High-performance dual-band wireless router ASUS RT-N66U. ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight router and EA-N66 adapter - dark knight and zen pyramid

1. By default, login is admin, password is admin.

2. Courier-setters must change the password in the settings to the Serial Number indicated on the box (S/N). When reconfiguring, it is also recommended to use S/N as a password for the router and wi-fi ( serial number).

3. Resetting the router settings is done by pressing and holding the Reset button on the back panel of the router for 10 seconds.

In order to get to the router’s web interface, you need to open your Internet browser and type http://192.168.1.1, User Name in the address bar admin (Username), Password – admin(provided that the router has factory settings and its IP has not changed).

[Change factory password]

For security reasons, it is recommended to change the factory password. Default: Login admin, password admin. In the router interface, you need to go to the “ Administration", Further System. In field "New Password" enter a new password in the field "Re-enter your new password"enter the new password again. There will be a button below apply.

[Setting up WI-FI on the router]

In the router interface, you need to select the tab on the left "Wireless network", in the list that opens, select “ Are common" We set the parameters as follows:

1. “SSID” field: enter the name wireless network. The value in this field cannot be changed.

2. Authentication method: WP2- Personal

3. WPA encryption: AES

4. WPA Preshared Key: You must enter any set of numbers from 8 to 63. They also need to be remembered so that you can specify them when connecting to the network. It is recommended to use the device serial number as a key (indicated on the box as S/N ########).

Click the “Apply” button below

Setting up an Internet connection.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Advantages: Best router. Very powerful, dual-band, gigabit. Big size built-in memory for firmware.

Disadvantages: None. Bright LEDs? They are disabled in the Merlin firmware. Does it get very hot? But no one has burned out yet, which means the operating temperature is normal. High price? Perhaps, but look at its filling! Low power? Don't be ridiculous, one of the most powerful routers for home use. Read below.

Comment: Merlin firmware. Everything works perfectly. Low power - select 200mW and press apply three times. Still low on power? Open the console and execute the following commands: nvram set wl_TxPower=500 nvram set wl0_TxPower=500 nvram set wl1_TxPower=500 nvram commit Voila, the router produces half a watt. Used it like this for a long time. It even catches in the yard (I live on the top floor) Oo Do you want to use the outer channels? (usually disabled in devices and therefore free). Please: nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=JP nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=JP nvram set wl0_country_code=JP nvram set wl1_country_code=JP nvram set regulation_domain=JP nvram set regulation_domain_5G=JP nvram commit This is how the region is selected "Japan", where channels up to 14 are allowed!! (usually the outermost channel 11 or 13). (Does not work on all firmware). Want to limit your wireless network speed? - there is also a way: 1. Assign an address to the router, for example 192.168.1.1 2. Assign “Local network” >> “LAN IP” >> “Subnet mask” - 255.255.254.0 (exactly 254). 3. Go to “Local Network” >> “DHCP Server”. 4. Manually assign IP addresses to all home computers by MAC addresses. (required in the range 192.168.1.*). 5. Assign the starting and ending addresses of the DHCP pool 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.100 (exactly in subnet 0). 6. Go to “Traffic Manager” >> “QoS”. Let's activate QoS. 7. Create a custom rule: priority - Lowest, Protocol - any, Source IP or MAC - 192.168.0.* (exactly 0 subnet) 9. Now you can set any speed limits for the "Lowest" priority. This will be the speed limit for the guest subnet.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Pros: Quality, amazing ease of setup. Everything is as it is in the comments.

Disadvantages: I didn’t notice (I don’t use all the features, there’s no need!). Everything is as it is in the comments.

