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Mercusys AC1900 MR50G Wi-Fi Router $55 Delivered @ Amazon AU

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Mercusys AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router - Full Gigabit LAN Ports, 6 High Gain External Antennas, Easy Install (MR50G)

It is not one of these $500 routers everyone usually posts here. It is an ultra value option.
It seems that you are getting a lot of router for the money.

If one only has a basic use for their router (just to plug it into NBN modem and share the internet via wifi) I could never justify those expensive routers, simply can not see what I am getting for the money, thus, buying a cheap one.

Amazon may be matching Wireless1 which have the same price for it.

Update: camels price is up to date now.

Mine arrived today, working great on 100Mbps internet, consistent solid 100 every time I test it, was around 45-50 on the old modem.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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closed Comments

  • +12

    Best antennas per dollar value I've ever seen in a router

  • +2

    That’s an ugly one :(

    • +3

      Reminds me of a dead Daddy Long Legs spider

    • I don't consider my router an element of an interior design, since it sits in a wardrobe and I never see it anyway.

    • +1

      tarantula

  • +5

    It's always this price. Would rather get a used AC68U which can run Merlin.

    • Camels don't show that it is always this price.

      AC68U is around $375 on Amazon right now. Would you teach me where to get used for $50?

      What does Merlin give you anyway? In simple terms.

      • It's been $55 on eBay since forever. The AC68U is not a $375 router, that price would be jacked due to low stock or for other reasons. Brand new it usually goes for around $150. On Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree most listings are around $80-100 but there's frequently people who will sell for <$70.

        Merlin gets you a much broader feature set on the router. You could use it to run a VPN server so that you can have your devices act like they're on your home network, even away from home (prevents dodgy Wi-Fi from seeing your data and also allows you to circumvent blocked websites), you get enhanced QoS (balances your bandwidth between devices so that if two are trying to download a file they'll both go at half instead of first come first serve or another approach), and though not a Merlin exclusive feature you can mesh two of the routers together to extend coverage.

        • Thanks, I do not need any of these features. In the case of a basic use, they should act similar I guess.

        • If people can’t be bothered to look-up themselves, then explaining is wasted effort. Only after pain (hacked, credentials stolen, bot’ed, etc.) “basic” becomes insufficient.

          • +1

            @AlexF: That is a substitution of concepts. A customer does not see what he is paying for in expenive router, so we will try to scare him by some hacking… Does Merlin firmware prevent your router from being hacked? Aren't all routers have a built in firewall and encryption anyway?
            There are industry standards in terms of network safety in place.

            • @Musiclover:

              Does Merlin firmware prevent your router from being hacked?

              Haha you managed to hit on one case where I does help. Merlin is frequently updated and typically better coded (less old, vulnerable libraries, exposed endpoints etc).

              However if this is actually a risk is a different story. I don't really see much, practically speaking, where router attacks happen to the average person. Especially with cgnat it's even less likely.

        • What you described would only apply to 5-10% of people.

          • @Jugganautx: I don't think mesh is a 5-10% thing. Many bigger houses benefit from it.

            The RT-AC68U is also a tried and tested router that many people use, while the Mercusys is very much unknown.

            • @Void: Mesh isn't really a % improvement thing. You either need it or you don't.

              • @incipient:

                Mesh isn't really a % improvement thing. You either need it or you don't.

                most definitely % - distance and obstructions from AP decrease signal strength and/or quality, hence effective bandwidth, not either on or off.

                • @AlexF: Oh it'll increase speed but the % is individual to each case. I more mean, the signal strength is about 50% at the front of my house, but the speed is still adequate, so I simply don't need mesh. Having that feature or not is entirely meaningless. If you had say 20% strength in parts of your house, you absolutely need a mesh, so a router without it just isn't an option. You either need it or not. Then just becomes a choice of if you determine you need it.

              • @incipient: That's not what I mean. I meant that mesh is useful to more than 5-10% of people.

                • @Void: Oh. Haha gotcha. Mybad. Well and truly misunderstood that ¬¬

  • +1

    Daddy long legs version.

  • -4

    Dont biy these ultra value as they are next to useless. Spend 50 bucks more and get a future proof ax router

    • +3

      Ax isn't important for "future proof", not at this entry level. None of the new additions to the spec will mean much.

    • +2

      Oh, yes, future proofing your tech, that's a very smart investment. And it's only x2 more in price. Makes perfect sense. I shall pass though.

      • Funny enough ax isn't even future proofing. WiFi 7 802.11be will be adopted in 2024 and it's almost 2023.

  • +1

    $9.17/antenna !

  • Would you buy this for your parents ?

    Mine currently using Telstras supplied modem.

    • +1

      I bought this for myself. Because the old modem that was supplied by the internet provider could only do aroynd 50Mbps and I switched to a 100Mbps internet, so had to upgrade.

  • Anyone able to share their thoughts on whether I should upgrade my ISP provided modem with this, if at all it's worth upgrading in the first place?

    Current modem is a TG789vac v2 and our internet plan is a FTTN 50mbps(?), if that helps.
    I currently use ethernet hooked up to the PC and usually browse the web and play online games while I live in a family household that has multiple device connections via WiFi.
    Many thanks,

    • If you are connected via ethernet cable I do not think you need an upgrade - it will no change much. It's mostly about wi-fi speeds.

  • Bargain! Thanks OP

  • Support for Mercusys MR50G by OpenWRT unlikely so for me that places it in the don't buy category.

    Xiaomi AX3600 has experimental firmware which I've had good experiences with.

    • I don't get this obsession with third party software. Maybe I am not into routers. Maybe one day it will all become clear to me. But right now - pretty happy with my Mercusys… The stock software is quite advanced by the way. Even has free cloud access.

      • I find most router software has limited features (e.g. DHCP, VPN, File server, etc.) when compared with OpenWRT. Secondly vendor security updates are infrequent at best.

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