Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 Wi-Fi Dual-band 3x3 Gigabit Wireless Router *RFB* $55 @Newegg

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11-22-2019 at 08:54 AM #3

Does anyone have experience comparing the performance of the T-Mobile cellspot AC1900 before and after flashing it to this 68u with Merlin? I am curious because I still haven't flashed the one I bought and I am not happy with the TMO stock router. I am considering buying a nighthawk router to replace it.

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11-22-2019 at 09:25 AM #4

Quote from Parad153 :

Does anyone have experience comparing the performance of the T-Mobile cellspot AC1900 before and after flashing it to this 68u with Merlin? I am curious because I still haven't flashed the one I bought and I am not happy with the TMO stock router. I am considering buying a nighthawk router to replace it.

Hardware is the same. Only difference is firmware.
For better performance I (highly) recommend the AC86U.

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11-22-2019 at 09:32 AM #5

Quote from JNavas :

Hardware is the same. Only difference is firmware.
For better performance I (highly) recommend the AC86U.

Doesn't the 68U have better 2.4GHz throughput?

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HIDDEN 11-22-2019 at 09:37 AM

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11-22-2019 at 09:39 AM #7

Quote from famewolf :

If it has identical hardware to the t-mobile model, and you put on identical software, how do you then expect it to perform differently? I assume that's what you meant since you didn't specify better than WHAT.

I was replying to the person suggesting the 86U.

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11-22-2019 at 09:43 AM #8

Quote from Parad153 :

Does anyone have experience comparing the performance of the T-Mobile cellspot AC1900 before and after flashing it to this 68u with Merlin? I am curious because I still haven't flashed the one I bought and I am not happy with the TMO stock router. I am considering buying a nighthawk router to replace it.

Yeah i had the tmobile one. Performance is better and range was pretty good as i did a test run. But it was not stable to be honest. Dropped signal every now and then. But there is a setting to auto-restart the device daily. My stock ac68r has a lower range on stock asus firmware but its stable and havent resetted it in over a year.

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11-22-2019 at 09:50 AM #9

Quote from Parad153 :

Does anyone have experience comparing the performance of the T-Mobile cellspot AC1900 before and after flashing it to this 68u with Merlin? I am curious because I still haven't flashed the one I bought and I am not happy with the TMO stock router. I am considering buying a nighthawk router to replace it.

You can flash TM-AC1900 to stock RT-AC68U/P following https://www.bayareatechpros.com/ac1900-to-ac68u/ .
Great stable router, solid wifi range, still gets frequent firmware updates and works well with 1Gb fiber.
I've tested it against Linksys and TP-Link.

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11-22-2019 at 09:51 AM #10

Quote from ChristianM19 :

Yeah i had the tmobile one. Performance is better and range was pretty good as i did a test run. But it was not stable to be honest. Dropped signal every now and then. But there is a setting to auto-restart the device daily. My stock ac68r has a lower range on stock asus firmware but its stable and havent resetted it in over a year.

Thanks for the feedback. I am not satisfied with the range and bandwidth out of the stock TMO router. Range is one thing but even after adding a wifi extender, the speed is still really bad.

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11-22-2019 at 09:53 AM #11

suggest to add "refurbished" in the title

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11-22-2019 at 09:57 AM #12

Quote from lucluke :

You can flash TM-AC1900 to stock RT-AC68U/P following https://www.bayareatechpros.com/ac1900-to-ac68u/ .
Great stable router, solid wifi range, still gets frequent firmware updates and works well with 1Gb fiber.
I've tested it against Linksys and TP-Link.

Thanks. I read about this 24 steps instruction. I am debating whether I should spend the effort flashing the firmware or just get a new router. It sounds like the performance and range should be better. I will give it a try.

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11-22-2019 at 09:58 AM #13

I refuse to pay more than $30 for refurb routers after already having owned 2. They're basically disposable if they start acting up. No thanks. You can get some decent AC1750 routers brand new for $55.

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11-22-2019 at 09:59 AM #14

So tempting but I've had such bad experiences with refurbished routers and the reviews don't instill confidence...

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11-22-2019 at 10:04 AM #15

Quote from JNavas :

Hardware is the same. Only difference is firmware.
For better performance I (highly) recommend the AC86U.

AC86U doesn't have very good ratings on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-band-...166&sr=8-1

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Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 Wi-Fi Dual-band 3x3 Gigabit Wireless Router RFB $55 @Newegg

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