New Asus Router Upgrade Recommendation

[Zhenya]

Folks,

I have an n66 and it's been lovely with Merlin.

Lately I've had many issues like Google Assistant search not going through, streaming dropping etc so I figured maybe this is a good time for a new router.

What are folks running now that's stable and fairly modern? Obviously Merlin support is necessary

 

[skeal]

Folks,

I have an n66 and it's been lovely with Merlin.

Lately I've had many issues like Google Assistant search not going through, streaming dropping etc so I figured maybe this is a good time for a new router.

What are folks running now that's stable and fairly modern? Obviously Merlin support is necessary

There are a lot of great Asus routers...AC68U, AC3100, AC88U, AC66U_B1, or the one they are promoting the most is the AC86U.

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-AC66U_B1 would be the logical replacement.

 

[Zhenya]

Great yall! Thanks for the reply .

I'll look at the routers listed. Is there one which hits a high on the useful features to price ratio?

 

[RMerlin]

Great yall! Thanks for the reply .

I'll look at the routers listed. Is there one which hits a high on the useful features to price ratio?

That'd be the RT-AC66U_B1. Same hardware and software as the RT-AC68U, but at a lower price.

 

[Zhenya]

That'd be the RT-AC66U_B1. Same hardware and software as the RT-AC68U, but at a lower price.

RMerlin,

I feel honored by your reply and my choice has been made. Thank you!!!

 

[Zhenya]

Ordered thank you!

 

[58chev]

That is a great router, discussions on this board lead me to purchase the RT-AC66U_B1 and I have been more than happy with it.

 

[tomsk]

That is a great router, discussions on this board lead me to purchase the RT-AC66U_B1 and I have been more than happy with it.

+1 there.... If you had asked me a month ago i would have suggested an AC86 as its specs look really good (almost bought one myself in fact), but discussions on the forum are suggesting the with the firmware in its current form its proving to be a bit flaky ( not ironed out handling the 32/64 hybrid architecture it seems). My AC68 has been solid and i would guess the AC66 B1 would be just as good..... plus you can run johns fork on it as well if you want to try a different flavour of merlin...

 

[bluzfanmr1]

That is a great router, discussions on this board lead me to purchase the RT-AC66U_B1 and I have been more than happy with it.

I too bought the RT-AC66U_B1 a little over a year ago when I cut the cord in anticipation of the router needing to deal with a lot more load, especially video. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[Zonkd]

I've been happy upgrading from AC68U to AC86U. It has considerably better wifi range/strength. Most noticeably the 5GHZ networks reach much further. The stock official firmware it came with seemed ok. Flashing newer versions caused dropouts and speed issues. It only became rock solid with the latest 384.70 Beta 1 firmware.

Edit: It has considerably better wifi range/strength than my AC68U. I actually wish I had a way to reduce the AC86U broadcast power because it gives a very strong signal even standing on the street curb.

 

[joro_abv]

I'll join with a question : is there a reason to stress on the "_B1" version of AC66U and if so - is there a way it can be identified when ordering online ?

 

[tomsk]

I'll join with a question : is there a reason to stress on the "_B1" version of AC66U and if so - is there a way it can be identified when ordering online ?

The original AC66U is a MIPS architecture router whereas the B1 version is an ARM architecture router, so its not just a variant its actually completely different hardware.

 

[Grisu]

is there a reason to stress on the "_B1" version of AC66U and if so - is there a way it can be identified when ordering online ?

_B1 is very different to other AC66U as it is almost same as 68U in 66U housing.
If you order one you have to get exactly this.

 

[tomsk]

I've been happy upgrading from AC68U to AC86U. It has considerably better wifi range/strength. Most noticeably the 5GHZ networks reach much further. The stock official firmware it came with seemed ok. Flashing newer versions caused dropouts and speed issues. It only became rock solid with the latest 384.70 Beta 1 firmware.

Im happy to hear your experiences with your 86U have been positive... i'm not knocking it at all, and in fact if a colleague of mine had not backed out of going halves on a twin pack deal, there would be one sitting in my home right now, but there are enough reports floating around to suggest it has some "teething" issues. Hopefully ASUS will work out all the kinks as the firmware matures, and that the architecture of the unit doesn't become a thorn in its side...... although a completely different issue, the AC87 and its quantenna design springs to mind as an example of an ASUs router which never quite lived up to its billing.

 

[Zhenya]

Merlin,

I ordered the ac66u b1 and was looking at differencea between the 68u .

68u has mesh support where it's not listed for the ac66u_b1. Is that a firmware difference that is resolved with flashing your firmware or is there an actual electrical/mechanic difference?

Thanks,

Zhenya

 

[Grisu]

68u has mesh support where it's not listed for the ac66u_b1. Is that a firmware difference that is resolved with flashing your firmware or is there an actual electrical/mechanic difference?

Merlin doesnt support AiMesh, so this difference would be irrelevant and yes it supports Aimesh on stock firmware.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...-version-3-0-0-4-384-10007.43122/#post-370032
Only difference you will see is the "missing" WiFi button.

 

[nitro001]

I noticed there is also a 1900P version of this router which seems to have a slightly faster processor @ 1.4 GHz vs the 66U_B1. Would this be a viable option? I am also looking as my original model AC-66U MIPS version is getting a little long in the tooth. Peaked the CPU @ 100% downloading on my Spectrum ~110/5 Mbps connection killing all network activity everywhere else except that one thread.

 

[Grisu]

I noticed there is also a 1900P version of this router which seems to have a slightly faster processor @ 1.4 GHz vs the 66U_B1. Would this be a viable option? I am also looking as my original model AC-66U MIPS version is getting a little long in the tooth. Peaked the CPU @ 100% downloading on my Spectrum ~110/5 Mbps connection killing all network activity everywhere else except that one thread.

sure an option, but much more expensive and it got slightly different hardware and there have been reported problems with that other 68U types did not have, dont think its a good idea.
And you can OC I would say all 68U types to CPU 1200MHz (some even to 1400), so almost same as 1900P.