RT-AC86U/68U question

[Alfred E. Neuman]

I've done a search on the forum and found a lot of info about the two routers and while I'm not very knowledgeable about networking, I've got a pretty good feel of the hardware differences in features of these two routers. I want a router that has frequent firmware updates (for security reasons) and one I can play with OpenVPN in an IP camera system.

Wireless capability is not a big issue. My current 3 year old TP-Link router supplies wireless fine. Also I don't do much streaming and no gaming, so again wifi speed is not an issue at the present time.

While the price between the two is only about $40, it seems the older RT-AC68U is the more reliable of the two. Do my needs justify going with the newer AC86U? How about future firmware updates on the older AC68U? Will Asus probably continue to support it?

 

[Joshuajackson]

if you want good speeds with VPN go for 86U i wouldn't recommend 68U for VPN use its terrible

 

[OzarkEdge]

I've done a search on the forum and found a lot of info about the two routers and while I'm not very knowledgeable about networking, I've got a pretty good feel of the hardware differences in features of these two routers. I want a router that has frequent firmware updates (for security reasons) and one I can play with OpenVPN in an IP camera system.

Wireless capability is not a big issue. My current 3 year old TP-Link router supplies wireless fine. Also I don't do much streaming and no gaming, so again wifi speed is not an issue at the present time.

While the price between the two is only about $40, it seems the older RT-AC68U is the more reliable of the two. Do my needs justify going with the newer AC86U? How about future firmware updates on the older AC68U? Will Asus probably continue to support it?

The AC86U is newer so may enjoy longer support, has about 20% better WiFi range should you need it, supports Smart Connect node band steering for same SSID per band should you want it, and has hardware encryption for strong VPN performance.

OE

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

if you want good speeds with VPN go for 86U i wouldn't recommend 68U for VPN use its terrible

This is going to be for "tunnel" VPN as in remote access for IP cameras. The guys using the 68, and even the old 66 report good results. Again, I don't.

If in doubt I sure don't mind spending the extra bucks on the newer 86U. I can't imagine any downside, just want to make sure the reliability is there. Past posts indicate some re-booting issues with the 86U but that appears to have been corrected in the last year.

 

[OzarkEdge]

This is going to be for "tunnel" VPN as in remote access for IP cameras. The guys using the 68, and even the old 66 report good results. Again, I don't.

If in doubt I sure don't mind spending the extra bucks on the newer 86U. I can't imagine any downside, just want to make sure the reliability is there. Past posts indicate some re-booting issues with the 86U but that appears to have been corrected in the last year.

The AC68U has a better reliability history than the initial AC86U production. And so does the RT-N66U. But given you want to enjoy good VPN performance now, I'd get the AC86U with a two year warranty and if it dies after two years, buy a new router.

OE

 

[cooloutac]

This is going to be for "tunnel" VPN as in remote access for IP cameras. The guys using the 68, and even the old 66 report good results. Again, I don't.

If in doubt I sure don't mind spending the extra bucks on the newer 86U. I can't imagine any downside, just want to make sure the reliability is there. Past posts indicate some re-booting issues with the 86U but that appears to have been corrected in the last year.

I returned my ac86u because it was such a horrible experience stability wise and I went back to my ac66u_b1 which was using merlin ac68u firmware 384.19. Which was stable for me for 3 years. With the ac68u you will probably max around 30 MBs openvpn. with ac86u you'll average around 150-200. So its up to you whats more important. i found out the hard way it wasn't worth it. You might end up having to turn off all the routers features like ai trend micro, adaptive qos or traffic analyzer to keep it stable. I have no problems running like 30 iot devices on the 30 MBs openvpn connection. for example a ring doorbell video 1080p only needs like 2MBs according to ring

As for how long they are going to support the ac68u? I have no idea. I just recently purchased a refurb ax58u for $125. Which will do 50MBs openvpn speed and blows away the range on the ac68u. and imo is just as rock solid and stable and should be future proofed for a long time.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

I returned my ac86u because it was such a horrible experience stability wise and I went back to my ac66u_b1 which was using merlin ac68u firmware 3814.19. Which was stable for me for 3 years. With the ac68u you will probably max around 30 MBs openvpn. with ac86u you'll average around 150-200. So its up to you whats more important. i found out the hard way it wasn't worth it. You might end up having to turn off all the routers features like ai trend micro, adaptive qos or traffic analyzer to keep it stable. I have no problems running like 30 iot devices on the 30 MBs openvpn connection. for example a ring doorbell video 1080p only needs like 2MBs according to ring

As for how long they are going to support the ac68u? I have no idea. I just recently purchased a refurb ax58u for $125. Which will do 50MBs openvpn speed and blows away the range on the ac68u. and imo is just as rock solid and stable and should be future proofed for a long time.

