Major Issues w/RT-AC86U

[NoelS]

Does anyone know why fully 27% of the Amazon purchasers give this router 1 star? This is 132 purchasers talking about the 2.4 GHz radio failing in a short period of time or the router otherwise dying. This is WAY too many people to be a statistical anomaly. I bought this router recently, I'm running Merlin on it, and it is running flawlessly. But after seeing this, it makes me question my decision and consider a return. For this amount of money, I don't want a router that will "give up the ghost" in a few months.

 

[Centrifuge]

Anyone know why fully 27% of the Amazon purchasers give this router 1 star. This is 132 purchasers talking about the 2.4 GHz radio failing in a short period of time or the router otherwise dying. This is MUCH too many people to be a statistical anomaly. I bought this router recently, running Merlin on it, and it is running flawlessly. But after seeing this, it makes me question my decision and consider a return. For this amount of money, I don't want a router that will "give up the ghost" in a few months.

I don't know about Amazon but on this forum and in my own experience this router is great. Great coverage, customization, updates, support etc. The folks on these forums are generally experienced network folks so they tend to know how to troubleshoot, advanced techniques, etc., I think they would say this is a very good router, and I've never heard of one going bad. There have been a couple of returns for hardware problems, but not many. It's kind of a "prosumer" level device so folks use to plug and play might be challenged if they get into customizing.imho

 

[Gar]

This router is highly regarded on this site but I had 2 fail in 6 months. One lost 2.4 and we rarely used 2.4. The other wouldn't power up after shutting off on its own one night. The third was a new replacement from Asus in shrink wrap and we sold it without opening. Something is up with this model IMO.

 

[rk8531]

I bought it last month and mine running absolutely without any issues. Before buying it, I also read a lot of negative reviews on the Amazon. However, still bought it because it has the best hardware in its price category and VPN performance is the best among all routers.

 

[L&LD]

I too choose to ignore Amazon reviews. I have no clue what the level of expertise is of the user there.

What I do though, is make sure to test and look into any unwanted glitch the router may give me. So far, a very happy user.

 

[lighting]

Anyone know why fully 27% of the Amazon purchasers give this router 1 star. This is 132 purchasers talking about the 2.4 GHz radio failing in a short period of time or the router otherwise dying. This is MUCH too many people to be a statistical anomaly. I bought this router recently, running Merlin on it, and it is running flawlessly. But after seeing this, it makes me question my decision and consider a return. For this amount of money, I don't want a router that will "give up the ghost" in a few months.

 

[lighting]

I have two RT-AC68U routers. One is just fine. The other lost it’s 2.4 GHz after about two months, outside the Amazon return period. What was far worse than the failure was the ASUS warranty “service”. They passed me endlessly from rep to rep (never the same one twice) with everyone trying to establish that there must be a configuration problem, there couldn’t possibly be a hardware problem. Very frustrating. Ultimately I had to pay to ship it to them, and it took two weeks for me to finally receive back what turned out to be a new unit. All told almost a month, and several hours of my time trying to convince these folks who were just following a script that I was correct that the hardware had failed. I love the routers otherwise, run rMerlin on them.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I too choose to ignore Amazon reviews. I have no clue what the level of expertise is of the user there.

Exactly. Amazon reviews (of any product) are only representative of people who for whatever reason feel the need to "make a point". So they tend to be skewed towards people that have either had a bad experience (1 star) or those who want (or get paid) to comment on every aspect of their lives (4 or 5 stars).

I've lost count of the number of Amazon reviews I've read that gave "router x" a 1 star rating because "it didn't work" when it's obvious the person didn't set it up properly.

BTW The rating on Amazon UK is combined with 6 different models making it even more meaningless.

 

[NoelS]

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-86U only.

 

[rk8531]

The right person to ask this would be R-Merlin. He has been developing the firmware for the same unit for more than 20 months. I believe he is the right person to ask this question. I went ahead with my purchase just because he recommended Asus RT86U over Asus RT87U.

 

[OzarkEdge]

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've install six 86Us and they are all still in service. There has not been a collective report of 86U hardware failures on this forum, or "major issues" as you have proclaimed it without even knowing. If there were, the community here would be quick to tell you to buy a different router.

The cost of technology is not just the purchase price... it's the cost of ownership which includes damage and defects and failures. You can buy wisely to minimize these costs, but you can't avoid them all. By my 'wise' shopping standards, the 86U is an easy choice, although ASUS firmware is not helping the matter lately, mostly because they are working to introduce AiMesh.

OE

 

[Latzz]

Relatively new to ASUS routers, previous routers date back to first generation AirPorts, have couple of them and not had any problems over the years. My first AC86U over a year back started having radio problems after a month and it initially looked like firmware issue, which weeks later was identified as a "slow" hardware failure. Replacement AC86U is now one year old and works perfectly.

Both routers were shipped directly from ASUS.

If you look at for example the AC86U, the price ranges from under $200 to $400 depending on the country where its sold. The low end price comes with little warranty whereas the high side with 3 years exchange for a new unit. This economic reference does seem to indicate some distributors are pricing in warranty costs in some markets.