Comment: I purchased it 5-6 months ago, it works without problems. The firmware is from Asus (just updated), I didn’t install it from Merlin! I was too lazy to sew, I decided to see how it would work on it - the flight was normal. I rebooted once, and I’m not sure that the problem was with him and not with the provider. I will support the others - yes, the router gets hot, but this does not interfere with its operation. I bought the router with the hope of quality and the desire to avoid dancing with a tambourine when setting up. As the monsieur of their feature film “The Wish Maker” said: “Fulfilled...” ): D The router met expectations 100%. Hangs on the wall at the entrance to the apartment, wires already go out from it to the TV (Cisco set-top box) and computer. Since the appearance of the router in the apartment, there has been a constant distribution of torrents (currently 28 of them), in the evening every day 2-3 devices hang on wi-fi (on 2.4, but I don’t use 5) + separate 24-hour open wi-fi for the neighbors to the delight (no, no pity))). In addition to everything, Beeline TV goes through the router, and Beeline also provides me with Internet access. By the way, after removing the router from the original box, I had access to the Internet within 5 minutes. I didn’t connect anything to USB, there’s no need. I don’t complain about the speed at all (5 GB from torrets takes about 10-15 minutes; recently I downloaded 81 GB in about 4 hours... in the evening). According to the tariff, I have 45 Mbit, i.e. nothing special. Wi-fi picks up near the entrance on the street at 1-2 bars, I myself live at 5. I didn’t measure the speed of the waffle, but 720p movies on the tablet go without problems (at 3 bars). At work, my boss has exactly the same router, he also has no problems, I bought mine a month after him.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Alexander E.

Advantages: Excellent, powerful device with maximum functionality, simultaneous 2G and 5G (really works at maximum speed in N-mode!) with the possibility of up to 5 guest networks, a huge amount of built-in and Flash memory, intuitive functional software with wide capabilities , including a built-in torrent client and udproxy for IP-TV relays, high-quality service from ASUS, 2 USB with support for 2 printer connection options and an easy-to-carry 500GB USB HDD without external power, MicroSD connectivity, a bunch of alternative firmware . And the beautiful, bold design of the device will decorate any home/office

Disadvantages: It gets noticeably hot during operation - vertical installation with the included stand is recommended. Asus software is traditionally buggy - installing alternative firmware solves all problems and does not lead to loss of warranty! MicroSD slot inside the case - no problem for naughty hands Overpriced

Comment: ASUS engineers, traditionally strong in hardware, have not lost face - the device turned out to be surprisingly balanced and powerful, which is very problematic to load to the maximum. There are no speed “cuts” observed, incl. within a local gigabit network. Via WAN it gives 98.9 mb - a discount on the line/provider. About 2000 simultaneous sessions load the processor by no more than 15%. Also, traditionally, all this works by default on buggy, clumsy proprietary firmware, the functionality of which, however, commands respect. Perhaps someday it will be “licked”, but there is little hope. Those who don't want to bother are advised to look at http://forum.asus.ru/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=44107 and manually update to latest version(auto-update does not work), regardless of the beta status of the firmware. For those who want to fully unleash the potential of this wonderful piece of hardware right now, please feel free to find alternative firmware. I use excellent firmware from Tomato (the latest versions for today are here: http://tomato.groov.pl/index.php?dir=K26RT-N%2Fbuild5x-092-EN%2FRT-N66u, flash through the proprietary recovery utility) - it works stable and without failures, functionality is more than enough; incl. It is possible to set the max. Wi-Fi power(be careful, in large cities there may be problems with “organs” - according to the law no more than 150 mV, with firmware you can “catch up” to 400), this allowed me to calmly “cover” a 5-story house + yard and solve all the required problems

Rating: 4 out of 5

Advantages: - “good” hardware for “everyday” needs - dual-band WiFi with a powerful transmitter (off limit - 0.2W; custom - 0.5W) - nice admin panel with wide customization options - a bunch of built-in features (double NAT, several guest networks, Sharilka, rocking chair, print server, parental and traffic control, DLNA, etc.) - off. support is at a normal level (firmware updates are very frequent) - there are no problems with custom ones

Disadvantages: - high price for the brand / support - a not so “branded” router with similar hardware costs ~ 3k (such as TRENDnet TEW-692GR), - gets very hot under load, although this is so far visible problems did not work - does not support p2p at speeds > 70Mbit with an L2TP connection to an external device

Comment: I took the piece of iron back in the fall and am quite pleased with it. Off, there is no need to sew custom yet. There were no special problems with the setup (Beeline, L2TP), the 100Mb channel can handle it completely. There is a constant load in the form of mTorrent with 900 torr - problems arise with downloading from an external source: at speeds > 9MB, the router simply reboots after a while, you have to limit the download to this figure: (Other than that - no special problems. From additional features I use a print server, IPTV and Sharilka (I plugged in an old 16GB flash drive for everything) - everything is also quite good: there are some bugs and “features” of the settings, but this is always there, everywhere, and everything works well in the end; The flash drive gives 10/5 MB for reading/writing, which is enough for me. By WiFi - on 2.4 there is a laptop with an Atheros card and a PS3, no problems, on 5 I connected a TV, a smartphone and a tablet: connect at 150 Mbit, the real speed is up to 8.5 MB (i.e. up to ~ 80 Mbit).

