ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router Reviewed

[HawkInOz]

Originally Posted by HawkInOz
Anybody know what the largest supported size is for the MicroSD slot? Thanks.

Howdy,
probably the largest sdhc cards which are available. 32gb sdhc

Actually, 64GB microSDXC cards are currently the largest available, with 128GB cards announced for the near future. But I don't know if microSDXC is supported, or microSDHC (32GB max), or only microSD (4GB max). Has anyone tried a larger capacity card with this router?

 

[Opus64]

LOL, the date changes when connected to the internet, that is done by NTP Servers.

Did anyone ever figure this out? I too have a nice forecast for Suzhou China on my smartphone (74F and intermittent clouds) and would really prefer to see my local weather! Also, if I set the "Date and Time" setting on my phone to acquire via the network, it also pulls up the Suzhou time as my phone time - not good.

F/W: 3.0.0.3.112
Time Zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Daylight Savings Time: Tried it both ways
NTP Server: us.pool.ntp.org. Also tried time-a.nist.gov.

Thanks in advance!!!

This problem seems to have resolved itself when I went from .102 to .108. fyi, I always do a hard reset before updating f/w. I think were seeing lots of strange issues being posted after updating f/w and I think most of those troubles are because folks are not hard resetting and clearing nvram and then manually reentering config settings.

 

[cosrocket]

I’m a bit confused regarding the ratings of the Asus RT-N66U and the Apple Airport Extreme 5th gen. Both are reviewed by the same reviewer, and in the closing remarks of the RT-N66U he states the Asus router is worth the price, yet in the closing remarks of the Apple Airport Extreme he says it is overpriced, (both are pretty much the same price).
Yet the Apple Router gets higher ratings in the Overall and Performance categories than the Asus router does.

Why is that?

 

[AnthonyArmato]

I can't speak for him obviously.

My guess is that the Asus has far more options via the UI and that makes it worth a bit more then the Airport Extreme. Again, this is just a guess as I have not compared both reviews.

 

[thiggins]

I can't speak to the ratings, since those are done by users.

If you read through the entire closings for both products, neither gets an unqualified approval. The ASUS' wireless performance appears better in my testing than the Apple. But there have been many changes in wireless testing procedures between the two, so direct comparison isn't possible.

Let me put it this way. I have yet to see a router that performs significantly better than any other in all wireless benchmarks. Some are better running download, others better running upload. Some have higher strong signal maximum throughput in 5 GHz, etc.

Put another way, more money tends to get you more features and more radios and higher maximum link rates on those radios, i.e. 450 Mbps vs. 300 Mbps. None of this necessarily translates into higher performance in all scenarios.

With wireless, performance is definitely a "your mileage may vary" proposition. Buyers should keep that in mind and be wary of any manufacturers' claims of superior wireless performance. You need to try the product in your environment with your devices. Only then will you know what is best.

 

[cosrocket]

I can't speak to the ratings, since those are done by users.

If you read through the entire closings for both products, neither gets an unqualified approval. The ASUS' wireless performance appears better in my testing than the Apple. But there have been many changes in wireless testing procedures between the two, so direct comparison isn't possible.

Let me put it this way. I have yet to see a router that performs significantly better than any other in all wireless benchmarks. Some are better running download, others better running upload. Some have higher strong signal maximum throughput in 5 GHz, etc.

Put another way, more money tends to get you more features and more radios and higher maximum link rates on those radios, i.e. 450 Mbps vs. 300 Mbps. None of this necessarily translates into higher performance in all scenarios.

With wireless, performance is definitely a "your mileage may vary" proposition. Buyers should keep that in mind and be wary of any manufacturers' claims of superior wireless performance. You need to try the product in your environment with your devices. Only then will you know what is best.

I didn't realize the ratings were user based, I should have considering the rating system. And I appreciate your explanation. I guess I'll have to purchase a couple of different routers and see which is best for me.

 

[plastic101]

65 with Intermittent Clouds in Suzhou China!