Well, my current broadband plan gets me 3Mbps up and 26Mbps down so unless I'm missing something doesn't look like I need an insane speed router to keep up!

 

[L&LD]

With your ISP speeds, the RT-AC68U will be sufficient.

For only $40 more though, you will have a far lower latency online experience, and all the design 'wins' that about 5 years newer will buy.

While the RT-AC68U was, and arguably still is, the best example of long term stability, it is not a wise buy now (otherwise, the even longer-lasting WRT54G's would still be king, today).

You're not just buying for today. You're buying for the expected length of time you will keep this new device too.

The other routers to consider (I only recommend RMerlin supported routers) today, depending on the cost in your area, are as follows.

RT-AC66U_B1 or RT-AX58U (similar or slightly better VPN performance as the RT-AC68U, but much newer models).

RT-AC86U, RT-AX88U, RT-AX86U (about 4 or 5 times the VPN performance of the models above and listed in highest to lowest latency).

A few short years ago, I had clients with much worse ISP speeds than you. What I found with their setups was that the highest performance routers still made a difference on their networks, even if the routers were 'overkill' for their paltry 3Mbps down, 0.25Mbps up speeds.

Low latency matters, always. And it is worth paying a bit more to get rid of it as much as reasonable.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

With your ISP speeds, the RT-AC68U will be sufficient.

For only $40 more though, you will have a far lower latency online experience, and all the design 'wins' that about 5 years newer will buy.

While the RT-AC68U was, and arguably still is, the best example of long term stability, it is not a wise buy now (otherwise, the even longer-lasting WRT54G's would still be king, today).

You're not just buying for today. You're buying for the expected length of time you will keep this new device too.

The other routers to consider (I only recommend RMerlin supported routers) today, depending on the cost in your area, are as follows.

RT-AC66U_B1 or RT-AX58U (similar or slightly better VPN performance as the RT-AC68U, but much newer models).

RT-AC86U, RT-AX88U, RT-AX86U (about 4 or 5 times the VPN performance of the models above and listed in highest to lowest latency).

A few short years ago, I had clients with much worse ISP speeds than you. What I found with their setups was that the highest performance routers still made a difference on their networks, even if the routers were 'overkill' for their paltry 3Mbps down, 0.25Mbps up speeds.

Low latency matters, always. And it is worth paying a bit more to get rid of it as much as reasonable.

The problem here is that I am so inexperienced at this that I'm not sure I recognize what that 5 years newer technology will mean to my needs. I was surprised that you stated the RT-AC66U_B1 offered similar or better performance to the AC68U, even if it is dual core.

Also, it appears you are saying regardless, I would need to flash Merlin firmware initially. I had not considered that would be a need.

The AC66U_B1 is less than $100. If I thought I could get my feet wet with this, it would give me something to experiment with, and not be a big loss if I bricked it. I've never done any fimware flashing on routers. I don't mean to sound like the funds to purchase is an issue, it's not. I'm just trying to buy for today and then uprgrade at a later date when I know more of what I need.

Please tell me if I'm looking at this incorrectly. By the way, this is a great forum for folks like me who know nothing! Much thanks to you all for your patience.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Please tell me if I'm looking at this incorrectly.

Yes.

OE

 

[cooloutac]

The problem here is that I am so inexperienced at this that I'm not sure I recognize what that 5 years newer technology will mean to my needs. I was surprised that you stated the RT-AC66U_B1 offered similar or better performance to the AC68U, even if it is dual core.

Also, it appears you are saying regardless, I would need to flash Merlin firmware initially. I had not considered that would be a need.

The AC66U_B1 is less than $100. If I thought I could get my feet wet with this, it would give me something to experiment with, and not be a big loss if I bricked it. I've never done any fimware flashing on routers. I don't mean to sound like the funds to purchase is an issue, it's not. I'm just trying to buy for today and then uprgrade at a later date when I know more of what I need.