Rating: 5 out of 5

Advantages: - Easy to connect - Signal strength. It catches better than the previous ASUS WL-500W - Speed ​​(channel 60/60 does not cut at all, ASUS WL-500W did) - Fast, beautiful, convenient router admin panel

Disadvantages: Haven't found any yet.

Comment: Provider Beeline (ex Corbina) channel 60/60 megabits per second. Everything flies. Thanks to all. Goodbye everyone.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Pros: Excellent router. No complaints. Can download torrents, distribute connected disks and DNLA.

Disadvantages: I didn't find any. People complain that it gets hot. Well, let him warm up as much as he wants. It works very stable.

Comment: I worked for more than a year without any complaints on the Beeline l2tp Internet. It showed fair speed. Unlike Dlinks which ruined 20-30% of the channel speed. I replaced it only because I am upgrading the wi-fi network to a new one Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac - I bought its older brother RT-AC66U. You can attach SNMP (monitor via KHF or mrtg) and non-standard transmission. install Download Master ver in USB-applications router menu reboot router ipkg install net-snmp; /usr/sbin/app_set_enabled.sh net-snmp yes It earns its money. 5 GHz allows you to distance yourself from neighboring 2.5 GHz wifi networks in a house noisy with neighbors' Wi-Fi.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Advantages: 1. As has been mentioned many times - the design of the device. 2. Powerful hardware, 256 MB capacity random access memory. 3. 2 frequency range. 4. Gigabit ports. 5. A huge number of settings + convenient menu. 6. Opportunity easy installation alternative firmware.

Disadvantages: Overpriced.

Comment: I spent a very long time choosing a new router to replace the old DIR-615. I read reviews, testimonials, comments. I scoured the Internet looking for the necessary device, eventually settled on ASUS RT-N66U and ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra. I spent about a week looking at information on both devices and came to the conclusion to take ZyXEL. I came to the store and left with a brand new ASUS RT-N66U for 6.3 kilo rubles. I don’t know how to explain my action. There are bugs on both devices, but the ASUS RT-N66U was closer to the soul, and also fit very well into the interior. Immediately demolished official firmware and put Merlin. I picked up a 3 terabyte screw and left the whole thing for a couple of months. The main task for the router was to act as a torrent client and DLNA servers. And the router coped with this task perfectly. I liked the feature as additional software, which itself intercepts the torrent file and sends it to the router client. The moment a new file is added, the router starts to glitch terribly, hashing large files affects external drive, when the processor is fully loaded. There are no problems with the Internet at this moment. HDD, connected to the router, is easily identified by the system as networked and working with it is a pleasure. The only problem is that the transfer speed does not exceed 10 megabytes per second. In 2 months of work, I only made 1 reboot - the router froze when I sent 3 torrents with 20 gigabyte files to it. The Internet continued to work at that moment, but access to the router via the web interface was lost. There were no problems with DLNA, I added the file and watched it right away. I don’t take into account problems with overheating and bright LEDs. Overheating does not affect the operation of the device, and the LEDs can be turned off in the Merlin firmware. Wi-Fi penetrates exactly as much as my old DIR-615 did. In the router settings, everyone will find something for themselves. In general, the device works stably, hopes are justified, but the price is very steep, it is for this reason that I give it a big minus.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Dmitry I.

Pros: Excellent design, stable operation

Disadvantages: Noticeable heating of the surface, weak signal 5 GHz

Wireless routers are among the purely utilitarian devices, the choice of which is not usually spent much time. However, an unsuccessful router can subsequently ruin a lot of blood for the user. Today we are trying to figure out what you can expect from the latest router ASUS RT-N66U.

Specifications ASUS RT-N66U

• Type: wireless router.
• Wireless part: 802.11a/b/g/n, simultaneous operation in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (MIMO 3x3:3).
• Wiring part: 1 Gigabit WAN port and 4 Gigabit LAN ports.
• Processor and memory: BCM4706 (600 MHz MIPS32 processor core), 256 MB RAM.
• Additionally: print and file server, UPnP support.

