New Asus RT-87U

[Jettubby]

Just curious Melin which do you anticipate better; Asus 87U or the Netgear R8000? I just picked up the Netgear to "try out" and it's way faster on my lan and internet access than my N66U.

 

[RMerlin]

Just curious Melin which do you anticipate better; Asus 87U or the Netgear R8000? I just picked up the Netgear to "try out" and it's way faster on my lan and internet access than my N66U.

I have no plan on getting the R8000, so I'm not anticipating it at all. As for the AC87 I've had it for about a month now, so it's past the point of "anticipation" for me.

If you're asking me which of the two I would prefer to get if I had to chose, I'd say that wireless-wise, they're both just as good for my needs. My wifi usage is quite light (one laptop and a few mobile devices), anything that requires high throughput is connected over Ethernet. So, I have no need for dual 5 GHz radio (I almost never have more than one 5 GHz device connected), and MU-MIMO won't be of much use to me either for the same reason.

However software-wise, I prefer Asus's.

 

[Jettubby]

I have no plan on getting the R8000, so I'm not anticipating it at all. As for the AC87 I've had it for about a month now, so it's past the point of "anticipation" for me.

If you're asking me which of the two I would prefer to get if I had to chose, I'd say that wireless-wise, they're both just as good for my needs. My wifi usage is quite light (one laptop and a few mobile devices), anything that requires high throughput is connected over Ethernet. So, I have no need for dual 5 GHz radio (I almost never have more than one 5 GHz device connected), and MU-MIMO won't be of much use to me either for the same reason.

However software-wise, I prefer Asus's.

How did I guess you preferred Asus? ;-) You've had the 87U for a month now? Nice. I on the other hand with kids have several 5g devices running. Like you the important ones wired. I'm impressed with the Netgear but debating on returning for the Asus if I can find one before return time expires?? It looks like the devices are comparable but are you seeing a big Wi-Fi range advantage of the 87U over the N66U? The R8000 is slightly better on range but I was hoping for more. Might be my geography though.

I have to admit I lean toward Asus just because of your fantastic work buddy. ;-)

 

[sm00thpapa]

I'm debating which to get as well. I have 20 wireless devices about 5 on the 5GHz band. 5 devices are hard wired for a total of 30 devices. My N66U has handled them all beautifully the last 3 years. Not sure if I'm going to upgrade any time soon. I still have my WRT1900AC collecting dust hoping for better firmware to be released. Would be nice to own both though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RMerlin]

It looks like the devices are comparable but are you seeing a big Wi-Fi range advantage of the 87U over the N66U?

My apartment is kinda small with thin walls, so it's no challenge for any of these routers. I did see an improvement in signal strength on the AC87U versus the AC68U when using my Nexus 7 at the complete opposite end of my place. Can't really compare with the RT-N66U tho, I haven't used it for anything beside development for a long time.

 

[RMerlin]

For those wondering about NAS performance, I posted some file copy benchmarks I ran with a faster HDD than my regular 2.5" inchers. Also, I ran tests using both the Paragon driver (as used by AC56/AC68) and the Tuxera driver (used by the AC87U). These results are without the additional improvements Asus is still working on.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=130339&postcount=13

 

[funkahdafi]

How did I guess you preferred Asus? ;-) You've had the 87U for a month now? Nice. I on the other hand with kids have several 5g devices running. Like you the important ones wired. I'm impressed with the Netgear but debating on returning for the Asus if I can find one before return time expires?? It looks like the devices are comparable but are you seeing a big Wi-Fi range advantage of the 87U over the N66U? The R8000 is slightly better on range but I was hoping for more. Might be my geography though.

I have to admit I lean toward Asus just because of your fantastic work buddy. ;-)

The R8000 and the AC87 are not comparable at all

They work with completely different technologies and each router serves a different purpose.

The AC87 has only two radios and can use MU-MIMO (although no clients exist that support it, yet). But it has the highest possible AC link speed (1700 mbit, although, no clients support that yet either).

