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[Deathstar]

Sorry for another what router question. However over the last few months my existing unit (DSL-AC68U) has been giving warning.

A while ago 1 of the ethernet ports died, and now another one has gone.
I am also seeing WiFi dropouts that require a restart to clear, these are completely random and can be daily or not see another for a while.

So what do I need/want/like?

Dual band WiFi
More than 4 ethernet ports (gigabit) if possible.
Port forwarding
Port blocking
QoS.

We have around 8 devices connected via the ethernet ports to a switch (unmanaged). Plus the 2 connections to my Zyxel for WAN and DSLStats.
We also have, at least 10 WiFi devices.
Plus NAS and CCTV. So there is at times a lot of traffic on the internal network.


I have a 2 box set up at the moment which I want to keep.

I was thinking about the RT version of what I have at the moment and that way I could run third party firmware.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[Chunkers]

Hi Deathstar,

I have had a RT-AC68U for 3 years now, I have tried a few firm-wares (currently Merlin installed) - I have always liked the GUI and spec and although my initial impressions were positive subsequently I had a few issues.  Whilst I was using it as my main router it would drop the PPoE connections randomly every day, I subsequently found it was a bug that some other users also experienced.  I persevered with technical support and different firmwares for about 9 months and then gave up, replacing it with another router (which solved the issue)- I subsequently relegated it to a being a wireless access point. 

As a WAP it functions OK, although it has a habit of crashing / freezing and becoming unresponsive requiring a reboot every 2-3 weeks.  I have already bought the Ubiquiti WAP that will replace it, just haven't got round to installing it.  I already have another Ubiquiti WAP elsewhere in the house and it performs flawlessly.

The RT-68U is an old design, mine is now over 3 years old and perhaps they have made hardware changes since I bought it so maybe things are now better.

My personal advice since you already have a modem would be to buy (or make using an old PC) a pfsense or OPNsense box but I know this isn't for everyone.  If you want an off-the-shelf one then I my gut feeling is that a Draytek or Billion would be better than an Asus.

Good luck!

Chunks

[j0hn]

You could try installing the Merlin firmware to the DSL-AC68U and see if it helps the Ethernet ports spring back to life?

It would also give you a good idea how it runs. The hardware inside the 2 devices is almost identical, apart from the WAN/DSL port being swapped.

[psychopomp1]

The RT-AC88U seems to tick all your boxes:

https://www.asus.com/uk/Networking/RT-AC88U/