Which router? RT-N65U or AC66U

rwlomas

Distinguished
Jan 27, 2011
33
0
18,530
Hi

I'm buying a router for the first time to use instead of the stock-standard ISP one.

I've done some research already and narrowed it down to these two models:

The ASUS RT-N65U ($175) or the ASUS RT-AC66U ($230) (prices in AUD)

http://

http://

I think the N65U will do the job, but I'm tempted to get the AC66U if it's a better build.

My situation is:

I have 3 computers on the network, one for family (surfing/emails) and two for gaming, streaming, downloading.

I don't really rely on wireless devices, but my brother uses the Playstation/Xbox if he's not on the PC, another family member uses an Ipad, and I think I would stream to my TV if I had the capability. But considering the way wireless devices are becoming more integrated, in a years time It might be more important to have high wireless speeds(?)

Questions/ concerns:

One of the things that bugs me is that the N65U has 2x USB 3.0 but the higher end version only has USB 2.0!?
I was wondering if that should be a deal breaker or not?
I assume this is only an issue if I connect it to a USB 3.0 external HD.. has anyone tried this?
Is it worth having USB 3.0 to plug a HD in? Or is it faster to plug in and transfer via ethernet?

The other thing I was concerned about were some reports that the N65U overheats sometimes and switches it off. That would also be a dealbreaker. The AC66U has better cooling so I think this might mean it's more stable. But with my usuage I'm not sure it would be an issue. Anyone had any experience here?

In the end is it worth the extra $55 to get the AC66U or not?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Cheers




 
The question comes down to if the computers in your house that play games are wireless or not.

If they are, you definitely want to get the AC66U - gaming on wireless is hideous, slow, and unreliable, and anything taken to mitigate that should be.

I personally would get the nicer one just because it supports newer technologies, which means much faster, more reliable internet for the devices that also support those technologies, and also because, yeah, it'll be more stable. Router overheating can be an issue even under moderate load, and if that particular model is known for it, I'd avoid it.

(I've ended propping my mom's (stock, POS) router up on stilts and hooking a 200mm fan suspended over the top into a jury-rig to get power from the adapter, just so that it doesn't die on her... as often.)
 
You may want to look at the N66u. Pretty much the same router as the ac66u with a different 5g radio.

802.11ac has 2 big issues.

First it is not yet a standard. Some vendors are running 80mhz and other are running 160m. So far the standard only require support of 80mhz. If they change the things that are MANDATORY in the standard before the end of the year you run the risk of having to replace you equipment anyway. There are lots of detailed things that are not yet finalized. You still find PRE-N stuff on the market that does not work well because it does not support things like ht greenfield mode.

Your second issue is based on the first. You will find routers but very few nic cards..especially internal ones for laptops. You are wasting your money if you buy 802.11ac and do not have nic cards to go with it. In fact if you have 802.11g stuff yet your brand new router will run in compatibility mode and you lose even a lot of the advantages of 802.11n.

You really want to avoid running NAS on a router. The dedicated devices out perform them. You will see posts here complaining that when you do large transfers it causes some routers to also slow down traffic to the internet.
 

rwlomas

Distinguished
Jan 27, 2011
33
0
18,530


Thanks for the reply DarkSable,

All PC's are wired, the only wireless devices would be the ipad (just streaming, surfing, gaming), radio, and tv. So nothing seriously intensive.

Sounds pretty extreme what you've done to your mom's router, hope it holds up.

Cheers
 

rwlomas

Distinguished
Jan 27, 2011
33
0
18,530


Thanks for your reply bill001g. I agree with you on the N66U, thanks for the recommendation.

What still bugs me is whether the USB 3.0 is important enough to have? This is only relevant if you are using it to transfer files to wireless devices is that correct? What are the other uses I'm not seeing?

By the way, how long do you think it will be before wireless take up AC as the standard?

Cheers
 


What I have seen people complaining about when they really try to pull huge amounts of data is the router itself overloads before they get anywhere near the limit of a USB2 device. If you really intend to run a storage network I would not use a router to do it. There is not a lot of things that you do in a home network that really generate a huge data rates. Even streaming HD video is not very much. Mostly data replication for backups or something but does it really matter if it takes a few minutes longer. You need to actually calculate the rates you use and see if it will make a difference.

The standard is to be set in nov or dec of this year. If they stay close to the current draft standard I suspect the manufactures have designs all set to go. So we will see lots of product in the first quarter next year.
 

rwlomas

Distinguished
Jan 27, 2011
33
0
18,530
Thanks again for your reply bill001g,

So if I am buying the AC66U to futureproof myself, because lets face it, I don't have to have to upgrade the router for another couple years at least, than spending the extra $30 on the AC66U wont hurt?

Thanks for the input re the usb 3.0, makes sense and I've heard that also.