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Best AC router 2018

davidmartindale

davidmartindale

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 28, 2011
234
64
PNW, USA
Hi,

I have an old 802.11n AirPort Extreme that is on its way out. I want to find a new 802.11ac router to replace it.

-It does not need to be a mesh solution (I have a 950sqft apartment).
-It does need to have at least 4 ethernet ports aside from the incoming from the mode (so 5 in total)
-Preferably a company that is privacy conscious and less likely to collect any user data.
-An easy setup utility like AirPort Utility is preferred but not required.
-Budget is $70-$150 USD

Any suggestions?
 
colodane

colodane

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2012
1,049
499
Colorado
Just one data point, but I recently replaced my Airport Extreme with an ASUS router when I moved to a condo. I have the RT-AC68U Dual Band AC 1900 model. It was easy to set up and gives me excellent speed and coverage on both bands in a 1600 sq. ft condo with lots of walls.
 
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davidmartindale

davidmartindale

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 28, 2011
234
64
PNW, USA
A lot of good things being said about Asus I see. I will likely end up going with one of their routers as all the other Asus gear I have had has been quite good. Aside form a DOA motherboard I got about 8 years ago.

The AmpliFi looks pretty nice too. At work right now so I cant view the site but I will check it out more later.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,489
16,217
California
SaSaSushi said:
And yet another vote for Asus. I, too, have the RT-AC68U and it has served me tremendously well for the past few years. I use the excellent Merlin firmware.
Click to expand...
+1

I have that exact Asus model and use it with the Merlin FW also and it is very stable. That model has been out a while, but many of the features like MU-MIMO that are on the more expensive and newer models don't really work with much client hardware anyway, so are a waste of money. Apple does not even sell anything with MU-MIMO yet.

tl;dr Get the Asus. :)
 
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colodane

colodane

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2012
1,049
499
Colorado
If I may ask a somewhat tangential question: A couple of folks have mentioned using the Merlin firmware with the ASUS routers. My ASUS router is working great - very happy with buying it. It seems to work fine and I've had zero issues with it. For a "normal" user such as myself with no need for delving into the details of the wifi configuration/performance, are there any advantages to using the Merlin firmware? If so, what are they?
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,489
16,217
California
colodane said:
are there any advantages to using the Merlin firmware? If so, what are they?
Click to expand...
If you are just a regular user who sets up the router and never touches it again other than maybe security firmware updates, MERLIN FW is probably of little use to you. But if you like to poke around in settings and see what is really going on with your network, MERLIN adds some nice features for that. For example, it expands the network traffic monitoring so it can be tracking by device and by day. I use that feature to see how much upload traffic my Ring security cameras are using.

Here is a post with a long list of features so you can see if anything there appeals to you.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-custom-firmware-for-asus-routers.7846/
 
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bauediemauer

bauediemauer

Suspended
Jul 8, 2018
48
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Are Asus routers better than Netgear? I need to replace the router in my townhouse because I don't get good signal on my top floor with my ISP's router.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,279
13,377
bauediemauer wrote:
"I need to replace the router in my townhouse because I don't get good signal on my top floor with my ISP's router."

Sounds like you're a good candidate for a "mesh-style" multi-node system.
I suggest you investigate them BEFORE buying a new router...
 
bauediemauer

bauediemauer

Suspended
Jul 8, 2018
48
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Fishrrman said:
bauediemauer wrote:
"I need to replace the router in my townhouse because I don't get good signal on my top floor with my ISP's router."

Sounds like you're a good candidate for a "mesh-style" multi-node system.
I suggest you investigate them BEFORE buying a new router...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip, I'll look for mesh-style multi-node systems.
 
hallux

hallux

macrumors 68040
Apr 25, 2012
3,443
1,005
Or just reconsider the placement of the router, if possible. Having it more centrally located on all axis (X, Y and Z) will give the best coverage. Yes, I understand that it's not always possible.
 
bauediemauer

bauediemauer

Suspended
Jul 8, 2018
48
21
hallux said:
Or just reconsider the placement of the router, if possible. Having it more centrally located on all axis (X, Y and Z) will give the best coverage. Yes, I understand that it's not always possible.
Click to expand...
In my case it isn't because of where the cables are located and that's why I am looking for a better router. For whatever reason the ISP won't put the router elsewhere because the rest of the locations are run through splitters and not a direct connection.
 
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