will an ac87u have a noticeable increase in range compared to 68u?

[apollo18]

hey guys! my backyard and shed area has alot of concrete walls and stuff in the way of the wifi signal. my ac68u has been working fine but today when i was cleaning i found my lost ac87u tucked away in a box. So i was thinking of installing the 87u. I have heard that the 87u has reliability issues so not really looking forward to that if i decide to but my biggest question is will the 4 larger antennas which come with the 87u paired with the whatever equipment inside be able to make a noticeable increase in range compared to a solid ac68u?

i wanted to ask before i did because once i start i always end up taking 1-2 hours by updating, mounting etc etc etc so just wanted to see if the upgrade is worh it

thx!

 

[OzarkEdge]

hey guys! my backyard and shed area has alot of concrete walls and stuff in the way of the wifi signal. my ac68u has been working fine but today when i was cleaning i found my lost ac87u tucked away in a box. So i was thinking of installing the 87u. I have heard that the 87u has reliability issues so not really looking forward to that if i decide to but my biggest question is will the 4 larger antennas which come with the 87u paired with the whatever equipment inside be able to make a noticeable increase in range compared to a solid ac68u?

i wanted to ask before i did because once i start i always end up taking 1-2 hours by updating, mounting etc etc etc so just wanted to see if the upgrade is worh it

thx!

Just turn it on and find out.

OE

 

[apollo18]

Just turn it on and find out.

OE

haha yeha i know thats one of the only ways but sometimes its hard depending on weather conditions and stuff and any other interference so maybe i wont really be able to notice it with my phone today or something.
secondly im lazy rn aha

 

[jpthsd]

haha yeha i know thats one of the only ways but sometimes its hard depending on weather conditions and stuff and any other interference so maybe i wont really be able to notice it with my phone today or something.
secondly im lazy rn aha

Of course it has better coverage in term of the new product line, new chipset, news of everything . However, it is not an easy, simple answer to your question...

I would answer: "it depends ... " like O.E said ,,,turn it on and find out

Good luck!

 

[Ballesteros]

The RT-AC87U had firmware issues at launch which took a while to stabilise, which helped it earn a bad rep. The uncommon architecture and chipset selection that was used for its 5GHz implementation also had compatibility issues for some devices, so that didn't help its reputation either.

I had one as my router for several years though and still use it as a wireless Access Point for the back garden and conservatory/sunroom, wired back to my router (currently an RT-AC88U). It's performed well for me, before it was relegated to Access Point duties it was serving 20-30 concurrent devices with no noticeable stability issues, and must have seen over 100 different client devices connected over the years with no noticeable compatibility issues.

I doubt you would see much difference in wifi range between the AC68U and AC87U though. The AC87U won't support AiMesh, but if you're familiar with how to manually configure non-overlapping wifi channels and tweak roaming settings, or willing to read up on it, then I'd suggest keeping the AC68U as the router, and running cat6 ethernet cable as close as possible to the backyard - or even to the shed if feasible - and connect up the AC87U as an Access Point.