ASUS RT-AC66U 802.11ac Wi-Fi Router Review By Bruce Normann Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Product Name: Dual Band Wireless AC1750 Gigabit Router Model Number: RT-AC66U UPC: 886227037353 Price As Tested: $164.99 (NewEgg | Amazon | B&H) Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by ASUSTeK. The ASUS RT-AC66U 802.11ac wireless router builds on the success of the RT-N66U model that Benchmark Reviews also tested recently. ASUS has been busy looking to the future, and the new IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. While it's not officially approved, it does appear to be stable, and there are products on the market already from all the serious players in wireless networking. While 802.11n was a step forward, and many of us have been appreciative of the additional legroom that the 5GHz band allows, there is still plenty of room for improvement in Wi-Fi performance. The ASUS RT-AC66U looks great sitting on the shelf, better than the majority of routers on offer today, but it's the higher throughput and expanded signal coverage that's going to win over most consumers. The RT-AC66U wireless router has three high gain external antennas, and each of them can transmit simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals. With three data streams running concurrently on each band, you have simultaneous access to 450Mb/s on the 2.4GHz 802.11n channel and 1300Mb/s on the 5GHz 802.11ac channel. A word of caution; those throughput numbers represent the raw data rate that the wireless signal can support. They do not take into account the communications overhead associated with typical data streams such as TCP/IP or UDP. So don't be disappointed with the test results you see in this article or elsewhere; real world throughput is much lower, even for loosely structured protocols like UDP. Before we get to the testing stage, let's have a thorough look at the RT-AC66U hardware and some of its features. Closer Look: ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless Router Routers come in all shapes and sizes. ASUS takes advantage of that freedom to come up with a very attractive design package that sets it apart from the competition. Part of that package is a unique texture that covers most of the top surface. It's a cross-hatch pattern that looks like a blacked-out Burberry pattern to me. The diamond design on the face of the RT-AC66U is unique to ASUS, and it has a matte finish that hides fingerprints. A lot of effort has gone into making the RT-AC66U one of the best looking and aesthetically pleasing routers out there. There's a glossy black strip at the rear, with logo and model information and a row of nine blue LED indicators right in front, with small legends right below them. The side vents are there for a reason, there is a 600MHz Broadcom CPU working away inside the unit, as well as two other large chips from Broadcom that act as the software-defined radios on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I'm convinced that I can write a great and accurate physical description, but just in case I left anything out, here's a picture that does it justice. The RT-AC66U will lay flat or you can stand it up to a near vertical position - it will lean back slightly for stability. It can also be wall mounted, with the two keyhole slots on the bottom, although that's an unlikely choice for most of us. There is an additional stand required in order to keep the router from falling over, when it's standing up. The v-shaped stand clips into to the keyhole slots on the bottom, which then keeps the router and the stand securely connected. Honestly, the stand could have been built a little cheaper and I wouldn't have cared, but this is a premier product for ASUS and from what I've seen for the last five years, they always enjoy making it look the part. The antennas are a little more dominant in appearance when the router is standing up, but I like to think that it's just giving them "room to breathe". The -45/0/+45 orientation you see below is the recommended setup for the three stalks, and there are detents at 0, 45, and 90 degrees on all three antenna bodies that make it easy to set them that way. The bottom of the RT-AC66U is home to a lot more cooling vents, almost the entire bottom surface is covered in slats. Almost all router intended for home use are set up for passive cooling, and most of them get quite warm during normal use. With the RT-AC66U, we have one of the highest performing routers designed for home use, so cooling could be a significant issue. We'll get a better understanding of the cooling strategy once we open the unit up and look inside. Four rubber feet are arranged on the tapered "wings" of the router, pushed out towards the edge for maximum stability. Right in the middle is the product label, with the usual information. I'm very happy that the default IP address of the router is printed right on the label, along with the default username and password for logging in from a standard browser session. ASUS and many other networking companies have also implemented a DNS-style redirect feature that uses a URL catch-phrase like http://myhappyrouter.com to send your browser to the router's setup screen. The trend is towards web-based setups that require an internet connection back to the company's servers. I for one am not pleased with the direction this is heading. Cisco's scheme is the most onerous and invasive at the moment, but everyone is moving that way. There comes a point where making it easier makes it more complicated, and it defeats the purpose. I mean, how hard is it to type "192.168.1.1" into the address bar of your browser and hit the enter key? On the back panel of the ASUS RT-AC66U are all the I/O ports. From left to right they are: Antenna connection 1, Power input, Power switch, 2x USB 2.0 ports, a reset button, 1 Gigabit WAN port, Antenna connection 2, 4x Gigabit LAN ports, a WPS button and finally, Antenna connection 3. I should mention one correction to the legend on the photo below. The power input is labeled "AC socket", but the external power supply delivers about 19V DC. I can't imagine the router being happy if somehow, someone fed it AC power. The label on the bottom of the unit describes the power requirements correctly; it's just this particular marketing material that gets it wrong. Each status indicator has an icon and a blue activity LED directly above it. They are quite bright, but smaller than most LEDs and not as bright when viewed at an angle, so they're not as blinding as some others I have in the house. There are a total of 9 LEDs, and from left to right they indicate: Power On, LAN Ports 1-4 Active, WAN Port Active, 2.4GHz Network Active, 5GHz Network Active, and USB Device Connected. The three included antennas are somewhat large, compared to the main casework of the RT-AC66U. They're no bigger than a number of antennas that I've seen on other wireless router, since the start of the 2.4GHz era. They just look bigger here, because the rest of the RT-AC66U is so sleek by comparison. The antennas attach to the router with standard SMA coaxial connectors that are commonly used for this type of RF application. Antennas are actually very complicated devices, even though they may appear to be simple. They are generally rated by a measure called "dBi", where the performance is rated relative to the simplest standard antenna, which is a dipole model that has a length equal to one wavelength of the transmission frequency. As I said, antennas are very complex devices, and there is plenty of opportunity for snake oil salesmen to make unsubstantiated claims about how well their miracle antenna works. The standard antennas included with the RT-AC66U are rated at 3.5dBi, which is a good rating. In order to improve the signal strength, the antennas would have to be much larger, like several available 9dBi models that are all somewhere between 12" and 15" long. Those are much too unwieldy for normal use unless you mount them remotely and use a cable to connect the antenna to the router. Even a high quality cable, with the right specifications will cause some signal loss, so you may end up with no net signal gain, after all. Besides, the whole point of an 802.11ac wireless router is to use technology to improve performance, rather than brute force hardware mods. Now that we've seen every angle of the ASUS RT-AC66U from the outside, let's pull out the hand tools and take a peek at what's inside. ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless 802.11ac Router Detailed Features The top cover of the RT-AC66U is not easily removed, even after you remove four screws that are hidden underneath the rubber feet, towards the four corners of the unit. There are plastic latching tabs all around the perimeter, which took a bit of force to release, but none of them broke during the process. The regular user won't notice, since there's no practical reason for removing the top cover during normal use. It's not like it's a PC Gaming Case, for instance. A single PC board fills the entire space inside the enclosure, and there are no metal plates or other ballast inside, to add some weight. Like almost all routers and switches intended for home use, the RT-AC66U is lightweight enough to get thoroughly bossed around by a small group of unruly Ethernet cables. Looking at the internal layout, I can't help but wonder if the cooling could be vastly improved by putting the component side of the board, along with the big heatsink, on the reverse side of the enclosure. That's where all the vents are. The only thing that really needs to face the front is the block of LED indicators. Once the main PC board is exposed, the first thing that stands out is the size of the aluminum heat sink that runs almost the full width of the board, which is almost as wide as the case. It's tough to see in the pictures, but it's actually tapered from back to front, which makes it a very custom part. Along the top edge are all the I/O points, most of which are soldered directly to the board. The antenna connectors are different, since RF signals are a bear to control and contain. They have shielded coaxial cables making their way from the rear panel SMA connector bodies, out to RF "safe zones", spaced out around the perimeter of the active circuitry. Peeking out from below the central heatsink is an aluminum RF shield, commonly called a "can", because it completely encloses a section of the active circuitry. If you've ever ripped apart an old cell phone, you'll be familiar with the construction details of the shields. Nestled in between the 1000BASE-T LAN and WAN connectors and the switching hardware are several isolation and impedance matching pulse transformers that keep the Ethernet signals flowing smoothly, with minimal noise. The plastic mounting block along the bottom edge, for the LED lenses, makes sure the bright blue lights get piped to the front panel accurately. Once the heatsink is removed, the two basic functional blocks are revealed. Although it's impossible to see any details through the RF shielding cans, the FCC has generously shared the photos of their full tear-down with the world, and I can tell you what's inside each of them. On the left are the two software-defined radios for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and their associated RF power amplifiers. The star of the show here is the 5GHz radio, sourced from Broadcom. Their BCM4360 Wi-Fi chip sits at the top of their "Fifth Generation" line of Wi-Fi devices. This IC is one of the things that set this router apart from the pack, by generating the three 802.11ac data streams that give you that massive 1.3Gbps maximum data rate. The 2.4 GHz chip is the Broadcom BCM4331, which is the same device that ASUS used on the RT-N66U router, to good effect with 802.11n. With the heatsink in place, the location of the antenna connections seemed a bit random, but you can now see how they tap into the RF section of the board from three different locations. The E-shaped component layout at each pickup point is there because there are two RF signals being pumped into each antenna, one in the 2.4GHz band and one in the 5GHz band. The top and bottom of the "E" are the entry points for each of the two signals, and the center is the summing point. The next picture is courtesy of the FCC, and I apologize for the obvious barrel distortion in the image. However, I certainly appreciate the fact that I don't have to destroy the review sample, just to get a peek at the high tech chips inside. Trust me; it's almost impossible to get those aluminum lids off without destroying them, and usually something else on the board at the same time. The right hand section, with its own shielding enclosure, contains the brains of the router. Inside the can are the CPU, 256 MB of Samsung DRAM, and the switching IC. The RT-AC66U uses the same CPU as the RT-N66U model, a Broadcom BCM4706. It contains a 600MHz MIPS core and communicates with the Wi-Fi radio chips via two separate PCIe interfaces. The switch IC is also from Broadcom and it's a BCM53125, which complies with the IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard. While the majority of the ICs and the overall architecture are sourced from Broadcom, I wouldn't call the board a reference design, by any stretch. There are major differences in hardware design and layout between this device and all of the competitor's products. To me, the RT-AC66U looks like a more mature, and finished design than the others. Several of the others have their 5GHz radios mounted on a mini-PCIe module that plugs into the main board, and their Radio ICs are not even shielded. I realize the IEEE 802.11ac standard isn't ratified yet, but I'm willing to bet that any needed modifications could be implemented in firmware updates. Even though the RT-AC66U came onto the market very quickly relative to other 802.11ac products, ASUS didn't compromise the design process. The bottom of the PC board looks rather sparsely populated, until you realize that all those tiny little specks are actually surface mount components. Some of the power supply parts, VRMs and capacitors mostly, are also in evidence here and they're easier to see. The closer these components are to the electrical load that they service, the more effective they are. It just so happens that the back side of the PCB is the absolute closest location in many instances. The 128MB of Samsung flash memory is located on the back side, as well; this is where the firmware that drives the CPU is stored. The metal plate that's mounted to the back side of the PCB assists mostly with shielding purposes; there's not much heat that gets transferred to it or through it. All in all, the backside of this PCB is nowhere near as interesting or complex as the front side. Normally, I like to dig down one more layer, to the functional block level where the technology really starts to get interesting. But Broadcom is pretty tight-lipped about the technology that's inside their chips. They aren't like Intel, where they have such a monopoly on the market that they can afford to tell the whole wide world what they're doing now, and what