
We wouldn't call it the most attractive option of the bunch, but its compact design, great port selection and expandability makes it a formidable choice.

And its signal never faltered during our use either.

You’re not going to get top-of-the-range speed, it's proved capable of handling anything that our 150Mbps office broadband can threw at it as well as expanding our current network's reach during testing. However, it does more than enough to see you through your online browsing and streaming needs - exactly what families are looking for. It's a dual-band only option, which is why although it isn't a cheap buy, it's still a pretty affordable one. While the Asus RT-AX59U may be a little basic in terms of features, this Wi-Fi 6 router still has a lot going for it that makes it an easy recommendation, especially if you're looking for a future-proof router that you might want to expand later on as your family grows and you move into a bigger space. It also can be used with other Asus routers as part of a more extensive mesh Wi-Fi network, in case you need to expand your network later on. The Asus RT-AX55 may be simple to use for most users, but a web browser interface is also on hand for more experienced users who need more than the basic features provided by the app. Even its 2.4GHz band performed fast enough for streaming video and routine web browsing.įeatures about as well.
#Asus router comparison upgrade#
But, it’s still a good Wi-Fi 6 upgrade for web browsing, streaming music and video, and even casual gaming.ĭuring our tests, we found its 5.0GHz band delivering top Wi-Fi speeds of 100Mbs with Ookla and 12.5MB/s for Steam downloads to an area in our space that struggles to get decent connection. It isn’t the fastest Asus router out there – at least not compared to some of the more expensive Wi-Fi 6 routers on the market. Of course, you may have to change your computer’s network and share settings in order to “discover” your home network and see any attached devises like the thumb drive I used.The Asus RT-AX55 is an impressive piece of kit if you’re looking for something even more affordable. Someday I’ll get or build a real NAS and test the transfer speeds, but being USB 3.0 the max will be roughly 5 gigabits per second before overhead and bottlenecks.

This is a great option for something like a NAS or any USB storage device that you want to back up to from multiple computers in the house. Without fiddling around with the router settings the drive appeared as another computer on the network where you have access to all the files as if it were attached directly to your computer. It was automatically detected by the router and showed up in the management interface immediately. To test this I plugged in a 16gb thumb drive, unfortunately, all I had was a USB 2.0 drive so testing transfer speeds would be pointless. One feature that I was really interested in was the USB 3.0 network connection. For me, everything seems set to go out of the box. Sitting back down and checking out ASUS’s network manager interface you get very easy to navigate GUI with access to pretty much all of the settings, good if you are a tinkerer or just a parent looking to set up parental controls. I would suggest making the management login screen a bookmark for easy access in the future.īefore I dealt into any of the numerous settings I wanted to run some speed test, first on the wired Ethernet side of the network and then on the wireless side.

Once all the lights came on my computer automatically popped up the router setup screen where it prompts you to change the passwords for the router and wifi and that’s pretty much it. Setting the router up was a breeze, just follow the 3 step instructions and you should be good. Lastly, a USB 3.0 network port provides network access to an attached USB drive like an external hard drive or NAS just as if it was attached to your computer. 4 5dbi antennas help keep the signal strong through your home. Right off the bat, the AC1300 sets itself apart with the all the of latest wifi technology like MU-MIMO AC dual band which allows the router to switch from 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands on supported devices to keep the connection consistent no matter what you are doing on the internet. In several respects, the ASUS AC1300 outshined many other WiFi routers I looked at especially when it came to price, features, and of course speed.
