Why exactly ASUS, what is remarkable about this model, comparison with the nearest models from the same manufacturer and competitors, the main chips and features of the firmware, whether you should buy a more expensive one or, on the contrary, get by with a cheaper solution.

1. Main criteria

It's time to change the router and I was faced with the choice of the most suitable model for me. Like every sophisticated user, I wanted to have a powerful functional device at an affordable price. At the same time, I was clearly aware of the criteria that it must meet and what functions I might need:

• gigabit LAN ports
• Wi-Fi 802.11ac (5GHz) support
• powerful wifi signal at 2.4 and 5 GHz
• support for MU-MIMO technology
• bandwidth management
• traffic prioritization (QoS)
• OpenVPN client support
• Support for IPTV and DLNA
• preferably 2 USB port
• convenient setup and monitoring
• good alternative firmware
• productive stuffing
• good workmanship
• cost within 100$

Most of the basic options are supported by all routers, so I will not focus on them. I'll tell you a little more about my criteria and what it's all about.

First of all, I need a gigabit router, since I constantly drive large files of 30-50 GB over the local network. So LAN ports must have a speed of 1 Gb / s. Now in such routers and the WAN port usually has a speed of 1 Gb / s, although this is not required by many, most providers have a maximum Internet speed of 100 Mb / s.

Support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band is dictated by the congestion of networks in the 2.4 GHz band (a bunch of neighboring routers), which leads to slowdowns and failures in Wi-Fi. At the same time, I have mobile devices that support the 802.11ac standard, which can be used at a frequency of 5 GHz.

For both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, the signal strength must be high enough to cover a 3-room apartment of 70 m2. This means that you need sufficiently powerful external antennas.

MU-MIMO technology allows you to service wireless devices not sequentially as in cheap routers, but in parallel, which speeds up Wi-Fi operation when connecting more than one wireless device. I usually always have a laptop connected, two smartphones and sometimes a tablet, so I wanted to have support for this technology.

Bandwidth management allows you to set certain limits or priorities for the use of the Internet various devices. For example, on the second PC, I often download torrents, and on my laptop, my wife watches videos online. I would like to be able to limit this PC's internet speed somewhat so that they don't interfere with internet surfing or online gaming on my main PC

It would also be nice if it would be possible to set a higher priority for game packages or videos, let's say downloading files below, so that it does not increase ping and does not slow down video uploads or Skype chats. This is what traffic prioritization (QoS) is for. By the way, many routers support QoS, but not everywhere it can be flexibly configured so that it works as it should.

Many mid-range routers and above support VPN server mode, which allows you to access home computers and other network devices from the Internet. However, not everyone can work in VPN client mode and support the popular OpenVPN protocol. This may be needed, for example, for the type of torrents and social networks directly on the router, without the need to install special programs on each computer and mobile device

Yes, features such as VPN server and VPN client are supported in alternative firmware that can be installed on inexpensive routers. But I wanted to have such an opportunity out of the box so as not to flash the router from the very beginning, because problems can come with alternative firmware, and its possible “bricking” can void your warranty. You also need to take into account that alternative firmware for normal operation requires more powerful hardware, so you still can’t get by with the cheapest router. In addition, native firmware is more convenient and easier to set up, does not require special knowledge.

IPTV support is needed for those whose provider provides such a service, and DLNA allows you to broadcast media content (movies, music, photos) from a computer or external drive to other devices on the network (TV, tablet, etc.). Even if you don’t need it now, it’s not a fact that you won’t need it tomorrow.

USB ports allow you to connect flash drives, external drives, 3G / 4G modems and printers. Given that I have all this available, I wanted to have 2 USB ports and preferably at least one of them USB 3.0 so that you can connect a fast flash drive or external drive for sharing large files over the network, backups, etc. You can also install applications in alternative firmware on a USB flash drive, in which case it will always occupy one USB connector.

As for settings and monitoring, I would like these features to be as convenient and extensive as possible. There should be settings for all occasions and be flexible enough to solve the required problem in various ways. And visual monitoring tools should help to detect various problems and bottlenecks. For example, if a device was using all the traffic or creating a lot of connections, this could be easily traced. Or to establish the cause of other problems with the Internet and local network.

Availability of good alternative firmware was also of great importance. Despite the fact that the router should be able to do everything out of the box, it’s not a fact that all functions will work as they should and in the future you won’t need to “screw” something new to it. Therefore, it is important that the chosen model is popular and that it has functional and stable alternative firmware that is still being updated and supported by developers. We will touch on this topic again.

Of course, in order to pull all the necessary functionality, the router must have enough powerful processor. For example, a VPN gives a rather large load, and if the performance of the router is insufficient, the Internet speed will be cut. Volume random access memory The router also has an impact on performance. And to install alternative firmware and advanced applications, a sufficient amount of reflashable flash memory will not be superfluous. All these characteristics are known in the comparison of different models of routers and the more the better.

Of course, I did not want to sacrifice workmanship for the sake of higher functionality or, conversely, a lower price. What is the point of all this if the router dies in a year, when the warranty ends.

It was necessary to find a middle ground, and from experience I know that a high-quality powerful router at all times cost about $ 100. Although, of course, I wanted to meet a smaller amount, if possible, but I understood that cheap is not good.

So the choice was not easy and the path to it was thorny, I had to shovel through a lot of reviews, forums, study alternative firmware for different models, weed out user reviews through the prism of realism and strangle the toad in myself

2. Alternative firmware

Before continuing, I would like to talk a little about popular alternative firmware. The firmware is the Linux kernel with the necessary add-ons that provide the required functionality. Also, a specific firmware contains drivers for a specific router and is not suitable for models with other components.

Firmware is created by various independent developers. For the most popular models, there are several alternative firmware. For less popular ones, there may be only one option, or not at all. Next, I will list the most popular firmware for routers and their main features.

native firmware

Native firmware is created by the router manufacturers themselves. They usually have a simple clear interface and the most necessary settings.

Native firmware is often (but not always) the most stable and reliable, but less functional. Also, manufacturers often update native firmware for each router, eliminating various shortcomings. It can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website as a file and can be easily updated through the router's interface, which opens in any browser.

Firmware DD-WRT

One of the first projects on alternative firmware for routers. It has a more or less convenient and simple interface.

Its disadvantages include the need for independent compilation (assembly) of the firmware for yourself with the necessary set of modules. Only then can the firmware be installed and used. If you want to change something, then you will have to rebuild the firmware and completely flash it again.

This firmware is the most difficult in the initial development, but easy to further configure. Fortunately, there is a powerful Russian-language help and a forum where users actively share their experience, helping beginners get used to it.

Firmware OpenWRT

These are the most functional firmwares, but they have a rather simple, mostly text-based interface, and many commands are entered in the console.

The advantage here is that the firmware itself is quite small and lightweight. It is flashed once, and then all add-ons are installed through the router interface. There is a large repository of applications for all occasions and anyone can easily install or remove only what they need to get a particular functionality.

Also, as one of the first additions, you can install the LuCI graphical interface, from which the basic settings of the routers will become available in a convenient graphical form.

Among the shortcomings, one can note the predominantly English-language documentation and a sluggish forum, and most of the actions and fine tuning takes place in the command string Linux. But on the Internet there are many ready-made scripts that are enough to copy into the desired field.

Tomato Firmware

Relatively young but successful project with an emphasis on the optimal balance of stability and functionality.

These firmware work perfectly, do not cut speed and have a minimum of bugs, for which many users fell in love. But the list of supported routers is not so extensive. On the other hand, if the router is supported and the functionality of the firmware suits you, this is a great choice.

Firmware from Oleg

Don't let the name fool you, Oleg is a professional engineer from ASUS. Its firmware is based on the original developments of the company, is fast, stable and expands the functionality of the router, albeit in a very limited way.

Firmware from Oleg appeared when ASUS made its debut on the network equipment market, not very successfully, in order to eliminate the shortcomings of raw firmware and attract new users due to this.

Unfortunately, these firmwares are designed for limited quantity the most popular and mostly old models of routers. But, if your router is on the list of supported ones, it may be too early to change it and you just need to update the firmware

Firmware AsusWRT-Merlin

A professional Canadian engineer Eric Sauvageau, who is closely associated with ASUS, has replaced the prophetic Oleg. Its firmware is built on the original versions, and only ASUS provides it with source codes for firmware and closed drivers, allowing or forbidding the implementation of certain functions.

In the firmware from Merlin, don’t go that, but already perfectly debugged code from the Tomato developers with their official permission. The emphasis is on the stability, security and speed of the router, which increase with each update.

At the same time, the branded beautiful and user-friendly interface, younger models get the functionality of older more expensive versions, plus the ability to install some applications and use their own scripts.

The disadvantages include support for only 15 models and adding only the most requested features. But the firmware is constantly updated and is better than native. If what they allow you to do is enough, then this will be the best choice.

What else can be said if the ASUS developers themselves are gradually adding these carefully tested features to their top expensive routers, proudly calling their proprietary firmware AsusWRT

There is also a modification of this AsusWRT-Merlin firmware, which is distinguished by increased Wi-Fi power. If suddenly it doesn’t reach somewhere and a dead zone remains, then this firmware will help solve the problem.

Other firmware

There are also many other less popular alternative firmwares, one of the most famous being "Padavan". The rest, in my opinion, do not deserve special attention, as they are collected by no one knows who and how.

Separately, routers with powerful branded firmware from well-known manufacturers such as Zyxel or Cisco can be noted, but they cost significantly more, even with weaker hardware. There are also unique Mikrotik routers, but they are also not cheap, and their firmware is quite complex and specific, they may not help on the forums.

