Rt-ac68u

[mistax]

There's a flood of second generation 820.11ac coming out these days. My advice is to wait a few weeks and see how things look like once the dust settle. By then you might also determine that you don't need 802.11ac support, or it won't fit your budget.

An RT-N66U would be more than enough to support your 50/5 connection if wireless isn't a priority. An RT-N16 would be too, but I'd recommend going with dual band if you can afford it.

Ended up picking up the N66u and going to flash it later tonight, but so far it works great with all my gadget and etc. a bit spotty for downstairs. But i have 2-3 weeks if i don't like it i can return and grab an ac68u. It's pretty funny, but i think if i didn't plug my old dlink 614 into the wrong ac adapter id still be using a router from like 2000.

 

[geops]

Port Forwarding

I got my RT-AC68U today and I have an issue. I am runing the 205 firmware since they've removed 217. Most of the things work fine including tunnelbroker ipv6 connection. However, port forwarding doesn't seem to work. I add the the rules and the ports show as forwarded but connections cannot be established. I was running a RT-N66U in that same place with the same forwarding rules worked perfectly fine. Anyone else having this issue?

 

[RMerlin]

I doubt there will be a big difference in coverage between the AC68 and the N66. Check Tim's review if you want to compare them, he's got all the details of speed vs range.

 

[chamberc]

I got my RT-AC68U today and I have an issue. I am runing the 205 firmware since they've removed 217. Most of the things work fine including tunnelbroker ipv6 connection. However, port forwarding doesn't seem to work. I add the the rules and the ports show as forwarded but connections cannot be established. I was running a RT-N66U in that same place with the same forwarding rules worked perfectly fine. Anyone else having this issue?

Ditto same here. My 68 replaced an Ac66u and port forwarding worked fine. Seems the FW is borked.

My coverage is noticeably better than my AC66u measured with WIFI analyzer.

 

[geops]

Ditto same here. My 68 replaced an Ac66u and port forwarding worked fine. Seems the FW is borked.

My coverage is noticeably better than my AC66u measured with WIFI analyzer.

I'm glad the issue is not on my end. I even did a factory restore and it didn't help. I hope they come out with a fix soon. I have like 10 services behind this router.

 

[GoNz0]

anyone considering the Netgear over the Asus needs a frontal lobotomy, Netgear support is beyond poor. This is why I am now an ASUS customer!

 

[sm00thpapa]

I am also loyal to Asus but I won't be getting the AC68U anytime soon as I have no need for it. My trusty N66U will suffice for at least the next 2 years. Then maybe I will upgrade to an AC router.

 

[tl2k2]

anyone considering the Netgear over the Asus needs a frontal lobotomy, Netgear support is beyond poor. This is why I am now an ASUS customer!

i'm 100 percents agree with you, after owned 4 netgears router and router/dsl combo.

 

[babgvant]

anyone considering the Netgear over the Asus needs a frontal lobotomy, Netgear support is beyond poor. This is why I am now an ASUS customer!

I haven't ever needed to use NETGEAR's support so I can't comment on their relative merits, but ASUS support is abysmal. I wouldn't buy their kit w/ any expectation that the software will be supported in any meaningful way.

 

[Royal2000H]

I understand that those with pretty modern routers or with n66u's (and more so ac66u's) likely don't need to upgrade to the ac68u right now, but how about someone who needs a router right now anyway? I know Tim was saying no use in future proofing. But really, if we keep the router for several years, surely the upgrade to ac + better processor and beam forming should be worth the $70 price difference, no?

Also if I get an ac router, I'm thinking to upgrade my laptop's wifi chip to the Intel 7260ngw.

 

[Mavin]

I understand that those with pretty modern routers or with n66u's (and more so ac66u's) likely don't need to upgrade to the ac68u right now, but how about someone who needs a router right now anyway? I know Tim was saying no use in future proofing. But really, if we keep the router for several years, surely the upgrade to ac + better processor and beam forming should be worth the $70 price difference, no?

Also if I get an ac router, I'm thinking to upgrade my laptop's wifi chip to the Intel 7260ngw.

I was in your situation, upgrading from an RT-N16. The prices were close enough, and I don't buy routers frequently enough, that it seemed silly to "settle" on the N66 and went with the AC68.

If you checkout through the newegg mobile site, use this for 10% off:

MBLMOBILE10

Brings the AC68u to $200

 

[chamberc]

I'm glad the issue is not on my end. I even did a factory restore and it didn't help. I hope they come out with a fix soon. I have like 10 services behind this router.

After about 6 hours, the port forwarding started working. Very strange behavior. No reboots, nothing.

 

[reallynotnick]

While I realize I shouldn't take these early Amazon reviews too seriously, the one issue I have seen twice is that this router like the ac66u needs to be rebooted a lot to keep the 5ghz working at top speed. I've never heard of this issue on the ac66u, but was wondering if there was any merit to this claim?

 

[geops]

After about 6 hours, the port forwarding started working. Very strange behavior. No reboots, nothing.

Mine still doesn't work after a whole night. I'm quite disappointed as this is an official firmware.

 

[chamberc]

Mine still doesn't work after a whole night. I'm quite disappointed as this is an official firmware.

I've done quite a bit of experimenting, and have found that the ports do eventually open on mine, but lag anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours before they start working.

Just for grins, I plugged my AC66U running Merlin's latest, back in and it fired up the port forwarding immediately after boot.

Very strange behavior.

 

[Royal2000H]

I was in your situation, upgrading from an RT-N16. The prices were close enough, and I don't buy routers frequently enough, that it seemed silly to "settle" on the N66 and went with the AC68.

If you checkout through the newegg mobile site, use this for 10% off:

MBLMOBILE10

Brings the AC68u to $200

Thanks for this. I'm hesitant of newegg though because of their restocking fee. It seems to make more sense to buy from best buy or frys so I can return it at no charge. I wonder if they price match to coupons?

 

[PrivateJoker]

Thanks for this. I'm hesitant of newegg though because of their restocking fee. It seems to make more sense to buy from best buy or frys so I can return it at no charge. I wonder if they price match to coupons?

Same price @ Amazon, but no coupons offered. Amazon is awesome w/ returns, no prob ever, no restocking fee.

PS - thanks @Mavin for sharing that newegg coupon! I'm gonna use it for an extra HD.

 

[mistax]

this thread =( making me want to return the n66u on sat and just grab a ac68u xD.

 

[geops]

I've done quite a bit of experimenting, and have found that the ports do eventually open on mine, but lag anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours before they start working.

Just for grins, I plugged my AC66U running Merlin's latest, back in and it fired up the port forwarding immediately after boot.

Very strange behavior.

I found the actual problem. The port forwarding works from external networks. However, when you're on the local network and use the external address as if you were away (for uniformity) the request is delivered to the machine and port but the reply is never received. This is a weird problem and is most likely somewhere in iptables. This used to work fine on N66U.

 

[chamberc]

I found the actual problem. The port forwarding works from external networks. However, when you're on the local network and use the external address as if you were away (for uniformity) the request is delivered to the machine and port but the reply is never received. This is a weird problem and is most likely somewhere in iptables. This used to work fine on N66U.

You are exactly correct. I can access the resources forwarded externally, but not within the LAN... hopefully they fix this quickly.