ASUS RT-N66U - my review

[sirozha]

Try
http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp
You are correct. If you can get to any of the menus past the wizard it will let you change the language. Then you need to go to administration I think and there will be 2 radio buttons to select between router and access point mode. On mine, neither were selected since I had not completed the wizard. After you choose router mode from there, it will get you back to like a 3 step wizard and get it working.

Thanks for this link. There's a way to get out of the Setup Wizard. As you connect to the router and get the Setup Wizard, click on the AP Mode button, then get to the page where you are requested to enter the LAN IP information or to receive the LAN IP automatically, and instead of entering the LAN IP information, click on the Home button in the upper right corner. Then you will get a message prompting you to configure wireless settings before proceeding. At this point, you HAVE to configure wireless settings, so you can just put anything as the PSK password for the 2.4 GHz band and apply. You will be taken to another page, which is completely broken - it displays only partially (not from the very top), and nothing works on that page. The good news is that this page is not part of the Setup Wizard; therefore, at this point, you have exited the Setup Wizard and have entered the regular configuration mode. It is at this point that I will try to paste the the URL for the page where the GUI language can be changed from English to another language. My hope is that by doing so, I can change the GUI language to another one and then proceed with setting up RT-N66U as a router or an access point based on individual requirements. I will be happy with the Chinese GUI at this point (which I speak none of) because even the Chinese GUI will be more helpful than the English one.

I'm working late tonight, so I will have to try this tomorrow night to see if this will work.

 

[Geraner]

Review after two weeks using the RT-N66U

Now I had the RT-N66U for about two weeks. Tomorrow is the last day I could return the router to the shop where I bought it and get my money back. (possibility to test a product you bought for 14 days)

For the first, I have many devices connected to my home network, mostly wireless.

Connected to the 2.4 GHz Network

• Nokia N8
• Samsung Galaxy S2
• D-Link DCS-930L Wireless Network Camera

Connected to the 5 GHz Network

• My own Sony Vaio laptop mainly used for web surfing
• My wifes Sony Vaio laptop mainly used for web surfing and a lot of video streaming via HULU and other video streaming services. She is using StrongVPN to get an USA ip-address.
• D-Link DAP-1522 Access Point set up as Bridge

To the DAP-1522 I have connected:

• Western Digital TV Live Media Player (mostly used for streaming internet radio via Tunein
• LG BlueRay Home Cinema System (often used for watching Youtube videos because it's faster then my WD Digital TV Live)

Connected via LAN Cable

• Netgear Ready NAS for file and printer sharing within my LAN. FTP used as well to access and share some files with friends via the internet.
• Desktop PC used for online gaming (mainly BF3)

So in total I have 10 devices connected to my ASUS RT-N66U.
The data volume used via the internet connection is in average 6 GB a day (download). Mainly due to video streaming through my wife's laptop.

Also I'm having a 100/100 Mbit/s internet connection here in Sweden.

Positive experiences

• Wireless speed about 15-20 Mbit/s faster than with my previous D-Link DIR-825
• Wireless signal about 5-10 RSSI stronger than with the DIR-825. (testing with inSSIDer)
• Rock solid router. No rebooting or dropped connections.
• QoS default settings are very good. No lag while playing BF3, streaming video and streaming internet radio at the same time.
• File share via LAN network (Samba) fast and without any problems
• Port forwarding working as it should once set up. (used for ftp-access to my NAS)

Negative experiences

• QoS custom settings not possible to adjust the way I want. (bug)
• English GUI totally messed up. (Bug) Lucky me I got have the Swedish version by default. Setting up the router there is no problem.
• Uplink speed a about 5-10 Mbit/s slow then with my old DIR-825 or when having the computer directly connected to the internet.
• Parental control not working. Got still access to the internet even when the setting where not to allow internet access.
• ASUS Support has since 10 days not answered on my Bugreport I sent in via vip.asus.com
• Insufficient / lacking knowledge of QoS and how settings should work while having phone contact with the ASUS support here in Sweden.

