RT-AC86U - Awful router - Netgear wins

[janthony6]

Okay - to close the loop on this. With asus and Synology not working with my native ipv6, I continued to find a better solution than my Netgear router but kept running into the same situation.

Turns out it wasn’t the routers. ATT holds ipv6 leases for 2 weeks based on the device so that’s why the Netgear worked and others didn’t.

In the process I used a bunch of routers and learned a lot. As for performance here is what I found:

- Netgear r9000 with Voxel’s firmware is a champ. It is faster and better than my runner up:
- Netgear r7800 with Voxel firmware

Synology RT2600AC would take the cake as number 1 if the firmware was optimized for the processor like Netgear with Voxel - it otherwise performs similarly to those router in stock form but with many more useful/powerful features. I had some instability on the 5ghz band but that is what I dealt with on Netgear until I found Voxel.

- last place is Asus. Idk if it’s the firmware or the fact that it’s Broadcom based but they are incredibly buggy. Wire speed was dead last - I know I used the 86 but I had a couple prior Asus routers including the infamous quentanna based router and my experience has always been the same - lots of hype and marketing but crap performance. Broadcom and Quentanna have always been bad for me and that didn’t change this time around.


————

But now I’m done with the standard consumer all in one. I’ve since moved to Ubiquiti which was a much better solution for how my house is set up. The USG-Pro-4 paired with a 24 Poe+ switch and an SHD ceiling mounted access point plus cloudkey and IW-Pro —— wire speed is the best and WiFi is amazing. Much happier with this setup and the configuration is a breeze. These routers are awesome and I totally see why it’s better to separate your WiFi from your router and lan network now.

 

[janthony6]

Okay - to close the loop on this. With asus and Synology not working with my native ipv6, I continued to find a better solution than my Netgear router but kept running into the same situation.

Turns out it wasn’t the routers. ATT holds ipv6 leases for 2 weeks based on the device so that’s why the Netgear worked and others didn’t.

In the process I used a bunch of routers and learned a lot. As for performance here is what I found:

- Netgear r9000 with Voxel’s firmware is a champ. It is faster and better than my runner up:
- Netgear r7800 with Voxel firmware

Synology RT2600AC would take the cake as number 1 if the firmware was optimized for the processor like Netgear with Voxel - it otherwise performs similarly to those router in stock form but with many more useful/powerful features. I had some instability on the 5ghz band but that is what I dealt with on Netgear until I found Voxel.

- last place is Asus. Idk if it’s the firmware or the fact that it’s Broadcom based but they are incredibly buggy. Wire speed was dead last - I know I used the 86 but I had a couple prior Asus routers including the infamous quentanna based router and my experience has always been the same - lots of hype and marketing but crap performance. Broadcom and Quentanna have always been bad for me and that didn’t change this time around.


————

But now I’m done with the standard consumer all in one. I’ve since moved to Ubiquiti which was a much better solution for how my house is set up. The USG-Pro-4 paired with a 24 Poe+ switch and an SHD ceiling mounted access point plus cloudkey and IW-Pro —— wire speed is the best and WiFi is amazing. Much happier with this setup and the configuration is a breeze. These routers are awesome and I totally see why it’s better to separate your WiFi from your router and lan network now.

And on that note, if anyone is interested I have an R9000 for sale and a Synology RT2600AC for sale.

 

[maxbraketorque]

And on that note, if anyone is interested I have an R9000 for sale and a Synology RT2600AC for sale.

So you kept the R7800 for wifi? Perhaps I will try out an R7800 to see if wifi range is that much better than the AC86U.

I'm still puzzled by your overall recommendation. I've had zero issues with my AC86U in all regards, but perhaps my network isn't overly complicated compared yours. I only have a dedicated NAS for backups and cam footage storage, one 4-port hub, several wifi cameras, a wired printer, a wired computer that acts as a webserver, bittorrent server, music streaming server, SMB file server, and ftp server, an AC68U that acts as a AP, and then maybe 10 devices on the wifi network.

 

[maxbraketorque]

One other question - Was there anything about the R7800 that you liked better than the AC86U besides wifi range?

 

[janthony6]

I gave the r7800 to my parents.

When using Voxels firmware it’s wired speed is great. It’s a Qualcomm chipset so the WiFi range with Voxels firmware again is outstanding. I’d rank it’s wifi range on par with the R9000. Actually it may be better considering it has a ton of DFS channels.

At this point I feel like Broadcom is trying to acquire Qualcomm partly because they make a significantly better product and Broadcom is still trying to figure things out.

Netgear has the X500 now which is pretty much the same as the R7800 but with better firmware. If you aren’t planning to use Voxels firmware, get the X500.

If you want a truely great system, get the UniFi USG and their AP. Their controller software is pretty damn good now with tons of great options.

 

[janthony6]

I gave the r7800 to my parents.

When using Voxels firmware it’s wired speed is great. It’s a Qualcomm chipset so the WiFi range with Voxels firmware again is outstanding. I’d rank it’s wifi range on par with the R9000. Actually it may be better considering it has a ton of DFS channels.

