RT AC58U - Transmition power

[NetUser12]

Hey guys!

I'm looking into buying an ASUS router, the AC58U because it's the one that seems to have all the things I need:
- VPN Server (OpenVPN > PPTP)
- Wifi Scheduler (Turn off wifi radio at X hours)
- Frequent firmware updates with fixes for vulnerabilities (at least until now)
- Supposedly TX power control in mW (I say supposedly because I see owners of ASUS routers with other models that doesn't have that option even with the manual saying that they have...)

The thing is: I've been searching for reviews about this product and everything I can find is from India, or Ukraine. What bothers me is that both of them have different max EIRP's, far more elevated than the one used here in Spain (100mW). So I have some fear of buying it and having it transmitting at more than 100mW, because maybe it's no properly configured for our European market, since it's most sold on India & Ukraine... I don't know, I don't feel confident about ASUS firmware quality, and if they have attention to this kind of details.

I also see that ASUS routers doesn't have the region option. Enterprise grade AP's have this kind of option, so this annoys me too.

Any recommendation?

 

[Internet Man]

The RT-AC58U is available on Amazon.co.uk and amazon.es. This same exact model is sold under different names in different places. Wikidevi has a list of names from the FCC documents: https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC58U

• ASUS RT-ACRH13 (US), RT-ACRH00 (NA), (RT-AC53HP ??)
• ASUS RT-AC1200G+ B1 (ASUS RT-AC1200GP B1) (EU/LA ?)
• ASUS RT-AC1300G+/(GP) (ASUS RT-AC1300G+ B1/GP B1)
• ASUS RT-AC1300HP (ASUS RT-AC1300UHP 256MB RAM)

 

[Dave Parker]

You don't have to use Asus stock firmware. Asuswrt.Merlin is available and is what most of us who have Asus routers use. If you have a problem, he's right here.

 

[ColinTaylor]

You don't have to use Asus stock firmware. Asuswrt.Merlin is available and is what most of us who have Asus routers use. If you have a problem, he's right here.

Merlin's firmware is not compatible with this model.

 

[NetUser12]

That's right. This router only support a release of OpenWRT if i'm not wrong (because of the qualcomm cpu).

I was also looking into the ASUS AC68U and AC1900 but I don't know the difference. ASUS official page for my country doesn't have the 1900 listed, when I asked the support with the links of one of the biggest stores here for the 1900 and 68U, their support didn't know the difference, and don't know the AC1900 product... LOL

So ASUS doesn't give me much confidence.. They don't even know what they sell

P.S: I know that you guys have a topic about it here on the forum, but I was hopping ASUS knows their products. Also, if the AC1900 is not present on the country website or Amazon.es , I suppose it's not designed for EU?

 

[Dave Parker]

Merlin's firmware is not compatible with this model.

Is that because it is being marketed in other countries?

 

[ColinTaylor]

All Asus routers sold in the EU (and not grey imports like GearBest) should be regionalised for the EU in terms of power and channels.

I don't know whether the option to reduce the transmit power still exists in the current firmware for EU models (I run John's fork which is based on an older code base). It was definitely removed from the US models.

I also see that ASUS routers doesn't have the region option. Enterprise grade AP's have this kind of option, so this annoys me too.

If you want Enterprise features you're looking at the wrong product. You need to be looking at something like Cisco or Aruba. IIRC Cisco also removed the region selection option in their enterprise AP's a couple of years ago for compliance reasons. They have different SKU's now for each territory.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is that because it is being marketed in other countries?

The hardware in this model is completely different from the ones that Merlin supports.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Also, if the AC1900 is not present on the country website or Amazon.es , I suppose it's not designed for EU?

https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RT-AC66U-B1/
https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RTAC68U/
https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RT-AC1900U/

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00FL1IFM8/

 

[Dave Parker]

The hardware in this model is completely different from the ones that Merlin supports.

Thanks for reply, learned something today. I assumed that all Asus routers could run Merlins firmware. That's what I get for assuming.
.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thanks for reply, learned something today. I assumed that all Asus routers could run Merlins firmware. That's what I get for assuming.
.

You can look it up here: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

OE

 

[Dave Parker]

You can look it up here: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

OE

Thanks OzarkEdge, I need to mark that link.

You can look it up here: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about

OE

 

[NetUser12]

https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RT-AC66U-B1/
https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RTAC68U/
https://www.asus.com/es/Networking/RT-AC1900U/

https://www.amazon.es/ASUS-RT-AC68U-inalámbrico-Dual-banda-Gigabit/dp/B00FL1IFM8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546639194&sr=8-1&keywords=rt-ac68u&th=1

Thanks for your replies. About the transmition power, I saw some topics here on this forum saying that, for example, the minimum output of the AC68U (different model from the thread title) is 22 dBm ~150mW. That isn't allowed here for the 2.4GHz, but this router is sold here in my country. How ASUS firmware detects the country?

Yeah I know I can't expect enterprise networking products from a company like ASUS, but yeah... What do you think about this AC68U? I wasn't thinking on spending so much in a router for many reasons, but this AC68U should have everything I expect from a product:
- Great performance
- VPN Server with something better than PPTP protocol (OpenVPN Server)
- Wireless Radio Scheduler
- Wireless TX Power configuration
- 802.11ac
- Turn off LED's
- VLAN configuration options for the WAN (For voip, iptv & internet)
- DNS configuration
- And it was updates 1 or 2 months ago, so I expect it to receive security updates for some more time.

The "turn downs" for me are:
- It have Trend Micro integrated (I don't want trend micro or any other data gathering software integrated on the product. I know I can opt out, but maybe I will lose some functionality that I don't lose on lower models with AIProtection, I'm I wrong? Also, did anyone tested that the router doesn't communicate with Trend Micro when the service is disabled?)
- It's a router released in 2013? Maybe it will become "end of life product" in some months or a year, and will stop having updates?
- Are ASUS routers secure (between all the other domestic/consumer grade router brands?)

Last: I know that, at least for my "trend micro paranoia", I can fix it by flashing a custom firmware, but I also don't know to which point I can trust on custom firmwares... So...

Many thanks for the help!