ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router Reviewed

[though]

RT-N56U supports Open Source FW => http://code.google.com/p/rt-n56u/

He means it doesn't support "standard" 3rd party firmware like tomato and dd-wrt.

 

[hrana]

I returned it and purchased the E4200 v2 and couldn't be happier. It is very fast and it performs much better than the RTN66U in my experience. No problems with range, QOS, file transfers.

Some said it's a bad router cause it doesn't support third party firmware. I do not care about those. I just want a router that will work well out of the box without tinkering with other stuff to make it work.

To each his/her own. I own 3 RT-N66U routers (1 doing routing/AP duties and the other 2 are just APs) to cover my house and all are running Toastman's Tomato build. The router has been rock solid since day one and I've had 21 straight days of uptime so far. Everything works: QoS, IPv6, bandwidth monitoring, etc.

Ultimately it comes down to preferences. I don't need torrent clients, guest networks, VPN, DLNA media server, or USB support in a router. I have dedicated file/print servers and HTPCs to handle those items for my in-wall gigabit wired home network. I didn't move away from the WRT54GL for years because I liked the way Tomato handled QoS and had honed a set of rules for my specific use. The thought of having to re-create those rules kept me on 802.11G for a while. The RT-N66U came with a 450Mbps+450Mpbs radio and all the things I loved in the WRT54GL so it was a natural evolution for my needs.

For what it is worth, I've been happy with how quickly ASUS has been putting out official firmware updates to address community concerns. I'd much rather have an involved manufacturer listening to its customers to deal with a few extra bugs rather than a manufacturer that seldom deals with the bugs (that every tech product contains).

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

My only complaint is that we don't have a source code bundle for the latest update which contains new wireless drivers. This really interests me and I hope ASUS releases it soon by putting pressure on Broadcom (or whoever is holding things up).

 

[though]

I own 3 RT-N66U routers (1 doing routing/AP duties and the other 2 are just APs) to cover my house and all are running Toastman's Tomato build. The router has been rock solid since day one and I've had 21 straight days of uptime so far. Everything works: QoS, IPv6, bandwidth monitoring, etc.

Amen brother!

 

[ArCan]

... I own 3 RT-N66U routers (1 doing routing/AP duties and the other 2 are just APs) to cover my house and all are running Toastman's Tomato build...

Hi!
Could you inform us about max speed via WiFi, please?
Please.
Thank you.

 

[Gitsum]

Has anyone figured out how to fix the problem of the QOS setting limiting wi-fi to LAN speed to whatever your upload speed is set at?

 

[WilliamY]

Hi!
Could you inform us about max speed via WiFi, please?
Please.
Thank you.

Flashed with Shibby Tomato firmware, for some reason, on the Overview page, the WiFi rates are showing they are dropped nearly to LAN speed from initial 450mbps, no matter whether Qos is enabled or not. Don't know why.

William

 

[TC777]

Even using the latest firmware RT-N66U_3.0.0.3_102.trx, the "Client Status" list seems to hang on certain clients connected, and won't refresh either.

I've noticed that it seems to happen only on devices that allow you to view/change the firmware of the device itself by typing in the IP number in the address bar of a browser.

If I disable those types of clients (for me its an Epson 835 printer, and the other is a WD Live TV), then the problem goes away. Both are/were connected wireless.

 

[tonytoronto]

Even using the latest firmware RT-N66U_3.0.0.3_102.trx, the "Client Status" list seems to hang on certain clients connected, and won't refresh either.

I've noticed that it seems to happen only on devices that allow you to view/change the firmware of the device itself by typing in the IP number in the address bar of a browser.

If I disable those types of clients (for me its an Epson 835 printer, and the other is a WD Live TV), then the problem goes away. Both are/were connected wireless.

please e-mail asus about your findings, they are aware of it but don't see it often, they said. Let them know, the more e-mails=better chances getting fixed. Networking_Support@asus.com

 

[halcyon]

Has anybody tried to understand how the QoS on this unit really works?

Bandwidth limiting by protocol or port is not really QoS.

Does the unit have any type of protocol/Port based switching/routing priority table?

