Asus RT-AC66U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router
Manufacturer: Asus Part number: RT-AC66U
$192.99 - $307.99 at 8 online stores
- CNET Editor rating:
4.0 stars Excellent
Setup and ease of use: 8.0
Features and security: 9.0
Performance: 8.0
Service and support: 7.0
Overall score: 8.2 (4.0 stars)
- Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 3 reviews
Where to buy
*Total price for the Asus RT-AC66U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 ... are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.
show CNET editors' review
Asus RT-AC66U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router price range: $192.99 - $307.99
- Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
- Reviewed on: 08/01/2012
- Updated on:10/30/2012
The good: The Asus RT-AC66U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router offers great performance on the 5GHz frequency band, and lots of features for homes and businesses.
The bad: The Asus RT-AC66U runs rather hot, and is relatively expensive.
The bottom line: The Asus RT-AC66U is an excellent router and is currently one of the best options among those that support the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.
Read CNET's full review
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Write Review Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3
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10 stars
Powerful, Stable, and Simple!!!
by blueboy499 on October 7, 2012
Pros: - Sleek, Slim, & Efficient GUI
- 3 Powerful Antennas
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Gigabit Wireless Capable (802.11ac adapter needed)
- Easy & Quick Setup
- GUI Can Be Understood by Almost Anyone
- Settings Can Still Be Configured In Great Deta
Cons: - USB Ports Aren't USB 3.0 (not many routers have USB 3.0 yet)
- A Bit Pricey (but just the same as the competition for other 802.11 AC routers)
- An 802.11ac Card Isn't Included (I'm just grabbing at straws in this section)
Summary: More Pros:
- The ASUS DDNS service is a free and embedded service for this router
- 2 USB Ports for Network Attached Storage and/or Printer Sharing
- Parental ...
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Summary: More Pros:
- The ASUS DDNS service is a free and embedded service for this router
- 2 USB Ports for Network Attached Storage and/or Printer Sharing
- Parental Controls
- AiDisk (allows you to create/manage your own cloud server for free)
- Free ASUS AiCloud app available in the Android Market and the iTunes App Store for accessing your own cloud server from anywhere
- Download Master Application: Allows you to continue downloading, even when your computer is off
- Media Server, FTP, VPN, Samba Service, and Firewall support within the firmware
- Configurable IPv6 Settings
While its GUI may seem a little daunting to inexperienced users their first time configuring the router, Asus makes the setup easy and simple for just about anyone. On the other hand; advanced users will find that even though the interface is sugar-coated with pretty graphics, there are many similarities in the depth of configuration options that are available to you in the Asus RT-AC66U firmware, when comparing it to the majority of the layouts found in the popular DD-WRT firmware.
One of the few things I would advise a new owner to do just after unboxing, is to download the newest firmware version directly from the Asus Support website, before taking the time to configure the router's settings. A current bug in the firmware (which I know Asus is working to fix as I type this) is: when a firmware version update check is initialized within the GUI (through Administration -> Firmware Upgrade -> Check (button)), the service does not correctly detect the specific version number of the actual newest firmware released. As a result, new firmware versions may have been released by Asus through their official support site, but the firmware version check service only upgrades the firmware to an obsolete version.
Overall a fantastic router that; even at $200 when I bought it, was well worth the investment. I have installed and configured many routers (80+) over the past 5 years, and the Asus RT-AC66U is the best router that I have come across so far! If you are looking for a fast and powerful router that will not become obsolete for many years, I would highly recommend this Asus RT-AC66U wireless router.
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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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10 stars
Excellent top-of-the-line router for home or small biz!
by aycockonxion on January 2, 2013
Pros: Very easy setup. AiCloud is a very impressive feature, and fairly easy to set up. Range and data speeds are both exceptional. Highly configurable and customizable settings. iTunes and Android app that work seamlessly.
Cons: This router takes up more space than a smaller, less powerful router (mine is setup standing with the antennas up, so it is a total of about 18 inches tall). It's also pretty expensive, which is why I asked for mine as a gift.
Summary: I'm very pleased with this router thus far, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it for a very long time because its feature set and capabilities make it "...
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Summary: I'm very pleased with this router thus far, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it for a very long time because its feature set and capabilities make it "future proof" more so than most competing routers. During setup, the router automatically allows the user to update to the latest firmware, which resolves any worry about missing features or security holes. Paired with an external hard drive, the AiCloud allows you to share files in a much larger magnitude than by using a service like Dropbox or SkyDrive. This is an exceptional router, which I highly recommend even though the price tag is fairly high.
