Public petition to ASUS - please make a new version of AC68U

[Sky1111]

Dear ASUS,

On behalf of ASUS router fans, please release a new version of RT-AC68U!

Changes requested:
- Please switch the CPU to BCM4709 running at 1GHz or higher
- Switch the RAM from DDR3-1600 with CAS11 to something faster (CAS9 at those speeds is totally achievable), and please make sure it runs at least at 800MHz (aka 1600) - seriously, 533 is too slow!
- fix USB 3.0 issues for good - including shielding
- improve heatsink/cooling
- (send the new version to Merlin before it hits the stores)

ASUS, do you want to be number 1 on high end SOHO router market or you are giving up?

It does not make sense to have RT-AC56U and RT-AC68U to have the same routing performance...

 

[whsbuss]

Dear ASUS,

On behalf of ASUS router fans, please release a new version of RT-AC68U!

Changes requested:
- Please switch the CPU to BCM4709 running at 1GHz or higher
- Switch the RAM from DDR3-1600 with CAS11 to something faster (CAS9 at those speeds is totally achievable), and please make sure it runs at least at 800MHz (aka 1600) - seriously, 533 is too slow!
- fix USB 3.0 issues for good - including shielding
- (send the new version to Merlin before it hits the stores)

ASUS, do you want to be number 1 on high end SOHO router market or you are giving up?

It does not make sense to have RT-AC56U and RT-AC68U to have the same routing performance...

Amen brother.

 

[Poseidon]

Just buy a Netgear R7000 Nighthawk and you'll get your "NEW" version.

 

[jyeah]

Just buy a Netgear R7000 Nighthawk and you'll get your "NEW" version.

Problem is a lot of people had issues with Netgear's support over the years (lack of firmware updates).

 

[GoNz0]

I do not think I could go back to netgear

 

[whsbuss]

Problem is a lot of people had issues with Netgear's support over the years (lack of firmware updates).

I am one of those users. What really pisses me off is Netgear UI doesn't even let you set the date/time. Its NTP server is hardcoded in the firmware. Doesn't work for me in AP mode. So all my USB attached files have the wrong times.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I take it people who jumped the gun and pre-ordered the AC68U are now kicking themselves in the butt. Glad I wasn't one of them.

 

[chamberc]

I take it people who jumped the gun and pre-ordered the AC68U are now kicking themselves in the butt. Glad I wasn't one of them.

Love mine. It has a minor Loopback problem, but it noticeably exceeds the performance of my AC66U.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Love mine. It has a minor Loopback problem, but it noticeably exceeds the performance of my AC66U.

Good to hear. Can you please elaborate on how it exceeds the AC66U on performance. Thank you.

 

[RMerlin]

Everything comes at a price. Faster CPU and faster RAM = price increase. Asus would have either to go with cheaper parts for some other components, or increase the price.

The CPU and RAM increase would have near zero impact on the performance of what the device is primarily designed to do: route traffic, and connect wireless devices. So, I can understand Asus's rationale in their design decision here.

I recommend people just give everyone a month or two, and then they looked again at both products. You might be surprised at how both products evolved over time. What seemed to be an inferior product at launch time might end up being a better product in the long run, for various reasons that were not apparent on launch day...

 

[whsbuss]

Everything comes at a price. Faster CPU and faster RAM = price increase. Asus would have either to go with cheaper parts for some other components, or increase the price.

The CPU and RAM increase would have near zero impact on the performance of what the device is primarily designed to do: route traffic, and connect wireless devices. So, I can understand Asus's rationale in their design decision here.

I recommend people just give everyone a month or two, and then they looked again at both products. You might be surprised at how both products evolved over time. What seemed to be an inferior product at launch time might end up being a better product in the long run, for various reasons that were not apparent on launch day...

Yep good advice. I am waiting but how can Asus fix the USB 3.0 issues without redesigning the hardware?

