RT-N66u Upgrade

kaktus

kaktus

kaktus

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Been looking at routers as I'm thinking about finally upgrading the N66u if there's a good deal for Black Friday

Been looking at reviews for the following but they all seem to have problems which makes me wonder if there's any point getting rid of the n66u- the n66u has been excellent but the sheer number of connections (particularly on the 5ghz band) are beginning to tax it a bit i think. It drops connections, doesn't cover the whole house and sometimes doesn't allow any other connections

Any idea what to upgrade with? Here are the ones I've seen online reviews for:

Asus RT-AC5300
Asus RT-AC3200
TP-Link C3200
TP-Link C5400
D-Link AC3200
Linksys EA9500
Netgear X6 AC3200
Trendnet AC3200

The TP-Link seems like it makes most sense from a price perspective (156 atm) or the Trendnet AC3200 (161 atm) or should I just hold out and wait for something better?
 
If you were concerning the coverage why not get an AP instead?

In all honesty the coverage won't be that much better compared to using an AP.

I'm not sure how the N66u stacks up again Netgear AC1900 but the AC1900 is on deal now and this model is regarded as one of the most stable router in that price range.

I've used them in 3 different configs and their performance is top notch.
 
deFiniLoGy said:
If you were concerning the coverage why not get an AP instead?

In all honesty the coverage won't be that much better compared to using an AP.

I'm not sure how the N66u stacks up again Netgear AC1900 but the AC1900 is on deal now and this model is regarded as one of the most stable router in that price range.

I've used them in 3 different configs and their performance is top notch.
Click to expand...

I probably want to move away from a dual band router and go with a tri-band given that I mentioned I have so many devices in the house connected, particularly on the 5ghz band, which not all can stay connected or even connect sometimes.
 
kaktus said:
Been looking at routers as I'm thinking about finally upgrading the N66u if there's a good deal for Black Friday

Been looking at reviews for the following but they all seem to have problems which makes me wonder if there's any point getting rid of the n66u- the n66u has been excellent but the sheer number of connections (particularly on the 5ghz band) are beginning to tax it a bit i think. It drops connections, doesn't cover the whole house and sometimes doesn't allow any other connections

Any idea what to upgrade with? Here are the ones I've seen online reviews for:

Asus RT-AC5300
Asus RT-AC3200
TP-Link C3200
TP-Link C5400
D-Link AC3200
Linksys EA9500
Netgear X6 AC3200
Trendnet AC3200

The TP-Link seems like it makes most sense from a price perspective (156 atm) or the Trendnet AC3200 (161 atm) or should I just hold out and wait for something better?
Click to expand...

Every one of those have poor reviews tbh

I think I'd be inclined to go with the Dlink but even then I wouldn't be necessary thriled about it unless I was getting it at half price or something.
 
Honestly the coverage won't really increase by changing routers. Best option is to buy a couple of APs and stick them opposite of the house, then cabled to your current N66U. This will also mean each wifi point will won't need to handy too many devices as well.
 
i too was looking to upgrade my n66u so that i could start using ac wifi and better coverage as the router is at one end of the house and the main living area at the other, but after looking at all the routers i could see nothing that would do what i wanted. instead i went for a ubiquiti ap ac pro which i was able to place in the middle of the house. and so far (ive had it just under a week) i am very pleased with it. All the blindspots are gone, wifi speed is improved and so far every one happy with it (2 tablets, 5 phones and 2 laptops all on it)
 
Is there any real need OP to connect everything to the 5Ghz band OP?

I myself have a ADSL Wireless Router covering one side of the house and a Ubiquiti AP AC Lite covering the other side and the garden.
 
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Well, I'm not really any good with networking / routers so I just wanted a simple solution that may be overkill but at least it's got it all sorted for the next 5 years+ and with MIMO/AC to boot

Plus I think i need a tri-band to assist with horrible lag spikes caused by others streaming/browsing on the same band. QoS has so far been unhelpful in resolving that and I read on one of the Cnet reviews that that's exactly where the Tri-band shines.

No idea what the Ubiquiti AP is tbh other than seeing it mentioned several times on these forums. Any particular reason so many of you seem to be getting one? how does it scale with future MIMO/AC routers?
 
Ive asked this question in places and it seems the Asus ac68u is a good choice.

What firmware do you use OP?

Highly recommend Merlins or the the fork version of this by a person called John which I use on my n66u.
 
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beachBOYken said:
Highly recommend Merlins or the the fork version of this by a person called John which I use on my n66u.
Click to expand...

