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ASUS RT-N66U N900

thomasjc1
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ASUS RT-N66U N900

i have just signed up to plusnet 76mb unlimited fibre (im hoping i should get around that speed as live very close to cabinet) im just looking at other routers has anyone used the asus RT-N66U N900
http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTN66U/
37 REPLIES 37
AndyH
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

Yep...I use this router with my 100Mb fibre.
Am very impressed with it. Very good interface with lots of controls (simple layout, with some advanced features). Wireless range is amazing - I had to use a repeater before, but no need to use that now.
I got it for £88 a while back from Amazon. Bargain at the time!
thomasjc1
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

Oh thats brilliant thanks for reply ill have to try and find one now
Bright
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

Also using the Asus RT-N66U router on PlusNet FTTC.
As AndyH says, it's a pretty good router - solid performer, excellent wifi coverage (I'm able to stream BBC iPlayer to main bedroom now, which previous routers struggled to cover), and good user interface for configuration. Also comes with a 3 year warranty. Only downside noticed so far is it gets a bit warm.
I'm using the custom Merlin firmware on mine, which provides several useful additional features and also better stability on the wifi (on the standard Asus f/w most users find wifi rock solid, but some including me had a problem of sudden unexplained drop-outs. The Merlin f/w uses a different driver which seems to resolve the problem). You can also run DD-WRT or Tomato firmware on it. Merlin firmware at:
http://www.lostrealm.ca/tower/node/79
I bought my router from Dabs:
http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-rt-n66u-black-diamond-dual-band-wireless-n900-gigabit-router-7Z7H....
thomasjc1
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

i dont know much about dual band routers but can you use both bands at the same time for example my laptop (as long as i got the right wireless card in it) use in 5.0ghz mode
and other people in the house use 2.4ghz as well as me using the 5.0ghz
hope that makes sense
Bright
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Registered: ‎02-02-2013

Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

Yes. That's one of the reasons I bought this particular router. It works on both 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands simultaneously. So my Macbook Pro can be running at maximum speed on the 5GHz band while my iPhone is simultaneously using the 2.4GHz band. Also, the 2.4GHz signal propagates better through walls, etc so I can only use that band in the far corners of my place, by my Macbook switches to the faster (and lower interference) 5GHz band when it's sitting closer to the router.
You can also create up to 6 "guest" networks, 3 on each band, so visitors to your house can access the internet without also having access to your own computers (but I'd strongly recommend putting a password on these, as the guest networks are open by default).
thomasjc1
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

thats great thanks very much for your time i defo got to look into getting one
AndyH
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

@ Bright
Mine gets warm too - but the latest firmware 270 seems to run cooler.
Bright
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

@AndyH
Thanks. Good news. I'll wait until Merlin updates his firmware to use 270 as the baseline (currently baselined on 266, which wasn't actually released by Asus for the RT-N66U). My Merlin firmware says:
Radios temperature 2.4 GHz 53°C  -  5 GHz 56°C
thomasjc1
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

can you tell me what speeds you get wireless with the router in 2.4 and 5.0 mode (is there much difference in speeds) also what wifi card do you have in laptop/pc
i got a 300n atheros card in my laptop is that gonna be good enough to get full speed  in 2.4 mode or do i need to upgrade
pengbo
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Registered: ‎15-01-2013

Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

@Bright: Do you know if either of these firmwares do vpn?
AndyH
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

Only wifi devices I have are iphone/iPads
The original fw has LLTP VPN so I think Merlin's should too.
Bright
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

@pengbo:
The router provides a PPTP VPN server with the standard Asus firmware (not very secure but easy to configure and low overheads).
The Merlin firmware provides an OpenVPN server as well (much more secure but also more complex to configure, as you need to create your own security certificates and keys - command line tool Easy-RSA is bundled with the latest OpenVPN client and also with the Merlin firmware to do that). It also includes an OpenVPN client if you want to set up a VPN connection to an external server.
And obviously the router also provides pass-through for PPTP, L2TP and IPSEC.
@thomasjc1
I'll run some tests in the morning with my laptop and let you know what I can achieve wirelessly with a Macbook Pro. I assume you're interested in routing between the internet and wireless client rather than wireless to ethernet within the LAN?
You might be interested in the SmallNetBuilder review, where they've done detailed throughput tests:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31687-asus-rt-n66u-dark-knight-dual-band-wi...
Bright
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

@thomasjc1
Results of my speed tests on speedtest.net using the Asus RT-N66U router on PlusNet FTTC:
Connection TypeDownloadUploadPing
Gigabit ethernet72.25Mbps17.71Mbps9ms
5GHz wifi 40MHz channel72.18Mbps17.61Mbps9ms
2.4GHz wifi 20MHz channel71.66Mbps17.49Mbps10ms

Tests were carried out with a Macbook Pro located 1m from the router. Obviously the throughput will reduce as the distance increases, particularly if the signal has to pass through walls, and the 5GHz signal drops off much more rapidly than the 2.4GHz signal (but is less susceptible to interference from the neighbours' wifi). For example, in my main bedroom the 5GHz signal is unusable, the 2.4GHz signal is fine for streaming BBC iPlayer. In that location, the laptop can see 18 other wifi signals on the 2.4GHz band but no other channels on the 5GHz band. The "geography" of every house/neighbourhood is different, so your results will be different from mine once you move away from the router. The main thing to know is that the wifi coverage of this router is better than any other router or wireless access point I have used before.
thomasjc1
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Re: ASUS RT-N66U N900

That's brilliant thanks very much for doing those tests I just need to find a cheap enough asus now and roll on the 26th when I get fibre installed