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

[though]

I guess when I saw advertisement like dual band 450+450 I assumed you could run simultaneously as long as you had dual band client.

Here is quote from Amazon page for N66U.

yes to 2 or more users...

 

[delair2]

Thanks.
I stumbled onto cNet's review a day or two ago and was surprised about their unimpressive 2.4 GHz throughput findings given what Tim's 2.4 Ghz tests, along with some other reviews, have found, especially relative to the E4200 e.g. They did note the signal strength was excellent, which is also intresting since you would think the signal strength should have a reasonable amount of correlation with throughput.
I know Tim used an earlier firmware than 108 which cNet used, which would be one difference that could account for part of it.

I think my long range signal was a bit better with fw 96 than 108.
I will have to test throughput again with 108 in different locations to see how that compares to my results recorded when using 96.
cNet's results are also confusing initially in that they have two performandxe bars - one says 'range' and the other says ' throughput', even though they BOTH are throughput results...
The bars should probably be labeled something like 'throughput at short range' and 'throughput at long range' to make it more clear.
There is a legend further down in the review that helps, but the performance chart labels themselves are not clear.

Yes I was surprised to see CNET's N66U 2.4 lower than expected test results for both 450Mbps clients as well as non 450 clients leading me to wonder about ver 108 as well. Likewise I don't think we can dismiss potential effects of environmental factors either.

 

[vw-tx]

Has anyone else confirmed the QOS bug when uploading from WiFi to a LAN computer that the speed is limited to whatever you have your upload speed set in the QOS settings?

Yes I have noticed this and had to turn off QOS to allow full upload speed for right now. It also when I tried to turn QOS back on when messing with it, caused the router to stop responding to internet pages even after rebooting it. QOS off was the only thing that fixed that.

 

[charles2859]

Got it going. Thank you so much.

BTW, is there a way to save the log to the external USB HD/Flash connected to the router?

Go to Adminstration>System in the web UI. For Remote Log Server you'll enter the IP address of a machine that is listening for such logs. Make sure to Apply when you've entered it. This process enables a remote log server and also sends klogd(kernel) messages to that remote server.

Once you've completed that you're gonna want to head over to Firewall>General. For "Logged packets type" select whatever your preference is (besides None, of course). Again, make sure to Apply this new setting. This process sends syslogd(in this case, network traffic) messages to the remote server you defined earlier. So...inbound/outbound passed/blocked traffic.

Make sure the remote server you defined is listening on port 513.

 

[richardeid]

Got it going. Thank you so much.

BTW, is there a way to save the log to the external USB HD/Flash connected to the router?

As far as I know you can only send the log to an IP address. Since what you connect to the router via USB isn't going to be getting an IP address, I'd say it's not possible with the default setup. I guess there might be some modifications you can perform to accomplish this, but I wouldn't be the person to guide you on that unfortunately.

 

[dsquared2]

Under "Others" is 3.0.0.3.112

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN66U/#download

 

[gary8vi]

Under "Others" is 3.0.0.3.112

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN66U/#download

Thanks for your post.

Looks like the new GPL or source code. Firmware version .112 cant be far behind.

 

[mrcom]

Under "Others" is 3.0.0.3.112

http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN66U/#download

Now if they just could upload the firmware to match to source

 

[srock77]

Transmit power?

I set up my N66u today - upgraded firmware to 3.0.0.3.90 - working well but don't have full bars everywhere in my house (router in basement) - I note the transmit power is at 40mw - can I increase this and what are the implications of that if I do? What are the transmit limits (dont want to burn up my brand new router?)

Many thanks in advance

Steve

 

[though]

I set up my N66u today - upgraded firmware to 3.0.0.3.90 - working well but don't have full bars everywhere in my house (router in basement) - I note the transmit power is at 40mw - can I increase this and what are the implications of that if I do? What are the transmit limits (dont want to burn up my brand new router?)

Many thanks in advance

Steve

don't need "full bars". keep it how you have it...

 

[gary8vi]

I set up my N66u today - upgraded firmware to 3.0.0.3.90 - working well but don't have full bars everywhere in my house (router in basement) - I note the transmit power is at 40mw - can I increase this and what are the implications of that if I do? What are the transmit limits (dont want to burn up my brand new router?)

Many thanks in advance

Steve

Have you tried the latest firmware .108? Factory settings for .108 is 80mw on both bands.

Wireless signal should improve if you can move router out of the basement to the first floor center of house.

I'm using firmware version .108 with the router on the first floor near a coner of house and the signal on 2.4 GHz band is excellent everywhere in the house and does not exceed -50db even on the outside deck and in the basement.

 

[randomName]

Has anyone manually set the network traffic to 'User Defined QOS...' ???

I have and every-time after I log in it reverts back to 'Automatic'

Is anyone else getting something like this?

 

[srock77]

Odd - I upgraded firmware shorly after Iset up router- it went to the net and installed .90 not .108 - Do I have to go to asus.com myself and download the new firmware or will the router go out and find it?

One other question for all- Never had a dual band router before - I set both bands to the same SSID - How do my devices know whether to go on 2.4 or 5Ghz. Do I have to set a different SSID for each? (Am I defeating the router's features by making the SSID the same?) (router seems to default to using the same settings for each band)


Steve

 

[srock77]

One other reply - all of my services come into the basement - and the cable modem is there as is the switch and hard wire distribution - I'm stuck leaving router in the basement

What is the transmit power range for the router and is there a penalty for using higher power ( ie burning up the router, annoying the neighbors etc) or benefits of lower power?



Steve

 

[gary8vi]

Steve,

Firmware upgrade feature is broken in .108 and probably .90 but not sure. Go to the Asus website and download .108 then upload using your .90 software.

I would set different SSID's for 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Might want to add _5G at the end of the one you named for 5 Ghz.

Your router has two separate transceivers and both are listening for signals to connect to. The settings on the device you want to connect with will determine what band you will use. If your device (laptop) has dual band capabilities you will want to select the band and ssid.

From my tests and what I have read, increasing the output power above 80mw has done little to improve throughput and connecting. Some have reported erratic behavior when increasing output above 100mw. Antenna locations is almost always more important than output power. Try experimenting.

If you haven't all-ready I would suggest downloading inSSIDer 2.1 from metageek to a laptop or notebook PC. It's a free program and will allow you to see your routers signal strength as you move around the house. It will also allow you to see other nearby routers and if they are interfering with your signal and take action by changing channels or bands as needed.

Regards, Gary

 

[srock77]

Many thanks

Now I need to catch up by reading all the appropriate threads

Steve

 

[darksamus]

One other reply - all of my services come into the basement - and the cable modem is there as is the switch and hard wire distribution - I'm stuck leaving router in the basement

What is the transmit power range for the router and is there a penalty for using higher power ( ie burning up the router, annoying the neighbors etc) or benefits of lower power?



Steve

You can use a powerline adapter to extend your router away from your cable modem.

 

[mrcom]

Beta firmware

Here is the latest Beta firmware .114 from asus http://www.4shared.com/folder/h9J1MTAx/_online.html
best regards Mrcom
EDIT: New direkt link http://www.tvestjartarna.se/RT-N66U_3.0.0.3_114.trx

 

[bparanoid]

Thanks.
Would you have the changelog?

 

[mrcom]

Thanks.
Would you have the changelog?

Sorry no changelog