ASUS RT-AC68U

Lazybones · June 28, 2014, 06:59:58 PM

My wireless performance continued to degrade so I looked arround and realized that about half of my devices now support 5Ghz so I figured this time I will just go for the top of the line..

Although the AC68 does not have the absolution top speed for legacy 2.4N devices it does have probably the best all arround performance right now next to the Netgear Nighthawk..

First thing I have noticed is now on both the 2.4 and 5Ghz band my devices ALL show it as clearly the strongest AP.

Also looking at inSSIDer it has a very very stable wireless signal that isn't bouncing up and down..

Did some internet speed tests as well.. It's dual core process seems to make a significant difference in internet speed as well, I am getting between 3 and 6Mbits more speed out of my Shaw 100 connection.

I haven't run many wireless through put tests yet, however the difference on the speedtest.net iPhone app is crazy. I was getting 4.67Mbit down and 1.58 up on my RT-N16 on 2.4Ghz.. My iPhone 5C now reports 91.23Mbit down and 5.30 mbit up over 5Ghz WiFI... I get nearly my FULL home internet speed on my phone now!

Tom · June 28, 2014, 07:05:59 PM

Haha. That's great! I can get full speed over N here, but not too many of my devices actually will do 100mbps wifi consistently. It doesn't help that my ap isn't properly mounted yet.

I might as well go do that right now! lol. only been a year or two.

Lazybones · June 28, 2014, 07:30:27 PM

According to the guy that makes the merlin firmware mod the latest ASUS firmware source contains new features not yet enabled such as a new QoS engine and some DPI features..

Tom · June 28, 2014, 07:53:27 PM

Very nice!

Thorin · June 28, 2014, 08:42:26 PM

jeebus, I should get my Shaw modem/router bridged and buy one of these... How much was it?

Lazybones · June 28, 2014, 09:15:35 PM

Quote from: Thorin on June 28, 2014, 08:42:26 PM
jeebus, I should get my Shaw modem/router bridged and buy one of these... How much was it?

$229 at NCIX on sale right now.

http://m.ncix.com/products/sku/90144/1264

It is on the high end that is for sure.

Also to get those speeds you will need 5ghz gear. Just happens that my iPhone 5c and our Asus win8 tablet are.

Speeds are much much lower in 2.4 ghz in my tests

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Lazybones · June 29, 2014, 12:08:42 AM

I should note that if you have no concern about AC gear or dual core CPU power for future features there are several cheaper N class routers that can match that speed.

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Tom · June 29, 2014, 12:25:15 AM

* Tom hijacks the thread

Mounted my ap to the ceiling. Didn't really help speeds on my laptop at all. thought it might. I'm starting to think its the linux driver or something. My nexus 7 2013 gets 80-90mbps+ where as my laptop only wants to get 60-70.

Lazybones · June 29, 2014, 09:17:13 AM

I am not surprised if the phone outperforms the laptop. Some laptops have bad antenna placement or low end chipsets.

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Mr. Analog · June 29, 2014, 09:33:54 AM

You can get a wireless antenna dongle for the laptop right?

Lazybones · June 29, 2014, 09:50:55 AM

If he is already getting 60-70mbits that is rather good actually. Just not as good as the phone

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Thorin · June 29, 2014, 10:43:45 AM

Well I'm getting a lot less with the default Shaw modem / router

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/876103274

Lazybones · June 29, 2014, 11:10:38 AM

Quote from: Thorin on June 29, 2014, 10:43:45 AM
Well I'm getting a lot less with the default Shaw modem / router

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/876103274

if you are on a single radio 2.4 Ghz that isn't bad...

As a follow up of day to day.. I have noticed my iPhone will bind back to the 2.4Ghz channel if it loses sight of the 5Ghz.. then my speeds drop to close to my old speeds something around 10Mbit down and 2-4Mbit Up (still more stable and still higher signal strength than the old AP).

I think I am going to split my 2.4 and 5GHz into two separate SSIDs so I can control the performance a bit better. Some wireless devices are not too smart about picking the FASTEST connection, instead they will prefer the strongest signal.

Tom · June 29, 2014, 03:21:21 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on June 29, 2014, 09:50:55 AM
If he is already getting 60-70mbits that is rather good actually. Just not as good as the phone

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Laptop has a 3 antenna, "450mbps" "Centrino Ultimate-N 6300" adapter. It could be down to the placement. cause it's antenna is much larger than the tablet's. Signal strength as reported by the laptop is less than the tablet gets.

And I /have/ seen 100mbps from the laptop. it's just weird.

Lazybones · June 29, 2014, 05:36:05 PM

Quote from: Tom on June 29, 2014, 03:21:21 PM
Quote from: Lazybones on June 29, 2014, 09:50:55 AM
If he is already getting 60-70mbits that is rather good actually. Just not as good as the phone

Sent from Tapatalk
Laptop has a 3 antenna, "450mbps" "Centrino Ultimate-N 6300" adapter. It could be down to the placement. cause it's antenna is much larger than the tablet's. Signal strength as reported by the laptop is less than the tablet gets.

And I /have/ seen 100mbps from the laptop. it's just weird.

If it is a three antenna unit I would expect it to be better than the phone for sure.