Airport Extreme Vs. Asus Routers

Valo · 11 Apr 2014 at 12:43

I'm shortly going to be moving home. I have installed a wired CAT6 network into my new home and have terminated the cables to a network rack in my garage.
I am having Plusnet Fibre broadband installed and plan to put my router on top of network cabinet and I'm looking for a advice as to what router I should look at.

I'm a mac user and have narrowed my choices down to either the Apple Airport Extreme or an Asus Router, either the RT-N66U (Dualband Wireless N) or the RT-AC66U (Dualband Wireless AC).

I'm looking for good wireless coverage throughout my house, so I'm looking more towards the routers using 802.11ac for future proofing.

I'm I right in thinking that the Airport Extreme really doesn't have a great deal of ability to configure it when compared to the ASUS range?

shiver · 11 Apr 2014 at 13:55

For ease of use/setup and 'just works' features then AirPort Extreme.

For extra functionality and slightly better performance then you'd probably want something like the Asus routers. Many of them allow you to use 3rd part firmware to unlock even more features too.

lamboman · 11 Apr 2014 at 14:52

The latest AEBS in terms of performance is, like all the previous models, not bad. Not the best by any means, but pretty good. It's probably extremely reliable however.

As shiver said, the aim of the AirPort range is that it just works. The more you get into the Apple ecosystem, the easier it becomes; for example, OS X Server will automatically modify your AEBS's configuration when you set up a VPN.

The Asus models are top-tier in terms of performance. Some previous Asus models have had slightly finicky firmware on release, and if I remember correctly, the AC66U is no different. However, with a few updates etc, it'll be an exceptional router.

So it really comes down to whether you want a truly no-fuss router with few features, or a router that may have a few minor firmware issues, but immense flexibility and unbeatable performance. To be honest I'd probably buy the Asus now, purely because router configuration is something I'd sort then leave. AirPort firmware updates aren't frequent at all, so quite a lot of the ease of configuration is sort of negligible if you know what you're doing.

Valo · 11 Apr 2014 at 16:11

shiver said:
For ease of use/setup and 'just works' features then AirPort Extreme.

For extra functionality and slightly better performance then you'd probably want something like the Asus routers. Many of them allow you to use 3rd part firmware to unlock even more features too.

lamboman said:
The latest AEBS in terms of performance is, like all the previous models, not bad. Not the best by any means, but pretty good. It's probably extremely reliable however.

As shiver said, the aim of the AirPort range is that it just works. The more you get into the Apple ecosystem, the easier it becomes; for example, OS X Server will automatically modify your AEBS's configuration when you set up a VPN.

The Asus models are top-tier in terms of performance. Some previous Asus models have had slightly finicky firmware on release, and if I remember correctly, the AC66U is no different. However, with a few updates etc, it'll be an exceptional router.

So it really comes down to whether you want a truly no-fuss router with few features, or a router that may have a few minor firmware issues, but immense flexibility and unbeatable performance. To be honest I'd probably buy the Asus now, purely because router configuration is something I'd sort then leave. AirPort firmware updates aren't frequent at all, so quite a lot of the ease of configuration is sort of negligible if you know what you're doing.

Thanks for replying guys. You both have pretty much confirmed what what I was thinking, that the ASUS will give me more flexibility over the Airport Extreme. I don't have a problem configuring a router and I can see that the usual Apple "It just works" attention to detail is one of the plus points to the Airport Extreme.

Does anyone know how the wireless coverage compares?

Skyboat · 11 Apr 2014 at 16:21

I own both the Asus RT-N66U and an AirPort Extreme/Time Capsule and can recommend either. However for the primary router I would go with the Asus with the AdvancedTomato firmware on it.

Valo · 11 Apr 2014 at 21:40

Skyboat said:
I own both the Asus RT-N66U and an AirPort Extreme/Time Capsule and can recommend either. However for the primary router I would go with the Asus with the AdvancedTomato firmware on it.

Thanks for your input. What's the wireless coverage like on the Asus?

Pug · 12 Apr 2014 at 07:42

Apparently I best in class when I read reviews 6 months ago (referring to AC UNIT)

Skyboat · 12 Apr 2014 at 11:31

Valo said:
Thanks for your input. What's the wireless coverage like on the Asus?

Excellent, can't fault it. I have the 3rd Gen. AirPort Time Capsule so the devices are similarly-specced and the Wi-Fi coverage for both seem to be about par.

Valo · 12 Apr 2014 at 12:14

Pug said:
Apparently I best in class when I read reviews 6 months ago (referring to AC UNIT)

Skyboat said:
Excellent, can't fault it. I have the 3rd Gen. AirPort Time Capsule so the devices are similarly-specced and the Wi-Fi coverage for both seem to be about par.

Well that's made my mind up to go with the ASUS, any real advantages to go with the AC68U over the AC66U? From what I can read the AC68U has a theoretical faster top speed for wifi and supports beamforming.

Skyboat · 13 Apr 2014 at 18:23

I've no idea really apart from the physical differences and the faster chipset with USB 3.0 support. What features you'll benefit from will also vary hugely based on what firmware you want to run on it (OEM, Merlin or Tomato variants).

lamboman · 13 Apr 2014 at 19:00

I'm looking to upgrade mine soon and AdvancedTomato with an AC66U is what I'm most likely to go for. In terms of real-world differences between the two, very few unless you have AC1900 clients from what I've read. The AC66U is more widely supported when it comes to aftermarket firmware, so I'd personally just stick with that.

Valo · 16 Apr 2014 at 18:12

Skyboat said:
I've no idea really apart from the physical differences and the faster chipset with USB 3.0 support. What features you'll benefit from will also vary hugely based on what firmware you want to run on it (OEM, Merlin or Tomato variants).

lamboman said:
I'm looking to upgrade mine soon and AdvancedTomato with an AC66U is what I'm most likely to go for. In terms of real-world differences between the two, very few unless you have AC1900 clients from what I've read. The AC66U is more widely supported when it comes to aftermarket firmware, so I'd personally just stick with that.

Cheers guys! I think that has made my mind up.... AC66U it is :cool: