Asus firmware only works on a few Netgear models; most successfully on the R7000. If you’re fine with installing other firmwares, they can be had for $50. You don’t get 100% of the Asus features though.
The ac68u is the better bet imo. You’ll have to check if they’re compatible if you want DD-WRT, but I don’t have any need for it after using Asus-WRT
Hmm, at this point it looks like I will be using the storage server function right now unless I find a NAS for cheap. Although they are hard to find. So I guess trying to find the AC68U might be better.
Or if those netgear models work well and can run the asus firmware (same guts inside?), that might be the way to go.
I considered doing this but the lowest power PC I could build/find in my stable was around 50-60W idle power usage. I would be better off adding more drives to my main system instead of using another one. Which I have considered.
The issue with that is I turn my system off every night and restart at odd times, so I want a drive available 24/7 for certain functions. Right now I have my main media server setup on a drive in my main system.
Although a raid setup in a proper NAS would be superior naturally. The drive on the router is mostly a “swap drive” for swapping things between systems or serving up basic files 24/7. Not a lot of use but it can have large file transfers going through it.
Yeah, I have no issues installing other firmware. I am almost disappointed in cases where I can’t lol.
Although with routers I am fine with good factory firmware like the asus.
The AC68U and R7000 are about the same price from a quick scan, so might as well go with the Asus it would seem if you say it is better.
So with all of this in mind the AC68U is looking like a nice sweet spot in price and performance with long term expandability in mind as well.
Anyone know of a better option?
If you’re looking at the ac68u/r/p (all basically the same), just be aware the T-mobile version takes extra work to “unlock”. It worked fine for me, but apparently not everyone is so lucky
Good info, I was not even aware there was such a thing as a T-mobile version. How do you tell which version is which?
Anything else I should know about them?
The Tmobile version says “Tmobile” on it, comes in a pink box, and are about $20 cheaper… So it’s not too difficult. 
The only thing I don’t like about mine (which I’m using right now) is that you can’t really lay it down or wall-mount it. It’s designed to sit up on a desk/shelf vertically.
I had a Asus AC66U that was a good router for the money. The hardware finally suffered heat-death after many years. I replaced it with a AC88U and don’t regret it. It was worth the money, and it was a LOT of money.
I have a full signal everywhere. I can even maintain a connection to a Sonoff switch *Through 1 interior wall + 1 exterior BRICK wall, + it’s behind a 12000 gallon swimming pool. And that little Sonoff doesn’t even have an external antenna! This routher just works. Everywhere, everyday.
This won’t fix the slow USB, but for wifi performance, I turned off wifi on my router (~5 year old Linksys) and ran a Ubiquiti Unifi AC AP LR. I bought it for roughly $100 a couple years back and set it up using POE. Since setting it up I’ve NEVER had to fiddle with it it reboot it. Ubiquiti makes great stuff.
I can confirm all of this, I also tested/used all of them. From listed routers AC68 is the best, and Asus firmware is the best.
I use AC87 at home.
All listed Netgear routers have firmware problems and don’t work really good. For example R6400 doesn’t do port forwarding the way it should, and that just doesn’t work. Only flashing DD-WRT can fix some probems. Netgear support is useless.
I am IT technician so I know about routers 
LOL, yeah that sounds simple enough to figure out.
Lucky for me I keep the router in a cabinet so it is as centrally located in the house, vertical is ideal for me anyways.
Do these routers have issues with dying over time since I will be purchasing used? Is this something I need to worry about?
Or was yours in an abnormally hot area?
The router I have now is a netgear R6250 and I agree, the firmware is not the best, I can’t even allocate an IP address to devices, which is super annoying as anytime a device reconnects it gets a new IP (yes, I know I can setup static IP’s per device but I have had issues doing that in bulk in the past, too hard to remember what IP’s are used).
I have been considering flashing DD-WRT to the one I have but when I looked it up it did not look like an official version was released and people reported issues.
Looks like everyone agrees that the AC68 is the one you hunt for. Exactly what I was wanting, a good model to watch for a deal on.
What would be the best runner up model? Anything better that is worth a little extra money?
I can say that the Ac66u doesn’t have very many vents. The 68u is much better in that regard.
Wifi performance while important is not nearly as big of a deal for me, I would rather a 5 port router personally as all the important devices are hard wired.
The devices that use wifi generally don’t need a lot of bandwidth (aka, we don’t really steam to mobile devices wireless unless we are fairly close to the router).
The bigger issue are dead spots in the house and dropping the signal ect. these are quite annoying in a few areas.
Sounds like they learned from a mistake in that case. I like ASUS for that, they do seem to improve things if an issue is found. Thus far ASUS has never let me down and has far exceeded my expectations.
All my ASUS motherboards from 10+ years ago are still going strong, many of them ran every single day for that time and overclocked too boot.
I’ve had an AC68R sitting next to an outside wall since Feb 2014. The temp fluctuates a lot where it is (i’m in TX too) and I have not had any trouble. Easily the most reliable router I have ever owned.
They recently renamed the ac68 to just the “RT-AC1900” so you can look out for that one. You can also look into what is involved in “converting” the Tmobile version to a standard 68u, but it’s a bit of a gamble.
The next model up for Asus is the ac87, but I don’t really recommend it because it was a bit of a science experiment with 2.4ghz and 5ghz radios completely separate with different processors and RAM. Asus also announced support would end soon.
Above that you have the AC88 and AC-3100, which are great but a big jump up in price.
Otherwise you can get a Netgear R7000 and install Asus-Merlin through xwrt-vortex. It is very stable and feature-rich, but you don’t get the headline features from Asus like AiMesh, TrendMicro protection, or QOS updates.
Very good info, I will watch for that alternate model as well and I think that confirms that the AC68 is the perfect model for what I am looking for.
Great, that is what I was hoping!
In fact, the only annoying thing about my router is that it is sometimes too good. If i’m using google maps on my phone or taking a walk around my neighborhood my device will stay connected until I am all the way down my street. However, the internet is only usable for half or 1/3 of that distance. The phone eventually figures it out and switches to cell or the signal drops but I tend to now set up anything in my garage first then leave. I also use WiFi calling in my house so the router gets some good use.