This has been posted a couple times between $50-60. The Source just dropped to price in title.

Here's the biggest thread from last boxing day
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/staples ... 99-2665878

Tom's Hardware review
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/as ... 00s-router

Asus RT-AX1800S Specifications
Processor Dual-core (4 VPE)
Memory 128 MB Flash, 256 MB RAM
Operating Frequency 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
Data Rates 802.11a
Ports (4) gigabit Ethernet ports, (1) gigabit WAN port
Encryption Open system, WPA/WPA2-Personal, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise, WPA3-Personal
Wi-Fi Technology OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access); MU-MIMO
Beamforming Standard-based and universal

Images

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40 replies

Jul 12th, 2024 11:54 am

muffin4life: Deal Expert; Jun 4, 2012; 15387 posts; 17636 upvotes

Jul 12th, 2024 11:54 am

Not a firesale pricing that would be expecting for TS...

Have this router... it's OK for the price and it's third party firmware compatible.

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:02 pm

marioBross2: Jr. Member; Aug 12, 2014; 182 posts; 95 upvotes; Ferland-Et-Boilleau,…

Jul 12th, 2024 12:02 pm

What do you mean by "OK for the price"?

Is there anything in particular that it can't do or isn't working properly?

I am in the market for a router compatible with custom firmware and I seem to remember that this one was recommended and much less expensive than others like the famous GL-MT6000.

Can you tell us what this one can't do compared to the GL?

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:04 pm

sterdeus: Deal Addict; Sep 20, 2003; 1629 posts; 678 upvotes; Woodbridge

Jul 12th, 2024 12:04 pm

I was hoping to get an extra discount but logged into my account and saw this:

Important announcement about the Partner Savings Program (PSP)

Thank you for shopping at The Source. We’d like to let you know that the Partner Savings Program ended on June 5th, 2024.

Your online account remains active and you can continue to shop everyday offers, however, you will no longer see specific Partner Savings Program discounts.

+2

Jul 12th, 2024 12:06 pm

Sgt_Strider: Deal Expert; Nov 7, 2003; 25228 posts; 3342 upvotes; Singapore

Jul 12th, 2024 12:06 pm

muffin4life wrote: ↑ Not a firesale pricing that would be expecting for TS...

Have this router... it's OK for the price and it's third-party firmware compatible.

What's the best third-party firmware for this router?

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:28 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:28 pm

Sgt_Strider wrote: ↑ What's the best third-party firmware for this router?

OpenWRT
Supported by the latest version, everything works although a bit slow: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/please-run- ... 109897/294 (as tested by me)
OpenVPN (as server) hovers about 20 Mbps

+3

Jul 12th, 2024 12:39 pm

audit13: Deal Expert; Feb 24, 2003; 24623 posts; 13847 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:39 pm

stfn74 wrote: ↑ OpenWRT
Supported by the latest version, everything works although a bit slow: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/please-run- ... 109897/294 (as tested by me)
OpenVPN (as server) hovers about 20 Mbps

OpenVPN server is a single-threaded app so a powerful CPU or CPU that supports hardware encryption would give better throughput.

For people who want higher throughput, a better solution may be a router that supports Wireguard.

Jul 12th, 2024 12:43 pm

Poopoodoodoo: Newbie; Mar 5, 2022; 50 posts; 48 upvotes

Jul 12th, 2024 12:43 pm

Does this router support VLAN? How does this compare to the Deco X50 provided by Distributel?

Link for Deco X50:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BTPGWDRJ?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_W6337R2SJX7EWV3TFBJP&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_W6337R2SJX7EWV3TFBJP&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_W6337R2SJX7EWV3TFBJP&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=2

Jul 12th, 2024 12:44 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:44 pm

audit13 wrote: ↑ OpenVPN server is a single-threaded app so a powerful CPU or CPU that supports hardware encryption would give better throughput.

For people who want higher throughput, a better solution may be a router that supports Wireguard.

Wireguard is supported by OpenWRT, hence by this router too. It's just not gonna be too fast either, but will be faster than OpenVPN. I tried it and IIRC I got around 60-80 Mbps.

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:47 pm

KevinGold: Jr. Member; Nov 9, 2015; 107 posts; 50 upvotes; qc

Jul 12th, 2024 12:47 pm

How this compare to the 40$ TP-LINK Archer AX20 deal from a month ago? Worth the price premium or no?

Jul 12th, 2024 12:48 pm

audit13: Deal Expert; Feb 24, 2003; 24623 posts; 13847 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:48 pm

stfn74 wrote: ↑ Wireguard is supported by OpenWRT, hence by this router too. It's just not gonna be too fast either, but will be faster than OpenVPN. I tried it and IIRC I got around 60-80 Mbps.

Was your test done with Wireguard Server or Wireguard Client on the router? 60-80 is pretty good in my opinion.

The only Asus routers I have on hand do not support 3rd party firmware other than Merlin.