Firmware notes

It is worth noting that despite the fact that alternative firmware is assembled by experienced specialists, there are various bugs in them - either the indicators on the router do not work, or the speed is cut, or something else. And firmware errors can turn your router into a non-working “brick” that can only be thrown away.

Nevertheless, the instructions are written in sufficient detail, if you follow them clearly, then the probability of messing up is low. And all the bugs found are in the description for the firmware and you can determine in advance how critical they are for you, taking into account the usefulness of the functions that you will receive.

By installing an alternative firmware, you can get an omnivorous combine from an inexpensive router, which will give odds to more expensive devices with native firmware in terms of functionality, the main thing is to have enough processor and memory.

The addresses of alternative firmware sites, where you can see the list of supported routers, get information about a specific firmware and download it, are in the "" section.

3. Model selection

When choosing a model, I decided to limit myself to brands with an optimal price / quality ratio and the most popular models. For reference, I will indicate the prices in dollars at which I could purchase these routers.

TP-Link routers

Initially I was set to TP-Link:

• TP-Link Archer C5 - $62
• TP-Link Archer C1200 - $77
• TP-Link Archer C7 - $107

They have proven themselves well, have an adequate price and various alternative firmware. But, unfortunately, they do not support the VPN client out of the box, and in order to use this functionality, you would have to immediately install an alternative firmware.

In terms of power and configuration, Archer C7 was more suitable for me and, naturally, I expected to put on it the most advanced and convenient OpenWRT firmware for me. These models are in the list of supported devices.

In addition, it was found that the firmware significantly cuts the data transfer rate (almost 2 times) compared to the proprietary firmware. If the latter is not critical, then the lack of Wi-Fi at 5 GHz did not suit me at all. And was it worth it to install firmware with such bugs ...

ASUS routers

Also, ASUS routers, which I never really liked, got into the focus of attention, since this company entered the network equipment market later than others and during the period of D-Link's dominance in the network equipment market, their routers were damp.

But now ASUS routers are being praised for speed and functionality, including VPN client support in latest models. The most interesting models were:

• ASUS RT-AC58U - $84
• ASUS RT-AC66U - $128
• ASUS DSL-AC52U - $139
• ASUS DSL-AC56U - $180
• ASUS RT-AC68U - $188

It was not in vain that I brought models that are much more expensive than the estimated amount, and now I will explain why.

All these routers do not have alternative OpenWRT firmware, apparently due to ASUS not providing drivers for models with Wi-Fi 802.11ac (RT-ACxxU) support. Only models with Wi-Fi 802.11n (RT-NxxU) are supported.

However, these routers support all the necessary features out of the box, including a VPN client, and theoretically suit me.

But RT-AC58U is not in the list of supported firmware from Merlin, which means that you can’t count on expanding functionality while maintaining stability.

The DSL-AC52U and DSL-AC56U models support DSL telephone line connection in addition to Ethernet cable connection. It is for this reason that there are no alternative firmware on them at all. They are simply not made for DSL routers, perhaps because they are no longer popular, or maybe there are simply no drivers.

The RT-AC66U and RT-AC68U remain, which are very similar both in appearance and functionality, but with some differences.

The main external difference is that the RT-AC66U (in the updated B1 model) is only installed horizontally.

At the same time, RT-AC68U is installed only vertically (which improves cooling) and has a different location of connectors.

But the devil, as always, is in the details and different revisions of the RT-AC66U router have much more significant differences.

Revisions RT-AC66U

The first model had the name RT-AC66U and hardware revision (h/w) A1. It was equipped with a single-core processor with a frequency of 600 MHz and weighed 450 grams, while the RT-AC68U had a 2-core processor with a frequency of 800 MHz, which made it more than twice as powerful, and weighed 640 grams (due to the reinforced system cooling).

A distinctive feature of the RT-AC66U h / w: A1 was the presence of a stupid stand in the kit (as it made the output of wires up clumsy), wall mounting, detachable antennas and two USB connectors 2.0 on the back.

The updated model RT-AC66U B1 also came out with revision (h/w) A1. But it had huge differences from the first model, having received a 2-core processor with a frequency of 1000 MHz and a weight of 660 grams. In addition, one of the USB connectors received version 3.0 and was moved to the front panel, the stand disappeared from the kit, for some reason there is no possibility of mounting on the wall, and the antennas became non-removable.

Later, the RT-AC66U B1 model of revisions (h / w) B1 and B2 was released, which, according to ASUS support, differ only in the manufacturer of the installed flash memory (NAND), perhaps with some other minor improvements.

• RT-AC66U B1 h/w: A1 - AMD flash (NAND)
• RT-AC66U B1 h/w: B1 – Zentel flash (NAND)
• RT-AC66U B1 h/w: B2 - AMD flash (NAND)

The firmware for the RT-AC66U B1 router of all revisions A1, B1 and B2 is common and is flashed regardless of the hardware revision (h/w).

