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I am looking at the asus rt-ac87u but does anyone have any suggestions for others that I should look at?
New router suggestions
- Thread starter Cheetah Designs
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Same as most I expect:
- Stable
- Fast
- Large range
- Priced around the same as the rt-ac87u
- Stable
- Fast
- Large range
- Priced around the same as the rt-ac87u
Your posts are still lacking any meaningful requirements. What speed/type of connection do you have? What will you be connecting to it and what wifi standards are you planning to use? Are you trying to run VPN/download services on the router? Do you need for example Sky's MER implementation or the ability to use custom firmware/features? Is the property exceptionally large/problematic in terms of construction?
A £30 router will fulfill all of those items other than the price, routers costing a lot less than the AC87U also offer much the same functionality.
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Apologies, ok I will try and narrow it down.
My devices are all AC capable and WIFI (with the exception of one iPad). I would like to maximize the range, stability and speed of the connection.
As an example, currently I cannot mirror my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to my Chromecast without it being laggy. Devices are at max 2.5m around from my current router.
I wouldn't use custom features or firmware, just how it comes out of the box.
It would be nice to have the ADSL modem built in, but most don't seem to have this.
My devices are all AC capable and WIFI (with the exception of one iPad). I would like to maximize the range, stability and speed of the connection.
As an example, currently I cannot mirror my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to my Chromecast without it being laggy. Devices are at max 2.5m around from my current router.
I wouldn't use custom features or firmware, just how it comes out of the box.
It would be nice to have the ADSL modem built in, but most don't seem to have this.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/
Sounds like the only thing you really want is to upgrade to AC. You don't need a new router for that.
Add the Unifi AP to your network, disable wifi on your existing router and you're done. Use the same ssid and password and your devices won't even notice (unless you're using MAC filtering!)
Sounds like the only thing you really want is to upgrade to AC. You don't need a new router for that.
Add the Unifi AP to your network, disable wifi on your existing router and you're done. Use the same ssid and password and your devices won't even notice (unless you're using MAC filtering!)
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I don't really care about the technology. My benchmark is that I should be able to Stream a HD video from the internet to my phone and be able to mirror my screen at the same time to my TV via the chromecast without lagging.
Are you on a populated WiFi channel? If you dont know download a WiFi analyser app on you phone connect to the WiFi and you can see other WiFi networks around you on channel they are on. It should show u in graph format aswell to make it easier. Then just choose the least populated channel.
While it'll work on a cabled connection (op states ADSL) the AC56U outperforms it in every conceivable way and costs less. Personally I would investigate why he's having the issues he is before spending anything as any modern router should easily be capable of dealing with chromecast mirroring if indeed it's a router issue.
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The wireless capabilities of the RT-N66U are better. In other areas, real world performance difference would be negligible.
Compare the results from the same source: RT-N66 here and AC56U here.
You'll notice the AC56U wins convincingly, the only criteria where the N66U shows any advantage is isolated 2.4 up and down benchmarks which becomes largely irrelevant when you look at the combined figure of 2.4Ghz throughput because it can't handle both together any quicker than the AC56U.
I happen to own variations of the N66U and an AC56U, the AC56U wins in my anecdotal testing for large wifi to/from LAN transfers. You could argue that the N66U has 3x3 MIMO but the AC56U has 1/3 more speed to begin with and the benchmarks back up which is better, you could argue the external antennae are important, in stock guise they aren't - having dissected them they are mostly for show and beamforming more than compensates. Basically the N66U was a decent router back in the day, if you can pick one up cheap (used) then it's still a decent buy, but buying new they still sell it for more than the AC56U, people keep thinking the name means one is better than the other when the opposite is true. Also as i stated previously neither will work for the OP without an ADSL modem
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So, in real world, according to those links, negligible. 
Plus there's nothing about which firmware revisions were used, client equipment or any other test conditions. It's like the results on anantech, no one takes them seriously except to use as a general guide.
Plus there's nothing about which firmware revisions were used, client equipment or any other test conditions. It's like the results on anantech, no one takes them seriously except to use as a general guide.
So, in real world, according to those links, negligible.
Plus there's nothing about which firmware revisions were used, client equipment or any other test conditions. It's like the results on anantech, no one takes them seriously except to use as a general guide.
In the real world 200mbit on 5Ghz isn't negligible but noticeable. I showed you a summary chart for simplicity, if you look at the actual reviews you'll find they're quite detailed and the testing methodology is reasonable given the type of device/market. Either way recommending someone buy an N66U based SKU then trying to state it's better in the face of evidence showing it isn't now seems to have become you saying you'd not notice the difference, either way you're wrong
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I live in a block of flats so every channel is saturated (if that makes sense)
In the real world 200mbit on 5Ghz isn't negligible but noticeable. I showed you a summary chart for simplicity, if you look at the actual reviews you'll find they're quite detailed and the testing methodology is reasonable given the type of device/market. Either way recommending someone buy an N66U based SKU then trying to state it's better in the face of evidence showing it isn't now seems to have become you saying you'd not notice the difference, either way you're wrong
I didn't say it was better, I just said wireless performance would be better, which from what I've read and due to the antenna's, isn't exactly a wrong statement. An average home user, using either router, will notice no difference.
If you haven't, run a wifi network analyser to see which channel would give you the best result.
If in your world you describe things that lack range enhancing features (beamforming) and support significantly slower wifi standards (900 vs 1200), benchmark lower and take over a minute longer to transfer a 5GB file as having better wifi performance then you're spot on. As to the average home user point they're usually not the first people in line to spend £80 on a router, they tend to be the kind of people who get an ISP supplied router and make do, as in general they work the majority of the time for the majority of people in the majority of situations. It's only when it doesn't people look to spend money or they have a specific need as in this case.
For the OP wireless survey (as suggested by r7Slayer) makes sense, but any consumer router in a conventional flat should be capable of providing coverage and enough bandwidth for what you describe, i'd check the signal on the Chromecast, they tend to be stuffed behind TV's which themselves are RF shielded by design and often placed next to walls, try relocating the Chromecast and see if that helps. For legal reasons obviously you'd only use the UK sanctioned frequency range of channels 1-13, you can only use 14 if you live in Japan so whatever you do, don't set your devices location to Japan as it will enable a channel that other people won't be using and doesn't overlap the existing channels. Based on the survey have a look at what's on 1, 6 and 11 as they are the non overlapping channels in 2.4Ghz, anything else you use between those will overlap the range used by two other channels, if your router supports 5Ghz and the devices do then consider that as it should be less crowded in theory.