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Wireless Router Upgrade?

XSYLUS
By XSYLUS
in Networking
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I've had an ASUS RT-N66U for a long while now and I was wondering if it would be necessary and beneficial to upgrade it.   

My primary desktop is connected to it via an ethernet cable.   My phone, tablet and laptops connect to it wirelessly.     

My internet service is 500Mbps down and 10Mbps up.    I don't do any serious online gaming and mostly just browse the web and watch youtube videos.   

I was looking at the ASUS RT-AC66U B1 which isn't very expensive but it looks so similar to my current router that I'm not sure if I would notice any real benefit in switching to it.

Any recommendations for an upgrade that is worthwhile but preferably under $100.    I also prefer ASUS brand since I'm familiar with the UI, but I am open to switching brands if it would be a better option.

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/1542666-wireless-router-upgrade/
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On 11/22/2023 at 11:06 PM, XSYLUS said:

I was looking at the ASUS RT-AC66U B1 which isn't very expensive but it looks so similar to my current router that I'm not sure if I would notice any real benefit in switching to it.

See this review article on the RT-AC66U B1. Keep in mind that this was written a few years ago when wireless-AC was still in draft phase. The conclusion actually mentions this router not being a significant upgrade over your N66U, especially with the unstable firmware features at that time. Furthermore, Merlin discontinued support for both of these routers a while ago, but you can probably still use v380.70.

 

On 11/22/2023 at 11:06 PM, XSYLUS said:

I've had an ASUS RT-N66U for a long while now and I was wondering if it would be necessary and beneficial to upgrade it.

What do you find the RT-N66U lacking to justify upgrading at this time? If the performance has been good for what you need it to do, I wouldn’t jump to upgrade. While the RT-N66U is a couple generations old for WiFi, it’s not too bad to get the basics done.

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Sounds like it does what you need it to do. No reason to spend money just to spend money. Keep what you have until it doesn’t work for your needs any longer. 

Rig: i7 13700k +Contact Frame - - Asus Z790-P Wifi - - RTX 4080 - - 4x16GB 6000MHz - - Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe Boot + Main Programs - - Crucial P3 2TB NVMe for photo work - - Corsair RM850x - - Sound BlasterX EA-5 - - Corsair XC8 JTC Edition - - Corsair GPU Full Cover GPU Block - - PTM 7950 - - XT45 X-Flow 420 + UT60 280 rads externally mounted - - EK XRES RGB PWM - - Fractal Define S2 - - DellAlienware AW3423DWF 34" -- Logitech Pro X Superlight - - Logitech G710+ - - LTT Northern Lights Deskpad

 

Headphones/amp/dac: Schiit Bifrost Multibit - -  Schiit Lyr 3 - - Fostex TR-X00 - - Sennheiser HD 6xx

 

Homelab/Media Server: Proxmox VE host - - 512 NVMe Samsung 980 RAID Z1 for VM's/Proxmox boot - - Xeon e5 2660 V4- - Supermicro X10SRF-i - - 128 GB ECC 2133 - - 10x8TB WD Red RAID Z2 - - 2x 800 GB SAS SSD’s (1 SLOG, 1 L2Arc) - - 45 HomeLab HL15 15 Drive 4U - - Corsair RM650i - - LSI 9305-16i HBA - - TreuNAS + many other VM’s

 

Unifi UDM Pro in front of full unifi network infrastructure

 

iPhone 17 Pro - - MacBook Air M3

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