According to Merlin, the hardware configuration of the younger model RT-AC66U B1 and the older RT-AC68U is absolutely identical, so the firmware from the older version fits the younger version, turning it into a more expensive and functional analogue. The differences concern only the installation method (horizontal and vertical) and removable antennas in the older version.

Thus, hardware and software, we get the older model of the RT-AC68U router worth $188 at the price of the younger RT-AC66U B1, which is $128. On the face of a huge benefit from the acquisition of a younger model.

In addition to the lower price, I also got a discount, thanks to which I was able to purchase the RT-AC66U B1 model for $111, which was more than the $100 I was counting on.

Disadvantages of RT-AC66U B1

As always, not without a fly in the ointment.

Firstly, according to user reviews, the RT-AC66U B1 noticeably heats up, which is associated with a rather powerful and hot processor. When installed in a hot room in a remote place, overheating can cause the router or power supply to fail. So the installation and temperature conditions should be given attention.

Secondly, although his firmware interface is pleasant to look at, it does not work very fast. For example, the router turns on and reboots for about 2 minutes. On the other hand, you only need to wait during the setup phase and then 1-2 times a day when you turn it on. I don't think it's that critical.

The rest of the smaller flaws in the form of a lack of wall mounting and fixed antennas will not be noticed by many at all, since they don’t need it. In extreme cases, you can stir up the mount in your own way, but of course you can’t remove the antennas.

In the first RT-AC66U model, there were still complaints about too bright blinding LEDs, but in the updated RT-AC66U B1 model, users' opinions were taken into account and this drawback was qualitatively corrected.

Quality RT-AC66U B1

While I was choosing and comparing routers, I came across a photo of the insides, which I suggest you evaluate.

The ASUS RT-AC66U B1 board looks quite solid, it is equipped with a good heatsink, the soldering is very accurate, the connectors, wires and all connections are made soundly.

And now compare with the TP-Link Archer C7 board, which costs almost the same.

There is a cheaper performance, the quality of components, and the wiring in general seems to be soldered to the board and what is called internal antennas, which operate at the still main frequency of 2.4 GHz.

Yes, it doesn't heat up like that, because there is nothing. But the reviews for it are generally worse, including complaints about low Wi-Fi power, I think you can now understand why. At the same time, ASUS RT-AC66U B1 has 256 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash memory, while TP-Link Archer C7 has 128 MB of RAM and 8 MB of flash memory, which imposes significant restrictions on the size of the firmware and its this is heavily criticized.

These details finally finished me off and the choice between TP-Link and ASUS was definitely in favor of the latter.

Other manufacturers

From my previously favorite D-Link, I did not find anything suitable either in terms of functionality or price.

Zyxel and Cisco (Linksys) routers were far beyond the budget, so they were not considered.

Mikrotik is again too expensive, and even with specific firmware. In general, they are more aimed at providers, not even Wi-Fi is available everywhere.

Of the decent brands, there is also Netgear, but the lineup turned out to be very limited and I did not find a suitable model.

Well, from what was still available for purchase and suitable in terms of parameters, Xiaomi Mi WiFi Router Pro R3P remained.

But I decided that Xiaomi is somehow not serious, and suddenly there will be problems, then go to China to figure it out, oh well ...

4. Characteristics and equipment

An ASUS RT-AC66U B1 h / w: B2 router came to me with the following characteristics.

I give explanations on the characteristics, for those who do not quite understand what's what.

According to the processor and the amount of RAM, it can be seen that this model quite powerful, able to cope with heavy loads and a considerable number of connected devices. And gigabit ports will allow you to quickly exchange large files over the network.

The presence of two USB ports is a good bonus for all occasions, you can connect flash drives, external drives, 3G / 4G modems and printers to them. For disk devices, all common file systems are supported.

Dual-band Wi-Fi will allow you to use both old devices operating at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, and new ones in the freer 5 GHz band, which will also increase the exchange speed and save battery on mobile devices.

Declared high-speed WiFi specifications should not be taken literally. 450 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band is the maximum theoretical speed for parallel communication through all 3 antennas with network card, which also have 3 antennas, and the total transmission rate in both directions is considered. Thus, the real one-way speed for most devices with one antenna will be no more than 75 Mbps (under ideal conditions). Similarly, for Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band, with the declared 1300 Mbps, you get a maximum of 216 Mbps, which is also not bad in general.

But support for MU-MIMO technology is quite a useful thing, allowing you to simultaneously serve up to 6 wireless devices (3 at 2.4 GHz + 3 at 5 GHz). This is achieved due to the fact that each device works with its own antenna and the data is transmitted in parallel. Without this technology, network packets received from different devices are queued and served sequentially, which slows down Wi-Fi communication with each new connected device.