Appearance and design features

ASUS RT-N66U is the second “designer” router to come into our test laboratory (the first was the Linksys E4200). Personally, I find the whole concept meaningless (even the most beautiful router looks best where no one can see it), but ASUS is obviously proud of the device's appearance, to such an extent that it was given the pretentious name Dark Knight. . However, despite all my sarcasm, I have to admit that the router looks really good, especially the “checkered” texture of the front surface.

The router comes with a cleverly shaped stand, with which you can install it on a table in a vertical position. All the connectors will be on top, which can hardly be called a reasonable solution.

By the way, about connectors: their set is completely standard. We have at our disposal a WAN port, four LAN ports (all gigabit), two USB connectors, three connectors for connecting external antennas, power supply input, as well as power, reset and WPS buttons (quickly connect new clients to the network with one click).

Router at work

ASUS RT-N66U is a dual-band router. This means that the user can simultaneously create two wireless networks, one of which will operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, and the second at a frequency of 5 GHz. At the same time, it is logical to use a 5-GHz network only for new devices, and a 2.4-GHz network for backward compatibility with old clients. This is really important because if there is at least one 802.11g device on a wireless network, the entire network will operate at a maximum speed of 54 Mbps. Two ranges allow you to avoid this unpleasant situation.

The router supports three spatial streams simultaneously (MIMO 3x3:3), due to which maximum speed connection is 450 Mbit/s. My laptop ( MacBook Pro 2011) willingly connected to the router at exactly this speed. The router's web-based management interface allows users to flexibly configure the device to suit their own needs. I will not list all its features (there are a lot of them), I will only note that all the necessary functions (MAC address cloning, Dynamic DNS, VPN and PPTP passthrough) are supported. The router also supports creating a “guest” network with disabilities(guests only receive internet access). In addition to the web interface, administration is possible via a Telnet or SSH connection.

Built-in USB ports support connections like hard drives, and printers. In this case, the router can act as a file server, print server, media server and torrent station (Transmission acts as a Torrent client). When working with hard drives, file files are supported. NTFS systems, FAT32 and ext2/3/4.

Performance

The router is equipped with a powerful (by the standards of routers) Broadcom processor, built on the MIPS architecture and with a clock frequency of 600 MHz. Due to this, it demonstrates good performance: average speed copying files from computer to computer was 89 MB/s (we had to use RAM disks so as not to run into throughput hard drives). When connecting one of the computers via Ethernet and the second via Wi-Fi, the speed of copying files between the machines was 41 MB/s. The speed of copying files from one subnet to another (WAN->LAN) using the FTP protocol was 67 MB/s. Thus, we can say that the performance of the RT-N66U fully unlocks the potential of a gigabit network. Personally, I was interested in looking at the speed of reading/writing files when accessing an external hard drive connected to the USB port of the router. It turned out that it strongly depends on file system, best result(oddly enough) is achieved when using NTFS. In this case, the average speed of both reading and writing is about 25-30 MB/s, which is already quite acceptable for real-life tasks. Stability also did not cause any complaints. The router worked absolutely stably when downloading large files via BitTorrent with 100 simultaneous connections. The range of the ASUS RT-N66U in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands is excessive for typical urban use conditions - the signal was perfectly received not only on the landing, but also four (!) floors above/below.

Bottom line

ASUS RT-N66U belongs to the “major league” of wireless routers both in terms of capabilities and workmanship. Interesting design, excellent speed characteristics, good stability and wide functionality make it good choice for home. The cost of the “Dark Knight” (about 1400 hryvnia) may seem high, but in fact it is on par with other routers in this class. 5 reasons to buy ASUS RT-N66U:

• dual band support;
• MIMO 3x3:3 support;
• performance;
• stability;
• acceptable speed of accessing files on a USB drive.

1 reason not to buy ASUS RT-N66U:

• inconvenient placement of connectors for desktop installation.

Good day to all.
Today we will take a closer look at a rather interesting representative of the line network equipment from the ASUS brand: dual-band router RT-N66U. The model is not new - it was announced back in 2012. Moreover, the initial version of this router was presented in early 2011 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. However, despite such a significant “age”, the model has still not lost its relevance and is in good demand. Let's try to understand how this “Dark Knight” managed to win the hearts of buyers.