So tomorrow I have to decide whether I'll keep the router or whether I return it where I bought it.
I have already decided to keep the router because it is rock solid once set up and has a great wireless speed.
I hope ASUS support is fist of all fixing the GUI and QoS settings bugs as soon as possible (parental control included), and second improving their response time on requests submitted through their official support channal vip.asus.com.

P.S. my complaints has been fixed with the firmware update version 3.0.0.3.90 released the date after me posting this post.

 

[phila]

If anybody is interested

http://www.seaboom.com/scripts/product.asp?PRDCODE=1016-RT-N66U&REFID=FR

they have 20 in stock,but actually I think they drop ship from ASUS. I got mine in 3 days in California.

 

[Arty50]

I was only doing about 2 tests each time and wrote down the fastest result.

Cool! Thanks!

 

[sirozha]

Thanks for this link. There's a way to get out of the Setup Wizard. As you connect to the router and get the Setup Wizard, click on the AP Mode button, then get to the page where you are requested to enter the LAN IP information or to receive the LAN IP automatically, and instead of entering the LAN IP information, click on the Home button in the upper right corner. Then you will get a message prompting you to configure wireless settings before proceeding. At this point, you HAVE to configure wireless settings, so you can just put anything as the PSK password for the 2.4 GHz band and apply. You will be taken to another page, which is completely broken - it displays only partially (not from the very top), and nothing works on that page. The good news is that this page is not part of the Setup Wizard; therefore, at this point, you have exited the Setup Wizard and have entered the regular configuration mode. It is at this point that I will try to paste the the URL for the page where the GUI language can be changed from English to another language. My hope is that by doing so, I can change the GUI language to another one and then proceed with setting up RT-N66U as a router or an access point based on individual requirements. I will be happy with the Chinese GUI at this point (which I speak none of) because even the Chinese GUI will be more helpful than the English one.

I'm working late tonight, so I will have to try this tomorrow night to see if this will work.

I was able to get into the actual configuration GUI by following the procedure I described above and then pasting this link into the address box in my browser:
http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp

Even though at this point, you can switch between different pages in the English configuration GUI and all pages display correctly, none of the settings you try to apply take. In order to be able to configure RT-N66U, you must switch the configuration GUI language from English to another language.

After I switched to another language (Russian in my case), everything became a smooth sailing. In fact, it only took a few minutes to configure RT-N66U, and all of my devices have now reconnected from Cisco 1131 to RT-N66U. I can immediately see a huge improvement in speed. I am posting this over my newly installed RT-N66U.

In order to switch the language, locate the drop down box in the upper right corner of any screen in the configuration GUI and select the language you want. As soon as the language is changed from English, every menu on every page starts magically working. There have been reports here of both German and Swedish working fine. I can confirm that Russian works fine as well - I was able to configure my RT-N66U, using the Russian language configuration GUI.

P.S. After having played with some settings in the RT-N66U, I am seeing that some (non-essential) settings are not quite working right. For example, I cannot change the secondary DNS address in the RT-N66U once it has been applied. It appears that Google Chrome for Mac works better with the Russian language GUI than Safari does. Another benefit of Google Chrome is that if you change the configuration GUI to another language (e.g. Russian), Google Chrome pops up a message below the browser address field suggesting to translate the page into English. So, even though your RT-N66U is using Russian as its configuration GUI, you can translate each configuration GUI page by clicking on the “Translate” button on that pop-up message. You have to do it again and again for each page of the configuration GUI you change to, but if you can’t read any of the languages that RT-N66U has a GUI for (besides English), you can still use this Google Chrome feature to configure your router in English.

 

[small_law]

Thanks to the advice found here, I also got it to save settings by changing the language via a pull-down menu that's on every setup page. Aside from enabling security, I'm not going to mess around with it much more tonight. In my completely unscientific testing, I do notice stronger signals for both bands with the n66 compared to what my e3000 was giving me. The n66 is in the same place my e3000 was, elevated on a shelf on a wall in the center of my apartment. I won't be returning it, but I do hope they fix the firmware soon.

