ASUS RT-N66U - my review

[Guz]

How's the USB performance, functionality?

Could you throw on a NTFS formatted USB drive, and try some backup/sync software to copy files to it? Just to see if they have overcome some of the issues they had with the RT-N56U? (see the Backing up to Asus RT-N56U attached hardrive thread)

 

[g1000]

Used it now for three days. No problems. No need to reset the router. Performance is great! Having a 100 Mbit/s connection at home. Getting at least 70 Mbit/s sending and receiving when using the wireless connection. Using mainly the 5 GHz. No connection dropp either. Looks like a rock solid product with a great performance.

Great, appreciate your response.

 

[Geraner]

How's the USB performance, functionality?

Could you throw on a NTFS formatted USB drive, and try some backup/sync software to copy files to it? Just to see if they have overcome some of the issues they had with the RT-N56U? (see the Backing up to Asus RT-N56U attached hardrive thread)

Can't say anything about the USB function in the router because I'm not using this function. I have instead a Netgear ReadyNAS RNDU2000 connected to my home network. Also my printer is connected to my ReadyNAS and not to the router.

 

[Geraner]

4 days uptime now without any problems.

admin@RT-N66U:/tmp/home/root# uptime
18:25:24 up 4 days, 1 min, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Activated telnet for easy admin login via PuTTY.

 

[njweb]

Thanks Geraner!

Out of curiosity, what is the maximum power value it will allow you to set AND actually save in the following options?

2.4GHz Transmit radio power =
5 GHz Transmit radio power =

 

[Geraner]

Thanks Geraner!

Out of curiosity, what is the maximum power value it will allow you to set AND actually save in the following options?

2.4GHz Transmit radio power =
5 GHz Transmit radio power =

The default value for both are 40 mW.
Trying to save the value 100 instead shows a failure message saying "This value could not exceed 40".

 

[Geraner]

Just an short update.
I tested now to connect via 3G to my FTP-server in my NAS connected to my LAN at home, behind the ASUS RT-N66U. Potforwarding in the ASUS is set for both for active FTP-Port and the passive ports used by my FTP-server.
Connecting to the FTP-server in my LAN via 3G connection is working perfectly. Upload and download of files works at it has to be.

 

[ladysman]

FYI, newegg has it available according to their site!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091&Tpk=rt-n66u

 

[njweb]

The default value for both are 40 mW.
Trying to save the value 100 instead shows a failure message saying "This value could not exceed 40".

Thanks a lot!

I was hoping the transmit power went higher, since the RT-N66U was a router I was / am considering in case my Amped Wireless R10000 (which replaced my Linksys E4200 router + RE1000 range extender) firewall is not configured by default.
I ran a port check while using the R10000 (and one or two other checks) with Shields Up by GRC and it came up clean, but the Amped config utility makes it appear that the firewall rules need to be set up manually (I may contact their tech support to confirm).

Aside from the potential lack of a firewall on the Amped Wireless R10000 router (and lack of 5 GHz which is not much of a deal breaker for me since 2.4 has the longer range), I would not have a need for the Asus (other than the techie in me wanting the "latest and greatest").
I would not have a real need (aside from the techie and curiosity) since the Amped apparently has much higher output power (28 dBM = 630 mW with its dual 600 mW amps) than the Asus. During my testing the Amped router covered my entire house (without an extender).

dBm Watts
16 40 mW
17 50 mW
18 63 mW
19 79 mW
20 100 mW
21 126 mW
22 158 mW
23 200 mW
24 250 mW
25 316 mW
26 398 mW
27 500 mW
28 630 mW

I am still tempted to try the RT-N66U though.

 

[AirShark]

FYI, newegg has it available according to their site!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091&Tpk=rt-n66u

Shows "Out of Stock." Between Newegg and Amazon posting these...I think we're getting close! I've got my pre-order in with Amazon.

 

[stevech]

transmit power achievable depends on data rate (modulation order). Higher the speed, the lower the transmitter power, in certain steps, for any specific product. This is the nature of the OFDM modulation used for all but the lowest speeds. It has to do with the peak-to-average ratio of power, where the ratio increases as the data rate increases (bits per Hz per second). As the ratio increases, the peak power has to reduce to avoid transmitted signal degradation ("rho").

The rule of thumb in OFDM is to reduce the transmitter power by about 5-6dB at the highest data rates where the ratio is the greatest. Good WiFi gear does this automatically in the firmware. The FCC doesn't care about distorted transmissions, but the WiFi alliance compliance requires a given rho (quality). Not well enforced and there's a lot of crummy firmware out there.

Simplified:
Crank up an audio amplifier too much and you hear clipping and distortion. The solution is a better amplifier with more "headroom". Consumer WiFi doesn't do so because this headroom costs a great deal and WiFi is a very competitive market.

These things apply, no matter what a user interface like DD-WRT says: your input is a request to the firmware, which may well be ignored.

Lastly, there's the imbalanced link issue: The WiFi router may out-power the WiFi client and create a "I hear you but you don't hear me" situation.

 

[njweb]

transmit power achievable depends on data rate (modulation order). Higher the speed, the lower the transmitter power, in certain steps, for any specific product. This is the nature of the OFDM modulation used for all but the lowest speeds. It has to do with the peak-to-average ratio of power, where the ratio increases as the data rate increases (bits per Hz per second). As the ratio increases, the peak power has to reduce to avoid transmitted signal degradation ("rho").

