Of all the technologies around, one of the most unreliable has to be WiFi. Dropped connections are commonplace, as is restarting routers periodically when said signal drops. It’s the bane of middle-class existence, especially for people who don’t like to use their mobile data and prefer to connect to far-cheaper WiFi whenever possible.
This unreliability means internet disruptions at best, and replacing tired routers every few years as WiFi signal reliability takes a nose dive over time at worst. In short – consumer-grade WiFi has become a bit of a pain.
Fortunately, times – and technologies – are changing. Looking at a new AC-class router from ASUS, the RT-AC3200 and all of the advances the box promises, you might think that a lot of these problems have been solved.
Happily, you would be right. Here’s why.
Cutting through the air
Firstly, to say the ASUS is striking when you first take it out the box is an understatement: its slanted shape and sharpened edges remind us more of a space craft or a stealth fighter than a router. That said, your imagination is sent plummeting back to earth once you attach the six, yes, six antennae.
The design once assembled is unsightly, replacing the previous stealth-fighter-esque looks with that of a rather large, er, upside-down spider. Of course this router has a very specific purpose and rather than waste time commenting on its looks, which are entirely subjective, let’s examine that purpose in detail.
The whole reason the RT-AC3200 exists is its remarkable network capacity. As the name suggests, this router supports three bands, namely a 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n band and two 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac bands.
This was the part that struck us as odd: who would have so much traffic going through one wireless router that they would need three different wireless bands?
An office of 15 people, all with their own mobile phones, notebooks, tablets and other internet-hungry tech, that’s who.
On the back, you’ll find four LAN ports and one WAN port, which mean that home users will need a separate ADSL modem to connect this router to the internet. We were a little disappointed at that, since it’s most convenient to have a router that does everything, but on the bright side integrating this router with an existing ADSL modem is as easy as plugging the ADSL modem into the WAN port with a network cable.
The devil’s in the details
The speeds we got with just four people gaming online, streaming movies off of a central PC and having five smartphones connected and periodically retrieving data did not stress this router in the slightest; believe us when we say we tried.
When testing the 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac, the highest throughput we registered was 502Mbps when sitting quite close to the router while copying a file from a WiFi-connected notebook to a wired PC on the network. At a distance of 20m through various obstacles we registered an average of 210Mbps on the same band.
While the speeds are nothing to sniff at, the key thing about this router is how much traffic it can accommodate thanks to those three bands. Hint: it’s a lot. You should also keep in mind that if you have an AC-class smartphone or WiFi adapter you’ll see even better performance.
Distance is definitely not a problem – the RT-AC3200 practically throws its signal around your property. While walking and playing a YouTube video on a large rural property, we only started experiencing caching at around the 600 metre mark. Naturally, your signal strength and performance will vary depending on the thickness and amount of walls and other obstructions between the router and your PC/phone/laptop.
The extras you didn’t know you needed
The user interface of this router really is something special. While the well-versed techie may know that all you need to phone home is 192.168.1.1/localhost, not everybody does. The easy-to-remember router.asus.com URL which takes you straight to the router’s interface is a nice touch, and once you key in the username and password (defaults printed on the underside of the router) the interface is a pleasure to use.
The USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 port means that you can to attach an external storage drive to the router and turn it into a network attached storage of sorts. This is easily set up through the UI and is so fail safe we have to wonder why more manufacturers aren’t following suit.
Users can also set up a guest network so that guests can access the internet but can’t access network attached printers or storage. The RT-AC3200 also boasts AiProtection which is powered by Trend Micro. Activating this will allow the router to scan all computers, smartphones, notebooks and other internet machines connected to the network and can notify you if an infected machine is detected.
There is an Asus Router app available on iOS and Android, though whenever we tried to log in on the Android app, the app itself crashed. We tested this on two Android smartphones with no joy.
So do you really need one?
Our final verdict on this router is split. For the home user the RT-AC3200 is overkill as the average person may not be able to exploit its speed to the fullest extent possible; add to that the asking price of R4 499 and ASUS has a hard sell on its hands.
For heavy users and small offices however, the RT-AC3200 is a brilliant piece of kit. The asking price may be a hard pill to swallow but if you need fast, reliable WiFi connectivity we would recommend the RT-AC3200 in a heartbeat.
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Data Rate 802.11n up to 600Mbps / 802.11ac up to 1300Mbps
Antennae 6 x external antennae
Operating Frequency 2.4GHz/5GHz
WAN ports One
LAN ports Four; these can be turned into additional WAN ports
Price R4 499
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