The R8000 (and the upcoming Asus AC3200, which is comparable to the R8000) uses three radios and Xstream (which is supported on all clients, old and new). However, the link speed on AC is "limited" to 1300 mbit.

The AC87 has probably better range than previous models, but all clients share the same radio in their repsective band (2.4 or 5 Ghz). What that means is if you have a mixture of different clients on 5 Ghz (or 2.4 Ghz), the router will slow down your fast 802.11ac clients to be able to also serve your slower 802.11n clients. Because they share the same radio.

The R8000 and the AC3200 on the other hand use XStream to intelligently distribute the clients to it's three different radios, based on client speed. For example, your fast 802.11ac clients will automatically connect to one 5 Ghz radio, your slower 802.11n clients will connect to the other 5 Ghz radio and your legacy 2.4 Ghz clients will connect to the third, 2.4 Ghz radio. This basically isolates the faster clients from the slower clients, allowing the faster clients to operate at full speed.

The AC87 cannot do this! It will always slow down to accomodate for the slower clients. So while on the box it says 1700 mbit for AC clients, you will never reach that speed as long as you have non-AC clients on the same network.

To sum it up:

If you have many different clients (mixture of a/g, n and ac), I would go for one of the Xstream based routers like the R8000 or Asus AC3200. They will give you much better overall performance.

If you have very few clients and only let's say n and ac clients, and if you need the 1700 mbit link speed to form a router-to-router wifi bridge, or if you need the higher range, I would go with the AC87.

Personally I will skip the AC87. By the time you will be able to really make use of it's new features (MU-MIMO and 1700 mbit, once clients actually support this), we will probably see new routers that combine the high link speed with more radios like in the R8000 and AC3200. To me it appears the AC87 is just an "intermediary" model for marketing purposes (look, we have the fastest).

So I am going to wait until they combine the technology of the R8000/AC3200 with higher link speeds.

I hope this helps some of you making a decision.

 

[netmik3]

Inside of RT-AC87U

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?p=130368

 

[netmik3]

I may have to return and skip this one

Everytime I set some settings and the radios then reboot, 5ghz radio stops booting. Light never comes on, no broadcast and 5ghz settings page only shows channel 0 as an option. There's a bug somewhere.

 

[damir]

I may have to return and skip this one

Everytime I set some settings and the radios then reboot, 5ghz radio stops booting. Light never comes on, no broadcast and 5ghz settings page only shows channel 0 as an option. There's a bug somewhere.

Since you opened your router, kill the bug inside of it

 

[Jettubby]

Excellent! Although I'd like the higher range, Merlin's work, the capabilities are more what I need. Thanks

The R8000 and the AC87 are not comparable at all

They work with completely different technologies and each router serves a different purpose.

The AC87 has only two radios and can use MU-MIMO (although no clients exist that support it, yet). But it has the highest possible AC link speed (1700 mbit, although, no clients support that yet either).

The R8000 (and the upcoming Asus AC3200, which is comparable to the R8000) uses three radios and Xstream (which is supported on all clients, old and new). However, the link speed on AC is "limited" to 1300 mbit.

The AC87 has probably better range than previous models, but all clients share the same radio in their repsective band (2.4 or 5 Ghz). What that means is if you have a mixture of different clients on 5 Ghz (or 2.4 Ghz), the router will slow down your fast 802.11ac clients to be able to also serve your slower 802.11n clients. Because they share the same radio.

The R8000 and the AC3200 on the other hand use XStream to intelligently distribute the clients to it's three different radios, based on client speed. For example, your fast 802.11ac clients will automatically connect to one 5 Ghz radio, your slower 802.11n clients will connect to the other 5 Ghz radio and your legacy 2.4 Ghz clients will connect to the third, 2.4 Ghz radio. This basically isolates the faster clients from the slower clients, allowing the faster clients to operate at full speed.

The AC87 cannot do this! It will always slow down to accomodate for the slower clients. So while on the box it says 1700 mbit for AC clients, you will never reach that speed as long as you have non-AC clients on the same network.