Specifications.

Packaging, equipment.

The back of the box is even more informative - it describes the advantages of simultaneous operation of the router in two bands, and a graphic description of the Ai Radar technology, which serves to optimize the direction of the Wi-Fi signal, which, according to the manufacturer, improves the coverage area and increases the connection speed.
There is also a “connection diagram” for wired clients, Internet connections from the provider and USB devices. There is also a comparison chart for choosing a router depending on your requirements.

Unfortunately, there was no place for the “great and mighty” on the front and back. There are literally three lines among 23 other similar “short annotations” on the top end.

However, given that this router belongs to the “top segment,” we can assume that its sales volumes are not so large that the manufacturer “bothers” with localizing the packaging for each country of sale.

The left side wall contains more full list technical characteristics router and its accessories. Also noted here is support for the IPv6 protocol, compatibility with Windows 8 and MacOS. The right wall duplicates the “pictograms” of advantages on the front side.

By the way, for particularly principled buyers, I note that the box was initially covered with polyethylene, so you can easily understand whether it has been opened before you or not.
However, I got carried away with the description of the “container”...
Carefully open the polyethylene, open both side walls and literally push out the box from thick white cardboard. Inside, both the router itself and all its accompanying components are neatly laid out in “sections”:

What we have in the package:
The router itself
Three detachable antennas
Power unit;
Patch cord;
Stand for vertical installation;
Utilities CD;
Paper manual for quick start in 17 languages
Warranty card

Here I have to apologize to the readers for the absence of a stand in the photo - already in the process of preparing the review I noticed this omission.

Appearance.

The device is quite weighty - 450 grams, although the dimensions of the case do not stand out too much among other routers. The side and bottom walls are literally dotted with ventilation holes, which suggests a fairly strong heat generation during operation. The bottom wall contains holes for wall mounting. The same holes are used to attach a vertical stand:

The back wall traditionally contains all the switching connectors: 4 LAN ports, a WAN port, a pair of USB ports and 3 antenna connectors. The power connector is located on the left. Next to it is a power button. The reset and WPS buttons are also located between the connectors, which makes them somewhat difficult to access.

However, I don’t have to use them often, so I won’t consider this a disadvantage.
Let's return to the front panel, where there is a line of blue LEDs - indicators of power, LAN and WAN activity, both WLAN bands and USB port operation.

The LEDs themselves, at first glance, do not seem “dazzlingly bright”, but in complete darkness the “illumination” is quite decent.
So, the device has been examined from all sides, the antennas are screwed in, the cables are connected, and the power is supplied. Let's move on to the next "chapter".

Setup. Functionality

Who cares, but me user interface ASUS routers I like it: the strict design, intuitive menu make it possible to easily and quickly configure this fairly functional device. However, sometimes there are flaws in untranslated terms.
Let's return to the “start window”: here you can immediately see the status of the connection with “this Internet of yours”, the mode Wi-Fi security, the number of connected clients and a list of USB devices that are connected to our device. The right "column" displays detailed information depending on the selected “section” of the network map.

Actually, here you can not only view information, but also manipulate some settings. For example, you can quickly change Wi-Fi authorization settings, set a human-readable client name, or restart the connection with your provider.

If we start “traveling” through the main menu, we will have the following options:
1. Organize up to 6 (!!!) independent guest wireless networks (three in each range):

2. Configure the traffic prioritization service (QoS) and view “traffic graphs”:

3. Restrict client access depending on the time of day - here this is called “Parental Control”. It’s a little illogical from a parent’s point of view: often the problem is not how much time your beloved child spends online, but where he “goes.” However, if you approach the problem “creatively”, then the missing “father-gendarme” functionality can be easily configured in other sections.

I will leave the next two subsections – “USB applications” and “AI Cloud” as a “snack”: they are voluminous enough to run through them in the “gallop across Europe” mode. Therefore, let's move on to additional settings.
4. "Wireless network". Here we have a classic set Wi-Fi settings: Network SSID, channel width and number, authentication method, encryption type and network key. It is possible to use WPS clients to connect. You can also build a WDS network and filter wireless clients by MAC address. For “aesthetes”, there is an opportunity to delegate client authorization to an external RADIUS server, and “professionals” may appreciate the possibilities fine tuning some wireless network settings.

