Updating from RT AC1900P to RT AC86U ...worth it?

[RMerlin]

You can blame Broadcom for part of that. They advertised their XStream platform as being "Pentacore", because you had a dual-core CPU, and each of the three wifi SoC had their own dedicated CPU core... So, router manufacturers are just reusing that marketing material for their own products.

 

[Frankflash]

My first Asus router was n66u and now I have ac68u, both were running Merlin + entware (To be precise, I switched to john9527's awesome fork on the n66u when Merlin "abandoned" it).
I never had any issues and it is simply pure joy to use these units with Merlin's FW, I could never go back.

In previous years, I deployed many N18U units for friends and in the family (talking about more than 50 routers here), and lately I mostly deploy AC65P units. Both were exceptional "bang for the bucks" devices (the ac65p truly is), and it really saddens me that I had to go OpenWRT with both since Merlin does not support them...but to the point:

the only problem I ever had with any of those routers is 2-3 power adapter failures, and that is it for hundreds of deployed units!

Yes of course, networking is cool and I'm also an enthusiast, I understand that soho routers have many shortcomings. I also bought an ER-4 and a GS108Tv2 along with some UAP-AC Pro APs to play around at home, and those are awesome indeed, but also an overkill to be honest. There is simply nothing what my ac86u could not do (with some tinkering) what a home user would need.

I agree that Asus (just like all the other big brands) are dropping quality rapidly in the last few years, but my personal experiences are vastly differ from yours, and - for home use - I personaly still prefer anything what Merlin supports.

edit:typo

it's the firmware quality has been rapidly dropping in the last few years most of that you can blame on broadcom

 

[Grisu]

You cant blame Bridgestone because Toyota sells its cars with their tires and they limit your Toyota to 80m/h.
Toyota sells you the car advertised to go 320, its not Bridgestone!
Toyota has to deliver those speeds to their customers, nobody forces them to use Bridgestone since many years while they could take maybe more expensive Pirelli which are able to speed up to 320.

You can change tires to gear manufacturer or whatever part of the car you want to, they all dont sell you anything, its still Toyota or any other car manufacturer.
They even change the engine (or chips in case of Asus) over the time for the same product and wont let you know.
Its not up to us to know what they use inside, the product has to fullfill advertisements.
And it is purely Asus firmware using only one core for most tasks on dual and quad core CPUs, no fault from any chip manufacturer or open firmware programmers their firmware is based on.

Will you pay your surgeon for 1/4 ... oh yes, most will ...

 

[RMerlin]

You cant blame Bridgstone because Toyota sells its cars with their tires and they limit your Toyota to 80m/h.
Toyota sells you the car advertised to go 320, its not Bridgestone!

But if Bridgestone were to say their tires start blowing up if you go faster than 200, then Toyota will have to limit their car speed to 200, or use a different model of tires...

Ultimately, a final product has to work within the confines of the outsourced components that it uses.

 

[Val D.]

But if Bridgestone were to say their tires start blowing up if you go faster than 200, then Toyota will have to limit their car speed to 200, or use a different model of tires...

Router manufacturers advertising is just the opposite. If one component can do 320 in theory, then the whole product is Class 320 or even higher.

 

[RMerlin]

Router manufacturers advertising is just the opposite. If one component can do 320 in theory, then the whole product is Class 320 or even higher.

Yeah. It just reinforces the fact that ultimately, the second party manufacturer will rely on specs and marketing material coming from the first party.

 

[Val D.]

Yeah. It just reinforces the fact that ultimately, the second party manufacturer will rely on specs and marketing material coming from the first party.

This part we already know.
As you are more familiar with ASUS products, can you guess where this thing is coming from:

- ASUS AiRadar on a 2.4GHz "N800" router, or "Exclusive ASUS RF fine-tuning"
- ASUS AiMesh with "seamless roaming" without support of 802.11k/v/r, but better compared to "traditional mesh systems"
- ASUS AiMesh "all router features work across the entire WiFi system"... especially Guest Network
- WiFi traffic processed on one core, LAN traffic on another (see image attached)
- What technology is ASUS QoS, because this same technology is present in non-ASUS routers
- MU-MIMO technology for multi-user playing... optimized for multi-player with no lags
- 802.11ax OFDMA... on both 2.4GHz/5GHz and UL/DL... or here and there

This list can go very long, I just opened a few pages on ASUS Global website. What chip manufacturer is to blame?

