Asus RT-N56U Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 50 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 10 stars

  Best router I've ever owned

  by rmiller1959 on March 30, 2011

  Pros: My Internet speeds on SpeedTest.com are consistently >60 Mbps, a full 10 Mbps higher than through any previous router. The setup & configuration interface is among the best-looking, most feature complete and most intuitive I've used, and two firmwa

  Cons: No problems to report at this time.

  Summary: This was an impulse buy, since I already had a Cisco E4200 router. The buzz on the Internet about this router, however, made it too intriguing to pass up, and ...

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  Summary: This was an impulse buy, since I already had a Cisco E4200 router. The buzz on the Internet about this router, however, made it too intriguing to pass up, and I'm glad I purchased it.

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• 9 stars

  Very good router

  by briankiser on March 17, 2011

  Pros: very fast, attractive interface

  Cons: I don't like "designer" routers. I buy a router for fast routing and abilities, not appearances.

  Summary: This blows away my Linksys WRT-610n, which admittedly, is a few years old (but it was a powerful router in its day). Also, I am no longer getting disconnects like ...

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  Summary: This blows away my Linksys WRT-610n, which admittedly, is a few years old (but it was a powerful router in its day). Also, I am no longer getting disconnects like the Linksys gave me. The interface is MUCH cleaner and more attractive, and there are more options, such as the ability to limit network bandwidth to specific devices.
  
  Updated on Mar 17, 2011

  I forgot to mention: make sure to read the Small Net Builder review. It ranks this router as the fastest router they have ever reviewed!

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• 3 stars

  Cannot handle VPN

  by Mr_Bark on March 14, 2011

  Pros: The router has a sleek design and handled most of my routing needs beautifully. I never had to reboot it to restore my internet connection, a habit I was all too familiar with when it came to the router it tried to replaced.

  Cons: Unfortunately, this router was unable to handle VPN protocols, which meant I was unable to telecommute from home into my office. Despite being the one strike against it, it was a deal breaker. There was also Engrish in the web interface.

  Summary: Two IT professionals working on the router, two more consulting, and four hours of work resulted in my returning the unit for a refund. I tried port triggering and port ...

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  Summary: Two IT professionals working on the router, two more consulting, and four hours of work resulted in my returning the unit for a refund. I tried port triggering and port forwarding. I even put the computer on the DMZ! Nothing worked. My VPN connection to work was D.O.A. Put my old router back in place, and the VPN worked like a charm. I searched the internet, and it seems others had this issue with other Asus routers after a firmware update. At the time, this router had two versions for the firmware, and both failed. Also, the web interface suffers from Engrish, with a few misspellings. Definitely shoots your confidence in the product when they cannot run an English spell-checker against it before release. I was contemplating running this in "router mode" with yet another old router as the gateway, to see if this router's NAT was causing the problem, or also trying to find third-party firmware, to see what that would do. Then, I asked myself what I was doing! I didn't sign up for this sleigh ride. I just wanted something that would work as advertised out-of-the-box. I am too busy to deal with nonsense like this, so I returned it for my money back. It is a shame because I really wanted this router to work. I really did.

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• 3 stars

  Threw in trash

  by dugnl on September 29, 2011

  Pros: dual band; has a broadband data meter; Easy to set up as an access point

  Cons: Poor quality firmware; Very slow with a Boxee Box...must set the boxee to use another DNS server to prevent incompatibility; 2.4ghz band signal decreased to less than a bar after 2 months of use.

  Summary: Out of the box, this looks and seems to be a great router; use it a little bit and the flaws will be exposed. With my 2.4ghz band essentially ...

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  Summary: Out of the box, this looks and seems to be a great router; use it a little bit and the flaws will be exposed. With my 2.4ghz band essentially broken with no signal strength (tested on numerous wireless devices), I ended up just throwing it away. A huge waste of money. Can't believe CNET recommends this garbage.

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  1 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 2 stars

  Do not listen to the lies about this router!

  by abluehaze on June 10, 2011

  Pros: The pretty blue lights?

  Cons: VERY POOR BROKEN ENGRISH web interface. Appears to have been written by some Korean that hardly spoke any English. Constant disconnects and network errors. Bad hardware design with wires coming out of side of the unit causing tip over.

  Summary: I had my mind set on the Cisco E4200 after much research for me it was between this Asus and the Cisco but I decided to go with the Cisco ...

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  Summary: I had my mind set on the Cisco E4200 after much research for me it was between this Asus and the Cisco but I decided to go with the Cisco since it is a more trusted networking brand. Long story short I got to Frys and saw this box and picked up then asked the sales guy where the E4200s were because there were none on the shelf he then told me I'm sure we have some let me check but honestly you're holding the best router we carry (the Asus RT-N56U). He proceeded to attempt convince me (always suspect) that they never get any returns of the Asus and that the Cisco E4200 has a lot of problems and gets returned a lot.
  
  Well after getting the Asus home first it had issues connecting to my network and had to be rebooted several times just to connect then once it did I kept getting timeouts on my iMacs browser every once in awhile. Videos or would hang and or load slowly or erratically while streaming. Over the next few days I constantly had issues with my Android phone and the router as well. I would get constant network error issues and timeouts.
  
  I called tech support and after spending like 30 minutes on hold and being passed to every low level tech moron at Asus I finally got their level 3 tech and he suggest that I switch to WPA personal encryption instead of WPA 2 which is BS because the router I was using prior to this was a WNDR3700 and it was set to WPA2 and I never had these issues. After making his suggested changes just 10 minutes later I started having the same issues on the Android phone of constant disconnects and network errors.
  
