Any love for the RT-N16?

[richardeid]

It's really a great router. And it's getting all the same firmware updates that the newest models are receiving. In fact, in the RT-N66U thread I've seen them talk about a .102 firmware in recent days. I believe that the RT-N16 actually got .102 a bit earlier. So it's definitely still getting support from ASUS. And what advantages, other than 5GHz wireless, does the N66U have? I mean:

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireles...specifications

That may as well be the specification page for the N16 because the N16 has all of it. For the record:

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN16/

The overview page is a bit outdated on that. Like I said, us N16 owners have the 3.x firmware now and as far as I can tell our 3.x has everything the N66U's 3.x has.

So why is there literally nothing on SNB forums about the N16? I searched for "RT-N16" and no results showed. I searched for "RTN16" and one result showed...a thread about someone asking about the N16 vs. another router and had no replies. I know SNB was gracious enough to do a review of the N16 a while back but it never caught any traction on the forums.

I guess the reason I registered was because I've actually been using the RT-N66U thread here to keep up with the goings on of that router because the ASUS forums aren't so active and it seems the same problems that affect the N66U affect the N16 during firmware update times. So it occurred to me to maybe get something like that going here for the N16...because it's just as awesome as your N66's even though yours looks cooler. And sometimes it really all depends on how you look.

Anyway, does anyone want to talk about the RT-N16? If so, the current 3.x series of firmwares that have been released for the RT-N16 seem to be causing me to incur some packet loss while I'm playing games online. All of them, actually. I'm currently on .102 but I've used all the 3.x releases and they have all been the same in this regard. I've done a bunch of line quality tests to make sure it wasn't the connection and everything looked in line. To be sure, I connected my gaming rig directly to the cable modem and didn't experience any packet loss at all. And I think it's only affecting the WAN port, because if I play on one of the servers I host on my network I don't experience the same problem. Also, I've asked players on my servers if they experience any of the symptoms particular to each game when packet loss is happening and some of them said they experienced those symptoms on my servers. I have submitted an inquiry to ASUS tech support and also e-mailed their support team but have yet to receive a response.

Anyone else seeing that?

[darksamus]

Originally Posted by richardeid

It's really a great router. And it's getting all the same firmware updates that the newest models are receiving. In fact, in the RT-N66U thread I've seen them talk about a .102 firmware in recent days. I believe that the RT-N16 actually got .102 a bit earlier. So it's definitely still getting support from ASUS. And what advantages, other than 5GHz wireless, does the N66U have? I mean:

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireles...specifications

That may as well be the specification page for the N16 because the N16 has all of it. For the record:

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN16/

The overview page is a bit outdated on that. Like I said, us N16 owners have the 3.x firmware now and as far as I can tell our 3.x has everything the N66U's 3.x has.

So why is there literally nothing on SNB forums about the N16? I searched for "RT-N16" and no results showed. I searched for "RTN16" and one result showed...a thread about someone asking about the N16 vs. another router and had no replies. I know SNB was gracious enough to do a review of the N16 a while back but it never caught any traction on the forums.

I guess the reason I registered was because I've actually been using the RT-N66U thread here to keep up with the goings on of that router because the ASUS forums aren't so active and it seems the same problems that affect the N66U affect the N16 during firmware update times. So it occurred to me to maybe get something like that going here for the N16...because it's just as awesome as your N66's even though yours looks cooler. And sometimes it really all depends on how you look.

Anyway, does anyone want to talk about the RT-N16? If so, the current 3.x series of firmwares that have been released for the RT-N16 seem to be causing me to incur some packet loss while I'm playing games online. All of them, actually. I'm currently on .102 but I've used all the 3.x releases and they have all been the same in this regard. I've done a bunch of line quality tests to make sure it wasn't the connection and everything looked in line. To be sure, I connected my gaming rig directly to the cable modem and didn't experience any packet loss at all. And I think it's only affecting the WAN port, because if I play on one of the servers I host on my network I don't experience the same problem. Also, I've asked players on my servers if they experience any of the symptoms particular to each game when packet loss is happening and some of them said they experienced those symptoms on my servers. I have submitted an inquiry to ASUS tech support and also e-mailed their support team but have yet to receive a response.

Anyone else seeing that?

