This is a review of the ASUS RT-N66u home router.Â
Selecting the right wireless router is critical to having a usable network at home or in the office.
Selecting the wrong router will give intermittent connection and security issues.
This will drive you crazy while you spend all your time troubleshooting stupid problems. I know, because being a thrifty person, I always try the less expensive routers first.
I assume since I am in the IT business, I will be able to make it work. This is rarely the case as a poorly designed router cannot be used for anything.
Problems with Cheap Routers
Companies make routers using the most cost effective parts as possible.
Did you know all routers have CPU’s in them. Those chip range in price from less then $1 to will over $600. The CPU is critical to the router’s performance. With a $30 router, you can bet they are not putting a $50 CPU chip in it.
An under powered router will overheat, causing dropped connections and poor performance.
A higher end CPU required more cooling which makes them less marketable to home and small office users. The end users have been suffering with this problem for years until recently.
With the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), having a router that can handle a smart home is critical for the next wave of technology advancements.
If you have your locks, security system, lights, environment controls, cameras, computers, games, telephones, and just about anything else you can think of connected to the internet, you NEED a router that can handle all the traffic.
It must provide the increased performance these devices will require. Video is becoming the standard for how people like to digest information. Video requires a very fast and reliable network. The last thing people want is to wait while their device is buffering video.
We should be getting the wireless and core networking design right from the start. This is key to moving forward with this new technology driven world we live in.
So Which Router is Right for You?
After of many years of trying out new routers, I have finally found a router that is powerful enough to handle the traffic I put on it.
It also has a long enough range to cover my house and has the advanced features I am looking for in a networking product.
The ASUS Black Diamond Series routers are unlike any other router I have used. I have been using the low end model (ASUS RT-N66u) for well over 6 months now and I have been extremely happy with the performance.
- I have not had a single dropped connection since installing.
- No more router reboots required to cool the device down.
- The features make it super easy to setup.
I combined the router with the 9db antennas to receive extra long range (sadly I still need 2 routers to cover my house) and I have been enjoying a strong signal in the hard to reach places in my house.
ASUS RT-N66u Router Specs
- 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Concurrent Dual-Band Transmissions for Strong Signal Strength and Ultra-Fast Connection Rates up to 900Mbps
- ASUS AiCloud service: Access, stream, share, sync – all on the go with unlimited storage expansion!
- Gigabit Ethernet Ports for fast and reliable internet performance
- Download Master for Wireless Data Storage and Access to Router-Connected USB Storage Devices
- Expanded Wireless Coverage with Detachable High-Powered Antennas
- File Sharing, Printer Sharing, and 3G Sharing via Two Multi-Functional Built-in USB Ports
- ASUSWRT Dashboard UI for Easy Setup, Signal Monitoring, and Network Application Control
The sole purpose of this post is to try and convince you to that the core wireless router is a key component of your home technology design and it is not something that can be bought for less then $50 at Best Buy or Walmart.
I wrote this article today because I noticed the price drop on this router and its now down from the around $170 to $110 (with rebate).
The better antenna’s are selling for under $20 and are critical to getting the range you expect.
With the recent price drop, there is no reason why anyone should be buying a low end router anymore.
If we were to compare this with other routers in this price range; the ASUS router blows away the other $100 routers.
Do not make the mistake and just compare router specs with other brands . Don’t end up with a router that cannot hold a connection or overheats all the time making it useless.
Review of the ASUS RT-N66u
Read the reviews and make sure the number of reviews are in the hundreds or thousands. This is critical before you believe some of the things you read about in the company advertising.
If the reviews do not back up the marketing, pass on the router and find something that does.
In my house, I have Verizon FIOS and sadly I must use their router to get some of the basic TV programming guide. This means I am using the ASUS RT-N66u routers as Access Points in my house. I may change this around soon and use the ASUS router as my firewall.  Since I am not using them as a firewall, I am missing out on a lot of the features they have available.
As with all reviews, you should not take one person’s word on the quality of a product.
Checkout the reviews of the ASUS RT-N66u on Amazon or watch YouTube reviews (if your current wireless router can handle it) and see for yourself.
If you agree with my position that a good quality core wireless router is critical to your home technology design, then take advantage of the recent price drop and rebate offered from Amazon.
Having recently spend a lot of money on the Cisco routers and having been horribly disappointed with the lack of performance and almost nightly crashes and overheating,
I am overjoyed with the ASUS product that actually performances as well as the marketing says it does.
Over the next few months, I will promote this router as my home main firewall and can update this post with a review of the other features I would love to use but have not tested to date.
If you have a better suggestion for a home or small business router, let me know in the comments section below.
