Asus WL-500W 802.11n Multi-Functional Wireless Router

Manufacturer: Asus Part number: 90-IAB002A00-1UAZ

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$99.99 - $159.70 at 6 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: We like the Asus WL-500W for its wealth of unique features and its strong signal at long range, but its short-range throughput is substandard and there's no Gigabit Ethernet support. This is a good choice only for advanced users who will take advantage of some of router's USB features and aren't afraid to wade into those waters without help.

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CNET editors' review

Asus WL-500W 802.11n Multi-Functional Wireless Router

price range: $99.99 - $159.70

Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
Edited by: Matthew Elliott
Reviewed on: 03/18/2008
Released on: 07/01/2007

The good: Great range and signal penetration; integrated print, media, FTP, and Webcam servers; can support multiple USB devices simultaneously.

The bad: Bulky and impractical design; buggy Web interface; confusing instruction if you're trying to figure out the special USB features; throughput at close range could better; no Gigabit Ethernet.

The bottom line: We like the Asus WL-500W for its wealth of unique features and its strong signal at long range, but its short-range throughput is substandard and there's no Gigabit Ethernet support. This is a good choice only for advanced users who will take advantage of some of router's USB features and aren't afraid to wade into those waters without help.

Read full review

Of our recent sweep of Draft N wireless routers, the $130 Asus WL-500W offers some unconventional yet useful features not found on the others. Aside of the regularly goodies including a firewall, encryption, QoS, and a print server, the WL-500W also has a built-in FTP server, a file server, and a Webcam server, as well as the ability to download files by itself. On top of being a Draft N wireless router, the WL-500W can also do much that a basic server can do. It's not without its drawbacks, however. For one, we're not thrilled with the design, and its Web interface could be more intuitive. And like the Edimax BR-6504n, it doesn't support Gigabit Ethernet. In labs testing, the WL-500W didn't do exceptionally well at close distance, but it turned in impressive results at longer ranges. For general home use, the SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N is a better overall router with higher throughput and a superior design. Only those looking to take advantage of the Asus WL-500W's advanced features should consider this unique device.

• Device type: Wireless router
• Network standard: 802.11n Draft 2.0, 802.11b/g
• Bandwidth: 2.4GHz
• Operating systems supported: Linux; Mac OS; Windows XP and Vista
• Security options: 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, AES, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, NAT, and SPI firewalls
• Features: Four LAN ports; DHCP support; DDNS; DDNS; HTTP and BT (BitTorrent); FTP Server; Webcam server; printer server
• Notable design features: None
• Support: Two-year limited warranty. Toll technical support phone support

The Asus WL-500W is the same shape and size as the Asus WL-700gE, but it features three antennas and doesn't include a hard drive. The antennas sit along the back of the router, where they crowd the LAN ports, which is an annoyance we see more than we'd like. In addition to the usual four LAN ports and one WAN port, you'll also find two USB ports, a reset button, an EZSetup button, and the power connector. Despite the bulky size of the router, it's impossible to access the EZSetup button if you have a USB device connected, making it actually not so "EZ" to use.

On the front, we like the way the status LEDs are organized. They take the shape of the word indicating the function, such as "WAN," "AIR," or "LAN." However, the color of the LEDs is rather unconventional and monotonous: Orange means the cable is plugged or the service is connected; flashing orange means activities. What? They were out of green LEDs when Asus built this router?

Setting up the WL-500W is easy, thanks to the well-illustrated, step-by-step Quick Start Guide, and the Web interface is also well organized and relatively self explanatory. Some grammatical errors and inconsistencies in the translation (presumably from Chinese) of the interface's text, however, might lead to some confusion. For example at one place the NAT function is called "IP Sharing" while at other, it's simple called "NAT." The programming of the interface is also buggy. It would randomly prompt us to save changes before moving to another section though we didn't make any changes at all. Nonetheless, we didn't need much time to get the router up and running.

The special features--dubbed USB Applications--of the router, unfortunately, are much more difficult to figure out. Because the features are new, we found that there's not enough help within both the Web interface and the manual. For example, it's fairly clear how to connect a USB device to the router and how to enable a function--say the Media server--but you are then left on your own to figure out how to use that function with a computer. An experienced network user will be about to navigate through eventually, but a novice is likely to get frustrated quickly. After quite a bit of time fiddling with the Web interface, we were able to hook a USB-powered external hard drive to one of the USB ports and get it running with networked PCs in the labs. In the end, it worked really well; we were able to transfer files and stream video and audio via Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player.