To sum it up:

If you have many different clients (mixture of a/g, n and ac), I would go for one of the Xstream based routers like the R8000 or Asus AC3200. They will give you much better overall performance.

If you have very few clients and only let's say n and ac clients, and if you need the 1700 mbit link speed to form a router-to-router wifi bridge, or if you need the higher range, I would go with the AC87.

Personally I will skip the AC87. By the time you ..........

 

[habskilla]

Just wondering.... what's the difference between the R and U models (e.g. AC87R and AC87U or AC68U and AC68R)? I only see the U models on Asus' website.

BesyBuy sells the R so you can't price match the U against them

 

[Poseidon]

I need some expert opinions here. I have 5 wireless devices ALL connected through 5 GHz (only one being AC). 1 iPad mini retina, 1 iPhone 5S, 1 Android tablet, 2 Apple TVs. The other 4 wireless devices are connected via 2.4 GHz. And 2 are connected wired via Ethernet.

For my setup, which router is better suited. ..... the Asus RT-AC87U/R or the Netgear R8000???

 

[NightOwl326]

I

For my setup, which router is better suited. ..... the Asus RT-AC87U/R or the Netgear R8000???

Both overkill! Lots of cheaper solutions. Your network is modest. As far as buying the latest and greatest, that will only be true for 2-6 months when the next models come out. Plus this is mostly an Asus forum, so guess which will be recommended the most?

 

[Poseidon]

Both overkill! Lots of cheaper solutions. Your network is modest. As far as buying the latest and greatest, that will only be true for 2-6 months when the next models come out. Plus this is mostly an Asus forum, so guess which will be recommended the most?

So basically stick with my RT-AC68W for the foreseeable future.

 

[NightOwl326]

Yep....that's the ticket until your client list grows amd you have more ac cleints.

 

[netmik3]

Since you opened your router, kill the bug inside of it

They hide them under shields, I'd have to do a lot of unsoldering

It's one gorgeous router though, sad I have to skip it

 

[thiggins]

They hide them under shields, I'd have to do a lot of unsoldering

Are the shields really soldered? I find most are press-fit and can be carefully pried off. Watch out for itsy-bitsy components!

 

[lilstone87]

So the couple of people on the forums here, who have been able to use this router for at least a couple days now. How is this router performing on the wireless side? Is it stable? As I have between 10-15 active wireless devices that connect between the 2.4, and 5GHz bands. I probably have around 7, or so that use the 5GHz band, and I use that band to stream HD stuff. So it's important to me to have stable wireless.

Because right now, I use the Netgear R7000, and its wireless is a nightmare. As I have only found Kong's DD WRT older build's with older drivers to give stable wireless so far. So I am thinking about switching back to Asus, with this new router. As I did like my N66U, and all the hard work Merlin put in. Before I made the switch to the R7000 6 months ago.

 

[nagle3092]

So the couple of people on the forums here, who have been able to use this router for at least a couple days now. How is this router performing on the wireless side? Is it stable? As I have between 10-15 active wireless devices that connect between the 2.4, and 5GHz bands. I probably have around 7, or so that use the 5GHz band, and I use that band to stream HD stuff. So it's important to me to have stable wireless.

Because right now, I use the Netgear R7000, and its wireless is a nightmare. As I have only found Kong's DD WRT older build's with older drivers to give stable wireless so far. So I am thinking about switching back to Asus, with this new router. As I did like my N66U, and all the hard work Merlin put in. Before I made the switch to the R7000 6 months ago.

I have 13 devices connected, only one wired directly into the 87. 3 wired into a 68U setup as a media bridge (roku, wii u, media server), 3 laptops, 3 phones, 1 tablet, 1 pc on wireless and another roku on its own wireless.
Everything has been working flawlessly since I got it 3 days ago. A couple bugs in the firmware (nothing deal breaking) but the clients havent had any issues that I noticed.