Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U – What’s the Difference?

Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U – The only difference between the model numbers is the ‘U’ & ‘R’ as the last letter. A question that gets asked a lot (if you look at the forums) is ‘What’s the difference between these two routers?’.

Well, in a nutshell the ‘U’ stands for ‘Universal’, which means anyone can sell it. Think of the likes of Amazon etc – basically online department stores.

The ‘R’ stands for ‘Reseller’, meaning only resellers can stock. Think Best Buy etc…

The RT-AC68U – The Same As The RT-AC68R!

Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 Main -RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U
Netgear R6100-100PAS AC1200 sales button - RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U


That’s it to be honest. No difference in hardware specs or performance. The color is the same. It has 3 external antennas……Okay, I think you get the drift.

You can look at our two separate reviews of each router:

>>>Asus RT-AC68U Review<<<

>>>Asus RT-AC68R Review<<<

Or, if you can’t be bothered clicking the links (Jeez, you must be lazy!), then here is a list of the features that of course you get on both identical routers. Oh, and to make life easy, we shall refer to both routers as RT-AC68. We dropped the last letter, aren’t we so clever? “No!” you say, so erm, let’s move on swiftly with proceedings…

RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U The Features

Here are the features that you care about the most…

7 Features of the RT-AC68 Routers

Fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi
With TurboQAM technology at the helm, you get 1.9Gbps data rates over Dual Band. That’s 1.3Gbps on the AC 5GHz and a further 600Mbps on 2.4GHz.
When released, both these bad boys of routing were the fastest consumer Wi-Fi routers available. They have been superseded over the last 12 months (from within Asus’s own stables in one case – the RT-AC87U), but they still pack a pretty potent punch!

Processing Dual Core Style
It’s 2014. We have a multitude of Wi-Fi devices these days. We have fast fiber Internet and we stream HD locally. These things all take a lot of resources on our trusted router.
In order to cope with these demands, a dual core processor is a must. Luckily for you, the RT-AC68 has a dual core processor that can cope with everything thrown at it, helping to ensure your gaming and streaming flow uninterrupted. The last thing you want is for your PS4/Xbox One games to lag online!

USB Ports
Two ports are on offer, one USB 3.0, the other USB 2.0 – useful for plugging in a USB drive and sharing your media. Makes sense to do this rather than using a dedicated computer to share your media – cumbersome and not good for your electric bills!. If you have your router on all the time (doesn’t everyone?!), it’s better to share from your router. The USB 3.0 port means that you can share even faster than before, including being able to stream HD files.
It’s best to use the USB 2.0 port for a USB printer or a 3G dongle

AiRadar (Beamforming)
Increase your coverage area, improve reliability and increase throughput on the longer connections. How? With Beamforming. It concentrates wireless beamwidth (signal) in the direction of your clients when they need to use it.

QoS – Quality of Service
To make sure you don’t become the victim of a congested network, you need to utilize the QoS feature. Especially useful if you are a gamer, Skype or VoIP user or streamer. If there is someone or something else on your network congesting it up, you need QoS to give your sensitive traffic the protection it needs.

VPN Server – Access From Anywhere
Get into your home network from anywhere around the world. Access your personal files as and when you need them with a secure VPN.

Guest Wireless Network
Have friends or family round to visit? Want to keep your personal files safe from their prying eyes? Then why don’t you use the Guest Network facility… A separate guest Wi-Fi network can be easily set up. Guest will be able to access the Internet, through your router, but will not be able to access your LAN network. Result!

RT-AC68U Ports

Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 Ports

RT-AC68 Technical Specs

  • 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
  • 5GHz/2.4GHz Dual Band
  • External Antennas/li>
  • USB 3.0 / USB 2.0
  • PPTP VPN server
  • WPA2 / WPA / WEP

The RT-AC68R – Yup, just like RT-AC68U!

Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 Main
Netgear R6100-100PAS AC1200 sales button

Do you agree/disagree? Why not comment below and let us know what you think…

List Of Asus Routers

Router
Product
Prices
Type
Bottom Line
Links
Asus RT-AC88U AC3100
Asus RT-AC88U Main
Asus RT-AC88U Main
ACMU-MIMO router. Great for multiple clients
$$
Asus RT-AC3200
AC3.2Gbps Tri Band router from Asus
$$
Asus RT-AC68U AC1900
ACSimilar to the 66U, but has more grunt
$
Asus RT-AC66U
Asus RT-AC66U Main
Asus RT-AC66U Main
ACBeen around for a few years and still very popular
$
Asus RT-AC5300U
ACStill good for gaming
$$

Alternatives To The Asus RT-AC68 Worth Considering

Asus RT-AC66U button - Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U Netgear D6200 button - Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U Apple AirPort Exreme Base Station button - Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U TP-Link Archer C8 AC1750 button - Asus RT-AC68R vs RT-AC68U

>>>Back to Home

Post Comment