A better router depends on your needs, but it should offer strong speed, reliability, and security features.
A better router depends on your needs, but it should offer strong speed, reliability, and security features.
Netgear faced issues with my Rt AC87U due to overheating and instability that couldn't be resolved with other firmware. Asus offers many features but some don't function properly, especially the fileserver functions. I now own a Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800 which performs reliably and quickly. I haven't relied much on file sharing on it either. Storage connected to a router has been too slow and frustrating for me.
the 86u offers a higher theoretical maximum speed, accommodates more wifi modes (irrelevant for today’s devices), provides greater flash and ram, supports stronger qam (uncertain what it stands for), uses less power (important factor). The 87u features additional antennas (plural), includes SPI intrusion detection and DoS protection (uncertain if beneficial), and has dual wan (meaning unclear). All details come from the official asus specifications. For comparison, I’d pick the 86u if both models support ddwrt, unless you need the extra antennas for better range. I haven’t checked the netgear model yet.