Asus RT-AC68U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless Router Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

When we line up the RT-AC68U against all of the other top performing wireless routers, such as the EA6900 from Linksys that I looked at not too long ago, it is easy to understand why the price tag that this router has is a bit higher than everything else. In the US we see prices starting at $210.99 from Newegg.com, whilst Fry’s and TigerDirect both list the router for $219.99 with all three offering free shipping and no tax. Her in the UK we also have a wide variety of outlets listing the RT-AC68U for sale including, CCL, Ebuyer, Overclockers and Scan, all with prices between £170 and £180 including VAT. This router may be on the upper end of the pricing ladder, but it is certainly worth it when you think about it.

Overview

As we start to take a look at some of the next generation wireless routers, with speeds that are far superior to those of yesteryear, it is crystal clear now that no longer do we have to worry about our wireless connections acting as a huge bottleneck in our heavily connected and technology driven lives. Going back only a couple of years, where Gigabit LAN was starting to be fully set in stone as the standard for Consumer grade products and systems. going wireless – especially on systems that we used to play online games – was a last resort situation due to the limited range, signal strength and most importantly the throughput that they gave. Simply put, if you wanted to ensure a stable connection to the internet, going wired was the only certain way of doing so. Fortunately this is no longer the case as we see wireless routers outputting much more power across both wireless bands and with the technology within the transponders on either end evolving more and more, the speed at which they are able to operate is also getting much faster. You think this is the pinnacle of what 802.11ac has to offer? Think again as we are only just touching on its full potential.

So what is it that makes this router stand out to me? Well it is hard to ignore the fact that the wireless performance is easily the fastest that we have seen to date and whilst this means all of your current wireless devices are therefore able to stretch their own legs right out, being able to max out this routers ability does need a new breed of wireless adaptor on the other end. In this instance we are looking at a PCI Express powered wireless adaptor that is only suitable for desktop systems and although other adaptors are on their way for both PCI Express and USB interfaces, pairing this router up with Asus’ own PCE-AC68 wireless card will add-on around $100 or £60 depending which side of the pond you are on, but if you’re a hard-core enthusiast that wants nothing more than the best then it is a suitable upgrade to think about.

Aside from the wireless performance, the feature set is also very extensive. Little things like the VPN configuration page, parental controls, guest networks and the AiSuite mobile application all make for a safer and better user experience, however the one thing that stands out to me is the dual-WAN capability. Having the ability to set up a fail over backup through a 3G/4G dongle or through your Android smartphone is something that I wish I would have had a few years back when I was on an ADSL connection as it would have been a certain lifesaver in the event that my internet connection went down and also being able to connect up a pair of high-speed internet connections of those super heavy users that are out there among us would also come in particularly handy from time to time. Obviously I will point out that this does mean you will have to pay for two connections, but if you find that you are pushing your current connection to the limit then it is a versatile option to consider; but remember – two separate connections setup to load balance WILL NOT give you the performance of a single high-speed connection (40Mbps + 40Mbps load balance ≠ 80Mps) it doesn’t work like that sadly.

Considering Asus are synonymous with high-end gaming motherboards and graphics cards, watching them come to market with what I do believe is the world’s fastest consumer wireless router is of a big surprise, especially when you consider the fact that the big names in networking are not quite there yet to my knowledge. If you’ve had your doubts on whether it is worth considering Asus for your next wireless router and you don’t mind paying for something that will last then the RT-AC68U is one mighty fine product to own.

Pros:

• Superior wireless signal strength and throughput speed
• Dual-WAN capability with fail over protection and load balancing
• Mobile applications for access to USB storage and router setup
• More than capable of delivering the power needed for the next couple of years
• Highly reputable brand when it comes to quality

Cons:

• Wireless adaptors capable of operating at the same high speeds are very limited at the moment
• Unsecured wireless networks out of the box are not wise – basic security at least is far better
• Not necessarily the first name you would think of when it comes to networking

“Asus are well-known for pushing out the speed boundaries to even greater lengths when we consider their motherboards and graphics cards so it is only fair that they take this drive to push further and deliver us one of the world’s fastest wireless routers. With jaw dropping speeds on offer along with a feature set that is full to the brim, Asus may not be the first name you think of when you come to choose your next wireless router, but after experiencing what they can do, it is hard to see why they haven’t been on the top spot for longer.”

Thanks to Asus UK for providing this review sample.