5. "Local network". There are few settings here: we indicate the IP address of the router itself and the subnet mask. Of course, there is a DHCP server with a gentlemanly set of settings (address pool, lease time and the ability to allocate static addresses to clients). You can also configure static routing. Setting up IPTV quite flexible: it is possible to either select a ready-made provider profile (this automatically assigns router ports to a TV set-top box and a VoIP gateway on the internal network), or the ability to configure all parameters “manually”. Of course, there is support for IGMP and UDP proxy.

6. "Internet". The first tab of this section contains settings for connecting to the provider via the WAN interface.

Everything here is quite “boring”: select the connection type (PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP, static or dynamic IP address), and enter the related parameters. But on the second tab we have the opportunity to use one of the “tricks” - the ability to use an alternative access channel to world wide web. A USB “whistle” or one of the LAN ports can be used as the second channel. An alternative channel can be used as a backup - in this case, when the main channel “fails,” the router “transfers” traffic to the “spare” one. Or you can organize load balancing - in this case, traffic is divided between channels according to the specified coefficient.

In addition, like “any self-respecting router”, it has the ability to “forward” ports from an external network to an internal one, create a “demilitarized zone” and support DDNS.

7. Not without support for the IPv6 protocol. Moreover, it is possible to use not only “pure” IPv6, but also “crutches” such as 6to4, 6in4 and 6rd.

8. The VPN section makes it possible to install both a VPN server for organizing access to the internal network from the outside, and a VPN client for access to other closed networks.

9. Of course, there was also a firewall. Its functionality is at the level of most SOHO routers and, in addition to the banal “on/off”, it has the ability to filter by URL, keywords and network services. The latter can work according to a schedule... Since the router supports the IPv6 protocol, the operation of the firewall can be extended to it.

10. The “Administration” section allows you to select one of four operating modes of the device: a regular router with Wi-Fi, a wireless repeater, a wireless access point, etc. "Media-bridge".

On the “System” tab, it is possible to change the name of the router administrator from the usual “admin” to something of your own and set a password for it. Some other settings are also set here, including the time zone, NTP server address, etc.

Good manners suggest that serious software should, at a minimum, be able to independently check for updates. Ideally, download and install them yourself. Our “ward” can only do the first thing - check... We have to update “the old fashioned way”, downloading a file with firmware from the ASUS server.

Well, “as a snack for the administrator”, there is the ability to save, restore and reset the router settings.

eleven. " System log" makes it possible to view not only all the events occurring inside this “black box with antennas,” but also to see the state of the wireless network, find out which addresses were assigned to clients by the DHCP server, and make sure the routing table is correct. It is also possible to see the port forwarding status and the list of connections.

12. And finally, we have a page with network utilities - ping, traceroute and nslookup. This "gentleman's kit" can help diagnose network problems.

It is also possible to remotely “wake up” connected local network devices:

Now I suggest returning to the missed sections “USB applications” and “AI Cloud”. The first section contains the following links:

AiDisk - behind this loud name is hidden the configuration of access to files located on a USB drive connected to the router from the “global web” using the FTP protocol:

File/media server – here are the “switches” for turning on/off DLNA and iTunes servers, as well as setting up an SMB server. For the latter, it is possible to regulate access rights to “shared” folders;

Print server
3G/4G – link to the connection section global network via 3G/4G whistles:
Download Master – link to a separate page of the download manager, if this service is installed. Allows you to organize the downloading of files to a connected drive using the NZB, aMule and, of course, Bit Torrent protocols.

The second section we missed reviewing is AiCloud. Actually, from the name it becomes clear that the router’s “cloud” services are collected here. However, if access from mobile devices under Android control and iOS files located on a USB drive are considered “cloud”, then the name of the section corresponds to its functionality. So what we have here:
Cloud Disk – access to files from mobile devices via the “global web”;
Smart Access – organization of access to a PC on a local network from the outside, including the possibility of remote wake-up;
Smart Sync – setting up data synchronization on a USB drive with cloud services.

Unfortunately, in this firmware from cloud services Only Asus's own Web Storage is supported, unlike the RT-AC87U, which supports Drop Box, remote FTP or SMB servers.