Unfortunately, the power of the transmitter and antenna somewhat pumped up. This is due to modern regulatory restrictions, which is why manufacturers have to programmatically underestimate the power in order to pass certification. However, there is different ways circumvent these restrictions if necessary.

All popular types of encryption are supported, and we will talk about various technologies a little lower when we consider the firmware of the router. Operating system support refers only to additional software, although there are no problems here.

As for the dimensions, you need to take into account that the router is larger than most inexpensive models, which may affect the choice of installation location. Although the dimensions are far from monstrous, and high weight can only be written as a plus, since a good router should not be light plastic.

Indirectly, the quality of the router is indicated by a 3-year warranty, while most models entry level have a 1 year warranty and an average 2 years.

5. Packaging and equipment

ASUS RT-AC66U B1 comes in a high-quality box larger than average for a router, and information about the official 3-year warranty is confirmed in the upper right corner.

In this form, European versions are supplied. Routers from China come in a box painted with exotic hieroglyphs, and the American version is sold under the name AC1750, which also indicates the total throughput wireless connections(450+1300 Mbps).

In the photo below you can see in detail all the features indicated on the package. I will not dwell on this so as not to drag out the article even more.

I will only note the AiRadar function, which we will not touch on anywhere in this article. This is branded ASUS technology for directional amplification of the signal from the antenna to the receiving device. But this device must also support similar technology, usually these are wireless adapters from ASUS.

The box was in a sealed protective film, and everything inside was securely packed in a thick and durable damper made of recycled cardboard, which virtually eliminates the possibility of damage during transportation.

Package Included:

• router
• power unit
• patch cord 1.5 m
• software disk
• instruction
• warranty card

The disc contains printer software, firmware recovery utilities, and instructions in multiple languages.

The paper manual is surprisingly thick, but essentially useless, as it contains only brief installation and security instructions in multiple languages.

Separately, it is worth noting a high-quality powerful power supply with an excellent soft and very long cable.

Of the features, an unusually high voltage of 19 V can be noted.

Typically, routers use 5, 9 or 12 V power supplies. Therefore, it will be more difficult to find a replacement for it. But within warranty period the service center will change it for you without any problems and for a long time I think it will be possible to order a branded one.

5. Design and construction

Do not believe those who write that the case of ASUS RT-AC66U B1 is made of matte plastic.

That is, this is partly true, since the lower part is really made of matte plastic. But here's the cover top panel I would describe it as a semi-gloss with a textured pattern. Yes, and this pattern does not particularly save, the surface collects handprints, which are very clearly visible. So next to the router it is advisable to put a sign “Do not paw!”

Although compared to the TP-Link Archer C7 with its shameless gloss and deep trenches in which cockroaches can survive a nuclear winter, it is heaven and earth.

So, in general, the design is not bad, the router looks stylish and solid, and the golden ASUS logo flaunts in the upper right corner.

The router has ventilation holes on the sides and looks exactly the same on the left and right.

On the left side of the front panel there is a USB 3.0 connector, which can be handy when connecting a flash drive, external drive or 3G/4G modem.

On the right side of the top panel there are indicators for power, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz, WAN and LAN interfaces, which glow or blink soft blue during normal operation, and when there is no Internet, the WAN indicator glows red.

Of the pluses, it can be noted that the indicators do not blind the eyes at all, of the minuses that they are hard to see when the router is on the far edge of the table. For example, I like to watch those who eat traffic in LAN

Behind are all the other connectors and controls.

I will list them from left to right:

• power connector
• power button
• USB 2.0 connector
• reset button
• internet connector (WAN)
• LAN connectors (LAN1-4)
• WPS button

The presence of a power button in itself is good, for some reason it is not done on all routers. The USB port is conveniently located. The reset button is flush with the case, so if you need to, you don’t have to go through the hole with a paper clip to the touch, as is done on many other routers. A button quick connection wireless devices (WPS), if desired, can be reassigned to turn off Wi-Fi.

Among the shortcomings, one can note a rather compressed arrangement of elements, which is why it is not always convenient to feel the buttons with your finger. It would be more convenient to move the power button and WPS to the side faces (like on ASUS AC68U). Also, the WPS button does not have an LED indication, which makes it unclear whether this mode is enabled. But in principle, most users will not need to use these buttons often, for me personally it is completely unnecessary.

At the bottom of the router there are many rather large ventilation slots through which a massive radiator of the cooling system is clearly visible, covering almost the entire board.

Good cooling is also facilitated by very high legs with excellent rubber bands, which also provide excellent stability of the router on the table.

The nameplate contains pre-installed names of Wi-Fi networks in two ranges, serial number, firmware version, MAC address of the router, PIN (password) for Wi-Fi by default, revision (HW) of the router and year of production.

