# Asus router RT-AC68U question



## TAr

Here is the link I forgot to mention

http://www.asus.com/ca-en/Networking/RTAC68U


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## skiline

Are those devices AC supported?????

If no I dont think you need that router

Asus N router would do just fine the

Rt-66N I think is a good choice

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2


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## Disturbed117

Sorry, But this is the wrong section.


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## TAr

Which section it should be?
I thaught it's a hardware, so it should be hardware section


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## g00s3y

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TAr*
> 
> Which section it should be?
> I thaught it's a hardware, so it should be hardware section


This is "hardware news" section, you are not posting any news...


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## Mygaffer

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *g00s3y*
> 
> This is "hardware news" section, you are not posting any news...


Hey, we are all very interested in what router TAr is going to get!


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## JockThatCamel

I was confused a bit when this popped up...


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## nagle3092

Are you doing anything that would benefit from any of its features? Do you do any large file transfers or use a vpn? How large is the space you are occupying? Do you have any AC equipment?


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## TAr

Really?


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## TAr

No I just wanted to use for my own house so I thaught it might be faster and I don't do any file transfers just wanted a fast wireless internet that's all


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## rui-no-onna

Lowest common denominator is the wireless adapter on your consoles. Both are N-only so you won't benefit from AC. From memory, the PS4 isn't even dual band.

The RT-AC68U does have a relatively powerful dual-core ARM CPU though so it should be quite fun to mess with once custom firmware has been ported or developed for it.


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## nagle3092

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TAr*
> 
> No I just wanted to use for my own house so I thaught it might be faster and I don't do any file transfers just wanted a fast wireless internet that's all


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rui-no-onna*
> 
> Lowest common denominator is the wireless adapter on your consoles. Both are N-only so you won't benefit from AC. From memory, the PS4 isn't even dual band.
> 
> The RT-AC68U does have a relatively powerful dual-core ARM CPU though so it should be quite fun to mess with once custom firmware has been ported or developed for it.


Just get the AC56U if you really need a new router. AC tech will slowly become more relevant now and the AC56U has the same cpu as the 68U, main difference is only 2x2 vs 3x3 on the 68U and no TurboQam.

Firmware for the AC68U is almost the same as the AC56U so I would imagine that a custom firmware would be out very soon if not out already (merlins that is).


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## rui-no-onna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *nagle3092*
> 
> Firmware for the AC68U is almost the same as the AC56U so I would imagine that a custom firmware would be out very soon if not out already (merlins that is).


It's out already. I'm actually debating which router I should buy right now for use as access point:
RT-N66U: mature Tomato support
RT-AC66U: kinda okay Tomato support
RT-AC56U: AsusWRT-Merlin
RT-AC68U: stock AsusWRT

I really like Tomato and refurb N66U and AC66U can be had for $110-130. However, beamforming and the dual-core CPU on the AC56U and AC68U sounds really helpful.


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## nagle3092

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rui-no-onna*
> 
> It's out already. I'm actually debating which router I should buy right now for use as access point:
> RT-N66U: mature Tomato support
> RT-AC66U: kinda okay Tomato support
> RT-AC56U: AsusWRT-Merlin
> RT-AC68U: stock AsusWRT
> 
> I really like Tomato and refurb N66U and AC66U can be had for $110-130. However, beamforming and the dual-core CPU on the AC56U and AC68U sounds really helpful.


Yeah I have a AC56U right now, firmware was out for it by the time I had it (which was very close to launch) so I would imagine merlin will have one out for the 68 in the next couple of days.


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## sherlock

Sorry for the bump. I am considering getting AC68U, although the early review on Amazon is not looking good. Quite a few people report the 5Ghz band quality degrade over time and only fixeable by reboot. This was even claimed to be the same problem as occured on AC-66U.

I live in the basement of a really old brick apartment so range & signal quality is a big need, currently on a 2.4Ghz single band N300 router(WNR2000). I am hoping a flagship dual band router with External Antenna will be a big improvement.


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## rui-no-onna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> I live in the basement of a really old brick apartment so range & signal quality is a big need, currently on a 2.4Ghz single band N300 router(WNR2000). I am hoping a flagship dual band router with External Antenna will be a big improvement.


Range on 5GHz is generally worse than 2.4GHz. The only benefit is the 5GHz band tends to be less congested so there's less interference (for now). Basically, 5GHz gives great speed if you're like inside the same room as the router. Add distance and obstacles and it degrades pretty quickly.


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## sherlock

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rui-no-onna*
> 
> Range on 5GHz is generally worse than 2.4GHz. The only benefit is the 5GHz band tends to be less congested so there's less interference (for now). Basically, 5GHz gives great speed if you're like inside the same room as the router. Add distance and obstacles and it degrades pretty quickly.


Does External Antenna and wave forming substanitally boost range/singal quality over Router that don't have them? I am more concerned wall penetration/range/signal quality than speed(my ethernet tops out around 30mbps), should I be looking at a External Antenna N router like N66 instead of top end AC routers?


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## katzaerinto

I thaught it's a hardware, so it should be hardware section


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## rui-no-onna

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sherlock*
> 
> Does External Antenna and wave forming substanitally boost range/singal quality over Router that don't have them? I am more concerned wall penetration/range/signal quality than speed(my ethernet tops out around 30mbps), should I be looking at a External Antenna N router like N66 instead of top end AC routers?


From reports I've seen, beam forming/wave forming is better than having external antennae. Not so much in increasing range but for providing better/stronger throughput/signal for clients within range. Alas, iirc, beam forming is not part of the official 802.11n spec and it appears getting it working on non-802.11ac devices is a bit of a crapshoot. Seems like for some routers, you'd need clients that also support beam forming (explicit?) while some work even with normal N devices (implicit?). Not really sure which side of the spectrum Asus routers fall on. That's something I plan to test when I get back from vacation (ordered a couple of RT-N66W from Amazon's pre-Black Friday deals).


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