 

[PrivateJoker]

Capitalism has a built in way to petition against goods you think are inferior - it's by not buying them. They'll figure out the reasons why, trust me.

Talk to the 87 people on this forum (and like minded others) who were chomping at the bit for this stuff like they were teenage girls in line to buy Justin Bieber tickets. (What AC routers were already long in the tooth anyway?) The ones who hounded Tim to review it, the ones who keep hounding Merlin to make a f/w for it.


Don't be a sucker for #s and marketing hype. You know what's probably the best thing you can do for your wifi network? Upgrade your slowest, single stream & single band client devices. That's probably the second best tip, the most amazing and best one is Ethernet. Use it as much as humanly possible. If it's even a remote possibility to do, do it, even if just to spread out your wifi by adding a second, wired, AP. It's a great reason to buy a new drill and practice your skills with the joint compound.

If you beg for shiny new crap, it will be given to you, and potentially not be cooked long enough to work all the bugs out.

 

[RMerlin]

Yep good advice. I am waiting but how can Asus fix the USB 3.0 issues without redesigning the hardware?

The absence of an RF shield as the reason for USB 3.0 issues is just a theory at this point, not a proven fact. The signal traces might have been printed on a center layer of the pcboard, with ground on the sandwiching layers, for example.

We will know for sure once Asus has had a chance to look at it. They already said they were working on things that would improve USB 3.0 performance, we'll see then.

 

[GoNz0]

The absence of an RF shield as the reason for USB 3.0 issues is just a theory at this point, not a proven fact. The signal traces might have been printed on a center layer of the pcboard, with ground on the sandwiching layers, for example.

We will know for sure once Asus has had a chance to look at it. They already said they were working on things that would improve USB 3.0 performance, we'll see then.

I think the words Merlin was looking for are as follows

"Hold me Beer, I can fix this!"

 

[Sky1111]

Capitalism has a built in way to petition against goods you think are inferior - it's by not buying them. They'll figure out the reasons why, trust me.

Talk to the 87 people on this forum (and like minded others) who were chomping at the bit for this stuff like they were teenage girls in line to buy Justin Bieber tickets. (What AC routers were already long in the tooth anyway?) The ones who hounded Tim to review it, the ones who keep hounding Merlin to make a f/w for it.


Don't be a sucker for #s and marketing hype. You know what's probably the best thing you can do for your wifi network? Upgrade your slowest, single stream & single band client devices. That's probably the second best tip, the most amazing and best one is Ethernet. Use it as much as humanly possible. If it's even a remote possibility to do, do it, even if just to spread out your wifi by adding a second, wired, AP. It's a great reason to buy a new drill and practice your skills with the joint compound.

If you beg for shiny new crap, it will be given to you, and potentially not be cooked long enough to work all the bugs out.

That's all good advise, but it is not really relevant in my case. I want faster hardware because I am running VPN Client on it. Yes, I already got AC56U and I am very lucky I can run it overclocked, but the wireless performance is so crappy (2.4GHz), that I am willing to replace it with something better, so AC1900 is the only thing I can think of (and no, dedicated router PC + WiFi AP is not option for may reasons).
And yes, almost all my heavy network clients are on CAT6; by the way, try to do 10GB copy from one PC to another at memory speed 533 and 800 - you will most likely notice some difference...

So in short: I need a decent router which can do what I need it to do with my current 25Mb internet and will still be able to do when upgrade to 50Mb or faster Internet next year for example - and do that all without overclocking please.

 

[RMerlin]

I think the words Merlin was looking for are as follows

"Hold me Beer, I can fix this!"

Definitely not. The issue is probably fairly low-level, not something I have the skill to fix.

However Asus has already indicated that they were working on it, and were already having better results internally than recent reviews.

 

[PCTools]

Plus, they are onsale with Newegg.com for $199, and then use the Prom0 code to make it $179.99.

Just buy a Netgear R7000 Nighthawk and you'll get your "NEW" version.