New Asus RT-87U

[krum]

[Update 01/07/2014 14:00 clock] Asus named after publication of the report more details about the RT-AC87U: The router works with two processors, a BCM4709 (ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core 1 GHz) and the unspecified CPU core in QSR1000. As with the RT-AC68U (see test in c't issue 23/13) there is a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port. DFS support needs to be delivered shortly after the release via firmware update. Asus wants to bring the RT AC87U in the third quarter of 2014 for 210 euros on the market.


http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/WLAN-mit-1700-MBit-s-2076151.html

 

[ikoul]

Third quarter sounds to me like it's going to end up being October like the AC-68U. As for when it'll have a decent firmware to run, who knows. XD

 

[Maghook]

... DFS support needs to be delivered shortly after the release via firmware update. ...

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/WLAN-mit-1700-MBit-s-2076151.html

According to the c't review of the RT-AC68u this had also been promised by Asus for a RT-AC68u firmware update which should have been released in november 2013.

 

[Sky1111]

[Update 01/07/2014 14:00 clock] Asus named after publication of the report more details about the RT-AC87U: The router works with two processors, a BCM4709 (ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core 1 GHz) and the unspecified CPU core in QSR1000. As with the RT-AC68U (see test in c't issue 23/13) there is a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port. DFS support needs to be delivered shortly after the release via firmware update. Asus wants to bring the RT AC87U in the third quarter of 2014 for 210 euros on the market.


http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/WLAN-mit-1700-MBit-s-2076151.html

You've got to be kidding... BCM4709 at the end of 2014??? By that time it will be one year behind R7K... I was hoping for something with more power

 

[thiggins]

Anyone got a pic of this new Ac router ??

Any pix you see are not the final design. The mockup ASUS showed in the suite looks like an AC66U / AC68U with a fourth antenna stuck on it.

Also wanted to add you would think Asus would work out the bugs they already have before they push a new router to the masses.

You guys keep buying unfinished expensive routers and companies will keep selling them.

 

[thiggins]

How does Asus have the resources to work on new 87U router firmware when they don't have the resources to get the range issue on RT-N66u fixed?

Because selling new stuff makes money. Fixing old stuff doesn't (assuming that people keep buying the new stuff.)

 

[RTN]

Asus RT-AC87U

http://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC87U

http://wl500g.info/entry.php?4844-Asus-RT-AC87U-DualBand-AC2300-Wireless-Gigabit-Router

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/i...ing-asus-networking-@-ces-2014-a-4524680.html

 

[wayner]

This might be blasphemy here on these forums, but what is the point of upgrading your router?

I had to upgrade an old WRT54G a few years back when I got 100Mbps internet service since it couldn't support that WAN-LAN speed. And now that I am upgrading to 250/20 service I need to replace my Asus RT16 with a RT-66U for the same reason.

I have 4 different Wifi routers in my house (I have a large house), 3 of them acting as WAPs - many of them are rather old or are cheapo routers that I bought for around $30. Maybe they don't support 802.11ac or even n but why does that matter if they are more than fast enough to support any applications that I have? Heck even inefficient ATSC video is only 19Mbps. And if range is an issue why not just do what I do and through a few more cheapo routers in your house to act as WAPs rather than paying $250 for a new router.

And an older basic router can do the port forwarding and everything else that I need, especially if you use Merlin, dd-wrt or whatever. I run a WHS 2011 system to host my media, etc so I don't need hard drives, etc stuff on my router. Where possible I have Cat-6 ethernet cabling in my house so the Wifi is just used for mobile devices (we have 6 iPads, a Win tablet plus two cellphones in the house) and/or spots that are hard to get to with cabling.

So why do you really need to upgrade your router unless it can't handle your faster WAN/LAN speeds or you want to move BluRay rips from one PC to another without plugging in?

What am I missing?

 

[thiggins]

You're preaching to this choir (me) at least, wayner.

What you see a lot of in the SNB forums are router enthusiasts and tweakers.

Everyone has to have a hobby...

 

[L&LD]

Upgrading routers for me has to have a tangible result: I don't want a new router simply for bragging rights.