they're planning for the next five years. So we'll skip the hard core engineering stuff this time, and take a look at the Features and Specifications for the ASUS RT-AC66U wireless gigabit router. Features and Specifications ASUS RT-AC66UFeatures World's Fastest 802.11ac Wi-Fi Router The ASUS RT-AC66U dual-band router delivers incredible performance and coverage range. The combination of a 5th generation 802.11ac chipset with 3x3 antenna arrays can deliver up to 1300Mbps of wireless data throughput on the 5GHz band for 3X faster wireless than previous 802.11n products. Add in the 450 Mbps data stream that runs concurrently with 802.11n on the 2.4GHz band, and there is a total available bandwidth of 1.75 Gbps. It's now possible to perform bandwidth-intensive tasks with Wi-Fi that were only achievable with a wired connection in the past. 5th Generation 802.11ac Chipset Designed with the latest networking technology, from industry leader Broadcom, the RT-AC66U delivers the world's fastest wireless performance, with a maximum data rate of 1300Mb/s on a single 5GHz channel. Broadcom's new 5G Wi-Fi chip, the BCM4360, contains a number of performance enhancing features, including: Support for 80MHz channel bandwidth, twice as wide as current 802.11n devices 256-QAM, a higher modulation scheme that increases data transfer efficiency Support for standardized Beam-Forming technology that helps increase wireless range, penetration, and data rates Support for Low Density Parity Check Codes (LDPC) and Space-Time Block Codes (STBC) The BCM4360 is the top tier of Broadcom's new family of 5G Wi-Fi chips, and is the only one that supports the PCIe interface and implements three-stream 802.11ac specifications, offering speeds up to 1.3Gbps. 150% Greater Wi-Fi Coverage The ASUS RT-AC66U router and PCE-AC66 adapter are designed for optimal stability and speed with a high-powered 3x3 antenna design that expands wireless signal coverage up to 150%, compared to the Wi-Fi range of standard routers and adapters. Optimized and Reliable Wireless Coverage via Ai Radar ASUS Ai Radar intelligently strengthens connections to compatible wireless devices. With the high-powered amplification and beam package of the RT-AC66U router and PCE-AC66 adapter, Ai Radar provides optimized signals, with better coverage and improved data throughput. Powerful functions, Easy management With the ASUSWRT Dashboard UI, setup, monitor, and control network applications all in one intuitive area. The whole new dashboard interface lets you manage all clients and settings on a single graphical interface and provides 1-click updates. Initial setup is fast and easy, and can be done with a wireless connection. No disk required, no network cable - go ahead and use your Tablet for setup. Optimize Your Network for You Do you game a lot, or spend most of your time streaming videos? Whatever your planned use is, the RT-AC66U has a Quality of Service (QoS) capability that lets you select how much bandwidth is prioritized for virtually any task. Plus, the traffic monitor allows you to check your Web usage in a clear and graphical interface. Two Multi-Functional Built-in USB ports Featuring connectivity to devices, FTPs, SAMBA, UPnP AV servers, and DLNA support, the RT-AC66U makes sharing and networking easier with two built-in USB ports. Download HTTP, FTP, and P2P files to a router-connected USB storage device all day without the need of PC. Additionally, the twin USB ports allow network printer and file server connections, so you perform multiple tasks at once. Download and Stream From Anywhere Download Master and DLNA server lets you download and play multimedia files stored on a router-attached USB storage device on DLNA-compatible devices such as PC, tablet, PS3, XBOX, and Internet TV. Download Master can also download files while a PC is turned off, and allows you to manage and monitor download status remotely. Separate and Secure Wi-Fi Network via Guest Network Access The RT-AC66U supports up to three wireless networks over the 2.4 GHz band and three over the 5 GHz band, so it can protect computers from any unauthorized access, hacking and virus attacks. The parental control allows you to set up designated computer access times. VPN Server Enabled Easily set up a VPN server to surf the Web and access data-no matter where you are. Featuring MPPE encryption, your data transmission will be secure and confidential. Dual-Band Connectivity for Lag-Free Entertainment Delivering both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz concurrent bands up to 450Mbps and 1300Mbps respectively, the RT-AC66U has a total speed of up to 1750Mbps connectivity to provide speed with stability. Perform basic internet tasks like Web browsing and file downloading under the 2.4 GHz band, while also simultaneously streaming 3D HD content and other demanding applications smoothly on the 5 GHz band. Source: asus.com ASUS RT-AC66U Specifications Interface Type 1x Gigabit WAN port 4x Gigabit LAN ports 2x high speed USB 2.0 for 3G sharing, HDD sharing, Samba, DLNA, FTP server, and printer server Antenna 3x external dual-band detachable antennas Memory 128MB Flash/256MB DDR2 RAM Operating Frequency 2.4GHz and 5GHz (concurrent) Data Rate 802.11b: up to 11Mbps 802.11a/g: up to 54Mbps 802.11n (2.4GHz): up to 450Mbps 802.11ac (5GHz): up to 1300Mbps Output Power a mode : 20dBm±1dBm b mode : 23dBm±1dBm g mode : 20dBm±1dBm n mode : 2.4GHz: 16dBm±1dBm; 5GHz: 19dBm ac mode: 5GHz: 16dBm±1dBm (power output may vary by region and local regulations) Receiver Sensitivity -99dBm@1Mbps (11b) -76dBm@54Mbps (11a/g) -73dBm@72.2Mbps (11n 20MHz) -70dBm@150Mbps (11n 40MHz) -60dBm@433Mbps (11ac 80MHz) Encryption 64-bit/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise, WPS (Wi-Fi protected setup) Management * Quality of Service (QoS) * DHCP server * Web-based administration * System event log * Save/restore configuration file Power Adapter AC Input: 100V-240V (50HZ-60HZ); DC output: 19V with max 1.58A current Size 207mm x 148.8mm x 35.5mm/8.15” x 5.86” x 1.40” Weight 450g/0.99lb Utilities Router Setup Wizard, Firmware Restoration, Device Discovery; Printer Setup Utility ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless Router Setup So now that we've had the grand tour of the RT-AC66U hardware, it is time now to look at the software side of things. Setup is as simple or as hard as you want to make it. There are no drivers or software to install, you can simply connect your modem to the WAN port and connect your PC to any of the four LAN ports. The configuration of the RT-AC66U is browser based and the browser will be automatically redirected to the Quick Internet setup screen. It's fairly easy to follow the steps in this process, as there are a minimum of choices and a lot of them are defaulted to the most reasonable choice. The emphasis with this setup mode is to get you up and running as quickly and easily as possible. During the setup process your internet connection type is normally auto-detected; after that are screens to enter wireless security settings and that's it. If that seems too easy, then login to the router again, and you start out with the network map and menu screen shown below. While it may look like a simple menu-driven command structure, keyed off the selections in the left hand pane, each of the boxes in the middle of the screen can be selected and related menus will pop up in the right hand pane. It's a very advanced layout, compared to many of their competitors, and happily it doesn't make basic tasks more difficult. It may look complicated at first glance, but it's