Apart from VPN, the router supports a standard set of networking features including wireless encryption (WEP, WPA1, and WPA2), Firewall, Virtual Server, and Bandwidth management. It also supports Windows Connect Now (WCN), which allows for transferring the wireless encryption from the router to other WCN-enabled devices via a USB drive. While it doesn't support Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), it does have an EZSetup button at the back that works with the EZSetup application to quickly and securely add a PC computer to the wireless network. This process is rather cumbersome, however, simply because it's very hard to reach to the little EZSetup button on the back of the router.

In labs testing, the Asus WL-500W disappointed us initially on our maximum throughput test, scoring only 62.87Mbps when sending a signal over 15 feet, which was roughly 20 percent slower than that of the D-Link DGL-4500 and the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax. Things started looking up for the WL-500W on our mixed mode test, where it scored an above-average 55.07Mbps when communicating with both .11n and older .11g devices. Most impressively, it topped the chart at almost 30Mbps on our long-range test at 200 feet.

The Asus WL-500W ships with a two-year limited warranty and a mixed bag of technical support. On weekdays, phone support is available from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; on weekends you'll need to call before 2 p.m. PT. It's not toll-free, so you might not want to try that very often due to the extended hold time, which we experienced during our test call. (We gave up after 20 minutes.) Asus's site offers product-specific FAQs, driver and manual downloads, a troubleshooting guide, and a user forum. All in all, the site is very well thought out and has lots of trouble-shooting information.

Ixia IxChariot maximum throughput tests (at 15 feet, in Mbps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Throughput max

Netgear RangeMax Next WNR854T

85.5

SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N

83.7

D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme Gaming Router

81.9

Edimax BR-6504N nMax

76.7

Apple Time Capsule

65.1

Asus WL-500W 802.11n

62.9

LevelOne N-One WBR-6000

47.3

Ixia IxChariot maximum throughput tests with mixed 802.11b/g and draft N clients (at 15 feet, in Mbps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Mixed

Edimax BR-6504N nMax

Netgear RangeMax Next WNR854T

67.5

Asus WL-500W 802.11n

55.1

SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N

52.4

Apple Time Capsule

51.5

D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme Gaming Router

50.9

LevelOne N-One WBR-6000

23.9

Ixia IxChariot long-range tests (Throughput measured indoors at 200 feet, in Mbps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Throughput 200 feet

Asus WL-500W 802.11n

29.7

D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme Gaming Router

Netgear RangeMax Next WNR854T

26.9

SMC SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N

24.3

Apple Time Capsule

21.4

Edimax BR-6504N nMax

11.4

LevelOne N-One WBR-6000

5.3

Find out more about how we test networking gear.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 4 out of 4

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5 stars

Buy it if you find it CHEAP

by woundwort on December 29, 2007

Pros: Great options Some vision went into this

Cons: Options don't work that well.

Summary: Bought it cause it had a print server built in.
2 usb ports, recommend you use only low power devices, thumdrives and such, or self powered usb devices for printers
...

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Summary: Bought it cause it had a print server built in.
2 usb ports, recommend you use only low power devices, thumdrives and such, or self powered usb devices for printers and external Harddrives

Samba does not work that well. Keeps detecting my 1tb hitachi drive over and over. Shows 67 shared partitions, already tried various part sizes in fat32, EXT2 and EXT3 nothing helps. Could be a me thing or the hitachi drive as my small thumb drives seem to work fine

This baby runs various open firmware projects NICELY, but limited USB support from those projects. DD-WRT, Openwrt and Oleg work fine. Not hard at all to flash, 3 steps, not as easy as the linksys but easy enough. People with some *nix knowledge will have no problems making samba work right.

If you stay with the asus firmware disable the samba and just ftp to it. mapping a share via ftp in windows is easy enough.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Freaking awesome!!

by zimmermanea on August 28, 2008

Pros: Works great if you have a good understanding of setting up networks. Quick setup works good. USB conectivity!!!! excelent coverage.

Cons: the wirless n speed is lacking. I can't get mine to work much above 130mbps at distances over 5 feet.

Summary: Initially i had problems connecting to the wireless n portion of the router. I then discovered that the wireless card in my computer just needed the driver updated and it ...

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Summary: Initially i had problems connecting to the wireless n portion of the router. I then discovered that the wireless card in my computer just needed the driver updated and it worked perfectly after that. I set it up with an external hard drive attached for network storage and it works great. my only real grip is the lack of speen on the wireless n setting. The only time i can get the speed above 130mbps is when i am sitting within 2 or 3 feet of my router. Then it keeps the 130mbps connection for about 50 feet through my house before falling to yet a lower speed.