When my (ballooning in size) twice daily backups were taking almost an hour each time through the ISP supplied wireless router - I bought an Airport Extreme (yeah; noob) which cut my backup time in half. When I had a chance to try a customer's router vs. the Airport Extreme, I gave away the apple toy and bought my own Netgear 3700 router (with ~5 minute backup times).

Now, the RT-N66U is giving me 3 minute backup times (with more data transferred) and much more stability.

The RT-AC66U's and RT-AC56U I can play with at customers offices give me the equivalent of 90 second backup times with these same sets of files on my AC 7260 equipped client.

So why, you ask?

Because I don't have time to waste when a few dollars fixes things so dramatically.

 

[wayner]

Are those being done over Wifi or ethernet?

If wifi then can't you just plugin to do the backups? I am a firm believe of using wires whenever possible and I think it is worth the cost to run proper network cabling in your house, so maybe that differentiates me from some of the folks here. But I know some people can't do that if they don't own or are in an apartment, but I would still think most people would have the option of plugging into their router's LAN ports.

 

[L&LD]

Over WiFi.

All the ports are used - but through another GB switch, that same file transfer takes less than 30 seconds.

Sure, way faster - but convenience is still worth something too (and the absolute time for the slower WiFi transfer is still well within reason).

 

[wayner]

Buy a Gigabit switch. I have a 24 port gigiabit switch -you can buy a 5 port gigabit switch for less than $20, maybe less than $10 if you look hard.

 

[L&LD]

I have a GB switch - what I want is faster wireless convenience.

 

[cmillar6]

Buy a Gigabit switch. I have a 24 port gigiabit switch -you can buy a 5 port gigabit switch for less than $20, maybe less than $10 if you look hard.

Wrong forum to come in and argue against upgrading to a newer router. I agree that most router companies try to suck you in with all the marketing hype when in reality for the average consumer it will make no difference. However, when you have a busy home network the difference between a cheap piece of junk and a more expensive router is night and day. I upgrade every two years just to get one with a faster processor.

 

[RMerlin]

Personally, I think this isn't any different from people spending thousands on dollars to "pimp their ride" when it won't get them to the grocery store any faster than a regular car. It's more about the hobby itself than actually fulfilling any need.

Same reason some people pay 999$ for an Intel Extreme edition that will be only 5% faster than the 300$ SKU.

 

[admiral2145]

Love my z06 vette with 750 hp... It's not needed but, nothing in this world like the sound and acceleration. Not everybody wants to be regular.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[VivienM]

And if range is an issue why not just do what I do and through a few more cheapo routers in your house to act as WAPs rather than paying $250 for a new router.

And backhaul them how?

Plenty of people live in apartments or other places where they can't really cleanly run Cat5/6 cable.

Powerline networking? I thought of that for my parents; put a D-Link powerline wireless access point thingy right next to my mom's desk. Worked nicely enough (her devices were all 2.4GHz-only) After less than a year, that setup started dropping 40% of packets. Who knows why - it's hard to troubleshoot from 400km away.

Or in my case, I had a dying D-Link DIR-825 that, even when it was in better health, couldn't reliably deliver any 5GHz to the other end of my apartment. So, how do I fix that? No 5GHz powerline access points I know of (2.4GHz isn't an option here with 25+ other 2.4GHz networks). I could run a cheaper router-as-access-point + separate powerline equipment, but that's going to cost big bucks too. Or string some Cat6 all around the apartment. Yuck.

The RT-AC68U, despite its high price, delivers a reliable, fast signal in places where cheaper gear delivered nothing. I used to believe in cheaper gear, but take something like the RT-AC68U, open up inSSIDer, look at the signal strength values, and you clearly see what you're paying for.

 

[sinshiva]

i did cat6 in my apartment using raceways and such. love the performance, but they are absurdly expensive. wish i could run em through the walls, bleh

[edit/] i ran all my speaker wire through em, too, at least. need to get some proper speaker mounts yet, though. just moved in relatively recently to a pretty nice 3bdr

 

[thiggins]

L&LD,
You didn't just upgrade your router to AC. You also upgraded your client to AC, which is giving you access to the higher throughput AC routers can provide.