Until recently, we have been using a Linksys WRT54G. No, not the WRT54GL. We have been using the cheap, $30 v8.0 unit with 8MB of RAM. Since it has been eight years since its manufacturing date, and about the same length of time since it received a firmware upgrade, we decided to upgrade to a newer model. After searching for a while, we settled on the ASUS RT-AC66. We bought it from a retail store, because it was the same price and I could get it the same day without paying for shipping, so our model has an “R” suffix, rather than the direct-from-ASUS “U”. The units are identical besides the model name though.
We are using the stock ASUS firmware.
So what has happened in the last half-dozen years? First, this device has quite a few more features than the Linksys, although not many are applicable to me personally. The most interesting to me is that ASUS offers a dynamic DNS service for their routers. It seems pretty straight-forward honestly. I was looking for a place to register, but it seems like it was just a matter of inputting the desired URL into the router, and ASUS will give it to you if it is available. I was able to use the subdomain within a few minutes too, although I did not try doing much with it.
Its 2.4 GHz range is pretty good too, much wider than the WRT54G. The 5.0 GHz makes it from the basement to the TV on the main floor. It reports less than full signal, but I have nothing to compare that with (neither a second 5.0 GHz device nor another 5.0GHz router). The antenna are detachable and higher sensitive versions are available, which is probably good for edge cases, although the default ones seem to work fine for me.
It definitely seems like a good router. I don't feel it getting in-between me and my internet connection. This is not a review though, just my impressions after using it for a bit.
Oooo one of my favorite
Oooo one of my favorite routers, I actually use this one in my home as well. Nice upgrade!
Checkout
Checkout http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/79 for customer firmware. Gets updated pretty regularly. I use it with my 66U
We upgraded for free from a
We upgraded for free from a similarly old Linksys router (I think it was the WRT54GS) to the TMobile Cellspot Router in December, and it’s been a fantastic upgrade. At around the same time, Time Warner upgraded our internet speed from 20Mbps down to 100Mbps, so the old Linksys router was a bottleneck even for the devices we had connected with ethernet. The range is better, speeds are obviously better, and it’s been much more stable with more devices connected compared to what we had with the old Linksys.
Yeah, we were coincidentally
Yeah, we were coincidentally upgraded from 20 megabit to 30 megabit at the same time as this router upgrade. That was the result of a weird pricing structure switch at our ISP though.
Good pick, I got the AC-68
Good pick, I got the AC-68 and it’s easily the best router I’ve ever owned.
I am still rocking my ASUS
I am still rocking my ASUS RT-N16, which is a single band, gigabit router. 128MB of RAM and a processor that is close to 500mhz. Plenty powerful for my needs, and great range. I have the latest ASUS firmware installed. Never had an issue, and on my 20MB/1MB fiber connection, it is more than enough.
This is the router I use, yea
This is the router I use, yea the firmware has gotten better since inception, they do bug fixes, and better performance. torrents don’t phase it, router also includes QoS.
In the picture in the
In the picture in the article, it really looks like you could stand to vacuum everything off good, and maybe blow out the units with some canned air.
I used a WRT160n for a long time; I don’t remember how much it was in 2009. It worked okay for a while, but there was some security bug that caused dns issues. I got mysteriously redirected to the wrong website until I updated the firmware. It stopped working correctly a while back, and I had switched to just using a hard-wire gigabit connection for my laptop. I think the issue was that I live in a condo building with ~100 units. It wasn’t full when I first moved in, but now it is and just about everyone has their own WiFi. I would lose connectivity from my laptop frequently, which would interrupt downloads and cause them to fail. Perhaps too much interference from other WiFi networks. I am just using the default unit from the cable company for now. I just use WiFi for the phone, everything else is hardwired, so I don’t care too much.
Dont forget to get a new
Dont forget to get a new MERLIN build for it. Works much better
Definitely. I use Merlin on
Definitely. I use Merlin on my RT-N66 and love it.
I’m using the RT-AC66U, had
I’m using the RT-AC66U, had it for a couple of years and is a very good router. Unfortunately Asus Q&A is not great at helping you use the VPN feature except for connecting. It doesn’t tell you how can you use it (if possible) to see other network devices when connected away from home. Additionally the router seems to have an option to use it with an Open VPN service but making it work is daunting at best. The option for a guest SSID is only temporary so it will disappear after the allotted time. It won’t let you keep it permanently.
I’m still trying to figure out how to access the USB NAS (AI Cloud) feature from out of the network without using the app because I can’t seem to find an IP address for it or at least it’s port. If you’ve placed videos on the NAS you can play them back on the app, but when playing it’s buggy at best. If you have downloaded the video to your device you cannot scrub the playback. Also if you view it full screen or you change the device orientation the UI is offset, even if you tap on it there is no response so you have to close it. Finally the app lacks an export option to camera roll. The router itself is working great and my bandwidth is best when using 5GHz . I let the rest of my household use the 2.4 GHz but the 5 GHz is ALL MINE LOL!!! I ended up buying and changing the factory antennas for directional ones since I live in a townhouse.
I have used this same router
I have used this same router (the U variant) for a while and it does wonderfully. It has pretty much every features that anyone could want in a personal router. It also keeps up with my 150mbps without breaking a sweat. LAN data transfers are also very very fast and I haven’t had any issues with streaming games to my Shield Tablet or from my media server to the Roku’s around the house. Some of the time it is handling all of this work all simultaneously.