This data is necessary to gain access to the router settings, after which the names of Wi-Fi networks, the password and, if necessary, the MAC address can be changed. The firmware version will also change after the update.

Only one important parameter is missing, the router's default IP address "192.168.1.1". Instead, the symbolic address “router.asus.com” is indicated, which also allows you to access the router settings from any browser, but IP is still more reliable. The default administrator username and password is "admin".

To make your router work well, use the instructions for installing the router and connecting devices to it, which can be downloaded in the article on choosing a router in the "" section.

6. Router settings

You can enter the router settings (control panel, web interface, admin panel) from any browser by entering address bar Router IP address (192.168.1.1) or symbolic address (router.asus.com).

I will not describe all the settings of the router, since most of them are typical for most similar devices and you can read about them on our website in the review of one of the routers.

Instead, I will describe the features of the ASUS RT-AC66U B1 web interface and the most interesting features of its firmware, and complete instructions and screenshots of all settings you can download at the end of the article.

Setup Wizard

When you first enter the admin panel, the "Setup Wizard" is launched, which will guide you step by step through the most necessary parameters of the router and, first of all, it is proposed to change the administrator password.

In the Internet settings, you will be prompted to select the type of connection and then enter the settings provided by the provider (IP, password, etc.).

But I skipped this section on the machine, since the provider does not require additional configuration and the connection is made via "Dynamic IP".

If the Internet connection is successful, the router will check for new version firmware and will offer to update it to the latest version.

It is better to do this right away, since some further settings may depend on the firmware version, but I decided not to do this and check how everything works out of the box.

This completes the work of the wizard and opens main page router control panel.

The main page of the control panel is called "Network Map", in the very top line there are exit, reboot and language selection buttons.

In the upper left corner there is a button for manually launching the "Quick Internet Setup" setup wizard. Below it are tabs of all available settings sections.

In the center is the network map itself, where the conditional structure of connections from the “Internet” (at the very top) through the “Security Level” (Wi-Fi, LAN) to “Clients” (computers) and “Devices” (connected via USB).

The network map may change to reflect changes in the connection structure and various problems. Round icons and inscriptions in the form of links are clickable and lead to the appropriate sections of the settings, which is convenient.

In the right column "System Status" there are tabs that display the name of Wi-Fi networks, authentication methods, encryption and password, which can also be changed here for the 2.4 GHz network and for 5 GHz (on a separate tab).

On the last tab The System Status column displays the CPU and RAM load of the router at a given time and on the timeline.

There is a notification icon in the top right corner (yellow Exclamation point) that appears when exiting new firmware and perhaps for some other notifications, you can click on it and read everything.

To the right of it are green indicators for the activity of various functions, they can also be hovered over with the mouse, read the hint and clicked.

Well, at the very bottom of the web interface there are links to various sections of the manual, help and feedback with the manufacturer. True, almost all of this leads to English-language resources.

Clients and Devices

By clicking on the "View List" button, you can see a list of devices connected to the router, their addresses and connection speed.

And when USB connection devices, information about them appears with the ability to perform various actions in the right column.

The "Guest network" section of the settings allows you to create up to 3 additional Wi-Fi networks in the 2.4 GHz band and up to 3 more networks in the 5 GHz band.

You can set your own names and passwords for these networks, restrict their access to local resources and access by time, which makes it convenient and risk-free to organize access for a large company or children to the Internet.

AiProtection proprietary technology allows you to access the Network Protection and Parental Control functions based on services from the well-known Japanese security company Trend Micro.

Network protection allows you to activate a kind of antivirus and firewall directly on the router, which will block malicious sites and attacks from the network, preventing them from reaching computers on the local network.

It is even possible to detect infected PCs on the local network. For example, if someone brings a virus on a flash drive and it tries to spread to other computers over the local network, the router will block malicious packets from the infected PC, preventing it from infecting other computers.

Parental Control allows you to selectively block adult websites, instant messengers, social networks, torrent and some other resources on certain devices.

After that, instead of unwanted sites, a page will open in the browser informing about the denial of access to this site, and this works.

Also, for the computer and any mobile devices of the child, you can set a schedule on which days and hours he can access the Internet.

Please note that the network security features and parental controls, which are based on the Trend Micro service, use third-party servers and may slow down the Internet speed.

This is a fairly advanced service that allows you to monitor the Internet usage of each device on the network, set priorities for both devices and applications.

You can use one of the presets to set a higher priority for online games, video and music, or web surfing.

You can also set the desired priority for different tasks from highest to lowest.

Network packets with a higher priority will be passed first, providing higher bandwidth and lower ping in the most important scenarios for the user.

These rules are common to all devices, but it is also possible to configure them for each device individually using the "Traditional QoS" option, where you first need to specify the speed of your outgoing and incoming Internet connection.

Then it will be possible to add your devices to the QoS table and set priorities for them, here the possibilities are very flexible.

