ASUS AC66U B1 and ACRH17 router Reviewed

ASUS’s new router ACRH17, the price is similar to AC66U B1, the wireless speed is similar, ACRH17 is 1700M, AC66U B1 is 1750M. Some friends will tangled between the two, so I have this test. Let’s talk about the hardware configuration of both of them.

ACRH17, IPQ4019+QCA9984+256MB memory, CPU is quad-core 717m, including 2.4G chip, 2x2mimo 400Mbps, 5G chip is QCA9984, it supports 4x4mimo 1733Mbps, its actual total rate is 2100M.

AC66U B1, BCM4708C0, +2 BCM4360 + 256MB memory. The CPU is a dual-core 1G, which can be regarded as an overclocked version of the BCM4708A. It is not equal to the 1G of the BCM4709A0. These are two different chips. 2.4G adopts BCM4360, which supports 256-QAM and 3x3mimo 600Mbps. However, Asus has limited its 256-QAM modulation and demodulation mode from its firmware, so the maximum rate of 2.4G is 450Mbps, and 5G is 3x3mimo 1300MMbps. However, the AC66U B1 can easily change the Merlin firmware, so that 256-QAM can be used, so its total wireless speed can be 1900M.

The wireless speeds of these two wireless routers are not uniform, so it is not easy to test with the PCE-AC88 without a network card. The speed is different, the speed is not the same, it is not good to compare. And the ASUS AC66U B1 I got, the hardware version is actually the B2 version. As shown below


The firmware version is 3.0.0.41.380_4208 and the origin is China.

After the AC66U B1 was turned on for the first time, I connected its 2.4G WIFI with a Xiaomi 5 phone and found that the rate rate is 86mbps (256-QAM) instead of 72mbps (64-QAM). Then connect PCG-AC88 to 2.4G, the rate is 600mbps (256-QAM), so the hardware version of B2 should be 256-QAM enabled by default. This is also included in the firmware settings:


Now the wireless parameters of both are:

ACRH17, 2.4G 400m, 5G 1733m

AC66UB1, 2.4G 600m, 5G 1300m

Then, I want to test with 2 wireless network cards, one is ASUS PCE-AC68, it is 3x3mimo, used to test the 5G speed of the two, the other one I use intel8265ac to test the 2.4G speed. This double-frequency connection rate is consistent. In addition, mobile phone speed measurement is still using Xiaomi 4C, it is 2x2mimo, the wireless rate connecting them is also the same.


The shells of the two are very similar, and the light problems are different in color. In terms of weight, the AC66U B1 is significantly heavier than the ACRH7. “ASUS” This logo also has a different color:

ACRH17 is a silver LOGO, AC66U B1 is a gold LOGO. Both antennas are not removable.

There is a USB3.0 port, AC66U B1 also has a USB2.0 interface, in order to avoid the interference of USB3.0 to wireless 2.4G, AC66U B1 put the 3.0 interface to the front, only the USB2.0 interface.


Bottom contrast.


Need to explain: ACRH17 does not have dual line settings, that is, it cannot be double dialed, nor can it be modified by Merlin.


First, USB speed comparison test

Only compares the speed of the USB3.0 interface, and turns off the “reduce USB 3.0 interference” function. Maximize USB 3.0 speed.


The comparison of read and write speeds is as follows:


The difference between USB read and write speeds is obvious. AC66U B1 is faster than ACRH17, regardless of the cable connection or wireless connection. After all, the BCM4708C0 is 283MHz higher than the IPQ4019.

Second, wireless signal strength comparison test

Both routes are placed in the WIFI position in the figure below, and the wireless signal strength is tested at four locations. In the ASUS firmware wireless professional settings, the area is set to “united states”.


The results are as follows:

At point A, the 2.4G signal strength is better for ACRH17, and the 5G signal is very close.


At point B, the 2.4G signal is instead AC66U B1 becomes stronger, 5G is ACRH17 stronger.