actually very intuitive once you start using it. I'm a firm believer in simplicity when it comes to design - all types of design. Too many teams spend 80% of their time and energy designing things that only need to be used 20% of the time, or things that only 20% of users need. That only leaves 20% of their time, to get the parts right, which people need to use 80% of the time. Apple is one of the few design teams that turns the Pareto principle around; they spend most of their efforts getting the parts right, that people use most of the time. The External USB disk status screen below shows how well this interface works. Just click on one of the clients shown on the network device map in the middle, and the right hand pane shows the status. The most common tasks you might want to perform are there in the right hand pane, as well. There are buttons to enable Media Server and the AiDisk Wizard, as well as a button to safely remove the USB device. I know that seems like a throwback to XP, but it's unlikely that most users are going to be popping thumb drives in and out of the router on a regular basis. These two features are more in line with emulating a NAS, using the router and an external disk drive. If you need to dive deeper into management of any device, you click on one of the tabs in the left hand pane; in this case click on the one marked "USB Application". You can set up six guest networks on the RT-AC66U, three each on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Each guest network has its own unique SSID and security settings so you can set up limited connectivity on a guest network that has a low barrier to entry. You don't want to have Grandma getting all cranky when she has trouble connecting her iPad to your internet connection. Each Guest network also has simplified parental controls that allow the administrator to set specific access times, or to shut off internet access completely off. The next tab on the menu is Traffic Manager, which is really geared more towards Quality of Service management. There are two modes, Automatic and User-Defined, which are selected using the drop down box in the upper right. Any time you have a mixture of P2P, Online Gaming, VOIP, and Video Streaming, some level of QoS management is called for. The automatic setting only needs you to input the upload and download speeds for your ISP, and it applies a typical hierarchy to the various services. The User-Defined screens offer much more granular control for each type of service. There is a Traffic Monitor tab in this section which helps you to monitor the following types of network traffic: Internet, Wired, 2.4GHz Wireless, 5GHz Wireless. Incoming and outgoing packets are tracked separately and displayed on a scrolling line graph for each of the four categories of traffic mentioned above. The parental control screen shown below allows you to set specific internet time blocks for individual connected devices. This can be used for guest networks, and for any individual client connected to the router. You can pick and choose which clients to apply controls to from the network map screen or you can enter specific MAC addresses that you want to limit. The USB application and AiCloud menus open up a wider set of possibilities which I'll address in the next section on WAN/Cloud Features. Directly below the six General menus on top, are the advanced settings tabs for the RT-AC66U. The best way to dive into these advanced configuration settings is to download the 130+ page User Manual from the ASUS website. There are plenty of options to keep the power users happy, and too many to discuss here. For now, let's take a look at the features that are focused on expanding access to your network, both internally and externally. ASUS RT-AC66U Router WAN/Cloud Access For years, the router served as the centerpiece of Local Area Networks, LANs. It was enough, just to connect all the local devices together and provide a central distribution point for routing internet access to five, ten, or a hundred local devices, all of them PCs, for the most part. Two recent technology trends have disrupted that simple concept: Network Attached Storage and The Cloud. Let's look at the NAS side of things first. Regular readers of Benchmark Reviews are probably familiar with the typical NAS device, as we have been reviewing them on this site regularly for the last several years. Oversimplifying, they're typically a small box containing 1-10 drive bays, with a bare-bones PC-like controller inside, running a custom Linux distro. They all interface to the network through Ethernet, which makes them much more powerful and flexible than a typical USB-based external drive. In the last couple of years router manufacturers have been adding more diverse connection points to their offerings; it started with the ability to share peripherals, but has grown to include the ability to emulate a NAS. ASUS has two applications that run on the RT-AC66U that mimic the basic functionality of a NAS, AiDisk Wizard and Media Server. AiDisk Wizard extends the basic concept of drive sharing on the LAN by integrating an FTP server into the mix and assigning a customized domain name to it. ASUS operates a DDNS service for its customers that redirects web clients through the domain directly to the FTP server you've set up on your router. To access files on your AiDisk, just launch a web browser and key in the ftp link: ftp://.asuscomm.com. Media streaming is another popular NAS-like function that this ASUS router can perform, using the USB connection as the data source. DLNA and iTunes services are both available, independantly. Both wired and wireless connections are possible with this feature and there are virtually no limits to how many devices are connected this way. The second technology trend that you can't escape from is "The Cloud". There are so many services that are in common use today that depend on the Cloud, that it would be difficult to name them all. In general, the Cloud works best when it makes or common, daily tasks easier. Access is not the issue; as we just saw with the AiDisk Wizard you can use FTP services to login to your router from anywhere internet access is available. What the Cloud offers is a richer interface between the user and a multitude of devices. ASUS offers three capabilities with their latest router that fit into this category, Cloud Disk, Smart Access, and Smart Sync. Cloud Disk offers much the same core functionality as AiDisk, and long-time FTP users may wonder what the fuss is all about. As I said in the intro, it's not about access anymore, because that's become a "given", it's about making it easier for the average person to use. That's what this application does, in a way that's less platform dependent than FTP. Yes, there are FTP clients for almost every computing platform out there, but there's not one that can be used on all of them. That's where Cloud applications make life easier. Cloud Disk provided access to your USB storage via the Cloud, which is great. Smart Access provides access to your whole network via the Cloud, which is better. Once again, the DDNS service provided by ASUS is the enabling factor in making your router accessible via the Web. AiCloud, which is the overall name for all of the cloud-based services that ASUS offers, uses a secure HTTPS connection, but if you're going to use this capability make sure all your network passwords and usernames are appropriately complex and undecipherable. DO NOT leave the default usernames in place, whatever you do! You also get to choose your own domain name, at