Which ASUS Router to buy ?

[TikingAlien007]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a new ASUS router that will support Multi WAN, 1GB internet broadband as well as it will be supported for years to come with updates as well as it won't crap out after a warranty runs out (yes, it did happen on one of my previous ASUS routers where Wi-Fi crapped out a few days after my warranty ended). I'm also not looking for any surprises like exposed ports on the WAN port that you can't disable in the firmware from ASUS.

I'm willing to spend more money on ASUS router, this time around no more than £300 considering the above conditions are met. However, I can stretch a bit if needed.
Any good recommendations ?

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

GT-AX6000. On sale (or not), nothing comes close to the bang for the buck this model provides.

 

[Smokey613]

The GT-AX6000 is a very good unit however, you may want to avoid the latest firmware 3.0.0.6.102_21514

On my recommendation, one of my neighbors purchased one from Amazon. He was wanting to implement VLANS like I had done on my RT-AX96U Pro.

On my RT-AX86U Pro, I used the Beta firmware and everything worked great. The only anomaly I encountered was when I did a hard reset and loaded my last backup config, it failed to correctly restore my VLAN names. This was easily corrected and I was back up and running.

I went through with my neighbor pretty much duplicating my setup on his new GT-AX6000. We encountered an issue in that the 2.4 devices would not connect to his IoT VLAN. We verified the SSID and password. We verified the router was "broadcasting" the IoT SSID using an app on his Android phone.

No matter what we tried, his IoT devices simply would not connect.

We did a hard reset and then did a minimal config and created a standard guest network and the 2.4 devices still did not connect to the VLAN.

We flashed the 3.0.0.4.388_23285 firmware and did a hard reset.

Once again loaded a minimal config, created a standard Guest network and the 2.4 devices hopped right on.

He is debating whether to keep the GT-AX6000 in hopes of Asus correcting this issue.

We took my RT-AX86U Pro, running the Beta firmware for it and setup his network like he wanted using VLANS and it works perfectly.

I warned him of the issue I had on restoring a configuration and he said he wanted to keep running the AX86U Pro for awhile.

So far after two days his network is still working to his satisfaction.

He offered to purchase my AX86U Pro but I have not yet decided to part with it.

I am hoping I Asus can work out the little config restoration bug and I may go back to using it instead of my currect eero(s) setup.

 

[TikingAlien007]

@Smokey613 Thanks for letting me know. When it comes to VLANs, in the more expensive models, are VLANs the default options for the guest networks or can I still use the old fashion way that ASUS implemented guest networks in their cheaper models ? How did you tested the VLANS on ASUS besides connectivity\config checks ?

From my understanding of your post, we don't need to use any type of additional equipment on GT-AX6000 as that router have VLAN funtionality built in, is that correct ? Are we still limited to 6 wireless networks on the more expensive models ? It would be nice if we got it upped a bit. Did you noticed any unwanted\exposed ports on the WAN interface ?

 

[Deleted member 84281]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a new ASUS router

None.

 

[Smokey613]

My neighbor is sending the AX6000 back to Amazon. I told him he could use my AX86U Pro for the time being.

So far it is still working great for his network.

 

[Clark Griswald]

Casa Griswald has zero issues with the GT-AX6000 w/ RMerlin FW!

 

[Smokey613]

UPDATE:

My neighbor purchased his own RT-AX86U Pro, loaded the Beta firmware, restored a saved config from when he was using my 86U Pro and everything is working great for him.

I got my AX86U Pro back from him, did a reset on it and placed it back in it’s holding spot on the shelf in my office.

I am about to run out of my free trial period on the Arista NGF and will need to make a decision if I want to go ahead with the $150 annual subscription.

It is working great but….. now that the new has worn off, I am not sure it is worth the money.

I may just repurpose the mini pc for other uses.

 

[coxhaus]

I may just repurpose the mini pc for other uses.

You might try Opensense or pfsense as it is free for the trying. You can add pfblocker or SNORT for free if you want that kind of firewall.

Hopefully Arista can make Untangle great again with some money thrown at it. I think I could make it work for me at the $50 level.

 

[Smokey613]

I have run opensense but I have a lot more time on pfsense. They are great but not as easy to configure and manage as Arista (Untangle).

If it was still $50 annually I would get the subscription. However, the $50 package does not have Dual WAN / Load Balance support which I need.

I may look at using the RT-AX86U_Pro again and just not worry about utilizing the VLAN features.

If I go that route, I would load Merlin 388.2_2 and try the @Ranger802004 Dual WAN script again in a Load Balance configuration.

This would let me to host my Plex server behind the AX86U_Pro and use the Fiber 100/100 connection for use by the Plex server.

This would also allow me to use my dedicated IP Torguard VPN for my wife's MLB favorite team viewing which is blocked in my region.

If setup correctly, I could use the RT-AX86U_Pro for everything and thus get rid of a lot of other equipment I had been using.

The AX86U_Pro handles all my wifi devices without the need of any mesh nodes.

I am very impressed with the wifi range of this unit on the latest Merlin 388.2_2 firmware.

Heck, I think I have talked myself into setting this up today.

Another Project !!

 

[coxhaus]

There is no reason not to run what you already own. It will not be as sophisticated as these other products.

 

[silentknyght]

None.

Seems to be a dissenting opinion. Care to explain why?

GT-AX6000. On sale (or not), nothing comes close to the bang for the buck this model provides.

Any rough estimate for how much longer this model will be supported with official firmware?

Like the OP, my interest is in longevity & software support. I'm also interested in something that can actually run many of the bonus items Asus build in without overwhelming the hardware. My current RT-AC68P will occasionally crap out and fail to load the GUI--and then crash spectacularly and for a long time--so I'm interested in something a bit more durable.

P.S. I also have Comcast and suffer the occasional DHCP issue that seems to be comcast-specific. If anyone knows whether that's been fixed in any particular model or firmware, I'll jump at that.

P.P.S. I picked Asus years ago after being frustrated with poor firmware/software support from Netgear and similar. I've been really happy with Asus, but I'm open to alternatives as long as they have similar official firmware support + Merlin options available.

 

[L&LD]

With the fact that the GT-AX6000 has 3.0.0.6.xxx support, it's balanced hardware, and the stability and performance it offers, I'm expecting very long support for this model.

I'm not expecting it approaching the length of support the RT-AC68U enjoyed. But I don't think we'll see that again for any model from any manufacturer either.