Please tell me if I'm looking at this incorrectly. By the way, this is a great forum for folks like me who know nothing! Much thanks to you all for your patience.

the ac66u_b1 is almost identical hardware to the ac68u with I believe only a slight speed difference on 2.4ghz. It is also a newer model. It is surmised that this is only a firmware limitation, not hardware, and that the merlin firmware might unlock it to be the same speed. But I'm not sure there is any truth to that and probably wouldn't notice the difference anyways. If you decide to use merlin firmware you download the ac68u firmware which is compatible with the ac66u_b1 from the merlin website.

But You don't need to use merlin firmware you can just use stock if you want. Installing the firmware on the router is pretty easy. You could either download the file from asus website and use the upload option on the router webpage. Or just check for updates right from the router webpage and it will update for you. You can even do it wirelessly. I never heard of anybody bricking it even if the update fails. which can happen occasionally. Just make sure you don't lose power and you should be fine.

 

[L&LD]

You're very welcome! I was once in your position a few short years ago and appreciated the support I got back then to bring me up to speed on this new level of networking gear. I pass this on as I can.

Now, First, it is almost impossible (if not outright impossible) to 'brick' an Asus router by just flashing the correct model firmware for it. Even wirelessly (which is the way I've been doing it for years now for customers and myself), it is a bullet-proof system.

Second, all the routers I listed are newer than the now well advanced in age, RT-AC68U. Even if their performance is the same, they are still significant upgrades of that original design.

Thirdly, all that matters is the cost of your purchase today/this week. If you can buy a better router for the same or slightly more cost, why wouldn't you?

The RT-AX86U represents the best you can buy today. Does that mean you shouldn't buy it? Not necessarily, it means if the price drops to something acceptable for you, vs. the other options suggested and their prices at the same time, it would be less than wise to buy the older tech.

Yes, RMerlin firmware is necessary today. Look at the scripts I'm running in my signature below for the reason why. On a 'consumer' router, that's pretty good.

Here's an excerpt of why RMerlin's firmware is 'required', IMO.

Features
With a few rare exceptions, Asuswrt-Merlin retains the features from the original stock Asus firmware. In addition, the following features have been added or enhanced:

System:

• Various bugfixes
• Performance optimizations to some CPU-bound components like OpenVPN
• Some components were updated to their latest versions, for improved stability and security
• User scripts that run on specific events such as firewall restart
• Cron jobs for scheduled tasks
• Customizable config files for router services
• Third party software through Entware, with an easy setup script
• SNMP support (some models)
• Nano text editor (for more user-friendly script editing)
• NTP daemon, which can synchronize your client devices

Disk sharing:

• Optionally use shorter share names (folder name only)
• NFS exporting of USB drives
• Allow or disable WAN access to the FTP server
• TLS support for the FTP server

Networking:

• Act as a SMB Master Browser
• Act as a WINS server
• SSHD support for key-based authentication
• Allows tweaking TCP/UDP connection tracking timeouts
• CIFS client support (for mounting remote SMB share on the router)
• User-defined options for WAN DHCP requests (required by some ISPs)
• Advanced OpenVPN client and server.
• Support for newer OpenVPN features like NCP and LZ4
• Netfilter ipset module, for efficient blacklist implementation
• Wireless site survey page
• DNS-based Filtering, enforcing a specific DNS server, can be applied globally or per client
• Custom DDNS (through a user script)
• TOR support, individual client access control
• Policy-based routing for OpenVPN clients (based on source or destination IPs), sometimes referred to as "selective routing", or "split tunneling")
• DNSSEC validation
• fq_codel queue discipline for QoS
• Full cone NAT support (on some models)
• Detailed wireless troubleshooting information (on some models)
• DNS-over-TLS
• Redirect NTP client queries to the router's own NTP daemon

Web interface:

• Performance improvements
• Optionally save traffic stats to disk (USB or JFFS partition)
• Enhanced traffic monitoring: adding graphical charts, and traffic monitoring per client IP
• Hostname field on the DHCP reservation list and Wireless ACL list
• System info summary page
• Wifi icon reports the state of both radios
• Display the Ethernet port states
• Wireless site survey
• Advanced Wireless client list display, including automated refresh
• Redesigned layout of the various System Log sections
• Editable entries (on some pages)
• User-provided SSL certificate

Some features first debuted in Asuswrt-Merlin and were eventually implemented in the official firmware:

