ASUS RT-AC68U Router & WDS - a nice solution for a large home.
I recently had a newer Asus RT-AC87U Router die. The wireless chipset never seemed to work well and first the 5Ghz bands started to fail and then the 2.4Ghz failed leaving my 25 wireless device household high and dry.
So after some due diligence I decided to replace with 2 of the older RT-AC68U and implement a Wireless Distribution System (WDS) configuration.
In the past - I've mentioned an open source router OS called DD-WRT. The Asus routers come pre-installed with their version of DD-WRT. Asus does utilize their own UI overtop DD-wrt and overall I do not like nearly as much as the traditional UI - but core dd-wrt capabilities are there. Additionally you can flash the RT-AC68 with native DD-WRT if your so inclined.
In my previous configuration I was also using an older Linksys 4200 running dd-wrt configured in Client Bridge mode that allowed clients to connect to the Linksys as well as use some of the bands to connect back to the RT-AC87U. While it worked - I felt that since I had to replace the primary router - I might as well get a matching unit for the Client Bridge.
So Asus doesn't support Client Bridge the same way as native DD-WRT but rather supports the Wireless Distribution System (WDS). Both are extremely similar in their implementation. In fact Client Bridge was considered the precursor to WDS by the dd-wrt developers.
A WDS configuration allows a multiple Access Point (AP) network to connect together over wireless versus the traditional wired model. It also allows both wired and wireless clients to connect to either AP. The downside is that you do loose some bandwidth to allow the APs to connect via wireless, but the end result is a meshed network of APs.
For my configuration I configured both routers in Hybrid WDS for both the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands. Both AP used the same SSID and same channels and widths for each band.
Additionally while the documentation states that you must use Open No Key or Open WEP as security - that is not true. I used WPA-2 Personal AES and all worked okay.
I did need to flash both devices to the most current firmware and perform a hard reset on one RT-AC68 to get all to work - but once configured it has been solid.
I've decided to stay with the factory installed DD-WRT here at first to see how well WDS works - but will most likely flash to the latest DD-WRT build shortly.
This allows all my family's portable devices to roam freely throughout the house and support automatic hand off from AP to AP.
Even though the RT-AC68 uses an older chipset than the RT-AC87 the end result has been very nice. All devices in the house connect easily, have good bandwidth and important capabilities like streaming work very well.
In the past I was skeptical regarding 5Ghz bands and range - especially with he early 802.11ac chipsets. However the RT-AC68 does do a good job with those bands and the WDS is a nice model for covering a large home with consistent wireless coverage.
So if you're looking for new routers - so far I can recommend the Asus RT-AC68U.
So after some due diligence I decided to replace with 2 of the older RT-AC68U and implement a Wireless Distribution System (WDS) configuration.
In the past - I've mentioned an open source router OS called DD-WRT. The Asus routers come pre-installed with their version of DD-WRT. Asus does utilize their own UI overtop DD-wrt and overall I do not like nearly as much as the traditional UI - but core dd-wrt capabilities are there. Additionally you can flash the RT-AC68 with native DD-WRT if your so inclined.
In my previous configuration I was also using an older Linksys 4200 running dd-wrt configured in Client Bridge mode that allowed clients to connect to the Linksys as well as use some of the bands to connect back to the RT-AC87U. While it worked - I felt that since I had to replace the primary router - I might as well get a matching unit for the Client Bridge.
So Asus doesn't support Client Bridge the same way as native DD-WRT but rather supports the Wireless Distribution System (WDS). Both are extremely similar in their implementation. In fact Client Bridge was considered the precursor to WDS by the dd-wrt developers.
A WDS configuration allows a multiple Access Point (AP) network to connect together over wireless versus the traditional wired model. It also allows both wired and wireless clients to connect to either AP. The downside is that you do loose some bandwidth to allow the APs to connect via wireless, but the end result is a meshed network of APs.
For my configuration I configured both routers in Hybrid WDS for both the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands. Both AP used the same SSID and same channels and widths for each band.
Additionally while the documentation states that you must use Open No Key or Open WEP as security - that is not true. I used WPA-2 Personal AES and all worked okay.
I did need to flash both devices to the most current firmware and perform a hard reset on one RT-AC68 to get all to work - but once configured it has been solid.
I've decided to stay with the factory installed DD-WRT here at first to see how well WDS works - but will most likely flash to the latest DD-WRT build shortly.
This allows all my family's portable devices to roam freely throughout the house and support automatic hand off from AP to AP.
Even though the RT-AC68 uses an older chipset than the RT-AC87 the end result has been very nice. All devices in the house connect easily, have good bandwidth and important capabilities like streaming work very well.
In the past I was skeptical regarding 5Ghz bands and range - especially with he early 802.11ac chipsets. However the RT-AC68 does do a good job with those bands and the WDS is a nice model for covering a large home with consistent wireless coverage.
So if you're looking for new routers - so far I can recommend the Asus RT-AC68U.
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