Nobody?
Here are some quick rankings based on my experience/environment, in case anybody is considering buying:
Wireless Range - 2.4Ghz
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Netgear R7000
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Linksys EA6900
Wireless Range - 5.0Ghz
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Netgear R7000
- Linksys EA6900
Wireless Throughput - 2.4Ghz (not tested)
Wireless Throughput - 5.0Ghz
- Netgear R7000
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Linksys EA6900
Notes: The EA6900 was significantly worse than the other 3 in this category. The R7000 suffers from a bug when doing AFP file transfers to/from OS X. If you are transferring files larger than 10GB, the AFP transfer consumes 100% of wireless bandwidth, making multi-tasking impossible. The file transfer still completes without error, however.
Ease of Setup
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Linksys EA6900
- Netgear R7000
- Asus RT-AC68U
Notes: Both Linksys routers use the same GUI and are equally easy to get up and running.
Features
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Netgear R7000
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Linksys EA6900
Notes: The Asus firmware has a ton of features including telnet/SSH support and several other things the other routers don't have but for me, it was just one step short of DD-WRT and just too cluttered IMO. The Linksys firmware is very basic but does include features like USB NAS storage, FTP server, DHCP reservation, port forwarding, and IPv6 support. Despite being short on other features, the Linksys firmware supports a completely separate guest network on it's own subnet and uses splash page authentication with an open SSID. Both the Netgear and Asus use a secure SSID with WPA2-PSK but guest users are placed on the same subnet as the private LAN and rely on ACLs to separate guest traffic from the LAN (see "Stability" below). the AC68U supports both PPTP VPN and OpenVPN. The Netgear supports OpenVPN but the distro they use is quite dated and only allows for the use of deprecated 1024-bit keys. The Linksys firmware does not support VPN termination at all.
USB File Sharing Support
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Netgear R7000
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Linksys EA6900
Notes: This one is kind of tough and very subjective. I don't tend to use this feature but here are some things to consider. All of the devices have 1 USB2.0 and 1 USB3.0 port. The WRT1900AC also has an eSATA port but reportedly it doesn't outperform USB3.0 in this configuration. The RT-AC68U is apparently the only device of the 4 that can natively support Apple Time Machine backups. The RT-AC68U also lacks the design/shielding of the other devices. Many people can't get the USB3.0 port to work at anything about USB2.0 speeds because it creates interference that affects wireless stability. The Netgear and Asus both allow you to expose your file shares to the outside world. The Linksys firmware only allows file sharing within the private LAN.
Stability
- Linksys WRT1900AC
- Asus RT-AC68U
- Netgear R7000
- Linksys EA6900
Notes: The Asus router running RMerlin 3rd-party firmware seemed very stable. However, there are a couple of bugs. The worst one is that there is an error in the ebtables config that allows users on the guest network to access the router admin page even thought they're not supposed to be able to access the private subnet. The Netgear firmware appears to have memory leaks. It is quite stable for 2-3 days and then things start failing. You have to reboot in order to calm things down, at which point it is stable again for 2-3 days. The EA6900 comes in last here because of a hardware issue. The Linksys firmware appears to be very stable. However, the EA6900 has a ton of high-powered electronics packed in a very tiny space and the feet on the bottom of the router provide less than 1/8 inch of clearance from the surface it's sitting on. I had seen reports of the unit reaching temps 25 degrees above safe operating specs and despite having a 4-inch fan on it 24x7 and adding after-market foot pads to give it over an inch of clearance, I still noticed it getting VERY hot. If I hadn't made all of those alterations, I'm sure it would have crashed.
Average Price (Low to High)
- Linksys EA6900 - $180
- Netgear R7000 - $190
- Asus RT-AC68U - $210
- Linksys WRT1900AC - $250
Bottom Line: I am sticking with the WRT1900AC. The extra $$$ is worth it.