ASUS RT-AC68P Vs RT-AC68U Vs RT-AC68R

With the internet speeds becoming faster and the connections becoming more accessible and affordable to everyone, it is very important to buy a good router as well.

Getting yourself a good router helps you make the most out of your internet connection and lets you surf the internet seamlessly.

ASUS is a global company producing reliable and robust tech products and offers a wide range of routers to pick from. In this post, we shall be comparing the Asus RT-AC68P, RT-AC68U, and RT-AC68R.

While Asus does provide many options to pick from, the technical specifications often leave people confused.

On top of this, as all three come from the same company, it makes it a little more challenging to pick the most suitable router.

This post helps you decide which one is the best one for you among all the three. We shall begin by describing each router individually by decoding all the tech descriptions.

Followed by this, a comparison table for all three routers will give you a much clearer picture.

First off, both these routers comply with the IEEE’s 802.11ac version. Therefore, they have the ‘AC’ linked to their names.

IEEE has various versions like 802.11n, 802.11b/g/n, etc. The 802.11ac version is the latest and the fastest one.

Below, you’ll find the comparison chart for two routers, AC68P, and AC68(U&R).

#1. RT-AC68P

This is a wifi router truly built for speed. It comes with a dual-band data rates ranging up to 1900 MBPS. In a way, this speed can help you perform three times faster than 802.11n routers.

It also comes with a dual-core processor which boosts overall speed of Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB as well.

When it comes to WiFi routers, 802.11 is the IEEE standard. Various versions of IEEE 802.11 routers have come into the market.

As of now, 802.11n is one the fastest routers available after the 802.11ac models. This router can perform thrice as much as these 802.11n routers.

Therefore, for people looking at pure speed and performance, this router is a wise choice.

For any setup that needs a great internet speed and pays for a super fast internet connection, this router will be a great addition. In many cases, incompatible and outdated routers bring down the speed of internet connectivity.

This router also comes with Broadcom’s TurboQAM technology thereby resulting in an increased data rate and increased performance compared to other 802.11n routers.

Gigabit Ethernet is the de facto choice for anyone who wants a quick ethernet connection.

This router comes with five gigabit-ethernet ports which help you browse at a lightning-fast pace. Not only does this router come with excellent speeds for wireless connections, but also comes with amazing wired connection support as well.

USB 2.0 is outdated. The 3.0 version is the version for today. With this router, you get two USB 3.0 ports. Faster data transfer is now possible. Also, by default, you get to access the ASUS AiCloud service.

This is a cool addition to the line of services from the routers from ASUS. Using this service, you can create a private cloud server among your friends and family to stream and share data.

This router is NVIDIA GameStream Ready which helps you game hassle-free with your friends and gaming pals. This service provides you a fast and a reliable game streaming with virtually zero lag.

And it also features the ASUSWRT dashboard which gives you an amazing user experience and helps you in unleashing the power of these routers.

Also, this router comes with Quality of Service standards which lets you prioritize the bandwidth allocated for each task the router is being used for.

This router also supports massive multitasking and supports up to 300000 data sessions giving this router the networking capacity of 20 conventional routers combined.

With more and more people prioritizing about internet safety, VPNs have become quite popular. This router comes with a VPN server enabled. Also, parental control is enabled.

It also comes with an AiRadar technology which helps in providing stronger signals to a wide range.

This router supports a wide range of Operating systems ranging from the old Windows Vista and XP to the latest Windows and Mac Operating systems.

This router comes with enterprise-level encryption as well. Got many users in your home who stream media, play games and perform internet-intensive tasks? This router has got you covered.

One of the main issues with this router is the fact that it does not support MU-MIMO data streaming.

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#2. RT-AC68U

This is a dual-band Wi-Fi router as well which is built for speed. It delivers 1900 MBPS data range and comes with Broadcom’s TurboQAM as well.

While 802.11n came in 2009, 802.11ac was of the year 2014. So here’s the thing, this router comes with the latest 802.11ac technology.

This router comes with an 800 MHz Dual-core CPU as well. It also comes with a smart multitasking facility which enables dedicating separate lanes for both WiFi and USB data thereby restriction decline in the speed.

However, this router was released nearly two years before the router mentioned above was released. So in a way, this router is a tab bit slower when compared to the above one.

Due to a more efficient processor, RT-AC68P supports much faster speeds when compared to this one.

This device comes with two USB 2.0 ports and a single USB 3.0 port. Unlike the other router mentioned above, this doesn’t feature two USB 3.0 ports.

In a way, it is better to have two USB 3.0 ports than three USB ports(2.0’s two and one 3.0).

While this router doesn’t perform as quickly as the 68P version, it does have its own set of merits. It comes with a slightly lesser performance power than the 68P.

In a way, 68P is said to be the glitch-free and a slightly enhanced version of the 68U.

This router also comes with four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports as well. In a way, this makes it easier for HD streaming as many devices can be easily hardwired to a network.

Also, this comes with an LED on and off button. This way, you can get rid of the annoying blinking lights. This router comes with parental control as well.

Features like AiCloud, NVIDIA GameStream Ready, AiRadar are common in this router as well. In a nutshell, one can say that this router is just one feature away from 68P.

This router has a glitch in the USB 3.0 port. ASUS rectified it and added a better processor and sold it as a 68P variant of AC Routers.

This router comes with similar capabilities like the above one. Therefore, it is a right pick for anyone who wants speed and great performance.

Also, the only disadvantage of purchasing this router is the fact that it does not come with a preconfigured network configuration. For first time users, it might be a little difficult to setup the network.

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#3. RT-AC68R

As a matter of fact, AC68U and AC68R are the same. The only difference is their name. While U stands for Universal, R stands for Reseller.

This means that R version can be only sold by retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, etc.

Both the routers are identical when it comes to their features. So, depending on the price difference, you can go with either of these routers.

As a matter of fact, many websites refer to these routers AC68R and AC68U as same. We will do so too.

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Conclusion

Here, all three routers are very similar to one another. In such cases, picking a clear winner becomes difficult.

Nevertheless, keeping the speed as the judging criteria, the router ASUS RT-AC68P is the clear winner here.

While both the other routers AC68U and AC68R have entirely similar properties, both lack the speed when compared to AC68P.

While the speed difference between both 68P and 68U/R isn’t much, it, however, does make a difference.

Nevertheless, for most people who’re looking at purchasing a router, either of them is fine.

If you think that you need to do intensive tasks which might sometimes require a greater speed overall, then you must go with 68P.

Also, if you are an enterprise or a small business which is looking at purchasing a router for its office, 68P is the best way to go.