least a portion of it, but it's not that important to make it a complex set of characters, like it is for passwords. The final cloud-based service I'm going to mention is called Smart Sync. Some people depend heavily on file syncing to keep their documents up to date on multiple systems. For them, there's nothing worse than bringing a document home from work, editing it into a work of perfection, and then forgetting to copy it over to their flash drive. Most syncing schemes require a PC to be connected directly to the LAN in order to work. For those people who are on the go, this won't work, but ASUS' Smart Sync will. Anywhere you have an internet connection, the ASUS Webstorage server will act as the Cloud-based go-between for your portable device and the USB storage connected to your ASUS router. The AUS RT-AC66U router clearly has a lot of features that are either built in, or are enabled by ASUS servers sitting in the Cloud. Most of these features are way beyond what a traditional router is obligated to provide. Fortunately, they're all relatively easy to use and they offer real enhancements that real people can use. I'm tired of talking about features and benefits, though. Let's put the RT-AC66U to the test, and see what three streams of 802.11ac can do, in terms of throughput. Next, we'll describe the testing methodology used, and then we'll get into the results. Network Testing Methodology Testing Methodology To test the ASUS RT-AC66U Router I used two similar test applications, both of which are specifically designed for testing network throughput. The first one was Passmark Performance v7.0 Advanced Network Test. The second one was TamoSoft Throughput Test v1.0, Build 19. These tests measure throughput between two PCs connected through a router (or switch), and normally, the router or switch is the device that is under test. With a known baseline for the router or switch, you can also test the performance of other devices in the communication chain, such as wireless adapters or network interface cards (NICs). In order for this test to work one PC must be set up as 'Client' and the other must be set up as the 'Server'. Each test was run at least five times with the highest and lowest result omitted and the remaining results averaged to give a final result. During earlier testing of GbE and 10GbE network switches, I've already established a baseline benchmark speed for these two workstations, Test System #1 and #2, below. Both of them are Quad-Core Intel systems, and can easily sustain Gigabit transfer speeds and higher, in wired mode. In the past, I used all default values for this benchmark, as shown in the screenshot below, but I discovered in this round of testing that certain combinations required a longer settling time before the true steady-state throughput was revealed. The screens for the Passmark Performance test are the same at both ends, with different elements grayed out, depending on whether you are sitting at the Client computer or on the Server side. The TamoSoft application has different screens for the Client and Server sides. This benchmark eliminates most of the variables involved in network speed testing, but not all. The PCs themselves can introduce spurious issues, such as hardware bandwidth limitations, resource conflicts, wait states, and buffer inconsistencies. In some cases, the networking hardware is having issues communicating with other networking gear. The following chart shows why you have to dig a little deeper than just looking at the Average Transmission rate that is displayed on the main screen. For some reason, at the start of this test the two systems were having a hard time establishing a rapport. The average value (shown in yellow) doesn't really reflect the true capability of the network until things start to settle down around the two minute mark. The default time period that's set in the software for this benchmark is 20 seconds (a looooong time in network transmissions), and the calculated average result at that point is more than 50% higher than the real number. I maxed out the test period to 200 seconds, and was finally able to see some convergence on the data rate after the first minute or so. BTW, the chart below is from a UDP test, where an awful lot of data was NOT making it across; more than 300Mbps was being sent out, and less than 20Mbps was being received and accepted. NOT a good result, as you'll see.... For the second set of tests, I used an application that I discovered when trying to get the measure of some 10GbE networking gear that was on the test bed. Many of the current test products had difficulty measuring the full performance capabilities of a 10GbE network, but I did find a couple of applications that showed promise for normal test speeds. TamoSoft Throughput Test v1.0, Build 19 was the best of the bunch, especially in its ease of use and real-time graphical display of throughput. The graphs I show from Passmark Performance v7.0 Advanced Network Test are only available for viewing after the test is complete. Plus, there is a 200 second limit for the Passmark software, and I was able to run the TamoSoft test for as long as I wanted. Oh, and did I mention that you can run the TCP/IP and UDP tests at the same time? You can specify that only TCP data be used for the test, and I did run several tests to confirm that there were no differences, when running the UDP tests alongside the TCP one. Results for both upload and download are presented, and I ended up using the two download averages for reporting purposes. In the run below, that means a TCP result of 115.18 Mbps and a UDP result of 421.11 Mbps would be counted as the results. The packet loss (19.1 %) and Round-trip time (2.0 ms) are shown as well, but I didn't report that. If the readers really want that data, let me know in the comments section and I'll see about including it, somehow. TamoSoft has a bunch of additional test applications that are more comprehensive and are available for purchase, but this one is free for downloading. Test System 1 (Server) Motherboard: MSI Z68-Express Z68A-GD80 (1.23.1108 BIOS) System Memory: 4x 4GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600MHz (9-9-9-24) Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (BX80623I52500K) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Venomous-X (Delta AFB1212SHE PWM Fan) Video: Intel HD Graphics 3000 Drive 1: OCZ Agility3 SSD 120GB (AGT3-25SAT3-120G) Enclosure: Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P50R PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750TX ATX12V V2.2 750Watt Monitor: SOYO 24"; Widescreen LCD Monitor (DYLM24E6) 1920X1200 Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate Version 6.1 (Build 7600)Results Test System 2 (Client) Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro (1002 BIOS) System Memory: 4x 2GB GSKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1600MHz (7-8-7-24) Processor: Intel Core i5-750 (OC @ 4.0 GHz) CPU Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems (Delta AFB1212SHE PWM Fan) Video: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 (Catalyst 8.840.3.0) Drive 1: OCZ Agility3 SSD 240GB (AGT3-25SAT3-240G) Drive 2: Seagate Momentus-XT Solid State Hybrid Drive ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 4GB Cache SATA 3Gb/s 2.5" Enclosure: CM STORM Scout 2 Gaming Case PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W Crossfire Edition Monitor: Samsung 23"; Widescreen LCD/LED Monitor 1920X1080 Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 Support Equipment Intel EXPI9301 CT Gigabit