 

[tombodett]

port forwarding

Port forwarding is unreliable for me too.

 

[Geraner]

I have no problems with the port forwarding. Can access my FTP-server from outside without a problem after setting up the FTP port and passive data ports as defined in the FTP-Server settings.

No problem either to enter two alternative DNS server addresses in the GUI. I'm using Norton DNS (A-Security) which uses the following DNS server:
Preferred DNS: 198.153.192.40
Alternate DNS: 198.153.194.40

 

[Geraner]

New firmware 3.0.0.3.90 released

ASUS just released a new firmware for the RT-N66U.

ASUS RT-N66U B1 Firmware version 3.0.0.3.90
Fixed:
1. PCI reinit issue
2. Javascript error in Danish
3. Javascript error in English
4. Media Server can't scan file when plugging in USB disk
5. User get error PPPoE status sometimes
6. User can't connect to some websites sometimes(related to TCPMSS)
7. User can't connect to FTP from Internet after enabling it(but reboot can)
8. Plug/Unplug USB Printer Issues
9. Russia Dual WAN bug: domain name resolve for both static/DHCP IP
10.UI: Internet Status Report(included WPS-PSK setting problem)
11.Don't run DHCP in Unify/PPPoE environment
12.Traffic monitory report in Unify environment
13.HP Destjet J310a IOT Issue

http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=RT-N66U+(VER.B1)&p=11&s=2

Findings after upgrading my RT-N66U with this firmware:

• Most important the English GUI is now working normally
• QoS Bug is fixed. Now it is possible to set up one computer with priority "high" and a second for priority "highest".
• Parental Control is now working. They changed the settings form block to allow. So now you just mark the times where you allow your kids to use the internet and leave the other times open. There is no own error message from ASUS shown when trying to access the internet at a blocked time schedule. It's just not possible to go to any web page.

Well done ASUS!!
BTW, all settings where kept after upgrading the firmware. No need to reconfigure the whole router.

 

[aurelijusb]

Really nice!
Waiting for more updates from other users. If this router will have no bugs, good performance, then i will buy it instead of Linksys E4200.

 

[eksern]

Port Forwarding still not working with new firmware

I have now installed the new firmware 3.0.0.3.90 but the port forwarding problem is still there.

It might happen that port forwarding works OK with FTP but not with vnc for sure and it worked perfectly on the older RT-N56U router.

 

[dinko]

I just ordered the router. The price seems to have gone up a lot on Amazon and it is still out of stock on newegg. If anyone is interested, it seems to be in stock on superbiiz.com. If you use the coupon code 'SAVE15', you can get it for $180 with 2 day shipping (at least for where I live).

Now that the English GUI is fixed, it looks most promising. Thanks to everyone who worked out the workarounds. I feel much more confident in buying now.

 

[Greg_Elite]

Just got an email from Asus.

Hi Greg,

Thank you for contacting Asus Networking Support. We appreciate your feedback and concern. We have just released firmware 3.0.0.3.90 on our website which addresses the bugs. Please try this and let me know if you experience further issues.

Best Regards,

Adam K.
Customer Care Specialist J
ASUS Computers International

 

[Greg_Elite]

Can anybody verify the WAN to LAN speeds (routing)? Does it currently beat the N56u?

 

[jasonmizrahi]

Got my RT-N66U Yesterday - Thoughts thus far....

So I got my RT-N66U yesterday - upgraded from a NetGear WNDR3300. I was always asking myself why I was never able to achieve anything above 20 Mbits even when my Xfinity service provided 50mbits - well, question solved. This unit is a demon beast - I love it.

I run an Asus ROG G74SX-A1 - so the only problem I have now is that my current Atheros WLAN card can't see the 5Ghz signal, although my other computers can.

Nevertheless, from some initial tests, I've determined that the 5Ghz signal does produce a faster Download from the same location (about 7 meters away, with a wall in between) at a rate of about 44 Mbit/dl, but the upload averages about 15mbits (when I can usually push around 20). With the 2.4 Ghz signal, I get about 40-45 mbits (not consistently high though like the 5ghz signal), but with upload, consistently faster 20mbit speeds.