Did anyone ever figure this out? I too have a nice forecast for Suzhou China on my smartphone (74F and intermittent clouds) and would really prefer to see my local weather! Also, if I set the "Date and Time" setting on my phone to acquire via the network, it also pulls up the Suzhou time as my phone time - not good.

F/W: 3.0.0.3.112
Time Zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Daylight Savings Time: Tried it both ways
NTP Server: us.pool.ntp.org. Also tried time-a.nist.gov.

Thanks in advance!!!

This problem seems to have resolved itself when I went from .102 to .108. fyi, I always do a hard reset before updating f/w. I think were seeing lots of strange issues being posted after updating f/w and I think most of those troubles are because folks are not hard resetting and clearing nvram and then manually reentering config settings.

So, after spending some quality time with tech support, I bumped down to .108 F/W, restored defaults, then updated to .112 F/W and manually entered my settings. Still seeing the weather and time in China!

It is worth noting that for the 10 minutes or so that I was running the .108 F/W I did NOT see the Chinese weather/time, but the signal wasn't nearly as strong. I dropped from 3 bars to 1-2 bars.

Is it too much to ask to have both a good signal AND local weather? What gives?

 

[AnthonyArmato]

It's not the router, it's your IP that's causing your weather to load incorrectly. Change the router MAC address then reboot your modem and router.

 

[plastic101]

It's not the router, it's your IP that's causing your weather to load incorrectly. Change the router MAC address then reboot your modem and router.

Thank you for the feedback, but forgive my ignorance: change my MAC address to what, clone my modem MAC address?

Thanks again!

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Go to http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp and at the bottom click "MAC Clone". That will close your computer's MAC and then reboot everything. That should fix the issue.

 

[plastic101]

Go to http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp and at the bottom click "MAC Clone". That will close your computer's MAC and then reboot everything. That should fix the issue.

Did it. No change. Could it be a modem config issue?

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Pretty sure it's your IP. That's what controls location based services. PM me your IP and I'll check it. http://www.CMyIP.com

 

[plastic101]

Pretty sure it's your IP. That's what controls location based services. PM me your IP and I'll check it. http://www.CMyIP.com

TraceMyIP.org - Be Curious
ISP: Road Runner
Country:
United States
State: California
Hub City: Costa Mesa
(Routed Internet Connection)
Timezone: America/Los_Angeles
Browser:
Chrome 18.0.1025.162
OS:
Windows 7
Screen Res.:
1920x1080
Referrer:
google.com

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Sent ya a PM but just so everyone else can see. Your IP does show your location in Cali. You may need to disable and re-enable your location services on your phone.

 

[plastic101]

Sent ya a PM but just so everyone else can see. Your IP does show your location in Cali. You may need to disable and re-enable your location services on your phone.

Turned off location services, then turned back on. Also rebooted phone. Still shows Suzhou weather and time. 1:50am, 69 with intermittent clouds. Warming up!

WTF? This is nuts! : (

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Has to be a setting in your phone somewhere now. What one are you using ?

 

[plastic101]

Has to be a setting in your phone somewhere now. What one are you using ?

Amaze 4G on Honeycomb.

 

[RogerSC]

Amaze 4G on Honeycomb.

Can you turn off automatic time zone setting on your phone and set it manually? This could be GPS that's not working right for some reason, so services based on GPS wouldn't work right on your phone? When you look at a map on your phone, where does it show you are located?

 

[plastic101]

Can you turn off automatic time zone setting on your phone and set it manually? This could be GPS that's not working right for some reason, so services based on GPS wouldn't work right on your phone? When you look at a map on your phone, where does it show you are located?

Google Maps shows me (properly) in SoCal.

 

[RogerSC]

Google Maps shows me (properly) in SoCal.

Still sounds like a "location services" phone problem, although it's odd since the phone seems to know where you are.

Corrupted phone OS? Phone software bug? Who knows? Do you have something equivalent to the "restore" option on an iPhone, where the OS is re-installed? Also, I'd be reporting this to my wireless provider, where you typically also get your phone (Verizon?).