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8 stars
Very good coverage in a town home from the basement
by srkamineni on August 16, 2012
Pros: GUI was very easy to use. I have wired network and my devices are connected except for my mobiles/tablets. So the speed is excellent for wired gigabit routing at home. Wireless speeds came to 12/4 downloaded when tested with speed test app.
Cons: I was looking for DHCP reservation but didn't find it, should be able to rename the device put an icon.
Remote administration is not working
Keyword filtering on the fire disabled cnn.com. However it was poor choice of keyword filtering.
Summary: Overall I am enjoying the tablet/mobile use in the bedroom with this router in the basement where network terminates. I plan to use Airport as an extender if it ...
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Summary: Overall I am enjoying the tablet/mobile use in the bedroom with this router in the basement where network terminates. I plan to use Airport as an extender if it allows me.
First upgraded the firmware before I start to whine about it.
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Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3
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show Specifications
- Manufacturer: Asus
- Part number: RT-AC66U
- Description: The ASUS RT-AC66U is a 5th gen dual-band Wi-Fi router, and the launch platform for the new ASUS AiCloud service. Its speed reaches 1.75Gbps, currently the fastest available, utilizing the Broadcom 802.11ac Wi-Fi controller and working in 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 5GHz band supports up to 1.3Gbps, exceeding current Gigabit wired transmission and 3X faster than 802.11ac. The RT-AC66U offers smooth lag-resistant multitasking and super-fast streaming, while ASUS AiRadar intelligently strengthens wireless connections via powerful amplification, offering future-proof optimized performance. AiCloud offers a unified app for iOS and Android devices that turns the RT-AC66U into a personal cloud server, with easy connectivity to Windows PC, Mac, Linux machines, and all USB storage. Each account can sync with other AiCloud clients and public cloud products directly. All your content, files, and data can be accessed, synced, shared, and managed from almost any device - smartphones to desktops - wherever and whenever you're online. Whether you're a tech-savvy enthusiast or a first-time user, the RT-AC66U is exceptionally easy to use with CD-free Quick Installation Setup (QIS) that lets you plug-n-surf right out of the box and connect PCs, smartphones, tablets, and other wireless devices quickly. Thanks to its refined interface tools, you get control like never before, letting you monitor signal strength, setup parental settings, and other useful functions in a robust yet intuitive way.
General
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Device Type Wireless router - 4-port switch (integrated)
- Enclosure Type Wall-mountable,
Desktop - Connectivity Technology Wireless ,
Wired - Data Link Protocol IEEE 802.11ac,
IEEE 802.11a,
Fast Ethernet,
Ethernet,
Gigabit Ethernet,
IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11n,
IEEE 802.11g - Frequency Band 2.4 GHz,
5 GHz - Data Transfer Rate 1300 Mbps
- Network / Transport Protocol PPTP ,
NTP ,
FTP ,
L2TP ,
DDNS ,
PPPoE - Routing Protocol Static IP routing
- Remote Management Protocol HTTP
- Encryption Algorithm WPA-PSK,
WPA2-PSK,
128-bit WEP,
64-bit WEP,
WPA2-Enterprise,
WPA-Enterprise,
MPPE - Features P2P client ,
Samba support ,
FTP server ,
DNS proxy ,
IPv6 support ,
Virtual server support ,
DoS attack prevention ,
URL filtering ,
Static IP mode ,
Parental control ,
Bandwidth control ,
DLNA Media Server ,
Network monitoring ,
ASUS AiRadar ,
Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) ,
IPSec passthrough ,
VPN support ,
IPv4 support ,
Quality of Service (QoS) ,
DMZ port ,
Auto-uplink (auto MDI/MDI-X) ,
UPnP Media Server - Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11ac ,
IEEE 802.11g ,
IEEE 802.11n ,
UPnP ,
IEEE 802.11a ,
DLNA CERTIFIED ,
IEEE 802.11b ,
IEEE 802.3u - Processor Broadcom
- RAM 256 MB
- Built-in Devices USB hub
- Status Indicators LAN,
WAN,
Power,
USB Expansion / Connectivity
- Interfaces WAN : 1 x RJ-45,
LAN : 4 x Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45,
Hi-Speed USB : 2 x 4 pin USB Type A Networking
- Networking type Wireless router
Antenna
- Antenna External detachable
- Antenna Qty 3
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
- Voltage Required AC 120/230 V
Miscellaneous
- Width 8.1 in
- Depth 5.9 in
- Height 1.4 in
- Weight 15.9 oz
- Included Accessories Vertical stand
- Cables (Details) 1 x Network cable
Software / System Requirements
- Software Included Drivers & Utilities
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