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Want to confirm before I buy - This is apperently a AC68u rebranded

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I don't officially support the TM-AC1900. I know some users have had success hacking things to make it flashable, but there's no guarantee it will continue to be flashable in the future.
 
RMerlin said:
I don't officially support the TM-AC1900. I know some users have had success hacking things to make it flashable, but there's no guarantee it will continue to be flashable in the future.
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That is what I was waiting to hear. If you had your pick of any AC router right now (reasonably priced) would you select an AC68 or would you go with a different one? I want to move my AC66 into a client bridge downstairs (I figured an AC client bridge would be more stable than my current setup).

Right now my setup is an AC66R upstairs with 2 stock antenna and a ALFA directional antenna pointing down towards my entertainment center (had to go with a directional because the omni directionals were having a fit with 5 ghz downstairs, which i have come to learn may be because the AC66R has piss poor 5 ghz N reception). I have a WNDR3700 flashed with gargoyle acting as a client bridge (if you even touch this WNDR3700 it reboots so I am very careful with it when it is on) but the current connection that the AC66R is showing is 243 TX and 270 RX (this sometimes drops to sub 100 randomly). I really want to stabilize this setup because I run a KodiPi and an Xbox One off this client bridge and figured an AC bridge would be better than the wireless N built into the Xbox One. I have an Ipad maybe 5 ft from the entertainment center that is showing a TX of 121 and Rx of 24 on the 5ghz radio which goes to show how bad the 5 ghz on the AC66R appears to be.
 
The RT-AC68U remains the best purchase overall for anyone looking for a high-end 802.11ac router, a good balance of performance and price.
 
RMerlin said:
The RT-AC68U remains the best purchase overall for anyone looking for a high-end 802.11ac router, a good balance of performance and price.
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Awesome. One quick question on your previous response. If the Tmobile 68u is identical to the AC68U except for firmware, and you flash Merlin on it from the start, what would be a reason it couldn't be flashed in the future? Wouldn't that make it a stock AC68U?
 
Eric Lieb said:
Awesome. One quick question on your previous response. If the Tmobile 68u is identical to the AC68U except for firmware, and you flash Merlin on it from the start, what would be a reason it couldn't be flashed in the future? Wouldn't that make it a stock AC68U?
Click to expand...
It's largely, I would bet, a simple scenario of RMerlin not wanting to make a promise he's not sure he can keep. I notice in the link you posted it says "Prioritizes T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling voice traffic over other internet traffic for the best voice quality." So clearly they've modified the unit in some way, and it's not inconceivable that they could decide to modify it further somewhere down the road. There's just no way to know.
 
jrmwvu04 said:
It's largely, I would bet, a simple scenario of RMerlin not wanting to make a promise he's not sure he can keep. I notice in the link you posted it says "Prioritizes T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling voice traffic over other internet traffic for the best voice quality." So clearly they've modified the unit in some way, and it's not inconceivable that they could decide to modify it further somewhere down the road. There's just no way to know.
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I know they modified the firmware, but I doubt they modified the hardware.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8680195-t-m...free-shipping?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarAlgo1

There is a detailed process of how to flash the merlinwrt firmware onto the router (basically removing the TM specific firmware). After that I would guess the unit is a stock ac68u, no? That is what I was wondering. If you are able to flash merlinwrt onto it, then it is just a stock unit so what would prevent future flashes of merlin?
 
It sounds like you have your mind made up about it. And you'll most likely be able to get what you want out of it. But an iron clad guarantee that it'll be problem-free with flashing third party firmware for the rest of time, particularly in light of the regulation changes coming this summer, you're likely not going to get here.
 
jrmwvu04 said:
It sounds like you have your mind made up about it. And you'll most likely be able to get what you want out of it. But an iron clad guarantee that it'll be problem-free with flashing third party firmware for the rest of time, particularly in light of the regulation changes coming this summer, you're likely not going to get here.
Click to expand...

I had my mind made up before I posted it (and yet didn't buy it), but believe it or not I am passing on the TM-1900. You guys said the exact same thing that I was telling myself (and why I didn't buy it yet) and I just wanted to make sure I understood everything before I made the final decision. That is why I asked RMerlin which router he would recommend because I am going to old off until I can get a stock AC68u (not refurb) for around 120 or wait until one of the higher end models is sub 150. I made a mistake with the AC66R (bought it refurb on Newegg without actually doing a lot of research 2 years ago) and am regretting not actually researching the situation before I purchase.
 
Eric Lieb said:
I had my mind made up before I posted it (and yet didn't buy it), but believe it or not I am passing on the TM-1900
Click to expand...
Have flashed a good many TMobile AC1900 routers to Merlin software. My last one, had to flash it 3 times before it worked. Felt foolish for the time investment on that.

Once you get it flashed, you're fine. But would not recommend the $100 dollar TMobile router (that TMobile users are allowed to buy at that price) for Merlin conversion now--not good for someone whose time has much dollar value. This is because am seeing used RT-AC68u routers in the wild for $115 US dollars.
 
Eric Lieb said:
f the Tmobile 68u is identical to the AC68U except for firmware, and you flash Merlin on it from the start, what would be a reason it couldn't be flashed in the future?
Click to expand...

Bootloader lockdown, and also lockdown from the currently installed firmware. They already started locking down this router after its initial launch, which is why it's currently requiring a lot of workarounds to get it to accept Asuswrt-merlin now. Those workarounds might stop working at any point in the future if Asus/TMobile decide to further lock the router down, something highly likely to happen sometime before the end of June...
 
RMerlin said:
Bootloader lockdown, and also lockdown from the currently installed firmware. They already started locking down this router after its initial launch, which is why it's currently requiring a lot of workarounds to get it to accept Asuswrt-merlin now. Those workarounds might stop working at any point in the future if Asus/TMobile decide to further lock the router down, something highly likely to happen sometime before the end of June...
Click to expand...

Have slickdeal notification for ac68u. Do you think a refurbished would be OK?

Edit:

Well I found one on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/252381916850 - 95 dollars after shipping and the ad says "brand new" so we will see when I get it. Thank you for all the help! Will be flashing merlin on it when I get it and hope it is a real improvement over my AC66R
 
Last edited:
Eric Lieb said:
Have slickdeal notification for ac68u. Do you think a refurbished would be OK?
Edit:

Well I found one on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/252381916850 - 95 dollars after shipping and the ad says "brand new" so we will see when I get it. Thank you for all the help! Will be flashing merlin on it when I get it and hope it is a real improvement over my AC66R
Click to expand...

eBay has a mint used going for $59.99 + $11.99 S/H. Is $71.98 worth the attempt at converting this puppy? Hmmmm.......

Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-T-Mobi...851643?hash=item51e2e2973b:g:DxMAAOSwd3dXFVVU
 
Frys has the 68u new for 139 with their promo code. I picked one up as I figured it wasn't worth the hassle of downgrading tmobiles version, flashing it, crossing my fingers and toes, flash again etc... All to save 40 dollars. A couple hours of that would have me stressed out and probably BP way over what it needed to be.
☺️
 
Amazon has RT-AC68U, RT-AC68W, RT-AC68R, RT-AC68A, RT-AC68P....

Are they all the same base model, just successive sub-models?

Does it matter which you buy as far as using it with MerlinWRT?

#noobsaskstupidquestions
 
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