Asus RT-N66U Review/Experience

Shaqo_Wyn · August 20, 2014

I got the Asus RT-N66U two days ago and I've been running it through its paces. This isn't really a pro review with quantified results and real tests, you can check out the PCworld or CNET review for that. It's more of a summary of my experience using the router, problems I ran into etc. My hope is that people who are looking to buy this router can take some useful information from this 'review'.

Background

I upgraded from a Cisco Linksys WRT160N v3 router that I bought about 3-4 years ago to the Asus RT-N66U. The old router couldn't keep up with my needs anymore and had started dropping the wireless signal a lot lately. I wanted a good dual-band router that could supply my wireless-N devices with a good strong and stable wireless signal. I will only be using the Asus firmware.

Specs

It's marketing name is the Asus Dark Knight Double 450Mbps N Router (model: RT-N66U). It's is a Dual-Band Gigabit router based on the 802.11n wireless standard. It can transmit up to 450Mbps on both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band simultaneously for a total of up to 900Mbps. Hence it being a Wireless-N900 router.

Price: paid $120 on Amazon

Product page: http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTN66U/

PCworld review: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028227/asus-rt-n66u-router-review-the-best-802-11n-router-for-the-home-or-home-office.html

CNET review: http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-rt-n66u-dark-knight-double-450mbps-n-router/

Build quality and looks (first impressions)

It's a great looking device. A good bit smaller than I expected it to be based on the video's and photo's I saw of it.

It's sturdy and feels durable, as you would expect with a $120 high-end router from Asus. The carbon fiber like pattern on the face of the router is sleek and looks the part.

The router consists mainly of what to me feels like some sort of hard plastic and metal around the LAN, WAN and other ports.

The three large antenna's give the router an aggressive, 'it means business' look. The included vertical stand is also sturdy and fits well. A lot of reviews I watched stated that the stand was flimsy and that it kept falling off. Looks like Asus has addressed this now.

UI and setup

The setup was a breeze and the UI is simple enough that even beginner to intermediate users can easily find their way without having to check the manual. All you have to do is make sure your modem and router are powered on, plug your modem via an Ethernet cable to the router's WAN port and then plug another Ethernet cable from one of the router's LAN ports to your PC. The PC instantly notifies you that it has detected a wireless router that has yet to be setup and you just follow the steps from there. During the setup the router also prompts you to let it download the latest firmware from the Asus server. The UI also gives you access to all the advanced settings that experienced users can utilize to further tinker with the router.

The UI allows you to easily change and/or check many things:

* change the SSID and password of both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands

* check the status of the router's CPU and RAM

* check which devices are connected to the router

* setup seperate SSID's and passwords for guests for both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands

* implement parental controls

* connect storage devices to it and share files with your whole network

* setup a VPN and much more

Performance

The signal strength on the 2.4GHz channel is through the roof compared to my old WRT160N. I used to get 2 out of 5 bars in the main bedroom, now I get 4 out of 5. The speed is amazing too! I have 20Mbps down (I know, sucks..), the old router used to give me 18Mbps on a wired connection and the wireless connection dropped all the way down to 10-12Mbps.

The RT-N66U gives me between 18 and the full 20Mbps on both the wired and the wireless connection!

The 5GHz is fast too but the signal strength drops off quickly, the farther away you are from the router. However, I've read on a few forums that this seems to be the case with all dual-band routers. Most people recommend you keep the devices on the 5GHz channel as close to the router as possible. For me the big advantage is that at the moment I'm the only one in my neighborhood making use of the less crowded 5GHz band.

Dual-Band Confusion

I'm going to cover a few problems I ran into because of my inexperience with dual-band routers. It's my fault for the most part for not doing the proper research but maybe you might have missed these details too, if it's also your first time. Luckily, I figured it out with more research and some great help from the LTT community. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/200014-asus-rt-n66u-questions/#entry2711284

Compatibility:

From my preliminary research I thought that all wireless-N device would be compatible with dual-band, in other words that all these devices would be able to utilize both the 2.4GHz and 5Ghz wireless band. Turns out that not all wireless-N devices are dual-band compatible and this is the unfortunate case for two older laptops of mine. You can easily check this though. Go to device manger on your PC > network adapter > check out what network adapter you have > Google the name followed by 'specs'. One of the first results should have the specs telling you if your network adapter is dual-band compatible or not. Devices that aren't dual-band compatible won't detect the 5GHz band during scans either.

Setting up the 5GHz band:

There are a few ways to go about it. You can have the same SSID for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The idea here is that dual-band compatible devices will use 5GHz and non-compatible devices will use 2.4GHz. The problem here is that as previously stated, the 5GHz wireless signal drops off very quickly, the farther away you are from the router. This leads to the 2.4GHz being the stronger signal in many parts of the house. Since most dual-band compatible device are setup to use the strongest signal, you'll find them using the 2.4GHz signal instead of the 5GHz signal a lot. The easiest way to solve this is to change the SSID of the 5GHz band slightly (I added _5GHz to the original SSID). This way you have two SSID's. One you connect the 2.4GHz devices to and one you connect the 5GHz device to.

Detecting the 5Ghz wireless signal:

I don't know if this one applies to everyone or just me. When I had the 5GHz band channel on 'auto' my dual-band devices couldn't find it. When I put it on one of the available 5GHz channels (I chose 36) the devices found the signal instantly. Keep this fix in mind if you run into the same problem.

Optimization:

As I mentioned previously I'll only be using the Asus firmware, but I'm sure there are other firmware packages out there that allow for you to get even more out of the RT-N66U. If you're like me you might wanna do the following. I read about it in another review of the router and I don't know to what extent they increase my wireless signals effectiveness but I did it anyway.

1. Switch the bandwidth setting on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to 40MHz instead of 20MHz or 20/40MHz.

2. Use an app like Wifi Analyzer to find out what channels other routers in your area are on. Most are on channel 6 by default and the more routers on a channel the more interference they cause for each other. Move your router to the farthest channels with the least interference. For example, if everybody in your neighborhood is on channel 1 and 6, put yours on channel 11.

You can do this under advanced settings > wireless in the Asus firmware UI.

It's HOT!

I'm not talking Margot Robbie hot, I mean the router gets pretty hot to the touch. It seems that an earlier version of the router had a fan inside. Mine definitely doesn't.

The heat isn't anything the router can't handle but it made me kind of uncomfortable. Luckily there are some easy solutions to the problem. Since the vents for the aluminum heat fins are at the bottom, the router runs significantly cooler when you use to stand to orientate it vertically. You can also raise it up horizontally as long as you don't use something that also covers up the vents at the bottom, this will prevent the heat from escaping. The most effective solution by far is to have a fan blow air over the bottom of the router. I had a 200mm fan on a stand laying around and that's what I use with the router in the vertical orientation. It's not the best long term solution but it will help when the router is under heavy load and it makes the router completely cool to the touch.

Conclusion

In conclusion this router is definitely worth the price, even if you're only using the Asus firmware. It looks great and is well built. The 2.4GHz band is excellent. The Gigabit wired connection performs as it should. It's easy to use and is loaded with features. The 5GHz band could have better range and I wish the router didn't get so hot. These are only small cons though, so I give the Asus RT-N66U a 9 out of 10.

This concludes my review, hope it was of some value to you. I'd love to hear what you guys think.