That is, if the units is hit by X amount of packets during one millisecond, then what packets get handled first with minimum amount of latency, ploss likelihood and flow interruption?

And if the official FW doesn't offer any true priority level QoS, does anybody know if the FOSS firmware options offer this?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[KevTech]

Seems the 102 firmware has been removed.

 

[G37x]

New RT-N66U

Please PM me if you want a brand new RT-N66U. Just got it from amazon but only need one.

 

[Gitsum]

Seems the 102 firmware has been removed.

Yes, they must have discovered more problems with it. I think I'll stick to Shibby's firmware until ASUS has more time to get there's figured out.

 

[jerry6]

I still see 102 on Asus site , looks like it has been taken down . , wonder why 6 days stll running , should I take 102 off and put 90 back on ?

 

[dejanh]

I'm not too surprised they took down 102. I reported a number of problems to Asus networking support including hanging WIFI connections, NAS dropouts, etc.

I'm still running it, but it's far from ideal.

 

[hggomes]

For what i heard wifi hangs only could be fixed when ASUS update Broadcom wifi drivers to SDK 5.101.x, they are now running with old 5.100.x drivers, lets see if in next FW would be fixed

 

[TC777]

please e-mail asus about your findings, they are aware of it but don't see it often, they said. Let them know, the more e-mails=better chances getting fixed. Networking_Support@asus.com

Yes I emailed to that address right before I posted that Its the same problem I had on the RT-N56U.

Currently I'm using the Tomato Shibby firmware again, but both firmwares have their advantages.

 

[mrcom]

I still see 102 on Asus site , looks like it has been taken down . , wonder why 6 days stll running , should I take 102 off and put 90 back on ?

Here is the download link again for .102 as it`s not awailable at Asus anymore. (Just klick the zip file to get to download page)
http://www.4shared.com/folder/h9J1MTAx/_online.html
Best regards Mrcom

 

[SonyHome]

Finally got mine today and upgraded it to 102 firmware and its been running for 6 hours with no issues. My wireless signal is much better every where in my house. So far I'm liking this router.

Any reason why firmware 102 has been removed from ASUS? My router came with firmware 90 and tried to upgrade using router software but it couldn't find any newer versions at all. I had to manually upgrade.

I need to get Gigabit NICs now.

 

[drinkingbird]

Would be nice to see some definitive info from Asus on the power settings.

This unit has a transmitter followed by external amps, so is the number in the GUI taking the amps into account or not? Maybe that's the difference between .90 and the newer ones, .90 was showing the "pre-amped" value, the newer ones are showing the "post amped". So you need to double it to get the same output or something.

200mW should be do-able, several other home routers are doing it, and Cisco (real Cisco, not linksys) just released their first 200mW/23dbm access point. Its 4x4:3 MIMO, would love to have one, but its a $1300 investment. I'm sure the radio/amps are very high quality and probably employ some noise filters, but like I said, there are a few others (I think the new linksys is one) doing 200mW at a low price point, so either they're kicking out a lousy signal, or the latest radio-on-chip is capable of doing it semi-cleanly.

But again, if you set the GUI to 200mW, is that the total, after amp value? Assuming the radio on the chip is only capable of 200mW, it will be a fairly dirty signal at that value, so amping it to 400 or whatever would result in a really lousy signal. Where setting the on-chip radio to 100mW and doubling it with an amp should be much better (in theory).

500 mW, especially if being done with external amps without high quality noise filtering, is probably a next to useless signal. Maybe you'll get it 1/4 mile away, but your throughput will probably be junk even at close range.

Then of course, who knows how Tomato is showing the power level, may be totally different from Asus.

 

[njweb]

Interesting that Asus suddenly pulled firmware 102 after it has been out for over a week, especially given how many here said it was the best firmware yet and that they have left all the other firmware versions on the site.

Until they explain why it was pulled (e.g. is it because of the disconnects some had with VPN or some serious reason), I am wondering whether I to roll back to xxxxx90 * just to be safe.



(* 96 had power issues that they reportedly addressed in xxxx102, albeit by doubling the default power level [either by design or by accident], so I won't go back to xxxxx96).