ASUS RT-N16 4 Port Gigabit Wireless N Router with 2X USB 2.0 Ports

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I purchased this wireless router after a lot of research on consumer wireless routers. As I had previously read from so many owners of the RT-N16, the default software was lousy even after updating the firmware to the latest. After 3 days of sporadic connection and poor transfer speeds I finally flashed to TomatoUSB and have never looked back. The speeds are great and connection has not dropped once now that TomatoUSb is nicely handling things. USB transfer rates seem to be stable and fairly decent. I am very pleased with this purchase now that I have third party software flashed. It is too bad that the Asus stock software is as abysmal as it was proven to be during my time with it installed. I think that maybe Asus needs to get with the developers of DD-WRT or Tomato and use that instead of their own or just get some tips on how to develop decent firmware for this router. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for some great hardware as long as you are comfortable flashing the firmware to something more effective.

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I recommend that RT-16N users update  the firmware to version 3. Major improvements have been made. Router has excellent thru-put on wireless connections, and streaming media works well.

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Was running DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT54. An older model with huge amounts of flash and RAM. On the WRT54 if I lowered the UDP timeout, (so it forgot old connections faster freeing up memory), it was adequate under heavy torrenting loads. Even then the WRT54 could slow down and begin to choke under heavy load.This RT-N16 with Tomato frimware can manage twice the load and not even break a sweat. Below enormous torrenting from a number of computers the torrents fly at high speeds though you surf like nothing else is going on. Freaking Awesome! Adequately set up my DL speeds can reach practically double at occasions. The quantity of flash and RAM this beast has dwarf's the WRT54. I am a incredibly content camper. :-)The processor is much quicker than my WRT54 so I see no need to overclock and boost heat. Its running stock speed and has handled every thing I throw at it with no skipping a beat. I bought an open box that had a dead WAN port. I returned it and purchased a new one that worked.The WRT54 has a strong radio though the RT-N16's is just adequate.I have to say the stock firmware was awful but I knew that just before I purchased it. The version of DD-WRT I tried was flacky and gave me some troubles. However Tomato (beta) Version 1.28 is amazing. :-) Even though I choose the DD-WRT GUI I enjoy the function and performance I get with Tomato, its great. I'm an IT network specialist with a household of 6 living at house and ten+ computers. My network is divided into two VLAN's on a managed Netgear Giga switch that feeds into the RT-N16. My VoIP phone and a couple of IP cams feed into the other ports of the RT-N16. My wife just graduated as an IT network specialists and my son is six months behind. Trust me, everyone in my household knows how to torrent and makes heavy use of the world wide web. This residence router is far more like commercial grade in its efficiency. We have a router rack full of Cisco equipment utilized as a router lab for studying toward the cisco CCNA & CCNP certifications. At one point I was going to use one of the cisco routers for my residence router but I'm not positive it could beat the RT-N16's torrent efficiency. And it wouldn't have the USB storage and print server, nor the wireless. If you are looking for a plug and go router skip this 1.If you know how to flash firmware and take time to set it up you'll get an great router.

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can run tomato/dd-wrt. Rock solid, existing uptime ᡞ days. not dual band under no circumstances gave the asus firmware a chance--why would I with such very good third party firmware? Have been having troubles with dd-wrt's support-each and every-router nightmare and loaded tomato usb and haven't looked back.

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Ideal router I've had once Tomato was installed. Following reading the evaluations here, I didn't even bother to use the stock firmware. None

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Got this to replace an inferior DIR-655, and immediately replaced the firmware with TomatoUSB. It's been rock solid so far, never requiring power cycling with no dropped wireless signals. Also attached a printer to it and set up a VPN endpoint, without any glitches. It's a tiny bit larger than a WRT54GL so I had to leave a bit hanging off the edge of my shelf but no big deal.