I also have the RT-N16 router. It has a lot to offers in terms of hardware. 128mb of RAM and 32mb of flash for a SOHO router. Don't forget you can run TomatoUSB on it. Before I got the RT-N66U, I had the N16 running TomatoUSB and it works great. The problem that I had with it was that the wifi range was not that great. I bought a 9db gain antennas for it and play around with the TX power and was never able to get good range.

I never had any packetloss or high ping times with this router. If you do not need 5ghz and do not need to cover a large area, I would say the N16 is still a good router.

[ladysman]

Originally Posted by darksamus

I also have the RT-N16 router. It has a lot to offers in terms of hardware. 128mb of RAM and 32mb of flash for a SOHO router. Don't forget you can run TomatoUSB on it. Before I got the RT-N66U, I had the N16 running TomatoUSB and it works great. The problem that I had with it was that the wifi range was not that great. I bought a 9db gain antennas for it and play around with the TX power and was never able to get good range.

I never had any packetloss or high ping times with this router. If you do not need 5ghz and do not need to cover a large area, I would say the N16 is still a good router.

I completely agree with Darksamus. It's a great router. The range isn't the best but it works. My 66u will be here today and it will replace my n16.

[jerry6]

I use an RT-16 at my sisters house , thing has great range . Replaced the 2 wire junk isp gave , that could not reac out the house , the rt-16 reaches down the block , in neighbours houses , the rt-16 is the reason I went with rt-66 , needed both bands . I found the 16 had great range , maybe I was lucky ? Bought it the week it was released

[darksamus]

Originally Posted by jerry6

I use an RT-16 at my sisters house , thing has great range . Replaced the 2 wire junk isp gave , that could not reac out the house , the rt-16 reaches down the block , in neighbours houses , the rt-16 is the reason I went with rt-66 , needed both bands . I found the 16 had great range , maybe I was lucky ? Bought it the week it was released

I've notice that the N16 now comes in a desgin new box. Not sure if there was a hardware revision or they want to "trick" the customer that it is a new product.

[richardeid]

Originally Posted by darksamus

I also have the RT-N16 router. It has a lot to offers in terms of hardware. 128mb of RAM and 32mb of flash for a SOHO router. Don't forget you can run TomatoUSB on it. Before I got the RT-N66U, I had the N16 running TomatoUSB and it works great. The problem that I had with it was that the wifi range was not that great. I bought a 9db gain antennas for it and play around with the TX power and was never able to get good range.

I never had any packetloss or high ping times with this router. If you do not need 5ghz and do not need to cover a large area, I would say the N16 is still a good router.

I know that range is a highly discussed topic on SNB, but my street is about 3/4 miles long and I'm smack dab in the middle of it. I don't lose signal on my router(from my Android phone) until I hit the last house on my street. To me, that's excellent range. Is something like that considered weak on SNB? Don't get me wrong...I'm not trying to be a smart alec. I actually wanna know if that sort of range is frowned upon here. I just don't understand why this awesome device never got any play here. Given that it's been on the market for over two years now, I find it amazing and satisfying that it's still receiving regular updates from ASUS. The hardware specs for it are still unmatched by any other consumer-grade router(aside from the N66U)(as far as I know). I'm still geeking out over it and I think I just need someone to talk to about it. As I mentioned earlier, the ASUS forums don't do anyone much good.

Anyway, I'm not too concerned with ultra range on my network. What sort of range did you see with that 9db antenna? You also mentioned you have the N16...what do you do with it now that the N66U is at the top of your network?

Another thing you mentioned was Tomato. I'd considered that along with DD-WRT for a while. The 1.x series of firmwares for the N16 were really hit or miss for me. I always did the factory reset/firmware update/factory reset method, but ended up with issues in one way or another with each. The reason I never ended up going with either one was that the documentation for both was always so confusing. So I was never left with the feeling that I'd be any better off with it. Saying that now I just checked back over on:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Asus_RT-N16

They do appear to have cleaned it up a little. But the ASUS firmwares are on another level, especially now, so...if you're up for it can you convince me why I'd be better off?

Originally Posted by jerry6

I use an RT-16 at my sisters house , thing has great range . Replaced the 2 wire junk isp gave , that could not reac out the house , the rt-16 reaches down the block , in neighbours houses , the rt-16 is the reason I went with rt-66 , needed both bands . I found the 16 had great range , maybe I was lucky ? Bought it the week it was released

No, I get tremendous range on mine, too.