At this point I feel like Broadcom is trying to acquire Qualcomm partly because they make a significantly better product and Broadcom is still trying to figure things out.

 

[maxbraketorque]

I gave the r7800 to my parents.

When using Voxels firmware it’s wired speed is great. It’s a Qualcomm chipset so the WiFi range with Voxels firmware again is outstanding. I’d rank it’s wifi range on par with the R9000. Actually it may be better considering it has a ton of DFS channels.

At this point I feel like Broadcom is trying to acquire Qualcomm partly because they make a significantly better product and Broadcom is still trying to figure things out.

Netgear has the X500 now which is pretty much the same as the R7800 but with better firmware. If you aren’t planning to use Voxels firmware, get the X500.

If you want a truely great system, get the UniFi USG and their AP. Their controller software is pretty damn good now with tons of great options.

Definitely interesting to see the buyout attempt. Little hard to imagine that the SEC would let it happen because they are the two dominant players in wifi electronics.

I looked at the available reviews of the XR500, and I was surprised to see that several state that wifi performance is not as good as the R7800, and the XR500 is $100 more than the R7800, so the XR500 is off my trial list for the moment. I was thinking of going to pick up an R7800 today at Bestbuy, but I was surprised to see that they no longer sell it. Its still available at other places though.

The Ubiquiti stuff looks very professional, but adding power drops for ceiling mounted APs along with overall price to get into the game would be a big impediment for me.

 

[janthony6]

Not all their stuff needs to be ceiling mounted.

I find their UI very easy to configure. It’s extremely well thought out with many options with information on what they do. Try it out on their site.

I started off with the IW-Pro since it’s POE and could replace a cat6 wall jack I had in my kitchen. Even though that 1 device provided better WiFi than my previous all in one setup, it made me want a ceiling mounted one on my 2nd story center of the house. Since I have attic space it was very easy to put 2 Ethernet cables through the ceiling that go back to my POE switch. I went with 2 Ethernet for the overkill effect of aggregation even though it probably won’t make much of a difference. Now when I change any WiFi settings or update firmware or anything, the network doesn’t go down.

Overall I’m extremely impressed with the system and surprised it took me so long to make the switch.

 

[Flipmode11]

Was there anything about the R7800 that you liked better than the AC86U besides wifi range?

@janthony6 Any response to this question please?
e.g. If everything is within 20-30m range.

 

[janthony6]

The firmware on the r7800 is better because you can use Voxel. It’s clearly faster.

That should be all that matters when running consumer grade all in one equipment. Asus uses Broadcom. That means they are confined to the bottom in any rankings. Their firmware is trash and their routers are hype and marketing.

If you’re going all in one, go Netgear. I won’t be surprised if Synology is the king of the all in one market soon enough though. Just have to optimize their firmware for their chipset and it’ll be the best. Voxel optimizes Netgear so IMO they win.

I’ve been using UniFi for everything and couldn’t be happier. It’s the way to go if you can.

 

[jerry6]

The firmware on the r7800 is better because you can use Voxel. It’s clearly faster.

That should be all that matters when running consumer grade all in one equipment. Asus uses Broadcom. That means they are confined to the bottom in any rankings. Their firmware is trash and their routers are hype and marketing.

If you’re going all in one, go Netgear. I won’t be surprised if Synology is the king of the all in one market soon enough though. Just have to optimize their firmware for their chipset and it’ll be the best. Voxel optimizes Netgear so IMO they win.

I’ve been using UniFi for everything and couldn’t be happier. It’s the way to go if you can.

Good so you'll stop posting how bad Asus is ? Netgear the company that supports a router for 3 months then on to the next big idea , been there done that , 300.00 on a router that ends supports 6 months after release , 3700v.1

 

[Flipmode11]

....

I won’t be surprised if Synology is the king of the all in one market soon enough though. Just have to optimize their firmware for their chipset and it’ll be the best.
I’ve been using UniFi for everything and couldn’t be happier. It’s the way to go if you can.

Synology just doesn't excel until you get a rack mount DiskStation DSxxxx. The 1900ac, 2900ac etc are just toys.
Only then does Synology have enough grunt to deal with multiple computers and hosting applications.

The GUI is just *SO BLOODY SLOW!!*
I often find myself poking my eyes with a pencil for entertainment...

 

[jay2020]

@janthony6

I dont think the hardware is the problem its the software, because even netgear has buggy software so does asus. I currently own 2x R7000 nighthawks and there awesome with vorttex merlins fimrware because the stock was not reliable.