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This review is based on Asus' v3.0.0.3.78 firmware build from December 13, 2011. The fact that the router is almost 2 years old and still receives updates is nice.After uploading the newest firmware, I was pleasantly surprised at its web interface. While it's a little "busy", it does display quite a bit of information without having you navigate all over the place. There are lots of good ideas, from AJAX notifications of connection problems, to icons showing you the status of your USB devices and allowing you to safely eject them. Mounting USB storage was quick and painless. I didn't have a chance to connect a printer, but the process seems well laid out. Saving changes to the settings gives you a proper status window, and does not require a full reboot like many low-end routers. Once I started digging into the settings however, I began to feel somewhat less impressed.There are poor translations about, but most can be understood easily enough (the status bar for a USB drive's "Available space" actually shows Used space). Putting the router into Access Point mode does not just change some settings for you, it also removes things like QoS, Parental Controls, and NAT from the menus, which may or may not be what you want to do. There are plenty of advanced settings such as wireless RTS and Fragmentation Thresholds, DTIM and Beacon Intervals... But more mundane functions that one would expect are absent, such as changing the wireless MAC address, antenna setup, transmission power or Telnet port. The QoS, Port Forwarding, and Port Triggering functions are very similar to Tomato, which is not surprising since they are both using BusyBox. The general system log is also similar, although this is a lot of detail when users have much less control of the applications from the web interface. While most settings do have a "What's This?" blurb, less experienced users may be frustrated by the lack of information about advanced features, like what Telnet is for, what Jumbo Frames is, or what the maximum Jumbo Frame size is. There can only be one user logged in at once, which is normally not an issue, but it's something to keep in mind if you plan to use the "Download Master" without its Windows client.The Download Master program is a neat idea, but its different clients lack integration. The newsgroup portion requires you to enter a username and password for the server - so if your provider uses IP-based authentication, you may not be able to use this feature at all. I can't confirm this as I could not for the life of me get a download started. Opening links from several NZB search engines either did not work at all, or only downloaded the .NZB file itself (and did not subsequently open it to grab the listed articles). Opening a saved .NZB from the local machine appeared to grab the file, but nothing happened after that (and you can not view the local USB storage to try to open it). I did not try the ED2K client. Opening a torrent seemed to work fine, but my very slow test download (~20KB/s with 7 connected peers) caused the interface to slow down to a fraction of its former relatively quick responsiveness.There is some bandwidth limiting and scheduling, but it is extremely basic. WiFi on/off at set times, downloads on/off at set times, max BW for torrents, max BW for newsgroups, etc... But each setting is separate, you cannot set a global maximum for the Download Master app so if you use more than one protocol you either must set very low limits or risk over-saturating your connection. I did not have any luck getting WDS working with another Broadcom-based router; they seemed to think they were connected, but no data could be relayed. I did not realize it at the time of purchase, but there is also some basic functionality for using a USB-based 3G modem as a backup link in case your Internet goes out, which is a nice feature.Overall, the Asus firmware is probably "good enough" for anyone who's not a power-user, and will hopefully continue to improve over time. Its simplicity does seem oddly mismatched with the hardware, which, even two years after its release, is still a very powerful device compared to the majority of SoC routers. In the end, if you're planning to use a third-party firmware like Tomato-USB or DD-WRT, other considerations become almost moot. Multiple USB slots, Gigabit switching for all five ports, plenty of RAM and CPU power, and decent wireless strength make this a good buy.

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I bought this router to allow me to convert it to a DD-WRT router to have more flexibility, including VPN endpoint. The conversion is a bit of a pain, but that's not the router's fault, and the end result is excellent. Overall, the native interface on this router is a bit awkward, but it does have some nice features. For one, it doesn't insist on a reboot every time you make a single change, but let's you stack them up and then reboot when you're done. I haven't used the USB ports for media sharing, but that's a nice touch as well. Would I buy again? Sure. Definitely better than low end D-Link models.

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Good router overall, very fast and firmware can be upgraded.