Originally Posted by darksamus

I've notice that the N16 now comes in a desgin new box. Not sure if there was a hardware revision or they want to "trick" the customer that it is a new product.

From what I heard on the ASUS forums, it's still the same spec only in a newer box.

[richardeid]

Well, like I had mentioned the RT-N16 is getting all the same updates the N66U is getting. In fact, I recently noticed that during boot a message pops up in the log mentioning something like: Built for RT-N66U

So development for our N16s is in unison with the N-66U. And .108 has also just been released. Has anyone given it a shot yet? I've downloaded it but won't have the time to check it out until probably later tonight.

You can find it here for now: ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-N16/ ...as it hasn't yet been posted to the ASUS Support page. According to the N66U thread, here is the changelog:

ASUS RT-N66U B1 Firmware Version 3.0.0.3.108
Fixed
1. httpd abnormal after adding more than 24 IP/MAC entries
2. RF power decrease issue reported in 3.0.0.3.96
3. Port forwarding UI issue.
4. Media server directory change issue
5. IPv6 related issue
6. Printer sharing issue on Windows 7 64bits
7. Download master
- The HTTP and FTP task cannot continue when WAN reconnect to Internet.
- some multi-language strings issue.
- Bit torrent association tool compatibility issue.
- enhance amule stability.

Modified
1. allow to change range of VPN IP
2. allow user to modify scanning directory of media server
3. allow user to select attached clients into static DHCP IP list
4. CTF ability automatically adjustment
5. change the WPA key rotation interval default value from 0 to 3600
6. VPN username/password length is set to 32

Some of what is listed there was also in .102, but we know that was pulled so it makes sense this new update would have some of the same fixes.

I'm anxious to see if this packet loss issue I'm having is resolved. I know nobody confirmed the same issue on their ends, but I know this router is at the center of the problem in some way. After a factory reset and performing only the necessary setup on the router before testing(so no extra settings interfering) and also only having a single device plugged in, I get a small amount of packet loss(but enough to make multiplayer gaming sometimes miserable). If I connect that same computer directly to the cable modem, no packet loss.

Anyway, anyone have any feedback yet on .108?

[tempnet]

I am right now in the middle of a decision of buying either Asus's routers and for awhile now I have been asking myself why is the RT-N16 $90 and it performs waaay too low in the charts? I have the DIR-655 and for being a non flashable router (Ubicom), it performs really good but would like it to work with some VOIP hardware here but it isn't compatible. Is the RT-N16 limited by hardware or software? I know it runs flawless on either Tomato or DD-WRT and even the OEM FW which I'm surprised it is still being supported but why does it have unacceptably low Total Simultaneous and Maximum Connections? It definitely has plenty of flash storage and cpu frequency but is this a firmware limit? Will flashing third party firmware boost benches up in the top 15 routers? Cause right now I'm deciding between the RT-N56U or the RT-66U despite benching less by a couple of points over the RT-56U and costing $50 more. Thanks.

[Gew]

This is a mighty fine discussion, mates. So, when it falls down, what would you guys say? Taken I don't need 5GHz, would the good ol' RT-N16 (½ the price) be just as good alternative for new router as the RT-N66U? Right now I'm kickin' it with the RT-N12 (v1, even so).

[tempnet]

Originally Posted by Gew

This is a mighty fine discussion, mates. So, when it falls down, what would you guys say? Taken I don't need 5GHz, would the good ol' RT-N16 (½ the price) be just as good alternative for new router as the RT-N66U? Right now I'm kickin' it with the RT-N12 (v1, even so).

Well, I have had the RT-N56U for weeks now and has been rock solid. And it over tops the 66U in the majority of the benches. Can't say much for the 66U though I'd definitely would purchase on in the future. If your into flashing real third party and want 450x2 (900) symmetrical wireless speeds then I'd say go for it. I'm going to be real honest about the N16, I was heavily considering it until I found out the price isn't worth the performance it has. Rock solid? definitely but according to the price/performance chart in SNB, I couldn't justify the low performance for the usual long standing sub $100 price and I think by now the N16 should be below $60 to be frank. Got my RT-N56U for $108 on the usual deals which happen to be repetitive in certain months on newegg.