RT-AC86U Availability?

[OzarkEdge]

I can confirm they are on sale, $339.99 for two with a $40.00 mail in rebate.
At least now I can say by by to my WRT3200ACM for good!!!!

It's good to live near a Micro Center!

OE

 

[Max Nguyen]

I can confirm they are on sale, $339.99 for two with a $40.00 mail in rebate.
At least now I can say by by to my WRT3200ACM for good!!!!

How are you liking it vs the wrt3200acm?

 

[Mark1958]

How are you liking it vs the wrt3200acm?

I have not had one single issue, I set them up and have not had to think about it they just Work!!!!
I will Never own another Linksys product Peroid !!!
I do miss DD-Wrt because I used it for better than ten years, but Merlin works great, I have great speed and No disconnects other than that I just had to learn a different format and layout with Merlin.

 

[nav2004]

I have not had one single issue, I set them up and have not had to think about it they just Work!!!!
I will Never own another Linksys product Peroid !!!
I do miss DD-Wrt because I used it for better than ten years, but Merlin works great, I have great speed and No disconnects other than that I just had to learn a different format and layout with Merlin.

New to the forum and just purchase the RT-AC86U
Can anyone explain about this Merlin firmware ?
Have you guys already removed ASUS firmware and flashed it with Merlin ? Or is the ASUSWRT firmware based on Merlin which is why Merlin is used often in the forums. What would it do to warranty if you remove ASUS firmware.

 

[Grisu]

Asuswrt is official from Asus, Merlin takes this to build his version with some good features and bug fixes. But he dont support Aimesh at the moment (for longer).
You can just upload either , Merlin must be updated manually while Asuswrt got an update button in software (bit easier).
Better to make a factory reset after changing, although most time working without (if you have no problems would be fine too).

 

[maxbraketorque]

I was at my local Fry's on the weekend, and when I walked through the wireless router section, every brand/model carried by Fry's was on the shelf except the AC86U. All AC86U's were sold. Popularity of it appears to be very high.

 

[nav2004]

Well my ownership of this Router was short lived. Have had it for just over a week and family was reporting that Wifi kept disconnecting few times in a day. Then on Thu I experienced it myself as I was working from home and using VPN to connect to my work. I looked briefly through Router log and did not understand much. This Router had such good reviews, but this Wifi signal dropping is a basic thing it should be able to do. Never had this issue with my Rogers ISP provided modem + wifi router box.
Going to return it to store today or get a replacement and try it out to see if I just got a bad piece. Firmware was upto date.

 

[MarkyPancake]

I replaced our 68U with an 86U in the last couple of weeks, running Merlin on it from the get go, and it has been rock solid, same as the 68U. I'm happy I finally got one.

 

[Guibs]

For those interested, the 86u is available through bestbuy in Canada. In fact, I got an email from bestbuy with a global sale of anything asus and the RT-ac86u had a 40$ rebate so it was enough for me to take the dive and buy it. I'll try to use my 68u to do an aimesh. Only negative is that I'll have to say goodbye to Merlin's firmware.

 

[ASadani]

Well my ownership of this Router was short lived. Have had it for just over a week and family was reporting that Wifi kept disconnecting few times in a day. Then on Thu I experienced it myself as I was working from home and using VPN to connect to my work. I looked briefly through Router log and did not understand much. This Router had such good reviews, but this Wifi signal dropping is a basic thing it should be able to do. Never had this issue with my Rogers ISP provided modem + wifi router box.
Going to return it to store today or get a replacement and try it out to see if I just got a bad piece. Firmware was upto date.

The router is great but ASUS surely does not do burn-in tests prior to selling the routers. You got a bad unit. I personally have used the 86U currently and its very stable. In fact I got the cheap Chinese edition vs the more so expensive retail edition. fingers crossed it will continue to work well.

I have had the AC5300 in my stash and that too has been very stable with no issues. However I have a friend who has gone through three AC5300's as a defective unit, so I can believe it when you say you are having issues. I am sure its a bad unit and nothing to do with your config. Good Luck getting a replacement and let us know how it goes.