ASUS RT-N16 Wireless-N Router Review
For years, computer enthusiasts have known that Asus makes high-quality products. They manufacture many of the most advanced and well reviewed computer motherboards on the market. The ASUS RT-N16 Wireless-N Gaming Router is another beautifully designed and well-built product from Asus.
This router has all the special features that advanced computer users want, but has been designed with the average home computer user in mind. That translates to an easy plug-n-play setup with even advanced features made clear and simple to use. It doesn’t even require you to use a setup CD- the installation starts automatically as soon as you plug it in.
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5 clicks from browsing
Once you unpack the RT-N16 wireless router, you are only five clicks and three steps away from from browsing the internet. And it only takes a few more clicks to configure more advanced features like internet phone calling (VoIP), video chat, or streaming HD video.
Of course, the most important features of any router are speed, range and a rock solid connection. This router was engineered to provide you with internet performance that is fourteen times faster with six times the range compared to previous generation G routers. Everything that you do online is faster and easier.
Great for advanced users too
For advanced users, the ASUS RT-N16 is a dream come true. The specs are something to die for – 480MHz (capable of 533MHz) processor, 128MB RAM, 32MB ROM and it runs Linux with support for bittorrent and FTP right in the firmware. Even the firmware source code is GPLed and anyone with a bit of knowledge in this area can improve it. In fact, DD-WRT (an open source Linux based firmware) is already available and works quite well with this router.
With DD-WRT installed on this router, it becomes a powerful computer that can serve as a web server as well as a NAS once you connect an external hard drive to the USB port. QoS and Port Forwarding have been implemented quite well in DD-WRT as well.
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Here are some more great features of the RT-N16 gigabit router:
- Sleek wireless N (300Mbps) router delivers up to 14x faster speeds and 6x farther range than 802.11g routers
- Gigabit Ethernet for high performance LAN networking
- EZ User Interface (EZ UI) with a simple 3-step setup gets you up and running within minutes
- EZ Quality of Service (EZQoS) Bandwidth Management gives you a simple way to optimize Internet speeds for gaming, browsing, file sharing, and VoIP/ media streaming
- Built-in printer server for sharing All-in-One USB printers within your home or office
- EZ Switch lets you quickly enable router, repeater, or AP modes directly with a flip of a switch
- AiDisk is your personal FTP server that you can access anywhere you have the Internet
- Download Master lets you download from the Bit Torrent site to the connected USB storage device directly through the router without having to leave your PC on
This router offers Gigabit ethernet along with an excellent processor, and the performance to handle 300,000 concurrent sessions. That is enough to handle even commercial hotspots with hundreds of users!
USB ports for file sharing
It has 2 USB ports that support various devices. One could connect a USB printer and a cheap external hard drive at the same time. The printer would work as a network printer (available to all computers in the network) and the USB hard drive will be available as Network Attached Storage to everyone. This would save you from paying hundreds of dollars for a NAT device.
For advanced users, DD-WRT capability is a big plus. The open source community is constantly improving and adding features to DD-WRT. QoS (Quality of Service) is one such feature that is enjoyed in any household that has a VoIP phone and lot of online activity in the background like uploading videos to youtube, p2p, online gaming etc. With proper QoS setup phone service or online gaming shouldn’t be affected even with other large scale online activity.
The ASUS RT-N16 Wireless-N router is a true powerhouse, combining blazing fast connection speeds with a ton of innovative features to satisfy any power user. With it’s fast and easy setup, it makes these advanced features available to expert and novice users alike.
Here is what a current user has to say about the RT-N16:
This n router sounded perfect because it came with a built in print server and attachable network storage both via usb 2.0. So for under $100 how could you go wrong. I can tell you it delivered on these 2 things perfectly and then some.
It has 2 usb ports in the back that you can connect a printer and an external hard drive. I can print from any computer in the house now to one printer, I can access the external hard drive from any computer in the house or via ftp or from my Wii. Plus, now I get 150mbps instead of 54mbps on my internet connection. I didn’t know how big of a difference there was between using a g and n router was. Even on my computers with g adapters get much better performance. Web pages are coming up so much faster on all my computers.
Another good thing about this router is the router access software that comes with/on it. I replaced my netgear router with this and I can tell you the netgear software is definitely not in the same league. You can just tell this ASUS router can do so much more than what I need it for.
This router costs more than some other 802.11 N’s but if you factor in the print server and network storage capabilities, this router is a good deal. I can say this router works as advertised, I am very pleased once again with an ASUS product.
Review Paraphrased for size – view original review here
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- Easy and quick to set-up
- Simple 3-step setup process
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