Best locally availalble router for DD-WRT / Tomato

Pib · October 14, 2017

No, I haven't bought a router yet as I'm still researching and "changing my mind" as to what I exactly want to buy to meet my current day and needs say 5 years out. Summary: I keep changing my mind.

Plus, I going to have AIS Fibre set the optical router they provided to me to "bridge" mode so I can fully utilize all router features in whatever router I buy. Right now I can change very little in the AIS-provided router (many setting are locked) and since I set my other routers to Access Point mode to avoid routers possibly fighting with each other like for DHCP control, Firewall settings, etc., I really can't fully utilize many enhancements/improvement found in current day routers. So, get AIS to switch their router to bridge mode which will then transfer router control to whatever ASUS router I buy in the near term.

While AC1300 or AC1200 routers provide 2x2 streams of data which is really more than enough for the majority of home users, I'm now thinking I want to get a router that can do 4x4 data streams for some capability future-proofing which means I would be looking for an AC2600 router.

So right now I'm seriously considering going with the very recently released (over the last few months) RT-AC86U which is an AC2900 speed router....well, really it's an AC2600 4x4 data stream router but ASUS has added some tweaks to where it can do AC2900 speed when matched with certain client devices. And it's also focused towards the gaming community (which I'm not part of) with some additional gaming features added which also help a little with every day use. Gaming routers tend to be tweaked for max speed and firmware updated more frequently.

The RT-AC86U is also being hyped to as the replacement for the getting long in the tooth but still great and very popular RT-AC68U which is an AC1900 3x3 data stream router. Notice how ASUS just transposed the 86 and 68 numbers which I expect falls into ASUS's plan to hype the AC86U as the new, improved, faster replacement for the AC68U. Heck they even made the AC86U look very similar to an AC68U by standing vertically, having three antennas sticking out the top although the 86U has a fourth antenna internally....the older AC68U had a total of 3 antennas which all stuck out.

The ASUS RT-ACR1300 you mentioned is a year or so old and I expect the newer ASUS AC1300UHP is replacing it with better specs.

Anyway, I can get the AC86U via InvadeIT online order for Bt7,990. But just this afternoon a shop in the big Pantip store in Bangkok emailed me that they have it in stock for Bt8,150...and if it ever stops raining here in Bangkok I just may drive over to Pantip in central Bangkok from my western Bangkok home and buy an AC86U--more horsepower than I "currently" need but gives me a lot of future proofing.

At this millisecond in time I'm not strongly leaning towards getting an AC86U...but ask me tomorrow and I might scale back my future proofing urges and get the ASUS AC1300UHP.....or maybe compromise with my needs and desires and get a tried and true AC-68U 3x3 AC1900 router. Fickle I am.

https://www.asus.com/Networking/RT-AC86U/

topt · October 15, 2017

17 hours ago, Pib said:

The ASUS RT-ACR1300 you mentioned is a year or so old and I expect the newer ASUS AC1300UHP is replacing it with better specs.

Specs seem exactly the same as far as I could tell.

As I am sure you already know the Asus sight is good to compare their different models specs side by side. The 86U according to that has 4x4 for 5GHz but only() 3x3 for the 2.4. The 88U gets a lot of mentions in the various best routers 2017 articles.

https://www.asus.com/Product-Compare/?products=FuSr2UwZNsqc7PRa,e5rP2N02bDRfXJUO,svItyTHFccLwnprr&b=0

17 hours ago, Pib said:

Anyway, I can get the AC86U via InvadeIT online order for Bt7,990

Big jump up in price plus if you want to future proof that far out what about the Wireless AD spec?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Pib.

SooKee · October 15, 2017

I see Gearbest has the RT-AC86 U for 6,394:

https://www.gearbest.com/wireless-routers/pp_662065/review.html?vip=2714297&gclid=CjwKCAjwjozPBRAqEiwA6xTOYJWodc1oGimHs9ezRHRjYk5Q6ci2EyhMb56Yq3RX7XKXZhbpG6RPMBoCUtUQAvD_BwE

Edited October 15, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · October 15, 2017

36 minutes ago, SooKee said:

I see Gearbest has the RT-AC86 U for 6,394:

https://www.gearbest.com/wireless-routers/pp_662065/review.html?vip=2714297&gclid=CjwKCAjwjozPBRAqEiwA6xTOYJWodc1oGimHs9ezRHRjYk5Q6ci2EyhMb56Yq3RX7XKXZhbpG6RPMBoCUtUQAvD_BwE

Thanks for that link....and when I looked at the link it was going for Bt5,821on a flash sale...see below....18 units left. Expedited shipping (3 to 7 business days) would add Bt290 plus there might be import tax of x-amount. Says it ships from China which "might" result in no or low import tax.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Pib

SooKee · October 15, 2017

Yeah it shows for me at the sale price too. Ordered quite a few things from GB, very reliable and genuine products. Very good price for that router!! Quite tempted. The 88U is 7,993 currently to.

