had to return my Anker "4.7 out of 5 stars" BT headphones because they sounded like a slush-filled garbage can (and replaced with a Sennheiser 3.9 out of 5 stars which are the best-sound BT headphones I've ever listened to in my life) I've come to realize that the vast majority of Amazon reviews are useless, and Fakespot only confirms this.

 

[CriticJay]

While I agree with many of the comments about Amazon and their reviews, this seems slightly different. Many of the one-star reviews are speaking of radio failures/total failures of this model, NOT configuration issues.
@ColinTaylor In the US anyway, the numbers I quoted (27%/132 total 1-star reviews) are for the AC-68U only.

I think you need to re-evaluate your own faith in using Amazon.com as a sole authoritative source of scientific evidence of "issues".

 

[NoelS]

It's 86U that has this specific issue. Others have chimed in about their 68U in the thread. Yes, I'm well aware of Fakespot and the poor ability of Amazon users to configure technical items. BUT there are rarely "fake" reviews mentioning a specific binary hardware problem (2.4Mhz radio fails), and that specific issue is well documented for the 86U on this forum as well. Yesterday's new post of this exact issue already has 3 "me too's".
I'm really surprised to see the "circle the wagons"/fanboyism in such a sophisticated group.
I may or may not take the risk of keeping the router. There is no doubt that it is one of the best one in its price class, and there is no doubt that the Merlin f/w adds exponential value. Both of these may well make it worth the risk.
But to deny that the multiple reports for a specific problem both on Amazon and here in this forum are a significant issue (when no such number of specific issues in such a short period of time exist for other routers, even different models of Asus) is silly, as is denying that the Asus response to individual warranty issues of ANY kind is almost non-existent (as is also well documented in both places).

"Mine works", "I don't have an issue", "You can't prove it statistically", etc. won't help solve the issue. But, of course, if you don't personally have the problem, why cares? If what I am hearing is: "This forum can have no influence on Asus QC or on their sucky warranty response", I can accept that. But denying the issue is just plain silly. Peace-out.

 

[ColinTaylor]

My own impression from reading the posts in these forums is that there is/were more hardware issues (generally) reported than expected with the RT-AC86U, especially when it was first released. Whether these really were hardware problems or just firmware it's hard to tell. It's also difficult to know how widespread these (apparent) problems really were. After all people rarely create an account on a forum just to post "everything's fine".

In any case, as far as I can tell these "hardware" issues appear very shortly after being purchased. Replacement units by and large appear to have worked OK. And I've see fewer of these reports as time has gone by. Perhaps Asus improved their quality control after seeing the number of returns they were getting?

As @OzarkEdge said, if electronic devices are going to fail they do it in the first few weeks. So if yours is still going after say a couple of months I think you'd be OK.

 

[rk8531]

Fyi!! Just scroll through the NetDuma forum for XR500 and XR700. The no of people returning these two routers for no VPN client are way more than the people posting the same on Amazon.

 

[OzarkEdge]

It's 86U that has this specific issue. Others have chimed in about their 68U in the thread. Yes, I'm well aware of Fakespot and the poor ability of Amazon users to configure technical items. BUT there are rarely "fake" reviews mentioning a specific binary hardware problem (2.4Mhz radio fails), and that specific issue is well documented for the 86U on this forum as well. Yesterday's new post of this exact issue already has 3 "me too's".
I'm really surprised to see the "circle the wagons"/fanboyism in such a sophisticated group.
I may or may not take the risk of keeping the router. There is no doubt that it is one of the best one in its price class, and there is no doubt that the Merlin f/w adds exponential value. Both of these may well make it worth the risk.
But to deny that the multiple reports for a specific problem both on Amazon and here in this forum are a significant issue (when no such number of specific issues in such a short period of time exist for other routers, even different models of Asus) is silly, as is denying that the Asus response to individual warranty issues of ANY kind is almost non-existent (as is also well documented in both places).

"Mine works", "I don't have an issue", "You can't prove it statistically", etc. won't help solve the issue. But, of course, if you don't personally have the problem, why cares? If what I am hearing is: "This forum can have no influence on Asus QC or on their sucky warranty response", I can accept that. But denying the issue is just plain silly. Peace-out.