Ethernet NIC, x1 PCIe 1.1, 1x CAT5 Intel E10G42BT, X520-T2, 10Gbps Ethernet NIC, x8 PCIe 2.0, 2x CAT6a 50-Foot Category-6 Solid Copper Shielded Twisted Pair Patch Cable ASUS PCE-AC66 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E Adapter Networking Comparison Products TRENDnet TEW-673GRU Dual Band N300 Wireless Router Linksys EA4500 Dual Band N450 Wireless Router There is a constant and random potential for Wi-Fi signal degradation in a typical home or office environment. A drop in signal strength and the maximum available data rate usually occurs at locations that are distant from the source, or where there are barriers between the source and receiver. I performed all testing with the router(s) in the same location, and moved the PC and Wi-Fi adapter to three different locations in the house. Yes, I dragged a PC and monitor around the house, because it has the highest potential performance for these benchmarks and the Wi-Fi adapter I used is one of the best available devices on the market, right now. The first test location was in the same room, at a distance of 10' with a clear line of sight between the router and adapter antenna arrays. The second location was 20' away in an adjacent room, with back-to-back closets directly between the two devices. I don't think the clothes had as much impact as the two sets of tightly stacked wire hangers did. The third location was with the PC and adapter downstairs, 25' away from the router in its same location upstairs. The kitchen, which probably has more metal in it than any room in the house, was between the router and the network adapter. In all cases, I used the signal strength display in the adapter software to optimize the location and orientation of the antennas. This is exactly what you should do when setting up any wireless device, taking care to avoid obstructions and reflecting surfaces that might degrade the signal. Signal strength and stability are both important, when optimizing antenna locations. Of course, all this 'care and feeding' of your Wi-Fi device goes out the window if you're using mobile hardware. The encryption level was set to WPA2-PSK during the entire testing process. You get better throughput without encryption, but most people understand the need for encryption and they use it, at least if my neighborhood is anything to go by. I used the ASUS PCE-AC66 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E Adapter for all tests, in order to focus on the differences in router performance. It proved to be a very sensitive device, pulling in many more local networks than I typically see on my phone, tablet, or notebook. It's also the only adapter on the market right now that is fully compatible with the full 3x3 802.11ac implementation on the RT-AC66U router. I concentrated my testing on 802.11n and 802.11ac in the 5GHz band, since there is not much point in proving that the newest hardware can perform with an outdated protocol. I know the 802.11b/g standard often allows for better wall penetration, because of the lower frequency that it gets used with, 2.4GHz, v. 5GHz, but most Wi-Fi users are moving to the 5GHz band to avoid the congestion on the older frequency band. The ASUS RT-AC66U router shipped out with firmware v3.0.0.4.270, which is the latest released version currently available on the ASUS support web page. There was a beta version available that was newer, but I did not test with it. Passmark Advanced Network Test Results The first test was conducted at a distance of 10 feet, which is slightly more than double the minimum recommended distance of 1.5 meters. ASUS suggests reducing the transmitting power of the router and the adapter if they are located any closer than 1.5 meters. The default transmitting power is set at the factory to 80mW. In this test, the router and adapter were located at approximately the same height and there was a clear line-of-sight between the two sets of 3x3 antennas, with no obstructions. The first thing to note is that these benchmark results show 'Real-World' throughput. Nobody using Wi-Fi is actually getting the throughput performance that's highlighted on the front of the manufacturer's box. Those are theoretical numbers, and they refer to the raw data bitrate that's possible with the hardware in question. In this particular test, with the router and adapter in the same room, I did achieve the theoretical maximum data rate of 1300 Mbps, as indicated by the monitoring software that was included with the wireless adapter. But, between the data encryption that I was running and the error handling overhead of the various communication protocols, the effective data rate is always going to be much lower. TCP results for the three routers under test were strong in the line-of-sight test, with the two 802.11n routers pulling in throughputs in the mid 70 Mbps range. The ASUS RT-AC66U easily bested that with 802.11ac performance in the mid 90 Mbps range. UDP performance was another story altogether. The TRENDnet and Linksys routers both threw away more than 80% of the bits transmitted with this protocol. The RT-AC66U had a very low rate of bit loss at this short distance, and there were some trials where there were zero bits lost. That's extremely rare for a UDP data stream. The effect of all that is clearly shown in the results, where the ASUS had an average transmission rate of 369 Mbps and the closest performance with an 802.11n router was 63 Mbps. Moving the PC and Wi-Fi adapter into an adjacent room, with double the distance and multiple obstructions between the antenna arrays reduced the effective transmission rate slightly. The ASUS RT-AC66U went from an average throughput of 95 Mbps to 87 Mbps. That's an 8 percent reduction, but in real life, you probably wouldn't notice it. The Linksys actually gained two megabits per second in this test, and had an average rate of 75 Mbps. The TRENDnet lost about a third of its throughput, and ended up with a 50 Mbps rate in this test. The UDP benchmarks followed a similar trend, with the ASUS still maintaining a throughput well over 300Mbps. The Linksys stayed about the same, and the TRENDnet lost about 30% of its throughput at the longer distance, with obstructions. None of these performance losses would translate to a noticeable difference for web surfing, but file transfers, data backups, or HD video streaming might be affected. Using your Wi-Fi device one room removed from the router is hardly the most challenging test, so in order to up the ante I dragged the test PC downstairs to the room that's furthest away from the router location. That room happens to be the pantry, that's right next to the kitchen. Both rooms have a high packing density, with lots of wood and metal items to block and deflect radio waves. The only thing more challenging would be to go over to my neighbor's house. The higher performance of the 802.11ac standard is really evident here, where the ASUS RT-AC66U held on to most of its line-of-sight performance levels. The TCP throughput was back up to 96 Mbps for the ASUS, while the other two routers dropped back to 66 and 51 Mbps. In UDP, the ASUS stayed above the 300 Mbps rate, and the closest the 802.11n routers came was 43 Mbps. I want to show one chart that demonstrates the beam forming capability of the new 802.11ac routers. After about 90 seconds, the Broadcom BCM4360 radio chip inside the ASUS RT-AC66U has completed an analysis of the three separate RF signals going back and forth between the two 3x3 antenna arrays, and has adjusted the phase of each of them to generate a coherent wave front. This has the same effect