Newbie Noob here

[Paul Gadsdon]

I was thinking of buying the ASUS RT-AC86U Wi-Fi AC2900 due to its VPN capabilities and the fact that I can use Merlin with it

But some reviews seem mixed

Is there any difference between the following models
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075WFL15D/?tag=smallncom-21

And

https://www.tobydeals.co.uk/en_GB/p...MI2OakotfB2wIVLrftCh1miAgSEAQYASABEgLWd_D_BwE

I ask as the price is quite different?

This is purely due to the fact that I want a router that supports VPN clients (OpenVPN etc), and that it is easy to switch between different servers using NordVPN

Or is there a better VPN router on the market. Cheers folks

 

[ColinTaylor]

Both products appear to be the same. I've had my eye on the Amazon one for quite some time.

What appears to have changed is that the price charged by Amazon, Curry's etc. has gone back up to the "recommended" level. For months they had been widely available for around £140-£160. Check out the graph at the bottom of this link.

It would be worth checking with the Toby website that the router they are selling is the UK model and not one of the Chinese grey imports.

 

[Paul Gadsdon]

I suppose there maybe some small changes made to address the bad reviews

And yes, but there is hardly any info on Toby website

Cheers, do you know of any similar routers that are good for vpn clients. I was looking at ubiquity Edge Lite but it seems you can only load one VPN config in to it

 

[ColinTaylor]

I suppose there maybe some small changes made to address the bad reviews

If you're just going by the overall Amazon review scores bear in mind that they include the other 4 products on that page. So to get an accurate assessment you'd need to read through all the individual reviews that are specific for the RT-AC86U.

 

[Paul Gadsdon]

Yes, too true. Overall it seems to be well reviewed on the web. I still wonder what the difference is the Toby website??
in fact if you search Google for: Asus Dual-band Wireless-AC2900M RT-AC86U, quite a few cheaper ones than on Amazon

 

[ColinTaylor]

in fact if you search Google for: Asus Dual-band Wireless-AC2900M RT-AC86U, quite a few cheaper ones than on Amazon

I'm only seeing two other places in Google. The other hits are matching different model numbers.

 

[Paul Gadsdon]

Here is Toby deals reply to my question about where they come from

"We regret to inform you that we are not able to answer your question accurately. This is due to the fact that we source our products from all around the world which makes us unable to guarantee the geographical origin of any specific product.

Due to our sourcing strategies, we source our products globally.Because of this, there are products that do not come with the standard 3-pin plug used in the UK. Should this be the case we will also send you a travel adapter, to ensure you will be able to charge and use your new product.

We understand that this adapter is not the most ideal or convenient solution but right now we are not yet able to offer a better one."

Not sure what this means it could be as you mentioned a Chinese grey import.