# WRT1900AC/S what to think?



## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

Since i received great help on this forum today ... i have another question

It's the second day of reading reviews and comments about WRT1900AC. 90% of them are completely negative. Hundreds of people mention about its unstability, countless reboots, disconnecting, bad firmware, not working 5Ghz and tons more. 
I always wanted Linksys router but form when it's not a part of Cisco i became suspicious. Especially when i see exact same models right after another. 

At first i was completely hyped and fell in love to this router. My Asus RT-N10U has only 25mb of ram and he barely manage to handle mega DD-wrt and i really cannot mess up more or he will overheat or reset. Btw its stock firmware is trash so i don't expect anything form Linksys. 

I'm moving out and changing all my hardware beside smartphone. So what i'm expecting from my router: 

- Very stable and fast when managing ... saving options, rebooting etc ... basic things you know. 
- huge range that covers whole one floor apartment (total 50m2) 
- never disconnect when streaming to smart tv 
- flawless wireless connection with newest generation consoles and my printer (Epson WorkForce WF-7620DTWF) 
- open vpn support that actually WORKS ... can't get it to work on my current asus. 
- bit torrent and external disc support 

Got local ISP not modem ... straight antenna connection. Gonna switch on fiber optic cables soon. 

Is Linksys WRT1900ACS (acv2) an good option or is ACv1 enough? Are there better replacements? What do you think ...


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## rtwjunkie (Dec 1, 2015)

I actually bought the WRT1200AC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124575 about a month ago, and I am very pleased with it.  It is night and day better compared to my old e3000.  Can't speak to all of your requirements, but I know it is strong, hasn't dropped anything yet, has good range, and was very easy to set up.  It also has external drive support, which I'm implementing this week.


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## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

rtwjunkie said:


> I actually bought the WRT1200AC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124575 about a month ago, and I am very pleased with it.  It is night and day better compared to my old e3000.  Can't speak to all of your requirements, but I know it is strong, hasn't dropped anything yet, has good range, and was very easy to set up.  It also has external drive support, which I'm implementing this week.


Yes I know about all of his features but just cannot decide seeing so many different opinions. Software actually doesn't matter since I need dd-wrt anyways.


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## Eroticus (Dec 1, 2015)

I own "ASUS *RT-AC87U**" - Best router i ever had =P ....*


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## Kursah (Dec 1, 2015)

I'll sound like a broken record and say ditch the home-grade stuff, and get Ubiquity gear... an ERL + UniFI AP would work well here, or if you need AC, get a UniFi-AC-Lite AP, 400ft range.

https://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-lite/

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/

Enterprise grade gear that kicks ass, performs well, you can create an OpenVPN server on it if you so desire (though for that task, I do prefer firing up a PFSense VM/rig).

The AP is POE so you can place it where you want instead of it being built into the router assembly.

The WRT gear from Linksys is decent, but even with DD-WRT you have limitations and bugs/issues. For most users it might not matter, and depending on your willingness to learn some CLI, the ERL might or might not be good for you. I replaced my expensive Asus WRT router with an ERL and haven't once regretted it. Reliability, packet filtering, management, speed, QoS speed, control, firewall abilities (super huge plus here...ERL has a stateful firewall), and a decent GUI and very powerful command line interface (CLI). Why go with home-grade when you could get some affordable enterprise-grade gear that kicks ass and can handle some serious traffic, tunneling, and network managing? Again this depends on your experience with devices, and do realize an ERL will take a little more time to config that an home-grade router, but it will pay off greatly with a reliable device...and their AP's are "set it and forget it" in my experience.


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## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

Kursah said:


> I'll sound like a broken record and say ditch the home-grade stuff, and get Ubiquity gear... an ERL + UniFI AP would work well here, or if you need AC, get a UniFi-AC-Lite AP, 400ft range.
> 
> https://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-lite/
> 
> ...


Very interesting ... want know more about it


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## Rhyseh (Dec 1, 2015)

Kursah said:


> I'll sound like a broken record and say ditch the home-grade stuff, and get Ubiquity gear... an ERL + UniFI AP would work well here, or if you need AC, get a UniFi-AC-Lite AP, 400ft range.
> 
> https://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-lite/
> 
> ...



