Welcome to the fastest router. Asus’ new router combines three different wireless networks into one device to provide oodles of bandwidth for users that need to connect a large number of devices. In fact, if you’re not connecting more than ten devices to this beast, you’re wasting its potential.
As with all routers, the claimed speed is a little confusing. This is rated to deliver 5300Mbps, but that’s not delivered to one device. This number is created by combining the three different wireless networks pumped out by the RT-AC5300, which is why it’s called a tri-band router. There’s a single 2.4GHz network which delivers a theoretical maximum of 1000Mbps, along with twin 5GHz networks that both individually deliver a theoretical maximum of 2167Mbps. 2167 plus 2167 plus 1000 equals 5300, which is why Asus claims this as a 5334Mbps device. However, there’s no device on the market that can join to three separate networks simultaneously, so the maximum speed you’ll get on one device is 2167Mbps… but there’s a catch to this as well. This device uses a 4x4 transmitter/receiver configuration, which means your receiving device must also be of the 4x4 configuration to receive the maximum theoretical throughput. However, most devices these days are just 1x1 or 2x2, which limits them to a mere quarter or half the potential speed. If you connect a 2x2 device to the 5GHz network on this router, you’re going to be limited to just 1087Mbps. This lowers even more to 541Mbps on a standard 1x1 device, as found in laptops more than a couple of years old. There are a few 4x4 devices on the market, including Asus’ own EA-AC87 media bridge, but they’re definitely in the minority. Asus sent us the PCE-AC66 Wi-Fi PCIe networking card to help us test this router, but even this is limited to a 3x3 design.
Before we look at the performance, let’s delve into the laundry list of features found on the RT-AC5300. The exterior case is rather large, at around 25cm by 25cm, and is dominated by eight huge antennae. Each can be individually positioned to improve signal strength depending on which areas of your home or oiffce you want covered.
On the rear are four Gigabit Ethernet ports, along with a single WAN port and USB 3.0 port. Two Ethernet ports can be combined via Link Aggregation to deliver up to 2Gbps of bandwidth to suitable devices. Another USB 2.0 port is on the side, along with buttons for WPS, Wi-Fi and turning the LEDs on or off.
Inside we find Broadcom’s BCM4366 silicon powering the three networks, along with 128MB of fl ash memory and 512MB of RAM. This router is MU-MIMO compatible, but at the time of writing this feature is temporarily disabled, with Asus explaining to us that there’s an issue with the Qualcomm adaptor that is being resolved and a firmware update is in the works to enable MU-MIMO.
The router can also be set to prioritise game traffic, and also has access to the WTFast Gamers Private Network, a service that ensures your packets reach international MMO servers in the least possible hops. AiRadar is Asus’ name for the beamforming tech used on this router, which focuses the radio signal in the direction of your connected devices. Smart Connect automatically assigns the right network for each device, but this feature must also be compatible with connected devices, and many of today’s Wi-Fi enabled gadgets sadly aren’t. There’s a stack of other features too long to list here – heading to the product’s webpage at www.asus.com/au/Networking/RT-AC5300 will give you the full rundown.
Heading into the ASUSWRT user interface reveals that this thing is targeted at techies, with a plethora of configuration options just waiting to be toyed with. Thankfully the setup wizard makes initial installation a breeze, but there’s plenty of scope to experiment in the more detailed options.
Using the 3x3 Network card supplied by Asus, we managed to record a speed of 789Mbps on the 5GHz network at a range of approximately ten metres, which is a huge step up from prior tests. However, and it’s a big however, this is likely because this is the first time we’ve had a 3x3 device to receive the signal, so we can’t compare it to previous tests.
There’s no denying this is a powerful router, and at only $70 more than the Asus RT-AC88U it offers double the amount of 5GHz bandwidth. If you’re connecting less than ten devices to the twin 5GHz networks, this extra bandwidth isn’t necessary, but there’s no harm in futureproofing as more devices start including Wi-Fi. Bennett Ring