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This router is incredibly quickly, trustworthy. Wireless signal dramatically elevated from prior router. Defidentlly acquiring your bang for your buck with this router Stock Frimware....I personally believe it's quite confusing and incredibly slow. I installed TomatoUSB on it and I haven't rebooted it due to the fact...it's been up for 40 days now. My old WRT54G Could bearly run 2 weeks ahead of something not working appropriate, If you buy this router I very reccomend upgrading to DD-WRT/TomatoUSB, it literally unlocks this device to it's full potential

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Basic setup. Nice network discovery and map display. Bridging two units did not work with standard firmware. I attempted almost everything. Updated to DD-WRT then to Tomato. Tomato permits me to bridge 2 of these together, now I have wired access in my garage for the LAN party we just had. Worked excellent.

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Following getting it to work, it has been incredibly stable and enabled quicker download speeds. Also greater signal all through the home. Had to do some "crazy" perform around on the ASUS web page for it to acquire IP information from world-wide-web provider. Maybe should have flashed instead of employing the ASUS software program.

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Haven't had any drop connection so far. Very solid. Antennas are lengthy. A little bit large. Reception could be stronger. I produced a appropriate choice of purchasing this to replace my lemon DIR-655. It works really excellent so far with tomato firmware. I've heard that asus firmware is not stable but I've not attempted it. This beast is really stable. NO dropping connection for far more than a month.

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I bought this router and started using it on my network, hoping it would speed up streaming of movies etc. For the first few weeks I could not figure out why all my devices would randomly disconnect. I would not be able to reconnect until I either waited 10 minutes or rebooted the router. Did some research and found out that many other people were having issues with the Asus firmware that comes pre-installed.I decided to flash tomato onto the router and it has been perfect ever since. I has been up for more than 50 days, never dropping once.Not to mention that the media server is a neat option as well.I would recommend this router to anyone.

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Gigabit ports. I've had tomato installed on it for more than two months and I could not be happier. This thing is rock solid. Nicely it's not not dual band.

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Been working fantastic, speed is awesome, didn't even bother with original firmware went straight to tomato, recommend it only if you feel comfortable installing tomato on it. Comcast doesn't like it occasionally, but i don't blame the router i blame comcast for that. Quit reading this and just acquire it.

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This thing is blazing rapid with a huge coverage region. Most configurable router I have ever used. You can get tons of features that are not available to most routers. The antennas it comes with are effective for stock antennas. Accurate Gigabit throughput and extremely powerful hardware. 2x usb port for storage and printer sharing. Practically brick proof for altering firmwares. Full system reset built in hardware.This factor is a beast!! Just know ahead of time that you won't be in a position to use the stock firmware or you will complain and hate life. Tomato USB is absolutely awesome for this system and straightforward to set up just go to the Tomato USB internet site and not the regular Tomato web site to get the version that is compatible with every thing on this router. Its genuinely huge for a router. Takes a lot of expertise or analysis to get set up correctly. Even even though it has the chip setup it doesn't have a 5Ghz channel. The stock firmware looks great and is effortless to use but so unstable its unreal. I couldn't even get a wired connection to remain for additional than five minutes. I knew this going into this purchase so it wasn't an concern with me. Once I got Tomato USB loaded this thing soars. Been going more than a week below heavy load with no problems at all!! It does take a very good part of a day to get this factor tweaked out to its max specially Tomato USB's Qos program. As soon as tweaked out there is no far better router. The fact that Tomato USB lets me crank up the energy of these antennas is fantastic since now I don't require to add any extra access points simply because there is seriously no dead spots in my house or even neighborhood for that matter. If you have the patience to take time and read forums to get this set up it is properly worth it. You can very easily get 300Mbps steady more than the WLAN even although you are only operating on the two.4Ghz channel.

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NONE Frequent restartsfrequent failures in connection frequent resets by itself I do not know if i have to term this router as a router or a self organized intelligent neural network router. Gosh its so brilliant. Every single body says as why you should obtain but let me be the 1st one to give factors as why you ought to not obtain if you were just to use this in your property. 1. If you are in middle of a game in XBOX on the internet and you are in middle of a war and all of a sudden you notice that you are not moving and you got killed in the game due to the fact your stunning router just restarted itself thinking to save you. wowwwwww such a intelligent technique.two. you want to setup your property server exactly where in you want to access files stored on a network and you experience a blazing speed of 512 Kbps and in intranet.3.if reliability is your concern.4. IF you do not want to speak to ASUS team for their service and get a back lash from them creating you feel that your an idiot regardless of becoming a CEO.I dont will need a router which can think i need to have a router which obeys me and does it job not do my job.

