Asus RT-AC66U B1 Review
With the potential of 1.3 Gbps data transfer rate this will be a fast performing router which will be perfect for the media savvy audience for years to come.
Look at the Asus RT-AC66U B1 ($109.99), which is a good option if you want to replace an old router but don’t have much money to spend.
The RT-AC66U B1 is a dual-band router with four LAN ports that come pre-installed with Trend Micro virus protection as well as user-friendly Quality of Service (QoS) and parental control options. It is our Editors’ Choice for budget-priced routers because of its good performance, extensive feature set, and reasonable pricing.
Performance and features were the highlights of our 2012 evaluation of the original RT-AC66U router, which earned it an Editors’ Choice award.
Although the latest model, the RT-AC66U B1, retains the same textured black housing, it includes a newer, more powerful chipset, a USB 3.0 port, Trend Micro’s AiProtection, and compatibility with Asus’s AiMesh technology, which allows you to create a mesh network by combining different Asus router models.
There are three nonremovable adjustable antennae on the device, which has dimensions of 1.7 by 8.5 by 5.8 inches (HWD). It has four gigabit LAN ports, one WAN port, one USB 2.0 port, a power jack, and three buttons: power, reset, and WPS. The rear panel also has a power jack and power, reset, and WPS buttons.
A USB 3.0 port can be found on the front edge, while activity LEDs can be seen on the top for power, internet, all four LAN ports, and both radio bands, as well as for the two radio bands.
Powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU, 128MB of flash memory, and 256MB of RAM, the RT-AC66U B1 is a high-performance wireless router. With this 3×3 AC1750 router, you can get maximum speeds of up to 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 1,300Mbps on the 5GHz band.
It has three independent wireless bands. It enables beamforming, which allows signals to be sent directly to clients, however, it does not offer MU-MIMO concurrent data streaming.
The Asus RT-AC66U B1 router may be controlled through the web-based AsusWRT interface or the Asus Router app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Upon initialization, the console displays an image of the network map in the middle of the screen, a system status panel on the right, and General and Advanced configuration options on the left.
Among the options available on the General menu are Guest Networking and USB Applications, as well as a Traffic Analyzer, which monitors client network consumption across time and space.
Our testing revealed that the RT-AC66U B1 beat comparable budget-priced routers in terms of speed and reliability. It outperformed both its predecessor, the RT-AC66U, and the D-Link DIR-859 in our 2.4GHz close-proximity (same-room) test, scoring 97Mbps, which was much quicker than both.
Although just by 6Mbps, it also outperformed the TP-Archer C7 V2 ($59.99 at Walmart). When tested at 2.4GHz for 30 feet, the RT-AC66U B1 achieved a speed of 65Mbps, which was somewhat faster than the previous RT-AC66U and the Archer C7 V2, but it was more than twice as fast as the D-Link DIR-859.
Specifications
- Network Standard IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IPv4, IPv6
- Product Segment AC1750 superior AC performance : 450+1300 Mbps
- Coverage Large homes
- Data Rate 802.11a : 6,9,12,18,24,36,48,54 Mbps
802.11b : 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps
802.11g : 6,9,12,18,24,36,48,54 Mbps
802.11n : up to 450 Mbps
802.11ac : up to 1300 Mbps - Antenna External antenna x 3
- Transmit/Receive MIMO technology
2.4 GHz 3 x 3
5 GHz 3 x 3 - Operating Frequency 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
- Encryption 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Personal, WPA-Enterprise , WPA2-Enterprise
- Firewall & Access Control Firewall：SPI intrusion detection,DoS protection
Access control：Parental control, Network service filter, URL filter, Port filter - Management UPnP, IGMP v1/v2/v3, DHCP, NTP Client, DDNS, Port Trigger, Port Forwarding, DMZ, Universal Repeater, System Event Log
- Ports RJ45 for 10/100/1000 BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for 10/100/1000 BaseT for LAN x 4
USB 2.0 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1 - Features Airtime Fairness
Traffic Analyzer
Adaptive QoS
SmartQoS
– WMM
– User definable rules for IP/MAC/Port
– Upload and download bandwidth management
– ACK/SYN/FIN/RST/ICMP with highest priority
AiProtection Pro
Parental Control
Guest Network : 2.4 GHz x 3, 5 GHz x 3
VPN server : IPSec Pass-Through, PPTP Pass-Through, L2TP Pass-Through, PPTP Server, OpenVPN Server
VPN client : PPTP client, L2TP client, OpenVPN client
Enhanced media server (AiPlayer app compatible)
– Image : Jpeg
– Audio : mp3, wma, wav, pcm, mp4, lpcm, ogg
– Video : asf, avi, divx, mpeg, mpg, ts, vob, wmv, mkv, mov
AiCloud personal cloud service
3G/4G data sharing
Printer Server
– Multifunctional printer support (Windows only)
– LPR protocol support
Download Master
– Support bt, nzb, http, ed2k
– Support encryption, DHT, PEX and magnet link
– Upload and download bandwidth control
– Download scheduling
AiDisk file server
– Samba and FTP server with account management
IPTV support - Button WPS Button, Reset Button, Power Button
- LED Indicator Power x 1
Wi-Fi x 2
WAN x 1
LAN x 4 - Power Supply AC Input : 110V~240V(50~60Hz)
DC Output : 19 V with max. 1.75 A current - OS Support Windows® 10
Windows® 8.1
Windows® 8
Windows® 7
Windows® XP
Mac OS X or higher
Linux - Dimensions 218 x 148 x 45 mm (WxDxH) g
- Weight 660 g
- Package Content RT-AC66U Dual Band 3×3 802.11AC Gigibit Router
RJ-45 cable
Power adapter
Quick start guide
Warranty card - Operation mode Wireless router mode
Range extender mode
Access point mode
Media bridge mode
Conclusion
For less than $100, you can get dual-band Wi-Fi, a plethora of administration options, and built-in security against viruses, infected devices, and other malware from the Asus RT-AC66U B1. It beat comparably priced routers in nearly all of our throughput testing, and it was really simple to set up and operate using the straightforward AsusWRT web dashboard, which we highly recommend.
With only average file transfer performance, the RT-AC66U B1 offers a lot of value for money, earning it our Editors’ Choice for budget-priced routers in this category.
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