You can simply select the desired computer or device and set its priority from the lowest to the highest for all ports (applications) so that it does not interfere with its network activity for other devices to use the Internet normally, or vice versa has priority over other devices.

You can set a priority for specific applications, for example, so that the torrent does not take all the traffic for itself, interfering with the work of all devices on the Internet.

Or you can get confused and create rules for several computers and applications that run on them. Everything is limited only by your imagination and desire.

Well, the last option "Bandwidth Limit" allows you to set top speed incoming and outgoing traffic for any device.

Thus, you can limit the Internet speed for any computer or device at a certain fixed level so that it does not take more than it should.

Traffic Analyzer

The "Traffic Analyzer" section allows you to analyze the structure of the traffic consumed by each device in a graphical form.

You can also analyze traffic by application to determine which one consumes how much.

Plus there is a timing diagram with separation by interfaces (WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi).

All this can be used to optimize the network and diagnose network problems.

For different USB devices, the router has different applications.

• AiDisk- allows you to connect an external drive to the router and access it from any computer on the Internet.
• File/Media Server– gets access to files on an external drive from other devices in the local network, as well as broadcast streaming media content (DLNA) to them.
• Print server– allows you to share the printer on a local network using the proprietary ASUS EZ application (Windows) or the LPR protocol (Windows/Linux).
• 3G/4G- allows you to use 3G / 4G modems and even Android smartphones as the main or backup source of Internet for the local network.
• time machine- an application for synchronizing and backing up data with Apple devices(proprietary technology).
• Download Master- allows you to download files and torrents from the Internet to an external drive without using a computer.

All these technologies are already well tested and working. Personally, I tried to connect my smartphone to the router via USB when the Internet disappeared and it successfully distributed 3G Internet to the local area.

When wired Internet appeared, the router switched back to the main channel.

As for the popular function of downloading torrents to an external USB disk, then it causes quite a lot of complaints, primarily due to the low download speed (2-3 MB / s), which means that when you connect to the Internet at speeds above 20 Mbps, the download speed will be cut. But in other routers the situation is even worse.

AiCloud 2.0 technology allows you to access any devices and drives on your local network via the Internet using the excellent free ASUS DDNS service.

You can use your drives as cloud storage for other devices, synchronize them with the ASUS cloud and remotely turn on computers from the local network and then access them.

In the Wireless settings section, there is an interesting checkbox "Optimized for Xbox", which, according to some users, improves signal strength and Wi-Fi speed

For the main Wi-Fi networks, there is a schedule similar to the one that can be set in the "Parental Control" function.

From the settings of the "Local Network" group, the most interesting is the "Jumbo Frame" function, which includes the mode of transferring files over the local network in network packets of increased volume, which, in theory, should speed up copying large files by locale.

My local copy speed increased from 101 MB/s (808 Mb/s) to 110 MB/s (880 Mb/s). So the difference is not so big, and in any case, the local speed is enough to transfer tens of gigabytes in a matter of minutes.

The screenshot above also shows that the router supports hardware implementation of NAT, which significantly reduces the load on the processor, allowing it to most effectively use a gigabit Internet connection (somewhere at 600-700 Mbps).

Software NAT does not allow you to achieve such speeds, since the processor simply cannot cope with the load. Alternative firmware does not have drivers for hardware NAT and it is implemented there in software. That is why the speed in alternative firmware based on Linux (OpenWRT, DD-WRT) is cut to 300-400 Mbps.

Internet settings

In the "Internet" section, you can select a USB modem or an Android smartphone as an alternative Internet source.

An interesting possibility is to change the TTL value if the 3G / 4G Internet provider allows you to use the modem to connect only one device, not allowing you to share the Internet.

The "Dual LAN" function allows you to assign USB and even any of the LAN ports as a second Internet connection.

In this case, the second line can be used not only for the purpose of fault tolerance, but also for load balancing. So this model can be considered as an alternative to routers with two WAN ports.

Well, it is also worth noting the support of various DDNS services, including a very simple and convenient one from ASUS, to start using which you just need to come up with a unique name.

This service will allow you to access your router and local network from any computer on the Internet via domain name– as to any site in the browser. DDNS will also be a lifesaver for those who need a permanent IP.

VPN tunnels

The "VPN" section contains everything related to tunnels.

In VPN server mode, you can connect via a secure channel (tunnel) in your local network from another computer or device on the Internet. PPTP and OpenVPN protocols are supported out of the box.

In VPN client mode, the router can establish a connection with servers using the PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN protocols, which is not available in all, mostly more expensive routers.

With this feature, you can surf the Internet through your personal or third-party VPN server, which enhances security, increases anonymity and allows you to bypass blocking of various sites.

With the help of alternative firmware (AsusWRT-Merlin, Tomato, DD-WRT), this functionality can be expanded, more subtle additional settings appear and the ability to execute custom scripts, which, if necessary, will allow you to solve a variety of tasks.