as making the signal stronger, which then increases data throughput, as you can clearly see. There is an increase in real-world throughput of approximately 20% with this technology, if implemented correctly, as ASUS has done here. This technique is old hat in the RF world - it was invented in 1905 and actually implemented by both sides during WWII. If you ever noticed the four short antennas arranged in a 12" x 12" square on the trunk of a police cruiser, then you've seen a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system in action. Beam forming was actually introduced in the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard, but hasn't really been successfully implemented until now, with the new batch of 802.11ac routers coming into the market. There's been a lot of conjecture about how well it was going to work, and now we have the answer. Clearly, none of these results are anywhere near the typical wired data rates of 1 Gbps. The UDP rates aren't bad, consistently above 300 Mbps with compatible hardware, but the TCP throughput carries a mighty high burden of communication overhead. Two other things stand out to me, as I review these benchmarks. One, the new 802.11ac standard is worth it, in terms of enhanced coverage and increased throughput. Two, there is a very real and measurable difference between the best wireless routers and the rest. I can't say that the ASUS RT-AC66U is THE best, because I haven't tested them all. I can say that its performance was always a step or two above the other units in this test. It's also the most expensive, but the extra features and capabilities you get are worth the investment, IMHO. TamoSoft Throughput Test Results The first test was conducted at a distance of 10 feet, which is slightly more than double the minimum recommended separation distance of 1.5 meters. ASUS suggests reducing the transmitting power of the router and the adapter if they are located any closer than 1.5 meters. The default transmitting power is set at the factory to 80mW, and is easily adjusted with the included software. In this test, the router and adapter were located at approximately the same height and there was a clear line-of-sight between the two sets of 3x antennas, with no obstructions. The first thing I noticed with the TamoSoft results is that the UDP performance of all three routers was more uniform. The results with the Passmark test suite seemed like more of an On-Off situation, with the best performance six or seven times higher than the best of the rest. I'm glad I had more than one test suite in house, to gain a better perspective. All that pain I went through when I got the latest 10GbE networking hardware on the test bench paid off... With only 10 feet separating the router and adapter, and no obstructions or reflecting surface between the two, radio signals were clear and stable during this test. The ASUS RT-AC66U pulls first place in both TCP and UDP tests. The average result for the ASUS was 121 Mbps with TCP and 611 Mbps with UDP. Both of those results are for the "Downstream" test, as I explained in the Testing Methodology section. That's a 50% improvement over the n-based routers in TCP, and a whopping 2.6x performance advantage in UDP. Even in less challenging situations, the new 802.11ac standard provides a significant performance benefit. Moving the PC and Wi-Fi adapter into an adjacent room, with double the distance and multiple obstructions between the antenna arrays changed the results slightly. In TCP, the ASUS RT-AC66U went from an average throughput of 121 Mbps down to 106 Mbps. That's a 12 percent reduction, but in real life, you probably wouldn't notice it. The Linksys actually gained about ten megabits per second in this test, while the TRENDnet lost about the same amount. The UDP benchmarks followed a similar trend, with the ASUS throughput reduced to 447 Mbps, about a 27% loss. The Linksys gained about 50 Mbps, and the TRENDnet also gained about 20 Mbps of throughput at the longer distance, complete with obstructions. Anyone who says they can make sense out of radio waves is a magician, a god, or a liar. These are all still good, usable throughputs for a home environment, especially since they are real data rates, not theoretical numbers. Next, I dragged the test PC downstairs to the room that's furthest away from the router's stationary location in the library upstairs. The downstairs room happens to be the pantry, right next to the kitchen. Both rooms have lots of dense wooden and metal items on the surrounding walls to block and reflect radio waves. The only thing more challenging would be to go over to my neighbor's house and set up shop in his kitchen! The ASUS RT-AC66U held on to most of its line-of-sight performance levels, even in the toughest location. The TCP throughput was down only slightly, to 113 Mbps for the ASUS, which is less than a 10% loss. The other two routers both dropped back to 74 and 66 Mbps, which are still decent results. In UDP mode, the ASUS stayed close to the rate achieved in the adjacent room, just dropping back about 5% to a 425 Mbps rate. The two 802.11n routers lost quite a bit more performance in this location and achieved 183 and 117 Mbps of throughput. The results with the TamoSoft software test application were generally consistent with the ones I obtained with the Passmark Advanced Network Test. The UDP benchmark in the TamoSoft app is probably more realistic than what Passmark provides. There were too many packet losses with the Passmark test, and the wild oscillations that occurred at the beginning of the test were not present when I used the TamoSoft throughput test. Clearly, none of these results are anywhere near the typical wired data rates of 1 Gbps. They never will be, until we have to start encrypting ALL our data transmissions, in a vain attempt to avoid having our Facebook comments being corrected for English grammar by GCHQ. Wi-Fi 2.0 Final Thoughts Radio waves are pesky things. For close to a hundred years, humans have been fiddling with radio antennas, trying to get better reception. In the early days of radio, it was called "The Wireless". One, or maybe two, duly appointed members of the household were tasked with adjusting the Rube Goldberg contraption of wires, bars, poles and clips, until the receiver locked in on the local signal for a while, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as their favorite syndicated show came on the air. Television brought new challenges - rabbit ears and tin foil were the weapons of choice against the random onslaught of snow. Listening to static was bad enough, now we had to watch it, too. Today, we see cell phone nomads wandering around from window to window in their steel-encased buildings, trying to get a clear signal and avoid dropping their call. Then, we get to the biggest RF data feed of all time, the internets. Users are increasingly accessing the web via Wi-Fi. Blame the Tablets... Blame the cellular service providers, who envisioned turning their mountains of gold into platinum, and priced their 4G data packages out of reach. Whoever you want to blame, the Wi-Fi versions of tablets are flying off the shelves 5 times faster than the ones with cellular modems built in. The number of Wi-Fi access points is doubling approximately every three years. There are over 3 million Wi-Fi Hotspots in the USA today, and that number will also double by the year 2016. It's almost enough to make me want to go out and buy a Chromebook. What's the number one thing people are accessing on their mobile screens? VIDEO. Never mind how many devices