For files located in a “personal cloud”, it is possible to create an “invitation” with a link to access them for third-party users

It is possible to protect access to AiCloud from hacking by guessing passwords:

and access logging:

Performance testing

Extremely surprising low speed recording via the FTP protocol, not exceeding 2.5 MB/s, despite the fact that the reading speed this protocol is quite adequate and close to the results of testing this router in other reviews posted on the network. This cannot be attributed to the low performance of the USB drive, because... testing it when connected to USB port 2.0 on a regular PC gives a write speed of around 18 MB/s. And the recording speed via the SMB protocol is also noticeably higher. In addition, when copying files, the router's processor load increases to almost 100%.
To test WLAN and LAN segments, Iperf 2.0.5 test was used with default parameters (TCP protocol, buffer size 64 kBytes). The methodology for evaluating the results (averaging three out of five measurements) was similar to testing file operations. As a result, the following values ​​were obtained:

Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to test Various types connections to the global web. But for the fairly common PPPoE at a tariff of 100 Mbit/s, the following result was obtained:

However, given the fairly powerful hardware, we can assume that even for such “heavy” protocols as PPTP or L2TP, the speed of access to the “web” will not be limited by the device under test.

conclusions

PROS:
Chic appearance
Good performance
Wide functionality
Intuitive interface
Excellent wireless network performance
MINUSES:
Bright LEDs
Noticeable heating of the case
Price that may seem high

Well, in conclusion, I traditionally want to thank Asus and the Experts Club for providing the device for testing.

Good model

Experience using Wifi devices: several months

Advantages of Wifi devices 1. Ability to operate in two bands
2. Stability
3. Honest speed return
4. Design
5. Availability of on/off button
6. Large functionality Disadvantages of Wifi devices: Unfortunately, it is not strong enough to completely cover the entire apartment; in the back room the signal is very weak for mobile devices. There is enough signal for the laptop. In many ways, the problem is the location, but there is nowhere to go.

We bought it to replace the RT-N16, which died. Overall a good router, but a large number of walls and their thickness and composition can prevent the router from completely covering your home.

Review No. 2 about ASUS RT-N66U routers

Good model

Experience using Wifi devices: more than a year

Advantages of Wifi devices Design, characteristics, ease of setup, power WIFI signal, several types of third-party firmware + regular updates of factory ones.

Comment about Wifi devices:

The device is certainly interesting, there are a lot of useful functions and capabilities that are not at all necessary for the average person... and as a result, the price is inflated. The built-in torrent is good as long as there are not many downloads, as soon as the disk becomes full and there are a lot of uploads + downloads... the processor goes into 100% load, the body warms up to very hot and the Internet begins to periodically fall off (I use 3G, and now 4G modems). Only rebooting from the button does not save you for long. The temperature was overcome only by cutting a hole in the back wall and installing an 80 mm computer fan with a rheostat there (so that it would not make noise) ... the Internet began to fall off slightly less often.
After the advent of the 4G modem, the modem began to fall off regularly, the processor rarely dropped below 90% load. I had to give up the torrent-downloading and file-dumping functions, assembled a separate NAS and the router began to breathe, but still, at moments of special load on the network, the modem falls off, I have to run to poke this button (now, blindfolded, I can hit it with my finger the first time ).
What is alarming is that there are several parts of more than a hundred pages of discussion of this model on one popular forum (trunk), this is also an indicator, on the one hand, of the popularity of the model, and on the other hand, its glitches.
The device's functionality, ease of settings and appearance just super... but I think that it is weak in terms of the power part (processor) and the thoughtfulness of the cooling.
This is the first of my routers that I just adore and hate just as much...
I will select something more stable... probably something from Zyxel, they seem to protect the nervous system of the owners.
All of the above is my personal opinion, a person who has no understanding of the intricacies of Linux and Windows... but I will say for sure that even though there is something from Linux inside it, it behaves exactly like Windows.
01.05.2015
I am adding to the review and raising the rating.
My complaints about the router regarding the stability of the Internet are not justified. The culprit turned out to be the 4G modem from Megafon... it would be even more correct to say that the clumsy firmware from Megafon is to blame. It was enough to flash the modem with the manufacturer’s firmware and the stability problems went away. The speed of receiving and sending has increased significantly! Forgive me asus rt-n66u... I was wrong!)))