Administration

In the "Administration" section, in addition to changing the administrator password, updating the firmware, resetting settings and similar standard functions, it is possible to select the operating mode of the router in any of the modern scenarios.

And on the last tab there is a real feedback page, with which you can ask support questions directly from the router interface, which is very cool and convenient.

After that, do not close the admin panel and wait for the operator's response in a pop-up window with a characteristic sound for a minute (a joke of humor, the answer will of course come to soap)

In addition to convenient and detailed system logs (which we do not cover), the Network Utilities section has the most necessary ping, trace and DNS check commands for diagnosing an Internet connection.

Separately, there is a more advanced Netstat utility.

And on last page"Wake on Lan" can wake up (turn on) any computer on the local network so as not to go to the next room

Also, nothing prevents you from doing this from any computer or from a smartphone by going to the admin panel of the router from the Internet. So those who like to study and configure everything will have something to play with.

7. Software

First, I wanted to tell you in detail about the software features for this router. But there is not so much of it, most of it is unnecessary, and there is nowhere to drag the article further. Therefore, I will simply list it and say what it is for.

• Printer software (on disk)
• Firmware recovery utility (on disk)
• ASUS Router (mobile admin panel)
• ASUS Device Discovery (full admin panel on mobile)
• AiCloud (cloud service)
• ASUS Download Master Client (Download Management Software)

Personally, I installed and looked only mobile applications, although to be honest, the reviews and ratings for them are all unimportant.

From the bottom, the most interesting is ASUS Router, which is a mobile version of the control panel with a lot of functions. With it, you can configure the router without a computer and manage it from the couch

ASUS Device Discovery simply opens in a mobile browser full version admin panel, eliminating the need to enter the address of the router in the browser line.

ASUS Download Master Client is a third-party development for adding and managing downloads, including torrents, from a mobile device.

8. Testing

As you can see, a lot of my experience with this router is scattered throughout the article. Therefore, here I will add only what has not yet been.

I do not have a gigabit Internet channel, so I could not test how much the router cuts its speed. With a 100-megabit channel, there is definitely no cutting, the router easily digests it completely.

I was more interested in signal strength and Wi-Fi coverage, the difference in data transfer speed at 2.4 and 5 GHz.

As for signal strength and coverage, to be honest, I expected more, even taking into account the available information that ASUS artificially lowers the transmitter power in order to fit into legal regulations.

The coverage is only a little more than my old D-Link DIR-615 with two small 3 dbi antennas. But it covers an apartment of 70 squares both in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, although it is not in the center of the room.

When entering the stairwell (beyond 4 walls), the 2.4 GHz signal is still caught and the network works fine, while 5 GHz fades almost completely and the Internet speed is greatly reduced.

At the same time, the router that I tested before, although it did not support the 5 GHz frequency, but at the frequency of 2.4 GHz confidently finished even one floor higher and lower in the entrance, where the signals of other routers are lost.

But, as I already said, the problem is known, it is clear what caused it and can be solved if someone has problems with covering the dwelling. Personally, I didn’t have such problems and the signal power turned out to be enough even at a frequency of 5 GHz.

I failed to test the difference in speed at 2.4 and 5 GHz using the Speedtest service, since the results from test to test at the same frequency were very different. Therefore, I decided to go the other way and determine the difference in speed by copying a file from a PC to a smartphone at a frequency of 2.4 and 5 GHz.

Naturally, the data transfer speed on a smartphone is limited by the weak Wi-Fi module used in mobile devices, however, the difference is noticeable and it amounted to 23% in favor of the 5 GHz interface.

In addition, thanks to the transition to a frequency of 5 GHz, a mobile phone that is always connected to Wi-Fi began to work on a single charge a little longer. If earlier Wi-Fi consumed about 40% of the battery charge almost on a par with the screen, now this figure is about 30%.

As for heating, at a room temperature of 22 °, the router is barely warm both from below and from above. Of course, in 30-degree heat, the situation can change dramatically, but so far ASUS RT-AC66U B1 heats up even less than my old weak D-Link DIR-615, which stands vertically.

9. Conclusion

The ASUS RT-AC66U B1 router is a rather interesting and functional device with a serious filling, thoughtful software and not bad appearance. Yes, it is not the cheapest and far from cold, but if you have a lot of devices competing for the right to use your Internet, then in this price category (about $ 100) the choice is not so great. This router will be one of the best options in terms of power and flexibility of settings.

Of course, if you just need powerful Wi-Fi that will cover a medium-sized apartment or house well and will not be interrupted by a bunch of neighbors, then a simpler inexpensive option with powerful Wi-Fi of the type is enough, which has proven itself in our tests.

10. Links

ASUS RT-AC68U router
router ASUS RT-AC66U B1
ASUS RT-AC58U router