Pretty sure I've posted my support for this setup in multiple forums, but again +1 to this. I work with Enterprise networking for a living and I run this exact setup at home. More than that I sell this exact setup to many small businesses who don't have the budget for a Sophos/Juniper/Cisco router + Xirrus/Meraki/Cisco wireless solution. Really the only reason I don't push similar setups to larger customers is support... Other than that the feature set and performance for the price.... You can't beat this setup! It will cost a little bit more in the short term (marginally), but the solution is VASTLY superiour and should have a significantly longer lifespan....


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## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

Rhyseh said:


> Really the only reason I don't push similar setups to larger customers is support.


Well I don't know if I manage to set it up alone.

This set up is pricier than linksys acs?
If yes then I don't know if it's a good option just for 50m2 (+ garden). But would be amazing if this cover my needs

@Nvm it's cheaper ... and actually all my antennas are form ubiquity (outstanding signal even over many buildings)


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## 95Viper (Dec 1, 2015)

AthlonX2 has a couple of router for a good price in the B/S/T section... you may wanna give them a thought.

I am using a Netgear now and it performs great.  And, I have heard good things about Arris, too, on this forum, from certain members.
Me, I would do the Nighthawk... but, maybe AthlonX2 would answer any questions you got about them.


Netgear Nighthawk DST $65

Arris Surfboard AC1750 $55


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## Kursah (Dec 1, 2015)

Aeit said:


> Well I don't know if I manage to set it up alone.



There's tons of guides, and the 1.7.0 firmware for the ERL has some setup wizards so you can setup 1 or 2 WANs, and 1 or 2 LANs (bridging). It's pretty easy, I did mine through CLI more for the VyOS CLI experience. It's not bad to do, but for inexperienced users, the setup wizards works perfectly fine. Just make sure you upgrade to the 1.7 firmware before you try anything...mine shipped with 1.2...which sucks in comparison.

It has 3 ethernet ports, and they  need setup to be LAN/WAN assignments. If you need more ports, get a cheap TPLink switch. Most home users don't as many rely on wireless.


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## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

Well gonna need that switch ...


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## Kursah (Dec 1, 2015)

Not sure how many ports you need, or if you need managed (for VLANs and such)...but if you need a simple and reliable switch for cheap, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A121WN6/?tag=tec06d-20

I realize you're out of the US, but if you can find this, I've used dozens of em w/o any issues. We prefer to use UBNT or D-Link switches, but when the budget is tight...TPLink to the rescue. Never had one fail, never had an issue and they run cool.


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## Aeit (Dec 1, 2015)

Well I always used my old routers as switch (extra options) so switch is not a problem really.
Just don't know how well it gonna works with ddwrt and maybe bit torrent (work alone connected to hdd)
And wireless console in future.


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## Rhyseh (Dec 2, 2015)

Aeit said:


> Well I don't know if I manage to set it up alone.
> 
> This set up is pricier than linksys acs?
> If yes then I don't know if it's a good option just for 50m2 (+ garden). But would be amazing if this cover my needs
> ...



I mean support in the sense of "router goes bang, 4 hour replacement" type support. Mostly this is only a concern for businesses where down time is a massive cost that they really want to avoid/minimise. This kind of support normally comes in ~$500 to $4000+ per year depending on the device/s being supported, not really a concern for any home user.

Conversely their support forums are excellent, with UBNT staff and lots of knowledgeable people posting there on a pretty frequent basis:

https://community.ubnt.com/t5/EdgeMAX/bd-p/EdgeMAX

Ubiquiti's Unify AP's don't have external antennae options. They are designed so that if you need to extend the wifi range, you just add another AP. They have a new AC wireless range out now, which is pretty awesome.


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## xvi (Dec 2, 2015)

Just weighing in here, I work with a lot of Ubiquiti AirMax gear (external radios, very long range links) and am quite happy with them. Haven't tried their UniFi gear, but I'd like to.


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 2, 2015)

I haven't owned a consumer router in a while. My current router is a dual xeon I7 server that houses Windows server 2012 R2, that runs as a domain controller and I use hyper V with a virtual machine running Untangle firewall. Only time its ever been rebooted was during a power outage and the UPS ran out. The server has 12x1gig nics and a fiber card


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## xvi (Dec 2, 2015)

Back in the day, I had an eMachine with a 633MHz Celeron and not much memory at all running Server 2k3 Enterprise (thanks TechNet Student Advantage! ) that was handling all routing, DNS, and was even a caching proxy. Handled everything quite well.


