RT-AC87U - am I doing something wrong?

[HellDiver]

Well, looking back it seems I've had my RT-AC87U for a little under 18 months. Clearly I'm doing something wrong, because I've had absolutely zero issues with it.

It's been stable, fast, reliable. Only time it's power cycled is when I've moved it (twice) or the power has gone off (once). I have 5x AC clients on 5GHz and 3x on 2.4GHz, and there's never any issues, even when Chromecasting.

I've read lots on this forum about how bad the 87U is, but I really don't understand what the issues are? What's wrong with the Quantenna stuff?

I'm not wanting to troll, I really want to understand what the perceived issues are?

The 87U replaced a TPLink Archer C7 which really wasn't up to the job at all, it really did need rebooting all the time, and before that a RT-N66U which was a brilliant router, but struggled a little with lots of wifi clients and 80/20 internet. That is still giving sterling service at the mother-in-law's house, probably 3 years after purchase.

 

[lamerla]

+1 not much problems except it has a weak signal to one of my rooms. But that's because it's behind 4 walls. Haven't decided on an extender tho as I never had a good experience with any of them. Might get the AC88U then use the AC87U as the extender.

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

 

[L&LD]

When it works, it works. And that is the case for many/most.

But for a few (vocal) few, when it doesn't work, it seems to fail spectacularly (for them).

There are many threads and posts on issues with the RT-AC87U, you're welcome to search/browse them.

But without having an issue yourself, I don't really see the point?

 

[RMerlin]

The only problem I had with my RT-AC87U while I was using it was the 5 GHz band on my Nexus 4. I had no issue with my Nexus 9, Nexus 7, Intel wifi interface on my last two laptops.

Most compatibility problems with the RT-AC87U were with Apple devices, and for a few months a major battery drain on various Android devices.

Quite a few people also experienced an early death of their device, which would indicate a higher than average failure rate.

 

[lamerla]

Fingers crossed, mines been running for about 2 years. Hits 2 years in Dec

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

 

[pete y testing]

I've read lots on this forum about how bad the 87U is, but I really don't understand what the issues are? What's wrong with the Quantenna stuff?

my only issue with the 87u is its wifi coverage , in testing pretty much all the the asus rt-ac series the 87u has just about the poorest coverage and throughput at distance esp on 2.4 gig , if you buying the next level up in technology you expect a step up in performance

pete

 

[Beherit]

My RT-AC87U is spanking new, have had it for around a month only so far.

No issues so far. No battery drain on Android devices, no USB 3.0 interference, all Apple devices work fine and it has better throughput and coverage than the RT-AC66U I used for a year prior to upgrading.

The only (minor) complaint I have is the ridiculous amount of time it takes to reboot it whenever I change settings.

 

[HellDiver]

I picked up a TPLink VR600 for a friend (has an ADSL/VDSL modem built in), so gave it a spin here before taking it to his house. I used to run an Archer D7 which was great, but only does ADSL (I have VDSL).

Oh dear Asus, the 87U isn't very good. Much, much better wifi coverage from the VR600, and much better throughput. It also uses nearly 20W less than the 87U. Even my phone is sitting with a 650Mbps connection, and I'm seeing a full 866Mbps on my laptop (the best it'll do on it's Intel 7260).

So, I'm keeping the VR600 and ordering another for my friend.

Only issue I had with the VR600 is the very short power lead.

The AC87U was fast, and very stable, but it seems not so good for range and speed.