Are ASUS routers, the high end ones worth the money? Yes, for the rich features provided. Are there more reports of hardware failures compared to other brand routers in the markets ASUS competes in? Probably not. This is the reality of consumer routers in that the margins are thin and may not be as robust as we like them to be.

If we need more reliability, the reality here is that entry level enterprise routers will be a better choice. Back to price-performance-reliability, choose any two.

 

[NoelS]

@OzarkEdge I am NOT "proclaiming" anything. I DO wish I could add a "?" to my title, but the Forum doesn't have that option. My router is trouble free, I am in awe of the Merlin firmware and I couldn't be happier with its performance. But I am worried at the prospect of failure, not just for the $'s lost, but also for the inconvenience, given the poor grades that Asus support consistently gets here.

@Latzz I haven't seen anyone in the US selling it with 3 yr. exchange

@rk8531 I would love it if Merlin would chime in on his thoughts

Again, I fully realize that "Amazoners" are terrible with the configuration of technical items. However, these are reported failures. As an example, the AC68 only shows 7% 1-star reviews compared to more than 3X that (27%) for the AC86.

 

[OzarkEdge]

If you look at for example the AC86U, the price ranges from under $200 to $400 depending on the country where its sold. The low end price comes with little warranty whereas the high side with 3 years exchange for a new unit. This economic reference does seem to indicate some distributors are pricing in warranty costs in some markets.

I've been buying 2x86U bundles from Micro Center (US). The current price is $160 each. They come with a 2-year ASUS warranty on the box.

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

@OzarkEdge I am NOT "proclaiming" anything. I DO wish I could add a "?" to my title, but the Forum doesn't have that option. My router is trouble free, I am in awe of the Merlin firmware and I couldn't be happier with its performance. But I am worried at the prospect of failure, not just for the $'s lost, but also for the inconvenience, given the poor grades that Asus support consistently gets here.

@Latzz I haven't seen anyone in the US selling it with 3 yr. exchange

@rk8531 I would love it if Merlin would chime in on his thoughts

Again, I fully realize that "Amazoners" are terrible with the configuration of technical items. However, these are reported failures. As an example, the AC68 only shows 7% 1-star reviews compared to more than 3X that (27%) for the AC86.

Your topic statement "Major Issues w/RT-AC86U" should be editable, and it is not accurate, even with a question mark.

If you want to compare Amazon reviews, you should compare 68U reviews 1.75 years after its release to 86U reviews today, by verified purchasers... and throw out any that refer to another model number. The 68U has been out for some time.

OE

 

[NoelS]

I agree, it "should" be editable. If someone can show me how to edit a title in this forum, I would be appreciative. And yes, I did eliminate unverified reviews for the AC68. Same percentage. If anything, the longer a router is out, I would assume lower ratings as longer-term problems crop up.
On another topic, it is well documented many times on this forum that the ASUS warranty is not to be relied upon, at least in any reasonable amount of time.
I want to like this router (I already do), but also want to believe on its reasonably long-term viability.

 

[indark]

if you dont mind me asking, do you have UPS hook up for the router?
chances are most user suffering hardware failure does not hook up UPS and my guess is that their router got damaged by power surge/flickering .

been using asus router, ac66 -> ac68 gen 1-> ac3100.
only had 1 issue with wan port decided to malfunction after some night with storm.
not really experiencing any issue except software glitch once a while after I hook up UPS.
my aunt is using the old ac66 that I retired and she is happy with the wifi performance compare to the trashy router comast provides.

Personally I have had good experience with Asus product and their warranty claim. (well except their cell phone, it's trash, sorry but true)

anyway, if anything, invest on some UPS even if you dont end up with asus router (if you dont already have one already)

 

[OzarkEdge]

if you dont mind me asking, do you have UPS hook up for the router?
chances are most user suffering hardware failure does not hook up UPS and my guess is that their router got damaged by power surge/flickering .

been using asus router, ac66 -> ac68 gen 1-> ac3100.
only had 1 issue with wan port decided to malfunction after some night with storm.
not really experiencing any issue except software glitch once a while after I hook up UPS.
my aunt is using the old ac66 that I retired and she is happy with the wifi performance compare to the trashy router comast provides.

Personally I have had good experience with Asus product and their warranty claim. (well except their cell phone, it's trash, sorry but true)

anyway, if anything, invest on some UPS even if you dont end up with asus router (if you dont already have one already)

Yeah, all of my network is on two UPSs. Most of my dying equipment is UPSs!

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

If anything, the longer a router is out, I would assume lower ratings as longer-term problems crop up.

Generally speaking, electronic boxes die early on if they are going to die. Otherwise, they usually outlive their usefulness. And some wear out something and die of old age... typically power supply-related components.

So, the 68U that's been on the market for some time and has had any supply chain/shoddy component issues worked out long ago, will enjoy a decreasing number of reported defects over time, while the good reviews just keep on rolling in.

OE

 

[NoelS]

@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.