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## Kursah (Dec 2, 2015)

Windows routing isn't very good, especially by modern standards. PFSense, VyOS, Cisco IOS, etc. handle routing far better than Windows can. I'm sure you knew that though. 

Though I will admit, @xvi , I did the same thing to test it out, but with Server 2012 and R2. I still use my VM's for DNS, DHCP, domain services, GPO, print server, file server, plex server, etc. etc.

I tried Untangle, seems pretty damn good too. Would be a sweet build to have in my home lab @brandonwh64 , very nice! 

Frankly, I gotta give UBNT some major credit, VyOS works quite well on the ERL, it's come a long ways. I was able to cut down on hardware, power bill, wiring, and keep a switch or two, the ERL as my gateway/firewall, and am using my old Asus AC66R as an AP (I really need to order that AC-lite AP!!!).


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## Cybrnook2002 (Dec 2, 2015)

Honestly, the most bullet-proof combo I have used in a home router is both the Netgear R7000 or the Linksys EA6900 flashed with Asus Merlin firmware (satisfies all your needs)

R7000 - http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-on-netgear-r7000.71108/
EA6900 (guide I made) - http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-tomato-shibby-on-linksys-ea6900.71718/

If needed I have both models available BNIB, and can pre-flash for you if required. (and you are located in the US)


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 2, 2015)

Kursah said:


> I tried Untangle, seems pretty damn good too. Would be a sweet build to have in my home lab @brandonwh64 , very nice! .



Oh it is great. I went from IPfire to IPcop to PFsense then to Untangle and I like untangle for the ease of use but I prefer PFsense in a commercial environment due to its advanced features. I figured at home all I need is a simple router that has a site to site PTP to my work PC and I should be fine.


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## Jetster (Dec 2, 2015)

I have the WRT 1200AC. No issues at all from day one.


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## Aeit (Dec 3, 2015)

Cybrnook2002 said:


> Honestly, the most bullet-proof combo I have used in a home router is both the Netgear R7000 or the Linksys EA6900 flashed with Asus Merlin firmware (satisfies all your needs)
> 
> R7000 - http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-on-netgear-r7000.71108/
> EA6900 (guide I made) - http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/asuswrt-merlin-tomato-shibby-on-linksys-ea6900.71718/
> ...



That netgear looks very promising but i'm not 100% sure about Asus WRT ... is this stable? My current asus was running on original firmware and god it was complete crap ... cant even login or anything ... resetting and losing ssid nonstop.

Also does it have a ban function? Block devices form using my wifi based on mac? Or restricting usage of specific sites for certain devices?


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## Cybrnook2002 (Dec 3, 2015)

Asus Merlin is the most stable home router firmware I have ever used (beating DD-WRT and Tomato, as well as OpenWRT for one reason or another).

Just go read about him and his firmware in smallnetbuilders, sky is the limit with what you can do, and the community is ferociously active.



Aeit said:


> Also does it have a ban function? Block devices form using my wifi based on mac? Or restricting usage of specific sites for certain devices?



There are many ways to skin this cat. Most basic routers support MAC authentication, so effectively banning any mac that is NOT on the list. I believe there is also a deny as well (can't check since I am at work, going off memory). But if a user doesn't have your password, than what is the point of banning the mac, as they cant log on anyways unless you are running 0 wifi security.

And yes, you can restrict devices on an MAC/IP level. As well as alternate DNS services and parental filters.... Or anything you can think of as it supports scripting as well.


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## Aeit (Dec 3, 2015)

Cybrnook2002 said:


> Asus Merlin is the most stable home router firmware I have ever used (beating DD-WRT and Tomato, as well as OpenWRT for one reason or another).
> 
> Just go read about him and his firmware in smallnetbuilders, sky is the limit with what you can do, and the community is ferociously active.
> 
> ...


Ok im sold ...


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## Kursah (Dec 3, 2015)

+1 AsusWRT Merlin is fantastic if you want an easy  home-grade UI that has more capabilities...not as much as DD-WRT or Tomato offers...and nothing close to VyOS or PFSense or Untangled. I enjoyed using Merlin's firmware on my Asus AC66R, which I still use as an AP at this point. It'll stick around as a backup gateway should my ERL ever fail or need taken down for service/repair.

