If you like constant firmware updates, get a Mikrotik. They release RC firmwares like every other week and stable firmwares about once a month.

Stable


Release Candidate (RC)

Mikrotik's lineup for 250-500 range is quite simple.

Router only, 5 x GBe, no wifi, can handle 800Mbps, 256MB RAM
hEX ~RM260
hEX S As above with 1 SFP port.

WiFi Routers with 5 x GBe, 5GHZ AC
hAP AC Lite - Single Stream (1:1 MIMO) (5 x Fe) hAP AC Lite only has 100mbit ethernet and is too slow for 800Mbps or even 500Mbps so is out.
hAP AC2 - Dual Stream (2:2 MIMO, 128MB RAM)
hAP AC - Triple Stream (3:3 MIMO, 128MB RAM)

One thing to note is that Mikrotik positions these as APs but they work fine as routers too. They only have half the RAM of the hEX. However 128MB is still a lot for a Mikrotik.

hAP AC2 and AC are both comparable. On paper, the newer model, hAP AC2, seems faster for routing but obviously slower for Wifi. I guess probably best to choose one of these. I forgot exactly but the price approx RM300 vs RM500?. You should check the Mikrotik forums for comments, they're all fanboys but they complain a lot too.

A few points about Mikrotik's wifi. While they have cutting edge stuff for PtP wireless, their home wifi products are just average. For example, they don't have MU-MIMO in their firmware even though some of their newer products are MU-MIMO capable. To be fair, I've not used the latest hAP AC or AC2. Been meaning to get the hAP AC but just haven't got round to it. Currently I'm using the hEX and the hAP AC Lite and RB2011UAS-2HnD as APs. Quite happy with them.

Lastly, firmware. It's the best thing about Mikrotik. It's updated regularly, more regularly than I can keep track of. One version of firmware works for all their devices. From the cheapest hAP Lite to their CloudCoreRouter, it's the same firmware and same features. Of course, subject to hardware limitations.

Some other cool things about Mikrotik routers.
- They can take a range of voltage. The hEX can be supplied with 8-30V. So in a pinch, you can even use a 19V laptop PSU as long as the plug fits.
- If it has PoE, you can plug-in both PoE and DC. It'll use the one with the higher voltage. If that fails, it'll change to the other even if it's a different voltage. In fact, it's recommended that you use a different voltage so you can monitor the voltage and if it changes, you'll know that there's a failure with one of them.
- The low-end models uses 5V micro-USB for power so you can use a phone charger or a powerbank in case the stock PSU fails. Or you can use the PSU to charge your phones. LOL.
- Some models have a beeper and there're scripts to play a tune. LOL. OK, nvm this.

Was thinking of getting this router for my Time 100Mbps plan. Does it not work right out of the box?

I think I broke my c1200 v1 the 5ghz signal is very cacat aha!

hey guys, waiting for this sunday 9.9 sale to get tenda, just wondering the advantage of merlin over stock firmware, never mess up the setting with my dir850 tho. and just wondering can using dir850 for repeater ? And speedtest over 2.4 and 5 ghz for 800mbps speed upgrade

2.4ghz speed almost same with 5ghz..enable 40mhz and auto mode..

Signal also strong..can reach from level 3 of my apartment

[attachmentid=10014940]

i just set 2.4ghz to auto mode and enable 40mhz..find non overlap channel..like channel 1
Also wireless>professional>region> All Area

I did set both on All area but I noticed when my 5Ghz signal is weak it wont auto switch to 2.4Ghz.
Need to turn on Smart Connect only can auto switch, but if turn on smart connect, cant set much for channel bandwidth and wifi channel.   

Wow, thanks man. Initially thought cannot set same name for both frequency.   

Yup This is PC Cable Speed

my iphone 7 plus 5Ghz max is 350 down & 200 up
this is normal ?

I’m not sure myself, my iPhone X only manages to get max 400+ with this router.

u pay for dyndns? I use no-ip

Hi, i got my tenda AC18 from ookas today, which version merlin i should download? and how to upgrade firmware? where can find step by step in english

my speed 500mbps but when speedspeed test cable, i got 99mbps only

hee TQ

dem
So they only allow ports for IPTV tagging then

anybody here can get wifi speed as same with cable?

on cable i can get 800mbps but with wifi i can get only 200mbps eventhough connected using 5ghz and all my device are supported

are you using merlin 384.6?
Because of this Merlin, I brick 2 units, and i still back with KS X7.9 at the moment.

I googled some where s9+ can get 1gbps on wifi.? Well my s9+ doesnt 😢

i tot ac18 can     

Ac 18 is in the list

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but I just got my Tenda ac18 recently. I seem to have a problem when I set both 2.4 and 5GHz to the same ssid. It keeps disconnecting and is not stable. When I separate them into 2 diff ssid problem is solved. Wonder what seems to be the problem.

I'm using stock firmware, not planning to update firmware at the moment.

Another thing is, I'm not able to get the full 100mbps  even when I plug in a wired cable directly to the router. Only able to achieve around 90mb/s. About the same as using wifi. I'm on Unifi 100mb/s plan.

Appreciate any suggestion. Thanks.

I've used a single ssid for DLink 842 which came with Unifi and also an old TP-Link router. Both were OK with single ssid. However this AC18 is very much faster and stable with a longer range when I use separate ssids.

Am happy with the wifi, but am wondering why am not able to get the full 100mbps for wired connection. Used the yellow cat5e cable that came with the router.

Checked with Tenda Malaysia live chat and apparently it's normal for up to 10% bandwidth loss (he said even the best and most expensive routers also lose up to that amount of bandwidth). So in my case, a 100mbps unifi with 90 odd Mbps speed should be normal, even with a wired connection.

With regards to the SSID problem, it seems the Tenda AC18 does not have signal sensing built-in and thus does not recommend to combine the 2 bandwidths into one SSID.

On the whole, I'm pretty happy with the router. Much faster and more stable than the Unifi provided dLink and the old TP-Link router I was using.