C point position, 2.4G and 5G signal strength, both are close. 5G is a little stronger than ACRH17.

At the D point downstairs, 2.4G is still very close, and 5G is still a little stronger than ACRH17.


5G signal strength, ACRH17 has a bit of advantage. Next, look at the speed measurement.

The speed test is divided into two parts. The first part uses the mobile phone to test the network speed, and the second part uses the wireless network card to test the internal network transmission speed.

Third, the mobile phone Internet speed test under different distances

The test mobile phone is Xiaomi 4C, a Qualcomm chip, 2x2mimo WIFI, the speed of connecting two routers at close range, 2.4G is 173m, 5G is 866m. The test software uses speedtest, telecom broadband 100M, Gigabit light cat. Each position is connected to the speed measurement 6 times, and finally the average value is used for comparison. Wireless speed can directly reflect the quality of wireless signals. The results of all data speed measurements are as follows:


Pull out the average value and make the following line chart:

2.4G network speed comparison:

2.4G network speed, the three positions on the same floor are not much different, but the difference between the D points in the downstairs is obvious.


5G network speed comparison:


A and B, 866m high rate, even if it is not full, it is very easy to meet 100M broadband, usually test 5G network speed A and B will be very close, unless the 5G routing is really bad. Points C and D are places where the 5G is tested, especially the D point downstairs. It is obvious here that the AC66U B1 is much faster than the ACRH17.

From the previous wireless signal strength test, the ACRH17 is slightly stronger, but the speed measurement result is much stronger than the AC66U B1.

Fourth, the comparison of intranet wireless transmission speed under different distances

This test, equivalent to testing the wireless maximum transmission speed in different locations. The mobile phone speed measurement in front is limited by the bottleneck of 100 Mbps broadband, and the bottleneck of the intranet here is the Gigabit Ethernet port. For 5G of 3x3mimo, this bottleneck has not yet been reached. The test uses two network cards, one is to test the 2.4G speed of the two with intel8265ac, and the other is to test the 5G speed of the two with the ASUS PCE-AC68. Why not use a PCE-AC88 to test? Because it is unfair to 2.4G of ACRH17, and unfair to 5G of AC66U B1.

The 5G channels of the router are all set to the same 161, and the 2.4G channel is fixed to 2.

The test method is to use the fastcopy software to copy the file, test it twice in succession, and take the maximum value.

The 2.4G speed measurement results are as follows:


Take its transmission speed, as shown below:


2.4G intranet transmission speed, just like the previous mobile phone test network speed, AC66U B1 is better than ACRH17 in all positions, at the D point position, the speed is similar.

The 5G test results are as follows:



5G uplink speed, ACRH17 is faster than AC66U B1, the downlink speed, the close point A is faster than ACRH17, and the performance is not bad in other locations. When ACRH17 encounters a strong wireless network card, the performance will be very good. Including the 5G speed measured by PCE-AC88 used in comparison with Netgear R6800 router

The 5G speed is very similar.

Five, the biggest difference

ACRH17 supports mu-mimo (Qualcomm), AC66U B1 does not support mu-mimo;

AC66U B1 can be modified by Merlin, ACRH17 can not be brushed;

The 5G maximum speed of ACRH17 is 1733m, and AC66U B1 is 1300m;

The ACRH17 does not have a double dial setting.

to sum up:

If you are friends between the two, please see your needs. If you really need mu-mimo, then ACRH17 is a good choice, and your equipment should also support Qualcomm mu-mimo. Can the device support? Millet phones are more, millet 4S, millet 4C, millet 5, millet 6, one plus 3, one plus 5, using QCNFA435 and killer1535 laptop, I know that. Whether mu-mimo is useful to you or whether it is useful for you to change it, you should consider it clearly. Finally, for most mobile phones, the AC66U B1 will be faster than the ACRH17 in places with weak signals.

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