Most devices, even with stock firmware have some sort of MAC filtering, that is a fairly standard feature, and many offer "Parental Controls" which usually offers website filtering, though for that, you should really look into OpenDNS Home, you can have your router point to that. Excellent filtering, excellent DNS service, and you can manage your DNS filtering with good control, plus you can just use their DNS servers like Googles and be good to go.

https://www.opendns.com/

https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/

Then if you want a PC to NOT use OpenDNS, set them to use Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). That way anyone that connects is filtered and protected, and if you want to bypass it you're good.


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## Aeit (Dec 3, 2015)

Kursah said:


> +1 AsusWRT Merlin is fantastic if you want an easy  home-grade UI that has more capabilities...not as much as DD-WRT or Tomato offers...and nothing close to VyOS or PFSense or Untangled. I enjoyed using Merlin's firmware on my Asus AC66R, which I still use as an AP at this point. It'll stick around as a backup gateway should my ERL ever fail or need taken down for service/repair.
> 
> Most devices, even with stock firmware have some sort of MAC filtering, that is a fairly standard feature, and many offer "Parental Controls" which usually offers website filtering, though for that, you should really look into OpenDNS Home, you can have your router point to that. Excellent filtering, excellent DNS service, and you can manage your DNS filtering with good control, plus you can just use their DNS servers like Googles and be good to go.
> 
> ...


I have all of those filtering functions on my current router (dd-wtr mega) but they simply doesnt work. And i'm 100% sure i did everything correctly


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## Cybrnook2002 (Dec 3, 2015)

Kursah said:


> Then if you want a PC to NOT use OpenDNS, set them to use Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). That way anyone that connects is filtered and protected, and if you want to bypass it you're good.



I have a subscription so I use the VPN service as well, but I use PIA's DNS servers which are 209.222.18.222 and 209.222.18.218. Call me paranoid, but I try and keep as much of my habits away from google as I can (even though it's impossible for the most part) lord knows what a court ordered request for search history would turn up.


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## Kursah (Dec 3, 2015)

I use PIA as well...excellent and cheap VPN service. What's it like $3/month?


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## Aeit (Dec 3, 2015)

uuu interesting ... always been looking for good vpns ...


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## Kursah (Dec 3, 2015)

Aeit said:


> I have all of those filtering functions on my current router (dd-wtr mega) but they simply doesnt work. And i'm 100% sure i did everything correctly



Most routers filter by registered MAC addresses. You could force static addresses...some routers include a whitelist option as well...letting only authorized MAC addresses connect. Though I tend to default to using blacklisting.

If its setup right and someone is still getting onto your network with their device.. Is there a chance they're smart enough to implement MAC spoofing? They could hide their actual.MAC address in favor of a different one and your router would never know.

So you're already pushing to OpenDNS?


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## Aeit (Dec 3, 2015)

Nah those few peoples do nothing about software related things ... even port forwarding is black magic for them. I dont know whats the problem but i really cant mess around my router now since he's using nearly all ram now ;/


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## Cybrnook2002 (Dec 3, 2015)

Kursah said:


> If its setup right and someone is still getting onto your network with their device.. Is there a chance they're smart enough to implement MAC spoofing? They could hide their actual.MAC address in favor of a different one and your router would never know.


But at this point you would have a conflict of having two identically defined devices on the network at the same time, so it would become apparent quick something was up.


Kursah said:


> What's it like $3/month?


3.33 I think, but I just pay the $40 for the annual subscription


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## Kursah (Dec 3, 2015)

Cybrnook2002 said:


> But at this point you would have a conflict of having two identically defined devices on the network at the same time, so it would become apparent quick something was up.



To someone knowing what they were looking for and consistently looking for it and understands the concept. Not that it's all that challenging or complicated to manage or perform. Not saying the OP isn't capable of that verifying this.


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## remixedcat (Dec 4, 2015)

Get some ubiquiti Unifi APs and an ERL. Much better spent.

or if you can find it a cisco meraki Z1 at a good price. I got mine for 161 which is half off with 3yrs of the cloud controller.


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## AsRock (Dec 4, 2015)

xvi said:


> Back in the day, I had an eMachine with a 633MHz Celeron and not much memory at all running Server 2k3 Enterprise (thanks TechNet Student Advantage! ) that was handling all routing, DNS, and was even a caching proxy. Handled everything quite well.



Used to do some thing like that back in the UK about 13 year ago as BT would not allow you to connect more than one computer to the line without paying extra for it.


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