Asus RT-AC68U Alternatives?

BrynS · 11 Aug 2014 at 00:19

Is the Asus RT-AC68U the stand out router choice in the ~£150 bracket at present or are there specific alternatives I should seriously consider like the Linksys EA6900 Dual Band AC1900 or Netgear R7000 Nighthawk AC1900?

I've got a SuperHub 1 at the moment which has had decent uptime over two years. However, the wifi has always been patchy with poor signal in large portions of the house (Victorian semi on three levels) as well as a bunch of dead spots with no signal at all. I've tried a TP-Link Powerline Wireless extender to cover some of the dead spots yet I've found it to be pretty inconsistent with a lot dropouts, possibly due to the old electrical wiring.

If I opt for the Asus I'd probably stick with the default firmware initially, but the option to use custom firmware is handy. Reading through some earlier threads it seems that Asus routers have vulnerabilities with the AiCloud, etc - is still the case? I gather that Asus also have an AC3200 (4x4) router coming out later this year. Is it better to wait until the AC router market matures a bit more?

Either way, from the reviews I've read the AC68U should be a decent upgrade from the SuperHub 1 (which I'd use in modem mode). I'd appreciate any thoughts on any other routers worth considering though!

Cheers.

bremen1874 · 11 Aug 2014 at 04:10

5Ghz wireless (including AC) isn't that good at going through walls.

If you have a solidly built Victorian property you may be better off with a good 2.4Ghz option. Over three floors you may still need additional APs.

BrynS · 11 Aug 2014 at 13:10

bremen1874 said:
5Ghz wireless (including AC) isn't that good at going through walls.

If you have a solidly built Victorian property you may be better off with a good 2.4Ghz option. Over three floors you may still need additional APs.

Thanks for the reply. Is the 2.4Ghz band not that strong on the dual-band routers mentioned in my original post or are there particular 2.4Ghz routers you could recommend?

branddaly · 11 Aug 2014 at 23:38

I've just installed the RT-AC68U. Both bands seem stronger than the Fritz box it replaced. Will take a week or so to check whether I notice any drop outs, but after one day it seems quick and stable.

lamboman · 12 Aug 2014 at 00:27

Just stick with the Asus unless you need strong USB performance. Best manufacturer and third-party software support, and they all perform similarly.

kmetek · 12 Aug 2014 at 08:21

regular N66 + 1 or 2 wifi extenders?

Furyus · 14 Aug 2014 at 09:29

I've got the Asus RT-AC68U, and it's a stunning router! the Wifi range is insane on 5ghz! I'm loving it atm! I know it's pricey but I think it's worth it.

branddaly · 15 Aug 2014 at 09:47

branddaly said:
I've just installed the RT-AC68U. Both bands seem stronger than the Fritz box it replaced. Will take a week or so to check whether I notice any drop outs, but after one day it seems quick and stable.

A few days in. Signal remains good. However it appears that Port Forwarding is a little bit broken. Not been able to ssh into my dev server remotely. Having now read the asus forums, it looks like I need to disable 'NAT acceleration' to fix it. Might switch over to the merlin firmware to see if that has the bug fix.