  The hardware design is extremely suspect and about as elegant as the web interface. The black diamond look is ok I guess although it's extremely reflective and is actually kind of distracting and to in your face. The way the unit is meant to stand upright on the included stand means you have all of your ethernet cables sticking out of the side of the thing which causes it to want to turn and topple over.
  
  To top it all off the web interface for this router is a total joke. It seems like it was written by some Korean guy that barely speaks any English and then wasn't even proof read by anyone at Asus before shipping out the door.
  
  This is just a really poorly designed product overall and I'm extremely miffed and curious as to why it seems to get good reviews from "pro sites" on the internet. Trust me and save yourself some time and headache and go with another choice. I traded this Asus in for the E4200 I originally intended to get and so far (8 hours) of uptime it's very fast and is working flawlessly.
  
  I should have known better than to take any advice from anyone working in a store. I follow a general rule that I research everything before I make a purchase and I never take into account what anyone working for a retailer tells me.

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  3 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  Best of all Dual Band routers

  by eserwin on April 28, 2011

  Pros: So far, the RT-N56U is performing perfectly and all DD-WRT bridges are connecting at highest rate. I am running firmware 1.0.1.2
  I tried to update to the beta 7.0.1.21 as well as the 1.0.1.3 firmware and all of a sudden some laptops had very laggy connect

  Cons: -Not 3 streams 460 Mbps ready
  -Not free

  Summary: I agree, faster than WNDR3700 and e4200

  Summary: I agree, faster than WNDR3700 and e4200

  1 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Brilliant !

  by rossa1 on August 26, 2011

  Pros: I replaced a fairly new Linksys WRT 320N router with the Asus. Very simple to set up, immedately on-line. I use the gigabit wired connection in my office and the wireless functiionality everywhere else.
  Nice GUI, nicer for me at least than the Linksys of

  Cons: not much at the moment

  Summary: Great dual band router, broadcasts consistently, fast wired connections and overall great product.

  Summary: Great dual band router, broadcasts consistently, fast wired connections and overall great product.

  0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  Might Work Well, But Cannot Recommend

  by tonyny77 on June 10, 2011

  Pros: It seems to be working.
  Good Wi-Fi range.

  Cons: Challenging installation/setup.
  Grossly inadequate user manual/documentation with many English language oddities/errors, posing yet another annoyance to users.
  Unappealing case design.

  Summary: Completing the installation was a challenge. The documentation is extremely sparse and thoroughly laced with English language oddities and outright errors.
  
  I haven't read each and every page of ...

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  Summary: Completing the installation was a challenge. The documentation is extremely sparse and thoroughly laced with English language oddities and outright errors.
  
  I haven't read each and every page of the user manual yet, but I rate the documentation poorly. The manual, which has 65 pages (including 14 pages of routine, useless content (FCC notices, software license restrictions, etc.)), uses an extraordinarily large typeface with plenty of graphics included. In other words, there isn't much to this manual at all. In addition, the built-in browser-based help is virtually non-existent.
  
  It might work out fine, and because I hate returning things, I'm going to struggle with it as long as the router continues to work. However, in THIS case, I should have judged this "book" by its cover. The router's case design is not appealing to me at all. While stylish-looking to Asian tastes, perhaps, it doesn't convey the appearance of a serious piece of equipment.
  
  I still have hopes it will perform well, but I won't feel confident that it's setup correctly until I've referred to external sources to learn the meaning and preferred setting for many of its configuration options.
  
  This router might be the best-functioning router ever. But with the very strange, atypical interface they use and the atrociously poor documentation, it's impossible for me to be glad about purchasing this router.
  
  Assuming the router works well, networking geniuses who don't need documentation might love this router.
  
  However, for all others, I cannot recommend it, I have to frankly say. I don't give unwarranted poor ratings, but this router has really earned my two-star rating.
  
  Updated on Jan 7, 2013

  I stand by all of my previous comments and my rating. However, after using it for about 18 months, I feel a positive update is warranted pertaining to the unit's reliability/stability.
  
  The router works well and seems completely reliable. In all of the past 18 months, there was just one instance when a networking problem caused me to suspect the router might be the cause. In that case, rebooting the router instantly fixed the problem.
  
  I stand by my rating, though. As I mentioned, by their printed manual using a large typeface size, this helps a little documentation seem like a lot. And when it comes to the built-in browser-based help, there is virtually none. In addition, what little documentation there is contains many language anomalies, thus making some portions hard to understand, not to mention that the errors erode my confidence in this product.
  
  I would still withhold recommending this router. However, I cannot deny that it seems to be working quite well.

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  2 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 6 stars

  The review missed the boat.

  by Your_Computer_Buddy on March 19, 2012

  Pros: NO complaints about the performance

  Cons: The review missed the boat failing to mention the unit falls over "very" easily.

  0 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 2 stars

  Terrible for Mac, Doesnt support many printers

  by devinart on June 18, 2011

  Pros: Interface is decent. Setup is easy.

  Cons: The utility CD that comes with the router doesnt even run on a Mac. They just assumed no mac users would want to buy their product. Printer support is limited. Couldn't get it to recognize my usb hard drive as well.

  Summary: Setting up a wireless internet connection was very easy but nothing else worked for my Mac...and I only bought the router because of all the extra "features." Will be ...

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  Summary: Setting up a wireless internet connection was very easy but nothing else worked for my Mac...and I only bought the router because of all the extra "features." Will be sending it back, bummer.

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  0 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

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