I recently started testing OPNsense on a PC and enabled Wireguard Server. I'm going to test the speed when I can get access to a high-speed network (5g or Gigabit) to see how well it performs.

Last edited by audit13 on Jul 12th, 2024 12:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Jul 12th, 2024 12:50 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:50 pm

Poopoodoodoo wrote: ↑ Does this router support VLAN? How does this compare to the Deco X50 provided by Distributel?

Link for Deco X50:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BTPGWDRJ?ref ... wisterOG=2

With OpenWRT - for sure. I want to say "yes" also for the stock FW. I have vague memories of seeing it under some unexpected location in the interface (not under WAN for example). Sorry I cannot be more specific, I only kept the stock FW for couple of hours, to make sure it works

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:53 pm

audit13: Deal Expert; Feb 24, 2003; 24623 posts; 13847 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:53 pm

stfn74 wrote: ↑ With OpenWRT - for sure. I want to say "yes" also for the stock FW. I have vague memories of seeing it under some unexpected location in the interface (not under WAN for example). Sorry I cannot be more specific, I only kept the stock FW for couple of hours, to make sure it works

VLan is set under the IPTV tab like other routers running AsusWRT and MerlinWRT.

+2

Jul 12th, 2024 12:56 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:56 pm

audit13 wrote: ↑ Was your test done with Wireguard Server or Wireguard Client on the router? 60-80 is not bad.

Router as Server. Client was my Pixel 7, connecting through my neighbor's WIFI - we're both on Distributel fibre - I'm on 1 Gbps, he's on 150 Mbps

Edit: please note I got this speed with synthetic test iper3. IIRC with multiple threads. So real life speed will be a bit lower

audit13 wrote: ↑ The only Asus routers I have on hand do not support 3rd party firmware other than Merlin.

Which Merlin compatible router is that? You still might be better with it. For example, I went back to my AC86U as it supports OpenVPN out of box, and I also installed Wireguard on it and I do get a bit better performance, as it has better CPU than the subject of this topic,

Last edited by stfn74 on Jul 12th, 2024 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:57 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:57 pm

audit13 wrote: ↑ VLan is set under the IPTV tab like other routers running AsusWRT and MerlinWRT.

That's it!

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:58 pm

audit13: Deal Expert; Feb 24, 2003; 24623 posts; 13847 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 12:58 pm

stfn74 wrote: ↑ Router as Server. Client was my Pixel 7, connecting through my neighbor's WIFI - we're both on Distributel fibre - I'm on 1 Gbps, he's on 150 Mbps

Which Merlin compatible router is that? You still might be better with it. For example, I went back to my AC86U as it supports OpenVPN out of box, and I also installed Wireguard on it and I do get a bit better performance, as it has better CPU than the subject of this topic,

I have an ac86u and gt-ax6000.

The 86u is sitting in a box unused and the ax6000 is being used as an access point.

I tried the ax6000 with Wireguard Server and got about 150 Mbps with my phone on the Public Mobile. I believe PM's network speed was the limiting factor as I was expecting a bit higher speed.

Last edited by audit13 on Jul 12th, 2024 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 12:59 pm

dyalect: Deal Fanatic; Feb 22, 2009; 8479 posts; 11465 upvotes; Whitby

Jul 12th, 2024 12:59 pm

mesh but be careful when updating. blew mine up quickly. returned to bestbuy.

Jul 12th, 2024 1:04 pm

stfn74: Jr. Member; Aug 9, 2010; 152 posts; 138 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 1:04 pm

audit13 wrote: ↑ I have an ac86u and gt-ax6000.

The 86u is sitting in a box unused and the ax6000 is being used as an access point.

I tried the ax6000 with Wireguard Server and got about 150 Mbps with my phone on the Public Mobile. I believe PM's network speed was the limiting factor as I was expecting a bit higher speed.

Then IMO you don't need this router. AC86U with Wireguard bests it (but it does have somewhat complicated install, through SSH, Entware, custom scripts etc).

Jul 12th, 2024 1:07 pm

audit13: Deal Expert; Feb 24, 2003; 24623 posts; 13847 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 12th, 2024 1:07 pm

stfn74 wrote: ↑ Then IMO you don't need this router. AC86U with Wireguard bests it (but it does have somewhat complicated install, through SSH, Entware, custom scripts etc). However, if I understand this correctly, the latest MerlinWRT for AX6000 should support Wireguard out of box

The stock and Merlin firmware support Wireguard but I've switched to opnsense for wireguard.

+1

Jul 12th, 2024 1:20 pm

AsianXL: Deal Fanatic; Dec 18, 2007; 5583 posts; 7650 upvotes

Jul 12th, 2024 1:20 pm

If you guys need a VPN router, spend a little more for a GL-inet router, it's worth it.
https://store.gl-inet.com/products/flin ... 2945&_ss=r

+3

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