Nevertheless, a much better improvement over my previous router. Furthermore, the signal is indeed stronger inside my condo - whereby I am able to get 5 bars everywhere around me, even in previous areas that yielded no bars.

I did find the Web GUI a mess when setting up, using a Chrome Browser. Ultimately, I had to plug in directly into the unit to set it up, once resetting back to factory settings, and having to constantly change the language to another one in order to apply settings.

Hopefully the new firmware released today solves that.

My last issue however is that I can't seem to access the Web GUI anymore via wifi or wired at 192.168.1.1 - this is the case on all of my computers. Page just continuously loads and loads on a blank white page. If anyone has any thoughts about this - it would be much appreciated. I'm going to wait a bit more before I do a factory reset again - but I was wondering if others experienced the same thing. I threw away that Asus Wireless Utility CD already so I'm not sure if that's something I'm going to need stuff or not. Oh well - any thoughts here on what I can do short of resetting the router and starting all over again?

**Update: Web GUI issue fixed with firmware.

 

[Greg_Elite]

So I got my RT-N66U yesterday - upgraded from a NetGear WNDR3300. I was always asking myself why I was never able to achieve anything above 20 Mbits even when my Xfinity service provided 50mbits - well, question solved. This unit is a demon beast - I love it.

I run an Asus ROG G74SX-A1 - so the only probably I have now is that my current Atheros WLAN card can't see the 5Ghz signal, although my other computers can.

Nevertheless, from some initial tests, I've determined that the 5Ghz signal does produce a faster Download from the same location (about 7 meters away, with a wall in between) at a rate of about 44 Mbit/dl, but the upload averages about 15mbits (when I can usually push around 20). With the 2.4 Ghz signal, I get about 40-45 mbits (not consistently high though like the 5ghz signal), but with upload, consistently faster 20mbit speeds.

Nevertheless, a much better improvement over my previous router. Furthermore, the signal is indeed stronger inside my condo - whereby I am able to get 5 bars everywhere around me, even in previous areas that yielded no bars.

I did find the Web GUI a mess when setting up, using a Chrome Browser. Ultimately, I had to plug in directly into the unit to set it up, once resetting back to factory settings, and having to constantly change the language to another one in order to apply settings.

Hopefully the new firmware released today solves that.

My last issue however is that I can't seem to access the Web GUI anymore via wifi or wired at 192.168.1.1 - this is the case on all of my computers. Page just continuously loads and loads on a blank white page. If anyone has any thoughts about this - it would be much appreciated. I'm going to wait a bit more before I do a factory reset again - but I was wondering if others experienced the same thing. I threw away that Asus Wireless Utility CD already so I'm not sure if that's something I'm going to need stuff or not. Oh well - any thoughts here on what I can do short of resetting the router and starting all over again?

Goto Asus support site. They just released a new firmware today.

 

[aurelijusb]

1. What about DLNA server? Does anybody can tell me about DLNA performance watching videos from USB drive?
2. What about IPTV multicast from WAN to WLAN? Can we watch IPTV to my laptop and stream DLNA videos to my TV and download torrents at the same time?
3. What about iTunes server? Does is works without any issues?

 

[KeithKman]

Awesome to hear. Amazon hasn't shipped the routers yet. I wonder if when they do ship the routers they will have the new firmware already installed?

 

[jasonmizrahi]

Where to buy....

Awesome to hear. Amazon hasn't shipped the routers yet. I wonder if when they do ship the routers they will have the new firmware already installed?

I bought mine from Excalibur PC - got it shipped on the same day, and delivered to me the next day (in San Francisco....they shipped from their Newark warehouse).

Another guy mentioned http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-RTN66U - using code SAVE15 to save $15.

Either way, pick one up asap before these go on backorder. Now I'm patting myself on the back for getting one of these as quick as I did.

 

[Greg_Elite]

Shipping is mad expensive though. In this day and age $12 to ship a router is a lot.