Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 vs. Asus RT-AC68U AC1900

[watpoppin]

I know these routers have been compared many many times in the past and they're essentially even. But I've noticed that these comparisons have been made a year or two ago, and we are now in late 2015/early 2016.

I'm looking to buy a new wireless router to replace my D-Link DIR-655 that I've had since the summer of 2011. I've narrowed down my selection to the Nighthawk and Asus routers.

• Are these routers still viable purchases in 2015? Or would buying one of these routers today be the equivalent of buying a PS3/Xbox 360 when the PS4/Xbox One are clearly the better options?
• If they are still viable options, which one is "better" between the two? I was leaning towards the Nighthawk, but the AC1900 STILL made it into PC Mag's "Top Routers of 2015" list (although I'm taking that endorsement with a grain of salt). I'm assuming firmware updates have probably made an impact 2 years later.

If these routers are completely outclasses by the new guys, what are some better options than the above? Here are some of the things that are currently connected to my router:

• A PS4 (physically plugged in)
• A desktop (physically plugged in)
• Streaming TV (physically plugged in)
• 3-4 smartphones (wireless)
• 3 laptops (wireless

The streaming TV takes up a lot of bandwidth so I would like something that can especially handle that without slowing down the rest of the network. As far as the computers go, we just use them for browsing the internet. All of us stream video in some way (Youtube, Netflix, etc). Personally, I download large files that can be an average of 5GBs.

Thanks for your time guys.

 

[htismaqe]

The newer routers don't really provide better performance or range, just newer features.

AC1900 is definitely the sweet spot for price vs. performance. You'd do just fine with either the Netgear R7000, Asus RT-AC68U, or the Linksys WRT1900AC. All three are pretty good routers.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Just be aware Netgear and Linksys have a history of stopping support after about 3 years this may be a concern. Also to say the new routers have the same range is not true my new RT-AC3100 has much better range at least on 5 GHz then my older 68U or the R7000. Netgear firmware releases tend to be about 6 months apart not good in my book and they still dont fix long time issues cant speak for Linksys i quit buying those routers a long time ago when they forced everyone to use a cloud base for your personal and private router information.

 

[watpoppin]

Just be aware Netgear and Linksys have a history of stopping support after about 3 years this may be a concern. Also to say the new routers have the same range is not true my new RT-AC3100 has much better range at least on 5 GHz then my older 68U or the R7000. Netgear firmware releases tend to be about 6 months apart not good in my book and they still dont fix long time issues cant speak for Linksys i quit buying those routers a long time ago when they forced everyone to use a cloud base for your personal and private router information.

Thanks for your response (and thank you to htismage for their response as well).

Do either routers have any major problems that need to be addressed/patched in the near future? Is there an example of any problems that either router has had in the past, but has since been patched? How realistic would it be that the router would even need a firmware update after its 3 year life span?

Your information is very relevant though. I would definitely like to buy a router that has a long lifespan, in terms of a long physical lifespan and a long support cycle. Because these routers have been out for a while already, I'm guessing there's only a year and a half or something left until they lose support, no?

 

[htismaqe]

Both the R7000 and WRT1900AC support DD-WRT so unless you're completely set on only using stock firmware, there's always that to fall back on. Some people are still running DD-WRT on Linksys WRT54G's that are well over 10 years old.

 

[microchip]

If you go for the R7000, be prepared to run a third party FW (XVortex/Shibby/DDWRT). Although its stock one is very stable, it misses functionality and has numerous issues still not worked out. I was about to throw it out the window until I loaded XVortex on my R7000. Since than, it's been smooth sailing.

(NB: this is personal experience; you may not have issues with its stock FW in case you don't demand much of it)

 

[Trip]

One point not mentioned yet is how you might want to implement QoS, as it sounds like you'll be generating enough simultaneous streaming and downloading to saturate your WAN link, if you're using typical cable/dsl, or even lower-speed fiber.

The creme right now is fq_codel ("knobless" QoS - google it if you like). Firmwares currently offering it are UBNT EdgeMax (any model), most Kong DD-WRT builds for Broadcom ARM boxes (AC56U, 68U, R7000, etc.) and OpenWRT via packages on Atheros chips (TP-Link WDR series).

Personally, I would separate routing from wireless with an ER-X and then run whatever all-in-one as an access point -- tends to massively clean up crappy packet handling -- but I can understand if you want to keep it all in one box. If that's the case, perhaps a stable build of Kong running on a 68U.

 

[sfx2000]

If these routers are completely outclasses by the new guys, what are some better options than the above? Here are some of the things that are currently connected to my router:

• A PS4 (physically plugged in)
• A desktop (physically plugged in)
• Streaming TV (physically plugged in)
• 3-4 smartphones (wireless)
• 3 laptops (wireless

With your client load - consider an N900 class router with Gigabit Ethernet...

Linksys EA4500 on their refurb store - $60 USD...

 

[sfx2000]

The creme right now is fq_codel ("knobless" QoS - google it if you like). Firmwares currently offering it are UBNT EdgeMax (any model), most Kong DD-WRT builds for Broadcom ARM boxes (AC56U, 68U, R7000, etc.) and OpenWRT via packages on Atheros chips (TP-Link WDR series).

codel has been part of the linux kernel since 3.5, so count the Linksys WRT's (1200ac/1900acV1/2/ACS) into that group...

"Linux: Linux version 3.10.39 (root@build-vm) (gcc version 4.6.4 (Linaro GCC branch-4.6.4. Marvell GCC Dev 201310-2126.3d181f66 64K MAXPAGESIZE ALIGN) ) #1 SMP Wed Jun 10 12:54:48 PDT 2015"

 

[htismaqe]

I'm running Kong r28320 on my WRT1900AC. I'll have to see if it's in there.

 

[Trip]

Should be in there, under "NAT / QoS" tab > "QoS Settings" > Queueing Discipline.

 

[htismaqe]

Here you go.