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Really quick, simple set-up, wonderful range, tomato usb supported Goofy UI, Already dead right after 45 days I have owned several excellent ASUS goods over the years, and never once had a difficulty. This is the initial router I have ever owned from them. It gets good evaluations, and if it weren't for the reality that it has died immediately after only 45 days I would have given a good assessment on it as nicely. ASUS is proving to be Really tough to function with on receiving this resolved. I have a feeling that if I ever get it replaced I will be throwing the replacement up on an auction web page and spending my income elsewhere. You might be asking yourself what happened, properly, I have no concept. My wife told me that she lost internet on her laptop and media player at the exact same time. I go to check my desktop and no web there either. Look at the router and it is off. I unplugged it and plugged it back in, it came on for about three sec and turned back off. This is the greatest I can get out of it. At times it won't even turn on. I wish I had spent the additional บ on the extended warranty. Would have saved me a massive headache.

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Gb Lan/Wan, 802.11n, USB support for external storage or print server Asus firmware Updated firmware to 1..1.9 out of the box. Connections had been intermittently dropped wired/wireless. I installed DD-WRT, no difficulties. I would not suggest getting this router unless you're going to upgrade to DD-WRT or tomato firmware.

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This thing is truly rapidly! I have learned significantly more about router setup than I ever wanted to know. Nonetheless can't get printer to work through USB on router. Router will not accept firmware update from ASUS. I suspect that I will end up making use of Tomato or other open source. Not a plug & play router.

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Potent, Lots of attributes, Good wireless speed and range, decently priced for all the attributes, way far better than the inexpensive Dlink it is replacing. FIRMWARE, FIRMWARE, FIRMWARE. Minus 1 Egg just for ASUS becoming stupid and sending this fantastic piece of hardware out with unusable firmware. Shame on you ASUS. No joke by far the most unusable piece of garbage I have ever observed. I thought 9ቦ when people complain that something is junk it truly is usable but just not the greatest in the globe. Properly this mus fall in that 1ቦ area where every person was 100% right in saying that you shouldn't even try to use the factory firmware. Go to tomato and don't even waste your time with the Asus firmware. The first factor I noticed with the Asus Firmware is that I couldn't get to Gmail and the web was loosing its connection randomly. Had to flash the firmware with the most recent two.6 version of Tomato and its like a new router now. Settings are clear and effortless to use and it all actually works.Message to ASUS: You have a superior piece of hardware that is produced unusable by the general public simply because you ship it with junk firmware. If you can't get it appropriate then use Tomato firmware so that it will perform correct out of the box. The average user would have sent it back lengthy prior to flashing 3rd party firmware.

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coverage seems superior even without having any antennas installed wouldn't turn on 1 day at all , had to manually restore it working with the asus restore app....if it takes place once again i will rma it

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I had a Dlink 655 which often dropped wireless connection. I switched to this router and updated the firmware to use DD-WRT. Ever due to the fact I updated to DD-WRT this router screams efficiency. Its rapidly, handles many connections and improved my signal strength compared to the Dlink 655. I haven't had the will need to reboot the router for any reasons. The uptime is about 1 month now.I Don't have a lot to say about the stock firmware since I updated directly to DD-WRT firmware. No cons besides the reality that you got to have to cautiously read the directions to update the firmware to DD-WRT I would advise this to anyone needing a quick router. Just don't be afraid to update the firmware and follow directions effectively and its simple.

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I got it when it was $74.99(before $10 rebate). I can say that it is the best budget 801.22n router working at 2.4GHZ.It can be also used as a small downloading PC or a network media center.