Help with router choices

[snowboardpunk]

hey guys looking to buy a new router. I can get the 6th gen AirPort Extreme for 60 dollars or the Asus Tm-1900 (which seems like it's an Asus rt-ac68u rebranded) for a 25 dollar deposit.
Is there a big difference between the two? I live in a medium sized apartment in NYC. Have a couple rMBP's, Apple TV(currently AirPlay is a little laggy), and two printers. One laser and one large inkjet for photos. I would love to be able to connect both printers but it seems like the AirPort Extreme only has one USB port and the Asus has two. But I need to connect an external hd to the router so I can use time machine to make back ups. Could I do this on the Asus or is it an AirPort Extreme thing only?
Which do you guys think is better?

 

[Gav2k]

The tm1900 offered more features than any of apples offerings but don't be fooled it's a very gimped version of the Asus rt-ac68u.

Personally I run an apple AirPort Extreme in an all Apple household. As for multi printers, a usb hub will solve your issue.

 

[Ipadlover29]

If you want the wireless time machine backups to be reliable then I would stick with the AirPort Extreme or time capsule. Asus and netgear do support time machine backups but they don't always work as well as an apple router. Btw the time machine backups are pretty slow when connecting a hard drive to the airport extreme since the USB port is 2.0. Two good alternatives to the Airport Extreme are the Asus rt-ac68u and the Netgear R7000. Since you live in a smaller apartment I dont think you will even notice the difference in range between the 3.

 

[snowboardpunk]

If you want the wireless time machine backups to be reliable then I would stick with the AirPort Extreme or time capsule. Asus and netgear do support time machine backups but they don't always work as well as an apple router. Btw the time machine backups are pretty slow when connecting a hard drive to the airport extreme since the USB port is 2.0. Two good alternatives to the Airport Extreme are the Asus rt-ac68u and the Netgear R7000. Since you live in a smaller apartment I dont think you will even notice the difference in range between the 3.

Ok thanks. I decided to get the tm1900 cuz it was free. And it does have usb 3 so I'll just have to buy a hard drive that supports 3.0

Do you guys think I should flash the tm1900 with another firmware? I don't really use that many features nor do I know how. Just need a fast reliable connection