![]() That’s why I prefer the frontal LED indicators of the RT-AC68U and RT-AC86U which show the status of the Power, USB ports, Internet connection or the LAN ports connection. ![]() ![]() I understand that an array of LEDs would not look good on a WiFi system, but it still is better at showing the status of the system and if it experiences an error. The LED will light a different colour in various patterns to show the status of the system: for example, solid green-blue indicates that the WiFi unit works properly, but a flashing red colour indicates an error, while flashing amber shows that the router lacks a connection to the Internet. One of the design signatures of the WiFi systems is the single LED approach and the Google WiFi is one of the early adopters of this system, the LED being positioned in a narrow canal which cuts the device almost entirely in half horizontally (it is interrupted by a Reset button). And that’s especially true for the newer Asus RT-AC86U which runs cool in most scenarios, but not really for the RT-AC68U which does have the tendency to run a bit hotter (it’s better to also keep it in the open). But, while neither of these two routers are living-room friendly, they do have lots of ventilation cut-outs on the rear side, so they should have a better temperature management. My AiMesh system consists of two Asus routers, the RT-AC86U and the RT-AC68U, both having lots of design elements in common, such as the rectangular case, the vertical-only available position, the solid, built-in stand or the three detachable antennas pointing upwards from the top of the devices – and it’s no wonder since the RT-AC86U is the official successor to the widely popular, but older RT-AC68U (by almost 5 years).īoth routers measure approximately 8.6 x 6.3 x 3.2 inches and both weigh around 1.92 lbs, so they’re significantly larger than the Google WiFi and have a more ominous look (additionally, the RT-AC86U has some red sections to emphasize the fact that it’s a gaming-focused router). Unfortunately, Google disliked the idea of breaking the design continuity of the device, so there are no ventilation holes anywhere around the case (therefore, you must keep it in the open, otherwise, it can overheat). This highlights just how far the new systems have migrated from the traditional router, which is big, usually covered by a black finish and with antennas pointing from the rear side (or, as can be seen with the newer routers, the antennas now surround the case entirely).Ī Google WiFi unit measures about 4.17 x 2.70 inches and weighs around 12 ounces (it’s smaller than its tri-band brothers, such as the Velop or the Orbi), but, despite its size, it still remains a fairly powerful router, so I expected to see some cut-outs for keeping the internal temperature in check. So, the Google WiFi consists of three identical units, each of them featuring a small-sized cylindrical case, covered by a white matte finish (does not retain fingerprints) and, if it wasn’t for the Power cable, you wouldn’t have distinguish it from a cream container. No one can ignore the major influence that Apple had on the consumer market and I know that you immediately thought about phones and tablets, but the consumer-type networking market was equally influenced by its minimalist trend, although, a bit later and in the form of the WiFi systems which borrowed the design language of the Apple AirPort series. Note: You can also check the full review of the Google WiFi and the full review of the Asus AiMesh (with the RT-AC86U and the RT-AC68U). This way, you have more freedom to use a larger variety of routers to work as nodes into the new mesh network and, since the Google WiFi is a dual-band system, I created a dual-band AiMesh network using the Asus RT-AC86U and the RT-AC68U in order to more clearly see the common elements and the differences between these two significantly different approaches.
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