 

[tallytr]

Any real advantage to changing/upgrade
to the AC86U from the AC1900P
AC86U has newer chip ...Broadcom, more ram and processor

Thanks in advance

Yes.

 

[tallytr]

I have changed my mind about RT-AC86U. I do not recommend ASUS routers to anyone anymore.

That is great, the fewer people buy them the lower the price should trend (in theory)

 

[Jon Miller]

Any real advantage to changing/upgrade
to the AC86U from the AC1900P
AC86U has newer chip ...Broadcom, more ram and processor

Thanks in advance

Honestly, I just took back my AX58U and swapped for the AC86U, I am beyond impressed! And now with merlin firmware it is even better!
I mainly game with a full house who stream most of the time from netflix or amazon, this QoS is amazing and actually works well, the game boost through WTFast is also amazing!
With this badboy I have manged to improve the wireless signal for my room mates, improved ping and less spikes, zero buffering so far as well!

I am on a fairly crap connection (Wireless from tower to dish on my roof, the tower is fed by fiber) supposed to be 25 down 5 up, other routers I have had trouble getting the full data rate my plan offers, this guy has easily evened things out, improved speeds on both wireless and wired connections!

Highly recommend! Especially with Merlin Firmware!

 

[Jon Miller]

That is great, the fewer people buy them the lower the price should trend (in theory)

Also agree! Asus makes a great product, support is a little lacking on their end however it is easy enough to find answers via a google search.

 

[Jon Miller]

Not all the problems, but most of yours definitely are. I don’t even know why you rush to express an opinion on a product you struggled to configure properly for a very long time. You should be reading more, not writing.

Take your own advice, he is in for an asus product, he has done the research, he didn't ask about wired routers, switches or anything. He simply asked if it would be an upgrade worth getting.
And honestly, it is.

 

[CaptainSTX]

If you want to run VPN clients and you want the speed on the tunnel to exceed 50 Mbps then the AC86 is the way to go.

If you don't need the VPN speed then you might be better off with a router built on ASUS very reliable AC68 platform with the higher speed processor.

While lately ASUS seems to have worked out the stability issues with the AC86, this router's long term reliability has yet to be proven to me. I take care of my son's Internet and I gave him an AC1900p. Given the issues I had with my AC86 I would not want to be doing tech support on an AC86 remotely.

 

[RMerlin]

Folks, please keep it civil. Thank you.

 

[Marinemaster]

Question please: where the AC86U can be bought to make sure the newer manufacture date is obtained ? referring to online mostly in US

 

[CaptainSTX]

Amazon is always a choice. Not always the cheapest but with their scale I would presume they turn their inventory quickly.

The manufacturing date is listed in plain text on the router. If it isn't a 2019 then returns are amazingly simple with Amazon.

I'm sure there are other good sources but the ease of returns makes Amazon my choice.

P.S. If you do decide to buy from Amazon click through to them using a link on SNB as the site will get a small commission that helps to support it.

 

[Makaveli]

This thread was all over the place.

But to add my 2 cents.

When looking at any reviews on say bestbuy or amazon I try not to make a purchasing decision on that alone why?

You don't always know if the person just a) got a lemon, b)if they have a clue what they are doing,c) or are just flat out wrong. With access to the internet do your due diligence and try to find as many sources as possible for information.

And alot of the time when I read most of the reviews its option B.

And beware of companies that sell products with marketing alone.

 

[KevTech]

I purchased a refurb 86u over a year ago and all is fine so far.

Seller has sold 119 of these units and has a few left for sell.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263972289937

 

[Marinemaster]

Just ordered one from amazon via the link here at snb. Thanks guys.
Now i need to find the post with how and what to do a fan to run from usb.