The rule of thumb in OFDM is to reduce the transmitter power by about 5-6dB at the highest data rates where the ratio is the greatest. Good WiFi gear does this automatically in the firmware. The FCC doesn't care about distorted transmissions, but the WiFi alliance compliance requires a given rho (quality). Not well enforced and there's a lot of crummy firmware out there.

Simplified:
Crank up an audio amplifier too much and you hear clipping and distortion. The solution is a better amplifier with more "headroom". Consumer WiFi doesn't do so because this headroom costs a great deal and WiFi is a very competitive market.

These things apply, no matter what a user interface like DD-WRT says: your input is a request to the firmware, which may well be ignored.

Lastly, there's the imbalanced link issue: The WiFi router may out-power the WiFi client and create a "I hear you but you don't hear me" situation.

Indeed.
One of the reasons went with the Amped as noted in an earlier post (different thread), is that they included not only
- DUAL LNA (low noise amps) with very high 600mW maximum (adjustable) power on the transmit side
but also
- dual high power receive amps
- dual high gain antennae (single band)

The receive amps and high gain antennae help with weaker signals from the wireless clients. Without this, as you pointed out, you get an imbalance with wireless clients that typically have far weaker power than routers.

Hopefully this weekend I will make time to post my relative results (Linksys E4200 vs Amped R10000) in the other thread. The results of the side by side comparisons (performed a few weeks ago) were enough to convince me to stop using the E4200 in favor of the Amped.

People who have small homes or don't have any of their wireless clients located too far from the router (e.g. if the router is centrally located) and / or their wireless clients are in not on the other side of the house may not find a need for this extended range.

 

[KeithKman]

Got this e-mail from Amazon tonight at 9:20pm PST.

"Hello,

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on January 01, 2012 (Order# 104-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx):

'ASUS Dual Band Wireless-N 900 Extreme Router with 50% Wider Coverage, IPv6 Support and 7 Guest SSID, Black Diamond (RT-N66U)'

Estimated arrival date: January 23, 2012 - February 07, 2012

We hope to see you again soon!

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
https://www.amazon.com/?tag=snbforums-20"

 

[NightOwl326]

Newegg shows on site ETA: 01/13/2012. I wonder how accurate this date is compared to Amazon? I will email Newegg about this date and post their response.....

 

[Geraner]

The ASUS RT-N66U is now also listed at Amazon in Germany but can not be delivered yet.
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005T3TIBK/
On their homepage they have some more detailed specifications about the router.

About the processor it's written:

Chipsatz: Broadcom BCM4706 (600 MHz)

Even when I'm checking in my router it says:
Jan 1 01:00:06 kernel: CPU: BCM5300 rev 1 pkg 0 at 600 MHz

Also interesting in the description at Amazon.de:

High-End Chipsatz + 256 MB RAM + 32 MB Flash (+ MircoSD Slot)
Zusätzlich ist ein MicroSD Slot auf der Platine zur Erweiterung des Speicherplatzes vorhanden.

In English:
In addition, a MicroSD slot on the mainboard is available to expand the already existing memory.

About the wireless is wirtten:

Ausgangsleistung: Individuell einstellbar vom Benutzer; 802.11n: 17~21 dBm ; 802.11a/g: 17 ~ 21 dBm; 802.11b: Bis zu 23 dBm

Wireless power individually adjustable for the user.

WAN 1x Gigabit Ethernet oder 3G/4G USB Stick

So it should be possible to use this router with a 3G/4G USB modem as well in case your WAN connection goes down or as an permanent solution if you only have 3G/4G internet available where you live.

 

[tombodett]

newegg stock

I placed an order on newegg immediately after ladysman posted the link. It said it was in stock at the time and I have received order confirmation and tracking. I was unsure until I received tracking, but it says I'll have it Wednesday of next week.
I just wanted everyone to know that they actually had them, and to thank Ladysman for the link.

 

[NightOwl326]

T
About the processor it's written:

Even when I'm checking in my router it says:
Jan 1 01:00:06 kernel: CPU: BCM5300 rev 1 pkg 0 at 600 MHz

BCM4706 reports as BCM5300 / in other words yes it is BCM4706

 

[NightOwl326]

I placed an order on newegg immediately after ladysman posted the link. It said it was in stock at the time and I have received order confirmation and tracking. I was unsure until I received tracking, but it says I'll have it Wednesday of next week.
I just wanted everyone to know that they actually had them, and to thank Ladysman for the link.

Good, more user reports before I lay out the cash! Range kind of concerns me with 40 mw output, even with external antennas.

 

[sirozha]

I also ordered on 01/06/2012 as soon as the link to RT-N66U on Newegg.com was posted. It has already left the Newegg.com's warehouse and on its way to me. The tracking information is showing it will be delivered on 01/11/2012.

I have been waiting for this Wi-Fi router since last March. I am hoping the wait was worth it.

 

[sirozha]

I am wondering if DD-WRT or Tomato will be available for the RT-N66U any time soon. I need to get a managed Gigabit Ethernet switch for my house (actually, I need two switches - one POE and the other one non-POE). If I can turn the switch integrated into RT-N66U into a managed switch by utilizing ddwrt or tomato (I need 802.1Q and 802.3ad capabilities), I would not need to purchase an additional non-POE managed switch and save $225.