there are, and their exponential growth rate, the typical data rates for each content creator and content consumer are also growing exponentially. Don't worry, x2 times x2 is only x4....!! The importance of Wi-Fi in the mobile communications landscape is underrated by most consumers. We all think we're going to continue getting our mobile data from 4G cellular providers, but the fact is they can't keep up with demand Then there's that ugly little economics theory of "Supply and Demand" that's going to make its presence felt, long before we actually hit any technology limits. So, as quaint and 1990's as it seems, Wi-Fi hotspots are going to continue to be a big part of our mobile data supply chain. Just so you don't get the future confused with the past (...oh, those clothes!!), the Wi-Fi hotspots that are on the horizon are called Hotspot 2.0. Yeah, let's hope the technology is more original than the name... There is already an IEEE standard for it - 802.11u, and the basic idea is to make Wi-Fi hotspots behave more like a cellular network. You don't have to log in to a new network every time your phone moves out of range of one cell tower and within range of another, it all happens automatically and is completely transparent to the user. Hotspot 2.0 is an industry initiative that uses 802.11u as a fundamental building block, and provides for seamless Wi-Fi authentication and handoff. The network discovery, registration, and authentication steps a Wi-Fi user performs manually today, will all be automated with Hotspot 2.0. Today's new 5th generation Wi-Fi routers are just one more step in a long history of communication technologies that have transformed the world. More change is on the way; in the meantime enjoy what we currently have at our disposal. ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless 802.11ac Router Conclusion Important: This section is a brief five point summary on the following categories; Performance, Appearance, Construction, Functionality and Value. Although the ratings and final score in this conclusion are as objective as possible, please be aware that every author perceives these factors differently, at various points in time. As Albert Einstein said, "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. A high or low score does not necessarily mean that it is better or worse than a similar product that has been reviewed by another writer here at Benchmark Reviews. These are subjective ratings, and they're unique to the individual who creates them. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusions, as they represent our product rating for the sample received, which may differ from the retail versions available when you are ready to purchase. It's appropriate to talk about performance first, as that is where the ASUS RT-AC66U really shines. The performance of the RT-AC66U is truly excellent, especially when used with an adapter that can utilize all three data streams, like the ASUS PCE-AC66 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E Adapter. The performance barely tapered off with either distance or obstructions, in contrast to the 802.11n routers I compared it with. Part of the credit has to go to the new 802.11ac standard, but the teardown revealed top notch design and construction that undoubtedly contributed to the performance I observed. There is no doubt which router is top dog in my house right now, both for throughput and reliable signal coverage. The ASUS RT-AC66U is absolutely number one in appearance among recent router products, at least from my perspective. The NETGEAR R6300 is one of the few that can compete with it, for appearance. The fact that it looks different from 99% of the routers on the market today is a good thing. At first, when I saw images online, I wondered what the textured diamond-like pattern on the top surface was all about. Now that I've had it set up in my office for about a month, it fits right in. Now, every matte black, or shiny white, or plain grey wireless router looks plain and ordinary to me. The construction of the ASUS RT-AC66U is definitely a cut above the competition. The external design is well done, even if it is a repeat of a previous model. The internal design and construction is where ASUS really hit a home run, though. The PC board design looks much more like a finished product than what their competitors are offering at this time. The shielding on the board, so important for high-power RF devices like this, is also much more sophisticated and effective on the ASUS. The only room for improvement I saw was, I think the cooling could be improved by flipping the board around, so the heatsink is on the side of the case that has all the vents. Functionality of the ASUS RT-AC66U gets top marks. ASUS takes full advantage of the two USB 2.0 ports to add NAS-like capabilities, and several Cloud-based features. You can also attach a 3G or 4G USB modem to the router for internet sharing. The automatic QoS settings are quick and simple, as is the rest of the setup. Managing the router settings is a pleasure, due to the excellent software ASUS provides. Naturally, the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands both run concurrently, which allows you to maximize the available bandwidth. The external antennas offer an opportunity to use larger, or more directional antennas, but they will only be required for extreme cases. The combination of adjustable transmitting power and bandwidth, beam-forming technology, and three streams of 802.11ac work together to provide a greatly expanded useful range. The ASUS RT-AC66U 802.11ac wireless router is available for $164.99 (NewEgg | Amazon | B&H). This product is definitely at the high end for wireless routers, but any router that has a similar feature set is going to have a similar price. In terms of value, I don't know that the extra speed that you get with the RT-AC66U makes it a worthwhile investment. But I've got DSL service from my ISP instead of fiber and only a few users that need to connect wirelessly, so YMMV. For me, the increased coverage and the stability of the Wi-Fi connection in difficult locations is what makes it worth the price of admission. For the first time, I'm considering putting the downstairs office PC on a wireless connection, and getting rid of that 50' length of CAT6 cable that snakes its way around every corner and crevice of the house. Ask yourself, "How many holes do I have to drill in the walls and floor before it makes sense just to buy a better wireless router?" I know my answer... Pros: + Very high throughput + 3 data streams on both bands + Expanded Wi-Fi range with 802.11ac + NAS-like features with USB storage + Cloud applications with ASUS DDNS service + Beam forming technology really works + Superior construction quality + Unique stylish looks + Flexibility of external antennas w/SMA connectors + Simultaneous Dual-Band (2.4/5GHz) operation + 3G/4G modems usable in USB 2.0 ports + Easy setup routine + Intuitive and well-designed UI + Extra-long PSU cable with Velcro cable-tie Cons: - Only one available adapter that handles 3-Stream 802.11ac, PCIe only - Setup process without internet connection is not well documented - Parental controls use explicit Start-Stop times; daily usage limits might be useful Ratings: Performance: 9.50 Appearance: 9.25 Construction: 9.25 Functionality: 9.00 Value: 9.00 Final Score: 9.2 out of 10. Excellence Achievement: Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer Award. COMMENT QUESTION: What benefit do you need most from IEEE 802.11ac, higher throughput or better Wi-Fi coverage?