In labs testing, the Asus WL-500W disappointed us initially on our maximum throughput test, scoring only 62.87Mbps when sending a signal over 15 feet, which was roughly 20 percent slower than that of the D-Link DGL-4500 and the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax. Things started looking up for the WL-500W on our mixed mode test, where it scored an above-average 55.07Mbps when communicating with both .11n and older .11g devices. Most impressively, it topped the chart at almost 30Mbps on our long-range test at 200 feet.
The Asus WL-500W ships with a two-year limited warranty and a mixed bag of technical support. On weekdays, phone support is available from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; on weekends you'll need to call before 2 p.m. PT. It's not toll-free, so you might not want to try that very often due to the extended hold time, which we experienced during our test call. (We gave up after 20 minutes.) Asus's site offers product-specific FAQs, driver and manual downloads, a troubleshooting guide, and a user forum. All in all, the site is very well thought out and has lots of trouble-shooting information.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Throughput max |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Mixed |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Throughput 200 feet |
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