ASUS RT-AC66U Dual band (802.11ac) and USB-AC53 Dual band USB adapter review (802.11ac)
Bluetooth 17 Apr 2013

A traditional 802.11n router is probably what most people would use with their signed up broadband plans. While it delivers the connection, wireless speed is always a major complain.

two boxes

While most 802.11n promises a speed of 450Mbps theoritically, most users will find that the speed doesn’t really go beyond half of it. A single band would also not be able to handle so many clients and cover a larger pool of home users.

Most users will buy their own routers to replace those bundled with their subscription plan. A Dual Band 2.4GHz + 5GHz would be a good choice. While there are various manufacturers out there with such design, the 5GHz band doesn’t really travel far enough.

router at work

With the ASUS RT-AC66U, all these issues are solved with the 802.11ac support which can deliver a theoritical speed of 1300Mbps on the 5GHz band. So, no more hanging during video streaming and you get comparable speeds as good as having a line connection.

The 3 antenna design is specifically design for better coverage of wireless signal. In fact, we noticed that most 5GHz Band routers will be out of the radar once you are around 10 metres aways from the router. For the ASUS RT-AC66U paired up with the  USB-AC53, we can still achieve pretty decent connection speeds even on the 2nd floor.

As a wireless router, the RT-AC66U is more than a simple router. It comes with built in USB ports that connect to printers, 3G/4G dongles or storage media. Other features include guest access, VPN server, DLNA server,  Download Master, 5GHz HD Streaming and Printer Sharing.

ASUS also preloads RT-AC66U with AiCloud ASUS AiCloud is the cloud service that delivers you the most at no cost. Sync your data on a home PC with an online storage account, share files with anyone using a simple link, and stream media from your home PC directly to any internet-connected device. Keep in touch with your stuff wherever and whenever like never before.

the ASUS RT-AC66U is easily setup with the web browser using the setup wizard. The menus are very intuitive and can be easily configured through the web. For Singapore users, the firmware also has option for easy set up for fibre broadband operators, M1, Singtel and Starhub.

In the subsequent pages, we will take a look at the package, setup and benchmarks.

ASUS RT-AC66U Specs

Network Standard IEEE 802.11ac (5GHz): up to 1300Mbps/802.11n (2.4GHz): up to 450Mbps
Ethernet Port WAN x 1, LAN x 4 RJ-45 for 10/100/1000 Base T
Memory I128 MB flash and 256MB DDR2 RAM
Encryption Supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK,
WPA-Enterprise, WPA2 Enterprise, RADIUS with IEEE 802.1x, WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup)
Dimension 207 x 148 x 35.5 mm

 

2 thoughts on “ASUS RT-AC66U Dual band (802.11ac) and USB-AC53 Dual band USB adapter review (802.11ac)”
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