I got some cash and thinking of upgrading to something like the AC88U or AC86U and use Merlins firmwares i dont trust the stock fimrware. R7000 uses BCM4709 so does the AC88U. the AC86U uses BCM4906 @ 1.8ghz and the R7800 uses qualcomms atheros IPQ8065

 

[jsmiddleton4]

I use both the R7800 and the 86U. My setup is a slave router for media bridge. I've tried all sorts of routers including the more expensive WiFi 6 routers. For me the best and fasted setup, I get 600-700mbs on my slave router system, is the Asus is the slave and the Netgear is the main router. I even tried 2 86U's. One of which my son in law has now. With the Netgear as the slave and Asus 86U as main router, best I could ever get is 1300 connection speeds. As you can see with the Asus as the slave its connecting to the Netgear at 1700. Its a little slow through Xfinity this morning.....

I too find the Netgear R7800 at its price point the clear winner as a main router.
I did use a Netgear wireless extender for a bit. Worked great and it was a cheap solution to adding additional wireless channels. But I needed LAN ports in the office so the media bridge setup was more practical.

 

[Grisu]

you could try repeater mode instead which will give you LAN and Wifi for clients over there.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

Thanks but don't need the wireless option for the setting in my office. Tried it to mess around. Its slower and again don't need the additional wireless options in office.

 

[Sachb]

I use both the R7800 and the 86U. My setup is a slave router for media bridge. I've tried all sorts of routers including the more expensive WiFi 6 routers. For me the best and fasted setup, I get 600-700mbs on my slave router system, is the Asus is the slave and the Netgear is the main router. I even tried 2 86U's. One of which my son in law has now. With the Netgear as the slave and Asus 86U as main router, best I could ever get is 1300 connection speeds. As you can see with the Asus as the slave its connecting to the Netgear at 1700. Its a little slow through Xfinity this morning.....

I too find the Netgear R7800 at its price point the clear winner as a main router.
I did use a Netgear wireless extender for a bit. Worked great and it was a cheap solution to adding additional wireless channels. But I needed LAN ports in the office so the media bridge setup was more practical.

Hmm, Interesting. You should try the Netgear R7800 & the R7000 then. I just purchased an AC86u & Loaded the Asuswrt Merlin firmware on it, did a factory reset & set it up from scratch.

After hours & hours of testing the best i could get on it was 480 mbps on speed test that too once on wifi but wired speed seemed to be at 532 mbps.

But the majority of the time the wifi would fluctuate between 300-400 mbps. Even the D-link DIR-882 does that but it is more severe on the ASUS AC86U on 5 Ghz. D-link actually stayed between 400-500 mbps, while the ASUS AC86U would drop speeds even more.

Then on 2.4 Ghz band I saw the link speed was slightly lower at 144 mbps, while both the other routers, DIR 882 & the R7800 got me 173 mbps on 2.4 ghz. I think you're right about Broadcom chipset.

Even-though D-link DIR 882 has a faulty hardware & poor NAS performance, It's Mediatek chip performs better than Broadcom based ASUS router on wifi speeds which is strange.

 

[bbunge]

Hmm, Interesting. You should try the Netgear R7800 & the R7000 then. I just purchased an AC86u & Loaded the Asuswrt Merlin firmware on it, did a factory reset & set it up from scratch.

After hours & hours of testing the best i could get on it was 480 mbps on speed test that too once on wifi but wired speed seemed to be at 532 mbps.

But the majority of the time the wifi would fluctuate between 300-400 mbps. Even the D-link DIR-882 does that but it is more severe on the ASUS AC86U on 5 Ghz. D-link actually stayed between 400-500 mbps, while the ASUS AC86U would drop speeds even more.

Then on 2.4 Ghz band I saw the link speed was slightly lower at 144 mbps, while both the other routers, DIR 882 & the R7800 got me 173 mbps on 2.4 ghz. I think you're right about Broadcom chipset.

Even-though D-link DIR 882 has a faulty hardware & poor NAS performance, It's Mediatek chip performs better than Broadcom based ASUS router on wifi speeds which is strange.

Time and time again folks are saying the AC86U is bad, lousy, faulty and etc. When in fact it is operator error, environment, other hardware or software. Just use Asus 384_81858 with default wifi settings and you will have a great router. But then again you may still complain.

 

[Sachb]

Time and time again folks are saying the AC86U is bad, lousy, faulty and etc. When in fact it is operator error, environment, other hardware or software. Just use Asus 384_81858 with default wifi settings and you will have a great router. But then again you may still complain.

Oh you mean to say use original Aswrt over Merlin's latest firmware. You sure about that?

Btw I have the 2019 version but it follows the EU regulation with channels 149-165 locked.

This is the first router which is giving me access to DFS channels but locking the UNII 3 channels.

D-link DIR 882, purchased from same place has access to 149-165.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[Sachb]

But broadcom used to make amazing Wifi 2x2 AC chip

Time and time again folks are saying the AC86U is bad, lousy, faulty and etc. When in fact it is operator error, environment, other hardware or software. Just use Asus 384_81858 with default wifi settings and you will have a great router. But then again you may still complain.

Hmm, this actually worked. So the bug was in Merlin's 384.17 firmware. Speeds are normal and great now.

Merlin's 384.17 firmware is buggy, then.