• HTTPS configuration interface
• Persistent JFFS partition
• LED control - put your router in Stealth Mode by turning off all LEDs
• Turning WPS button into a radio on/off toggle
• Clicking on the MAC address of an unidentified client will do a lookup in the OUI database.
• WakeOnLan web interface (with pre-configured targets)
• Display active/tracked network connections
• VPN Status page
• DualWAN and Repeater mode (while it was still under development by Asus)
• Basic OpenVPN (client and server) support
• Configurable IPv6 firewall
• Improved compatibility with 3TB+ and Advanced Format HDDs
• SSH access
• Disk spindown after user-configurable inactivity timeout
• Updated Samba version (3.6), with SMB2.0 support
• TLS 1.3 support for some services (OpenSSL 1.1.1)
• Modern DDNS client (In-a-Dyn), with https support

Look in my signature below for the link to the M&M Config and the Nuclear Reset guides to get a supported Asus router running stable quickly and most effectively, on RMerlin firmware. The other links in my signature may be worth reading for best practices, etc., too.

 

[L&LD]

For a single client device? That is true of any router.

For two or more clients? No, not true.

 

[dave1024]

For a single client device? That is true of any router.

For two or more clients? No, not true.

I have a Netgear that allows me to connect devices that are either 2.4 or 5. not either or. So thats I want to know about this device. Can it do both frequencies at the same time or is it either or?

Thanks

 

[dlandiss]

I have a Netgear that allows me to connect devices that are either 2.4 or 5. not either or. So thats I want to know about this device. Can it do both frequencies at the same time or is it either or?

Thanks

The router can connect to several devices on both bands at one time, but each device can only use one band at the same time.

 

[dave1024]

The router can connect to several devices on both bands at one time, but each device can only use one band at the same time.

View attachment 28542

OK.. Great. I didnt see smart connect in the GUI when I was looking at the instructions. I must have misunderstood. I have 2.4 and 5 that I want to use. .

Thanks again.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

With your ISP speeds, the RT-AC68U will be sufficient.

RT-AC66U_B1 or RT-AX58U (similar or slightly better VPN performance as the RT-AC68U, but much newer models).

RT-AC86U, RT-AX88U, RT-AX86U (about 4 or 5 times the VPN performance of the models above and listed in highest to lowest latency).

A few short years ago, I had clients with much worse ISP speeds than you. What I found with their setups was that the highest performance routers still made a difference on their networks, even if the routers were 'overkill' for their paltry 3Mbps down, 0.25Mbps up speeds.

Low latency matters, always. And it is worth paying a bit more to get rid of it as much as reasonable.

I have ordered an AC86U. After reading many posts, I still have concerns about the reliability of this router. Overall, are recently manufactured AC86's exhibiting better stability? I'm also wondering if many of the issues are heat related. I have kept my current modem and router well ventilated and enjoyed excellent stability for over 3 years.

I really wanted to go with the RT-AC66U_B1 but could not resist taking a chance..

 

[L&LD]

You made a wise decision and I'm sure the hardware will last long enough to prove it!

The RT-AC66U_B1 is based on six year's older RF design. You made the right call today.

None of my customer's RT-AC86U's have failed for them yet, and many are in use in busy (teenagers!) environments.

 

[Alfred E. Neuman]

You made a wise decision and I'm sure the hardware will last long enough to prove it!

The RT-AC66U_B1 is based on six year's older RF design. You made the right call today.

None of my customer's RT-AC86U's have failed for them yet, and many are in use in busy (teenagers!) environments.

Thank you. I appreciate your, and others input on this. As I stated above, most of the cool features of the AC86U are not of use to me. However, one of the main reasons I need to upgrade from my perfectly good TP-Link router is security. I need frequent firmware upgrades and it's obvious Asus will provide this longer on a newer release router.

I'm amazed when looking at Amazon ratings that many routers will have 75% of buyers pleased while 25% say it's junk. I really believe heat kills many of these products. Routers just don't seem to have the needed ventilation, and we know what that does to electronics of any type. I would be curious to hear from others about techniques used to cool routers.

 

[CaptainSTX]

I'm amazed when looking at Amazon ratings that many routers will have 75% of buyers pleased while 25% say it's junk. I really believe heat kills many of these products.

You need to look at both the overall reviews as well as the most recent. The AC86 got lots of negative reviews on Amazon because of a series of routers produced in 2018 in China. Then as a result of perhaps hardware changes in the 2019 models along with firmware upgrades most of the issues that people were vehemently complaining about went away.