ASUS RT-AX68U Dual Band WiFi6 AX2700 Smart Router,InstantGuard VPN,Parental Control 2.0, Mesh Wifi support, OFDMA + MU-MIMO tech, 1024 QAM, Trend Micro AiProtection Classic, Adaptive QoS

Product Information

ASUS RT-AX68U is one of our favorite wireless routers with Wi-Fi 6 for several reasons: we like the way it looks, and we appreciate how it performs when using older standards like Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5. Plenty of households and small businesses don’t have many modern devices and computers that work well with Wi-Fi 6. Most Wi-Fi 6 routers focus on providing the best performance when using the new standard, while ASUS RT-AX68U also delivers excellent performance when using the older standards. To top things off, the new Instant Guard mobile app allows you to connect to your home through VPN and protect your mobile devices while on the go. If you want a well-rounded Wi-Fi 6 router, ASUS RT-AX68U is an excellent choice that we recommend to everyone. Unboxing the ASUS RT-AX68U AX2700 dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router Asus’s web user interface is one of my favorites. It’s intuitive and allows for in-depth customization. But the interface can be overwhelming for novice users. In that case, you can opt for the well-designed Asus mobile app. The app uses Dynamic DNS-based remote access — you won’t need a login account with Asus to use it. AiProtection (a.k.a AiProtection Pro)

Range was also the best among routers theoretically capable of 1,740Mbps and higher that I have tested. The RT-AC68U actually delivered better throughput as the range increased, going up by 5 percent as the distance increased from 5 to 30 feet. The RT-AC66U's throughput had dropped by 3 percent by that distance. Netgear's Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router (R8000), a premium 802.11ac router in the same league as the RT-68U, increased its throughput by 2 percent at 30 feet. Looking for a mesh system? Get your home wired with network cables, get a couple of units, and you’re all set. Gigabit-class network storage performance

For Those Who Want to Run Ahead

Like other routers, the RT-AX68U comes with a Traffic Analyser feature, which includes traffic monitoring and statistical tools for those wanting to keep tabs on what’s been going on in their network. I was able to get a hold of the RT-AX68U significantly before launch and used it for more than a week before publishing this review and had no problem with it, both as a single or part of an AiMesh system. It proved to be a reliable Wi-Fi machine. The RT-AC68U uses a Broadcom wireless controller and features that company's TurboQAM technology. As a result, the router supports up to 600Mbps at 2.4GHz and up to 1,300Mbps on the 5GHz band. The router also has a standard number of network ports — one Gigabit WAN and four Gigabit LANs. There’s no Multi-Gig port, but you can combine two LAN ports into a 2Gbps bonded connection. It also supports Dual-WAN and WAN Link Aggregation. Getting connected: Dual-WAN vs Link Aggregation | Dual-band vs Tri-band vs Quad-band | Fiber-optic vs Cable | Getting your home wired | Multi-Gig explained | Cable modem activation | Routers explained | Mesh explained

The Parent Control is a bit underwhelming, but it gets the job done. And it can schedule Internet access for multiple devices. The Asus RT-AX68U’s QoS Settings. Adaptive QoS

AiMesh AC2900 WiFi System (RT-AC86U 2 Pack)

This feature includes a free-for-life real-time online Network Protection protection powered by Trend Micro and a decent Parental Control engine. It’s definitely an excellent and useful feature. Without the support for the 160MHz channel width and a Multi-Gig port, the RT-AX68 doesn’t have everything it takes to deliver top Wi-Fi performance, according to the way I test routers. And that was the case in my testing. The RT-AX68U’s QoS feature also includes a handy Internet Speed test if you want to find out how fast your broadband is. Asus RTAX68U now includes an Internet speed test tool. Traffic Analyzer and A ton of USB-related features The RT-AX68U also did well in network-attached storage (NAS) performance for a router without a Multi-Gig port. Even with a 5ghz WIFI6 IoT push down the line, most devices will limit bandwidth to 80mhz due to DFS and compatibility issues across markets. Things like PS5 and M1 Macbooks are hard limited to 80mhz for this reason. New Xbox didn’t even bother with WIFI6 hardware and uses an older AC chip.