Asus RT-AC3200 Review

The Asus RT-AC3200 Tri-Band Router is designed for homes where multiple users compete for the most available wireless bandwidth. It joins the Linksys EA9200 and the Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router ($239.99 at Amazon) as the first entrants into the AC3200 tri-band router market.

The Asus RT-AC3200 is a massive device that employs six antennas to provide maximum coverage, just like its competitors. Although the throughput speed on all three bands is excellent, and the user interface (UI) is simple to use and packed with capabilities, this router comes with a hefty $300 price tag and has poor file-transfer performance.

ASUS AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router

AiProtection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, Adaptive QoS, Parental Control (RT-AC3200)

Amazon.com

Design 

The RT-AC3200 measures 2.3 by 11.4 by 7.4 inches (HWD), making it the second largest router to ever test at PC Labs, behind only the Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 in size (2.1 by 11.6 by 8.9 inches). Its black cabinet has the same angular appearance as the Asus RT-AC87 Dual-band Wireless-AC2400 Gigabit Router, but instead of four exterior antennae that can be adjusted, this model has six fixed external antennas that can be adjusted (four on the back and one on each side).

Four Ethernet port activity LEDs and power LEDs are located on the front edge of the device, as well as 2.4GHz and 5GHz activity indications, Internet connectivity, and Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) LEDs, and four Ethernet port activity LEDs. Located on the lower-right side of the device, a single USB 3.0 port is concealed beneath a detachable plate. There are four gigabit Ethernet ports, one gigabit Internet (WAN) port, a USB 2.0 port, WPS and reset buttons, as well as a power switch on the back of the device.

Like its predecessor, the Linksys EA9200, the RT-AC3200 features SmartConnect technology to route wireless clients to one of three bands (one 2.4GHz band and two 5GHz bands) for maximum performance and Beamforming technology to give a powerful signal to each client. As an added bonus, it offers Dual-WAN, which allows you to use an additional WAN connection as a backup to your main connection.

Multimedia and administration capabilities are abundant on the RT-AC3200, all of which are available through a user-friendly Web interface. The General area features a Network Map that indicates the number of clients and USB devices that are currently connected, as well as security settings and the condition of each band on your network.

This part allows you to restrict access to your network for visitors, while the Adaptive Quality of Service (QoS) screen allows you to prioritize bandwidth for certain applications such as gaming and video streaming. A useful bandwidth monitor that displays upload and download speeds, as well as a traffic analyzer that provides a graph of daily client activity, as well as incoming and outgoing packets on all three wireless bands and the wired network clients, are also included in the package.

In order to monitor and identify malware and viruses, as well as block dangerous websites, the Asus AiProtection function makes use of Trend Micro’s Smart Home Network solution. Moreover, it provides extensive parental controls, including time scheduling and app screening, among other features.

With the AiCloud feature, you can access your data from a smartphone or tablet using an iOS or Android app, and you can sync your linked USB drives with the Asus Web storage cloud service.

Other sophisticated capabilities, such as RADIUS server configurations and wireless bridge configurations are available in addition to the standard wireless SSID and bandwidth, authentication method, and WPS settings that are available on most routers.

Changing wireless parameters like beacon intervals, multicast rates, and Beamforming may be accomplished through the Wireless Professional Settings, while the Firewall settings include Denial of Service (DoS) protection, URL and keyword filtering, and an IPv6 firewall, among other features.

Performance

The RT-AC3200 is a relatively simple device to set up. You will be presented with a Setup Wizard screen when you first turn on the router, which will allow you to choose between running the Quick Internet and Router Setup wizards or doing the Manual setup method.

Regardless of the option you choose, you’ll need to set a password and determine whether the device will function as an access point (AP), a media bridge, or a wireless router. There are five different internet connection options to select from Automatic IP (DHCP), PPoE, Static IP, PPTP (VPN), and L2TP (Local Area Network) (VPN).

You have two options at this point: utilize the SmartConnect function to configure your Wi-Fi network, or pick Standard Setup and manually input the SSIDs and network keys for each of the four bands. When you are finished, the network map page of the UI will be shown, and you will be ready to begin working.

When it came to throughput speed testing, the RT-AC3200 delivered some outstanding results. On our 2.4GHz (802.11N) near proximity test (5 feet from the router), it achieved an average speed of 86Mbps, which is only slightly slower than the Linksys EA9200 and Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 tri-band routers, both of which achieved 90Mbps.

With a speed of 92.7 Mbps, the D-Link AC3200 Ultra Wi-Fi Router (DIR-890L/R) holds the world record for the fastest Wi-Fi router. RT-AC3200 achieved 65.7 Mbps at 30 feet, outperforming the EA9200 (53.2 Mbps) but falling short of the Nighthawk X6 R8000 (76.2 Mbps) and the D-Link DIR-890L/R (79.4 Mbps) (82 Mbps).

Operating in N-mode on the 5 GHz band, the RT-AC3200 achieved a speed of 196Mbps, placing it second only to the Linksys EA9200 (207 Mbps) and ahead of both the Nighthawk X6 AC3200 (171Mbps) and the Asus RT-AC68U Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 Gigabit Router (196Mbps) (170.5Mbps).

However, it was unable to outperform the D-Link DIR-890L/R (207 Mbps). Moving the RT-AC3200 out to 30 feet lowered its throughput to 160 Mbps, which is still respectable, but it falls short of the Nighthawk X6 R8000 (174.4Mbps) and the D-Link DIR-890L/R (194.4Mbps) (195 Mbps). Because of the RT-N-mode AC3200’s capabilities, it is an excellent solution for networks that include a mix of 802.11n and 802.11ac clients.

Its 5GHz AC speed of 452Mbps was fast, but it was not quite as fast as the D-Link DIR-890L/5GHz R’s AC speed of 890Mbps (558 Mbps) At 30 feet, its speed of 264Mbps surpassed the Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 (174.4Mbps) and the Linksys EA9200 (255Mbps), but it fell short of the D-Link DIR-890L/R, which had a speed of 264Mbps (310 Mbps).

Conclusion

A tri-band router like the Asus RT-AC3200 Tri-Band Router helps alleviate the strain on your wireless network caused by multimedia streaming and online gaming. Despite the fact that it offers high throughput on all three bands, its 5GHz range performance is only somewhat decent. It also comes with a smartly designed Web interface that is jam-packed with features and options, as well as integrated software that protects against malware and viruses.

Despite the fact that the RT-AC3200 is not inexpensive (it costs approximately $300), it is not much more expensive than the other tri-band routers we’ve evaluated thus far. If you’re searching for the fastest (and most stylish) consumer router available, go no further than our top selection for this category, the D-Link AC3200 Ultra Wi-Fi Router (DIR-890L/R).

It resulted in some of the fastest throughput speeds we’ve ever seen, and it also has exceptional range performance. Its advertised price is around $10 more than that of the Asus RT-AC3200, but it is well worth the extra money.

#	Image	Details
1		ASUS AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router AiProtection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, Adaptive QoS, Parental Control (RT-AC3200)	Amazon.com
2		ASUS Tri-Band Gigabit (AC3200) WiFi Router (Up to 3167 Mbps) with MU-MIMO to ensure Lag-Free Gaming, AiProtection network security powered by Trend Micro(RT-AC3200)(Renewed)	Amazon.com