Some interesting discussions about them here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac68u-vs-asus-rt-87u.21416/

Edited October 15, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · October 15, 2017

5 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Yeah it shows for me at the sale price too. Ordered quite a few things from GB, very reliable and genuine products. Very good price for that router!! Quite tempted. The 88U is 7,993 currently to.

Some interesting discussions about them here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac68u-vs-asus-rt-87u.21416/

Did you order while in Thailand? If so, what import tax percentage did you normally get hit with for electronic equipment?

Edited October 15, 2017 by Pib

SooKee · October 15, 2017

Yes in Thailand, lucky so far, no charges.

There is the 87U too but that had quite a lot of criticism over it's 5 Ghz wifi and other issues and didn't seem to be so highly regarded as the 68U. Given the 86U is the updated 68U I mend opt for that, especially at under 6k. The 88U is still overkill I think, even at the reduced price on GB.

Seeing as the Flash Sale is on for almost another 2 days I think I'll give myself a 24 hour period to decide and likely order the 86U tomorrow.

Edited October 15, 2017 by SooKee

SooKee · October 15, 2017

Interesting review of the 86U here, comparing it against the 87U and the TP Link Archer 3200:

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/review-asus-rt-ac86u-ac2900-wireless-router?page=1

Pib · October 15, 2017

38 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Yes in Thailand, lucky so far, no charges.

There is the 87U too but that had quite a lot of criticism over it's 5 Ghz wifi and other issues and didn't seem to be so highly regarded as the 68U. Given the 86U is the updated 68U I mend opt for that, especially at under 6k. The 88U is still overkill I think, even at the reduced price on GB.

Seeing as the Flash Sale is on for almost another 2 days I think I'll give myself a 24 hour period to decide and likely order the 86U tomorrow.

Yea, that is lucky. Some items that come from China are import free; others are not. I've never ordered from GearBest...know zero about them...will have to read-up more on them like payments allowed such as PayPal, credit card, etc. I've ordered a lot of things from mainland China/Hong Kong off Ebay but they have all been low cost items under a Bt1000 which is import free....and that Bt1000 may have recently been raised to Bt1500. I've probably ordered around 100 low cost items from China off Ebay and all but one arrive customs/VAT free....only one item got hit with the 7% VAT.

But the two times I ordered some items from Germany and U.S. I got hit with around 40% in import tax plus VAT...one was shipped via DHL from Germany and one via U.S. Postal System from the U.S. For the DHL shippment that was the only international shipping method the German company used and there is no shortage of posts on ThaiVisa regarding DHL doing a "durn good job in ensuring an import taxes are applied".....keeps the Thai govt happy....helps DHL to zip things thru customs. And although when having items shipped from the U.S. via US Postal System to Thai Postal System (DHL or UPS not used) you can many times avoid customs/VAT but it's a throw of the dice....on that one shipment I lost the throw and once again got hit with 33% customs and 7% VAT for a total of 40%.

Just as FYI to get more info on the AC86U go to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to review the docs which includes pictures of it torn down submitted by ASUS to get the FCC blessing. Go to this FCC webpage.

If you review the document titled "Model Names Confirmation Letter" from ASUS it identified the different "marketing names/models" they might sell the AC86U under depending on various factors. One of the names is the "AC68 Extreme" which would be marketing hype as this is the replacement/upgraded model for the getting-long-in-the-tooth AC68U. See partial quote below.

Pib · October 15, 2017

8 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Interesting review of the 86U here, comparing it against the 87U and the TP Link Archer 3200:

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/review-asus-rt-ac86u-ac2900-wireless-router?page=1

Yea, I found that link last week....it's about the best review you will find on the AC86U as there are few good, in-depth reviews since the router is still so new....only been on the mass market for a few months.