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10 stars

Excellent router

by Sleepless_In_Toronto on May 24, 2008

Pros: Consistently fast connection & tons of unique features

Cons: No Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and the unit is boxy (but who cares -- it's a router!)

Summary: It took me a while to settle on a Wireless N router, and it was quite a gamble that I made when I chose ASUS WL-500W. However, I want the ...

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Summary: It took me a while to settle on a Wireless N router, and it was quite a gamble that I made when I chose ASUS WL-500W. However, I want the readers to know that ASUS WL-500W is indeed a hidden gem; it is consistently fast and it has tons of unique features, such as 2 USB ports that you can use to turn regular printers into network printers. It also supports file downloads, even while your PC is turned OFF. I have been using this router for my Ipod Touch, Nintendo Wii, desktop PC (wired connection) and notebook PCs, and I only have praises for this product. I rated this as 9 out of 10 because it doesn't have Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. Great job, ASUS!

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3 stars

Fast but not reliable

by redcircle on January 24, 2008

Pros: Fast and full featured

Cons: Clunky interface and very unreliable WiFi

Summary: Wired connection is rock-solid, and WiFi connection is very fast. USB print server and file server built in too.

But WiFi radio randomly stops broadcasting several times per day and

...

Read more

Summary: Wired connection is rock-solid, and WiFi connection is very fast. USB print server and file server built in too.

But WiFi radio randomly stops broadcasting several times per day and will not start up again unless router is powered down and then up again. USB file server requires external drives to be FAT32 formatted (32 GB max partition) or Linux formatted. Print server works for some but not all USB printers and does not support scanning on multifunction devices. Quirky interface requires getting used to.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Asus
Part number: 90-IAB002A00-1UAZ
Description: The ASUS WL-500W Super Speed N multifunctional wireless router adopted the latest 802.11n draft to deliver high-speed data transfer and unparalleled interoperability between n-draft devices. It also incorporated Download Master and USB Pug-n'-Share features for convenient digital content downloads and sharing of printer, webcam and external hard drive functions.

General
Device Type Wireless router
Form Factor External
Built-in Devices LED panel
Networking
Form factor External
Connectivity technology Wired, Wireless
Wireless Capability This product uses the draft version of the upcoming 802.11n standard. Its compatibility with other and future products is not guaranteed, and it may interfere with current 802.11b and g products.
Integrated Switch 4-port switch
Data Transfer Rate 300 Mbps
Frequency Band 2.4 GHz
Data link protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
Switching protocol Ethernet
Transport protocol PPPoE, L2TP, TCP/IP, PPTP
Remote management protocol HTTP
Status Indicators Link activity, Power
Features Firewall protection, URL filtering, Print server, Packet filtering, MAC address filtering, MIMO technology, IP address filtering, DHCP support, Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), Syslog support, NAT support
Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.1x, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
Antenna
Antenna Quantity 3
Antenna External detachable
Communications
Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slot(s) Total (Free) None
Expansion Slots Total (Free) None
Interfaces 2 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A, 3 x Network - Radio-Ethernet, 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ( WAN ), 4 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45
Compatible Slots None
Port(s) Total (Free) / Connector Type 4 Network Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX:RJ-45, 3 Network Radio-Ethernet:, 2 Hi-Speed USB 4 pin USB Type A, 1 Network Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX:RJ-45
Miscellaneous
Cables (Details) 1 x Network cable
Encryption Algorithm 128-bit WEP, 64-bit WEP, AES, WPA, WPA-PSK, TKIP, WPA2

Power
Power Supply / Device Power adapter External
Power Device Power adapter - External
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V
Cable(s) / Peripheral(s)
Cable(s) included 1 Network cable External
Software / System Requirements
Software type Drivers & Utilities
Expansion / Port(s) Required
Slot(s) Required None
Modem
Modem Type None
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
CNET Labs long-range tests (in Mbps) 29.66
CNET Labs maximum throughput tests (at 15 feet, in Mbps) 62.87
CNET Labs maximum throughput tests with mixed 802.11b/g and draft N, MIMO clients (at 15 feet, in Mbps) 55.07

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Asus WL-500W 802.11n Multi-Functional Wireless Router

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Communications

Expansion / Connectivity

Miscellaneous

Power

Cable(s) / Peripheral(s)

Software / System Requirements

Expansion / Port(s) Required

Modem

CNET Labs' Benchmarks

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