Asus RT-AC66U 802.11ac Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router

Pros: - Sleek, Slim, & Efficient GUI

- 3 Powerful Antennas

- Gigabit Ethernet

- Gigabit Wireless Capable (802.11ac adapter needed)

- Easy & Quick Setup

- GUI Can Be Understood by Almost Anyone

- Settings Can Still Be Configured In Great Deta

Cons: - USB Ports Aren't USB 3.0 (not many routers have USB 3.0 yet)

- A Bit Pricey (but just the same as the competition for other 802.11 AC routers)

- An 802.11ac Card Isn't Included (I'm just grabbing at straws in this section)

Summary: More Pros:

- The ASUS DDNS service is a free and embedded service for this router

- 2 USB Ports for Network Attached Storage and/or Printer Sharing

- Parental Controls

- AiDisk (allows you to create/manage your own cloud server for free)

- Free ASUS AiCloud app available in the Android Market and the iTunes App Store for accessing your own cloud server from anywhere

- Download Master Application: Allows you to continue downloading, even when your computer is off

- Media Server, FTP, VPN, Samba Service, and Firewall support within the firmware

- Configurable IPv6 Settings


While its GUI may seem a little daunting to inexperienced users their first time configuring the router, Asus makes the setup easy and simple for just about anyone. On the other hand; advanced users will find that even though the interface is sugar-coated with pretty graphics, there are many similarities in the depth of configuration options that are available to you in the Asus RT-AC66U firmware, when comparing it to the majority of the layouts found in the popular DD-WRT firmware.

One of the few things I would advise a new owner to do just after unboxing, is to download the newest firmware version directly from the Asus Support website, before taking the time to configure the router's settings. A current bug in the firmware (which I know Asus is working to fix as I type this) is: when a firmware version update check is initialized within the GUI (through Administration -> Firmware Upgrade -> Check (button)), the service does not correctly detect the specific version number of the actual newest firmware released. As a result, new firmware versions may have been released by Asus through their official support site, but the firmware version check service only upgrades the firmware to an obsolete version.

Overall a fantastic router that; even at $200 when I bought it, was well worth the investment. I have installed and configured many routers (80+) over the past 5 years, and the Asus RT-AC66U is the best router that I have come across so far! If you are looking for a fast and powerful router that will not become obsolete for many years, I would highly recommend this Asus RT-AC66U wireless router.