Pib · October 15, 2017

Here's a fair review of the AC86U....it even talks it as being the Chinese version (whatever that really means) which is what the one on Gearbest is per one of the answered questions on Gearbest.

http://www.jayceooi.com/asus-rt-ac86u-review/

Pib · October 15, 2017

Sookee

It appears the Chinese RT86U version sold on GearBest only comes with a 1 year warranty and you must mail it back to Gearbest for repair. That's what I understand from seeing a 360 day warranty on the item when its added to the shipping cart and reviewing the Warranty Info at Gearbest's warranty webpage. Am I reading that right?

I guess that means it does not come with the ASUS 3 or 5 year warranty I'm use to seeing (even on ASUS routers sold in Thailand) and I wouldn't be able to take it to the ASUS warranty place in Bangkok if it broke; instead I must deal with Gearbest.

If the item normally had a 1 year warranty no matter where I bought it in the world I wouldn't blink an eye/even ask this question.

Since you've ordered things off Gearbest you got more insight on the warranty that usually comes with their items? Thanks.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Pib

SooKee · October 15, 2017

Most of the things I've ordered have either not been warranty type goods or the type of thing where, for the cost of it, I've not been bothered by the warranty.

I guess with routers I've been lucky and never had a problem needing a warranty repair. Like I say I'm still deciding on this and whether to order from GB or Invade. I have one item on the way from GB now so it'll be interesting to see if it gets here OK and without Customs duty. I guess I'll know by the end of this week.

Pib · October 15, 2017

5 hours ago, topt said:

Specs seem exactly the same as far as I could tell.

As I am sure you already know the Asus sight is good to compare their different models specs side by side. The 86U according to that has 4x4 for 5GHz but only() 3x3 for the 2.4. The 88U gets a lot of mentions in the various best routers 2017 articles.

https://www.asus.com/Product-Compare/?products=FuSr2UwZNsqc7PRa,e5rP2N02bDRfXJUO,svItyTHFccLwnprr&b=0

Big jump up in price plus if you want to future proof that far out what about the Wireless AD spec?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Pib.

The only kinda major difference between the RT-ACRH13 and AC1300UHP is the 1300UHP is a little later model and comes with 256MB RAM compared to only 128MB for the ACRH13.

https://www.asus.com/sg/Networking/RT-AC1300UHP/specifications/

https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-ACRH13/specifications/

Yea, the 88U has been out for a year or more....it definitely a high end router....one of ASUS's flagship models...even got 8 LAN ports...but is too pricey for me.

topt · October 15, 2017

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

The only kinda major difference between the RT-ACRH13 and AC1300UHP is the 1300UHP is a little later model and comes with 256MB RAM compared to only 128MB for the ACRH13.

https://www.asus.com/sg/Networking/RT-AC1300UHP/specifications/

https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-ACRH13/specifications/

Yea, the 88U has been out for a year or more....it definitely a high end router....one of ASUS's flagship models...even got 8 LAN ports...but is too pricey for me.

Thanks did not pick that up as not in the comparison I looked at.

Agree about the 88 plus absolutely no requirement for more than 4 Lan ports and really only use maybe 1........

manarak · October 15, 2017

If anyone is interested, I got a spare ASUS DSL-N55U. It's almost new, I have used it for less than a month.

Pib · October 15, 2017

6 hours ago, topt said:

Big jump up in price plus if you want to future proof that far out what about the Wireless AD spec?

Forgot to give feedback on the Wireless AD spec (a.k.a., 801.11ad standard) in trying to future proof my router buy to a degree.

With 801.11ad claim to fame being operation on the 60 (sixty) GHz band along with the 2.4 & 5Ghz bands I think it's going to be too far in the future for that 60Ghz band to really become mainstream although a few companies released 801.11ad router models in 2016.

But to the best of my knowledge ASUS still has not released a router with a 801.11ad capability....not even on their most expensive, high end models unless I missed something. Expect ASUS even feels it a little early although ASUS apparently is building 801.11ad client capability into some of it's high end computer motherboards

Plus, I don't have any client devices with 60Ghz band capability....not on my laptops, tablets, smartphones, android boxes, just nothing.

I guess when I say future proofing I'm probably only looking around 5 to 7 years into the future as to what I think will be mainstream and what I expect "I will use, own & need" in devices using Wifi.

Pib · October 15, 2017

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

Most of the things I've ordered have either not been warranty type goods or the type of thing where, for the cost of it, I've not been bothered by the warranty.