Nobody is defending ASUS. Nobody is denying issues reported at face value. And most have acknowledged the usual concerns including hardware and firmware... emphasis on usual, whether you can understand what that means or not.

When someone unknown goes on and on about something online, makes major claims, and begins casting unsubstantiated aspersions on others like 'fanboyism', you only undermine your own credibility, maturity, and motives here.

If it helps you to decide, ASUS routers suck! I strongly suggest you return your 86U while you still can and buy a router from a different vendor.

OE

 

[Grisu]

My own impression from reading the posts in these forums is that there is/were more hardware issues (generally) reported than expected with the RT-AC86U, especially when it was first released. Whether these really were hardware problems or just firmware it's hard to tell. It's also difficult to know how widespread these (apparent) problems really were. After all people rarely create an account on a forum just to post "everything's fine".

In any case, as far as I can tell these "hardware" issues appear very shortly after being purchased. Replacement units by and large appear to have worked OK. And I've see fewer of these reports as time has gone by. Perhaps Asus improved their quality control after seeing the number of returns they were getting?

As @OzarkEdge said, if electronic devices are going to fail they do it in the first few weeks. So if yours is still going after say a couple of months I think you'd be OK.

Confirmed!
And what makes me pensive is the fact some had this 2G failure directly after a firmware update. Thats why I am still thinking the hardware is same well done since ever, but under special circumstances the firmware is destroying the drivers.
That has been reported not only in the first weeks after purchase like known for electronic failures but even months later on.
And there are no posts about 68U tho there are about 4 times more out in the wild (taken from merlin download stats).

 

[CriticJay]

I'm really surprised to see the "circle the wagons"/fanboyism in such a sophisticated group.
I may or may not take the risk of keeping the router. There is no doubt that it is one of the best one in its price class, and there is no doubt that the Merlin f/w adds exponential value. Both of these may well make it worth the risk.

I'm hardly an ASUS fanboy.

I actually created an account on this forum last year, right after I bought a defective Blue Cave AC2600 router - but after returning that one, decided to stick with Asus and try the 86U instead. I do not regret that decision. I could have easily decided to dump the ASUS brand for routers, and gotten a Netgear or something... regardless, I'm glad I stuck with the 86U.

Like others have said, if electronic hardware is going to fail it should fail soon. That's exactly what happened to me with my Blue Cave - it failed well within the 30-day return policy of Staples.

 

[NoelS]

Thank you @Grisu for your measured analysis.
@OzarkEdge your words, not mine ;-) Nonetheless, having read many of your useful posts (long before I made this one), I appreciate the significant contribution you make here.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Confirmed!
And what makes me pensive is the fact some had this 2G failure directly after a firmware update. Thats why I am still thinking the hardware is same well done since ever, but under special circumstances the firmware is destroying the drivers.
That has been reported not only in the first weeks like known for electronic failures but even months later on.

Great! Add it to the list... the 86U firmware is now suspected of destroying its 2.4 drivers by someone who no longer owns any ASUS routers but hangs around these forums 'liking' all of the posts that are remotely critical of ASUS routers, which is many since users come here seeking help to troubleshoot networking issues (not just to be 'liked').

Seriously, guys and gals, buy a different product and move on... the 86U is garbage, let it rot.

OE

 

[NoelS]

@Grisu 's comment seems reasoned and at minimum a possible diagnosis. Emotion/rhetoric/sarcasm don't solve issues.

 

[OzarkEdge]

@Grisu 's comment seems reasoned and at minimum a possible diagnosis. Emotion/rhetoric/sarcasm don't solve issues.

Nonsense. Many have already offered a reasoned diagnosis... defective initial build component(s). You simply refuse to trust that the maker is willing and able to address the issue; instead, you want to assume the maker is negligently continuing to ship defective routers. So be it... buy a different router... why did you even buy it in the first place just to go online and agonize over an issue you don't even have?

OE

 

[NoelS]

Many have already offered a reasoned diagnosis... defective initial build component(s).

I'm glad you acknowledge that. I find documented reports of the issue from Jan. 2018, shortly after it's release. I see a report yesterday from one just purchased. I don't see any acknowledgement anywhere from the maker of the issue. What indication is there that it is fixed or that the manufacturer even has the intent to do so?