d-link dir860l vs. asus rt-ac56u

[carstereoguy]

I have a dlink dir-860 and noticed the asus was on sale is it an upgrade and one question the reviews says the asus doesn't support the new 450 MHz any help would be great

 

[bill001g]

The dlink doesn't support 3x3 mimo either.

The radio chips these devices use are identical. The CPU is a little different but hard to say how much if any difference that makes. Most difference will be in the software features.

You need to be careful about chasing bigger numbers just for bigger numbers sake. First you nic cards must also support these feature. For example if you nic do not support 802.11ac then it will run like any other 802.11n router. It is not real common to get a nic that has 3 antenna and the speed increase going from 2x2 to 3x3 looks really good on paper but does not work as well in real use. It is bad enough with all the interference today trying to get 2 overlapping signals but to get 3 is even worse. Some of the newest routers are trying to run 4 overlapping signals...with not a lot of success.

 

[carstereoguy]

what about a asus rt-ac66u

 

[bill001g]

The router is only 1/2 the issue. You must have a design that has you nic cards matching the features in your routers.

Still question number 1 is always can you actually use the increase in speed even if you can get it. If you have a 10m internet connection it does not matter if your wireless can run 50m or 500m it will always run 10m when you are using the internet. Faster wireless inside your house would only benefit if you had some special application. Something like file backup or video streaming internal to your house.

Don't get sucked into chasing "new and improved" . The router you have is quite advanced. I would wait until the next big round of 802.11ac they are calling "wave 2" comes out. I had though it would be this fall but likely early 2015 now. Still even this is just bigger numbers and it makes no difference if your internet limits you.

 

[kelix09]

The rt-ac56u is the most reliable and solid router I've used ever. The 2.4 band is VERY reliable throughout my entire house, basement to second floor. With the street price at $110 now, this router is one of the best deals out there.

 

[carstereoguy]

just purchased an asus rt-ac66u use for 80.00 can is that a much better router than the dlink dir-860l