I guess with routers I've been lucky and never had a problem needing a warranty repair. Like I say I'm still deciding on this and whether to order from GB or Invade. I have one item on the way from GB now so it'll be interesting to see if it gets here OK and without Customs duty. I guess I'll know by the end of this week.

As FYI, I confirmed with GearBest via Live Chat a few minutes ago that the 86U they are selling comes with only the Gearbest 1 year warranty. See below partial transcript of the chat.

This is inline with the info on their Warranty and Return webpage which says unless it's otherwise noted on the product page that their items come with a 1 year warranty and you must deal with GearBest for any warranty repair...ship it back to them.

Normally I'm fine with a one year warranty since "most" electronic products only come with a one year warranty anyway, but I don't know if I want to give up an ASUS 3 year warranty which can be supported at the ASUS support center in Bangkok vs going with the Gearbest 1 year warranty and having to deal with them directly/send the router back to them if needing warranty support.

I expect one reason Gearbest can offer some low prices is manufacturers give them good deals/lower factory prices when the resellers such as Gearbest assume warranty repair responsibility....have to provide their own warranty if any at all. Pretty much like being able to offload manufacturer warranty support to the reseller because that the way the reseller wants it so they can get lower factory prices and in turn resell them at lower prices than at companies that sell items with the full manufacturer warranty.

Companies such as GearBest probably self-insure themselves regarding warranty support...just buy warranty support from the manufacturer on an as-needed or pre-contracted basis.

But with all that being said there is definitely some good deals on GearBest...thanks for bringing it to my attention...I just may order some stuff but still under decided if I want to order the 86U from them versus just buying it locally.

SooKee · October 16, 2017

Yeah, I'll be deciding later. I've ordered batteries, chargers, headphones etc from them in the past, never a problem and speedy service. If we're looking at 20K phones or whatever I definitely look at the warranty situation closely, the reason why I only buy Samsung phones from Samsung or AIS, not MBK.

I guess I just tend to assess the purchase on the basis of past experience with any type of item and what's likely to go wrong. Over all the years of having routers I've never needed a warranty return and at times I wonder if they give these long routers as selling points know very little can go wrong. For me, at that price point, and based on my past router experience, looking at it from the other way, the warranty isn't worth the extra 2K I'd be paying to buy locally, that said, if I was to get hit for 40% excise duty I'd not be best impressed. If my latest purchase had already arrived, and thus I'd know if there was going to be a charge, I'd be in a better position to assess.

As it is now it's that issue and whether I want that particular router that are making me hold off. One issue with that router that I've just noticed from watching the GB video is that the Lan ports are actually located at (what I would normally class as) the bottom of it, so it would need to be stood up on it's back edge meaning it might be too high for the slot I need to get it versus all other routers I've had where the device lays flat. I've just started looking at the 66U which can be laid flat.

Edited October 16, 2017 by SooKee

SooKee · October 16, 2017

Another router I'm looking at is the Linksys EA6900. Not on sale at Gearbest though: https://www.invadeit.co.th/product/wireless-networking/linksys/ea6900-ac1900-smart-wi-fi-wireless-router-p018211/

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/linksys-ea6900-ac1900-802-11ac-router

SooKee · October 16, 2017

This upright orientation trend of Asus routers is actually proving to be quite a pain for me and it seems that other than the 88U, which is a pretty sizeable and also seems to be plagued with quite a few problems when you look at the Small net Builder forums, there's only the 66U that can use the lay flat form factor. I'd rather stick with Linksys given their reputation over D-Link or TP Link, or even Netgear (which in years gone by was my go to brand before I switched to Apple), but it looks like fI'll have to end up buying a 5 year old router in the shape of the 66U. Hardly ideal in terms of future proofing!!

My main interest is trying to improve the wifi reception / penetration in the bedroom. My Apple router is 5th gen and doesn't have AC wifi but I'm not convinced the AC wifi will improve performance penetration wise. I could of course try a power line adaptor to use with the streaming box I use the wifi on in the bedroom. But they aren't cheap. The streaming box works acceptably now so I'd rather spend 5-8k on a router, that will hopefully improve wifi reception in the bedroom somewhat AND also provide improvements elsewhere (including allowing me to run a VPN from the router) rather than 5K or so on a powerline set that might or might not work and only improves performance on one sole device.

JHolmesJr · October 16, 2017

Asus RT-AC3100....identical to the 88u but with 4 LAN ports instead of 8.