In layman's terms, what do they offer over and above the stock firmware?
I've recently got the rt-ac68u which has greatly improved range and speed over my Billion 7800n but I'm unsure what modified firmware would also get me.
 
batfink said:
In layman's terms, what do they offer over and above the stock firmware?
I've recently got the rt-ac68u which has greatly improved range and speed over my Billion 7800n but I'm unsure what modified firmware would also get me.
Click to expand...

Not really sure:o

I think they add some features or improvements/fixes quicker than waiting for a stock releases to do??

Ive just stuck with the custom firmware as I've not had any problems but Ive not had any problems on stock either.

Best to check Merlins forum thread to see what the differences are.

edit* found this on the same question you asked. no idea what most of it means!

Merlin firmware brings the following :

Features

--------

Here is a list of features that Asuswrt-merlin adds over the original

firmware:

System:

- Various bugfixes and optimizations

- Some components were updated to newer versions, for improved

stability and security

- User scripts that run on specific events

- Cron jobs

- Ability to customize the config files used by the router services

- LED control - put your router in "Stealth Mode" by turning off

all LEDs

- Entware easy setup script (alternative to Optware - the two are

mutually exclusive)

- SNMP support (based on experimental code from Asus)

Disk sharing:

- Enable/disable the use of shorter share names

- Disk spindown after user-configurable inactivity timeout

- NFS sharing (through webui)

- Allow or disable WAN access to the FTP server

- Updated Samba version (3.6)

Networking:

- Force acting as a Master Browser

- Act as a WINS server

- Allows tweaking TCP/UDP connection tracking timeouts

- CIFS client support (for mounting remote SMB share on the router)

- Layer7 iptables matching (N66/AC66 only)

- User-defined options for WAN DHCP queries (required by some ISPs)

- Advanced OpenVPN client and server support

- Netfilter ipset module, for efficient blacklist implementation

- Configurable min/max UPNP ports

- IPSec kernel support (N66/AC66 only)

- DNS-based Filtering, can be applied globally or per client

- Custom DDNS (through a user script)

- Advanced NAT loopback (as an alternative to the default one)

- TOR support, individual client control (based on experimental code

from Asus)

- Policy routing for the OpenVPN client (based on source or

destination IPs), sometimes referred to as "selective routing")

- DNSSEC support

- Experimental support for fq_codel in Traditionnal QoS

(ARM-based models only)

Web interface:

- Optionally save traffic stats to disk (USB or JFFS partition)

- Enhanced traffic monitoring: added monthly, as well as per IP

monitoring

- Hostname field on the DHCP reservation page

- System info summary page

- Wifi icon reports the state of both radios

- Display the Ethernet port states

- Wireless site survey

- Advanced Wireless client list display, including automated refresh

- Redesigned layout of the various System Log sections

- Editable fields for some pages

A few features that first appeared in Asuswrt-Merlin have since been

integrated/enabled/re-implemented in the official firmware:

- 64K NVRAM for the RT-N66U

- HTTPS webui

- Turning WPS button into a radio on/off toggle

- Use shorter share names (folder name only)

- WakeOnLan web interface (with user-entered preset targets)

- clickable MACs on the client list for lookup in the OUI database

- Display active/tracked network connections

- VPN client connection state report

- DualWAN and Repeater mode (while it was still under development

by Asus)

- OpenVPN client and server

- Configurable IPv6 firewall

- Persistent JFFS partition

- The various MAC/IP selection pulldowns will also display hostnames

when possible instead of just NetBIOS names

- SSHD

- Improved compatibility with 3TB+ and Advanced Format HDDs
 
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kaktus said:
Well, I'm not really any good with networking / routers so I just wanted a simple solution that may be overkill but at least it's got it all sorted for the next 5 years+ and with MIMO/AC to boot

Plus I think i need a tri-band to assist with horrible lag spikes caused by others streaming/browsing on the same band. QoS has so far been unhelpful in resolving that and I read on one of the Cnet reviews that that's exactly where the Tri-band shines.

No idea what the Ubiquiti AP is tbh other than seeing it mentioned several times on these forums. Any particular reason so many of you seem to be getting one? how does it scale with future MIMO/AC routers?
Click to expand...

Ubiquiti AP is basically a wireless router. you keep your n66u so no messing around with the setting up a new modem/router.
for me setting up the ubiquiti was as simple as screw it to the wall, run a cat5 cable to it (it use PoE so you have only one cable to run to it) from the rt-n66u. download the command software from the ubiquiti site and run it, type a user name/password, type a wireless name/password and i was up and running.

i know it can do so much more and when i get some free time ill look into it, but for now that how easy it was to set up

and what more if i find that i have a deadspot or that i need more wifi bandwidth for more devices i simply add another wifi AP
 
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