Edited October 16, 2017 by JHolmesJr

Pib · October 16, 2017

Yea, so far over the years I've bought 2 ASUS Wifi routers, 1 Linksys Wifi router, and 1 D-Link Wifi router to supplement those cases were the ISP-provided router just didn't meet all my Wifi needs. All 4 routers never req'd warranty repair and only the Linksys router developed a major hardware problem when a lightning storm zapped it's power adapter and WAN port...that occurred outside the warranty period., Fortunately replacement power adapters are dirt cheap and can be bought anywhere. In fact I keep several output voltage selectable adapters as spares since in today's home we have so many devices powered by power adapters in the 5V to 20V range with most in the 5-12V range. And I was able to re-designate LAN Port 1 as the new WAN port via firmware commands....so, that Linksys router continued to live on until I upgraded.

So, routers are pretty reliable "hardware-wise"...low failure rate....the great, great majority of issues you see about routers are firmware issues that eventually get fixed in the next firmware release or is users are a "Wifi-challenged" mentally and their immediate response is to return the item and bad-mouth it on social media sites when there was absolutely nothing wrong with the router....it's just the user couldn't figure out how to "screw in the Wifi light bulb" if you know what I mean. But are there hardware failures brand new out of the box or a few days/weeks later---sure...but's I expect it's way less than 5%...probably less than 2%.

Speaking of firmware releases, the 86U initial/original firmware was dated 24 May 17, second release 18 July, third/latest release 14 Sep. So ASUS is doing a good and fast job in fixing/tweaking issues with their firmware for this new router. Some early reviews mentioned some minor firmware issues but I expect the firmware updates have fixed those issues. And RMerlin, the god of Merlin firmware releases which tweaks the ASUS firmware for better performance and some bug fixes, says the RT-86 will be the first of ASUS routers he updates his firmware to be used with the GPL 382 series ASUS firmware which is the next major step up from the GPL 380 series firmware. Apparently the 382 series of ASUS firmware is requiring Merlin to go back to the drawing board in making Merlin firmware for many of the ASUS routers...not just the new 86U. See this 4 Sep post from RMelin himself.

And it's been my personal experience over the years regarding any electronic/electrical equipment that costs approx Bt1000 or more that if it don't fail within the first 48 hours of use then it should have a long hardware life ahead of it barring things like lightning storms zapping it, physical damage like dropping it, etc.

And yeap, deciding on specifically which router a person needs/wants especially when the person is cost-conscious (Mom & Dad taught me that) even though I can easily afford a highend/pricey router while at the same time wanting to get the best-spec'ed hardware it can make a person change their mind many times before finally buying----one such person is "me."

The AC66U is too old for for my tastes...originally came in 2012 with an 600Mhz CPU and in 2016 it was upgraded to a 1Ghz CPU. If getting one, be sure to get one that has a B1 or later suffix.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC66U

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC66U_B1

Now, back to probably changing my mind a few more times as to what router I will buy.

SooKee · October 16, 2017

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

Asus RT-AC3100....identical to the 88u but with 4 LAN ports instead of 8.

Yeah I saw that but it's not readily available here, or at least not from where I normally buy, maybe they'd have them at Fortune / Pantip. I'm also looking at the Netgear Nighthawk 7000. Comparisons to the 68U put it quite close, I'd still rather have an Asus but their design decisions might be ruling Asus out for me. I need something that can lay flat.

I'm not ruling out the D-LINK DIR 882 either. Very highly ranked at 2.4 GHz throughput which, given I tend to force a 2.4 connection once I get out of the living room, would be what I'm looking for. And it will fit where I need to put it!

Interesting comments from Merlin, I'd not seen that specific thread but had noticed that is some disquiet over the Asus firmware of late, comments around the 'Merlin is constantly trying fix the problems as fast as Asus introduce them'. I'm thus going to research whether Merlin firmware is available for other brands I'm considering.

AIS currently have an offer on power line adaptors that would work out at 1,500 for a pair such that I'm interested to try a pair. Trouble is my existing router has only 3 LAN ports all of which are in use (another great Apple design decision) so I'd need to get a LAN splitter too. Like I say, might as well splash for a new router and hope that fixes the problem without the need for me to go power lines as well. If I end up still needing the power lines a better (but not necessarily the most pricey) router in the 5-6 k price range would likely be a better bet.

Edited October 16, 2017 by SooKee

thedemon · October 16, 2017

For third party firmware with decent AC support, I have had good experience with Asus-merlin but another great firmware to be aware of is Padavan. I have several A/P's running it and am impressed with the stability even on cheap hardware.

A lot of the support for Padavan is in Russian but google translate does a pretty good job with Russian language.

SooKee · October 16, 2017

I nearly pulled the trigger on a Netgear Nighthawk 7000 at Gearbest at just under 5k but came across a couple of threads about Netgear having some problems with Apple functionality (Airplay / Time Machine). need to see how widespread these problems are and what, if anything, they might mean in terms of my usage of the devices I have.

One thing that was interesting, the Flash Sale at GB was supposed to finish 1 hour before has just reset the clock and the sale period was showing as 22 hours. A perpetual Flash Sale or maybe a mere extension.

Pib · October 16, 2017

If you are talking the ASUS 86U flash sale resetting, when I was looking at this morning it had 1 day and 2 hours left....and before I went to bed the night before it had around 1 day and 14 hours left on it. I mean it actually said "1 Day and X hours left. Now it's down to 21 hours as of 5pm and does not have any day figure in front of it....when it goes below 1 day they don't say 0 Days X hours left....instead it just reports hours left.

Maybe you are thinking it was a 24 hour flash sale since maybe you didn't see the 1 day number in front of the hours yesterday and this morning when it still wasn't below 24 hours. It was really a 48 hour flash sale.

If you are not talking the ASUS 86U, then never mind as that the only ad I really paid any attention to over the last 24 hours or so.

SooKee · October 16, 2017

Yeah, it looks like they have different timings attached to different products. The Nighthawk I nearly ordered was down to just 2 hours or so when I was looking. Wasn't paying too much attention to timings and just assumed it was a site wide timer. Seems not. Just checked the R7000 and timer has now gone to 3 days and 22 hours. So I'm not sure the Flash Sale thing isn't a promo gimmick and is never ending. I'll keep a watch on it over the next few days. If it is, and it does just keep re-setting, it'll suit me as it'll allow me to test the wifi reception on an item that's 'in the post' and perhaps only order a router if the wifi is not acceptable on it.

Figure I can fit the 86U into the slot I have with the antennas angled down a bit but it's a less than elegant solution and at the moment I've hit a router interest low-point (putting it politely). If the device I've got coming performs OK I'll likely scrap the whole idea for now as, having fallen for the Apple Airport hype before, only to shell out a load of cash and find the wifi performance barely improved at all over the ISP supplied junk-ware, I'm reluctant to fall for the hype and get burned again, especially since locating the the thing is such a pain. If I found the wifi signal was almost identical to the AEBS it's replacing I'd be well unimpressed at having shelled out another 6-8k and getting conned twice.

Edited October 16, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · October 16, 2017

yea, just because a router costs more and/or the latest model does not guarantee it will significantly improve a person's wifi coverage/speed especially in a home where the signal must fight through walls/floors/furniture into other rooms/stories.

The 2.4 or 5Ghz signal from a Bt20K router will not penetrate walls/floors/furniture any better than a Bt5K router....but that more expensive router should give a person higher speed by X-amount since it'll probably be able to do a better job in maintaining speed between itself and its client(s) at low signal levels.

And of course the client device is almost equally important in the "speed chain" as the speed between a router and a client can not be faster than the weakest link. Like using a 3x3 (AC1900) or 4x4 router (AC2600) with a 1x1 (AC600) client device...well, that 1x1 client device is the weak link/chokepoint in the speed chain and can't take full advantage of the higher speeds the router could provide.

Preaching to the choir I know.

SooKee · October 17, 2017

Just by way of update, I was just watching the Flash Sale progress on the 86U at Gearbest. It had a few minutes to go so I clicked buy (as I knew I had 30 minutes to complete the payment after which time the order would auto cancel), giving me chance to check if the sale timer started again and to check if the device I have coming has good enough wifi to not need a new router if the sale counter had re-started at the same discount for a few days.

The Flash Sale ended and the timer started again BUT, rather than the 31% discount being offered before it was down to 18% at 6,394. I also noticed than the numbers of items they had available had dropped from 28 or something like that to 6 over the last few days. maybe it's a case of when the sales items are shifting well, the counter resets but the discount reduces. Anyway, I completed the purchase, decided that it was probably a good idea to replacing my ageing non AC AEBS 5th generation and this router has had a lot of good reviews. We'll see!!!

Edited October 17, 2017 by SooKee

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