Asus RT-AC55U 5 GHz router review, is it worth it?

The Asus RT-AC55U (RT-AC55U) router released in 2014. It is powered by Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 @ 720 MHz chipset, 128 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash. The AC1200 router is compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards, and the maximum speed that you can get with RT-AC55U is 300 + 867 Mbps. The router has 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN and 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN ports.

The RT-AC55U is an affortable router that supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) technology for faster wireless speeds. You can connect supported USB devices to the RT-AC55U router. The external storage devices such as USB flash drives or external hard drives add file-server functionality to this router. Asus has been involved in the development of innovative networking solutions.

Table of contents:

• Asus RT-AC55U specifications
• Asus RT-AC55U pictures

Asus RT-AC55U (RT-AC55U) specifications

Body

The dimensions and design of a router can impact its cooling capabilities. Routers with larger dimensions may have more space for internal cooling mechanisms, such as larger fans or heat sinks, which can help dissipate heat more effectively. The weight of a router can be a consideration in certain situations, but it is generally not as crucial as other factors such as performance, features, and compatibility.

System

The Asus RT-AC55U router is equipped with Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 @ 720 MHz processor. The RT-AC55U comes with 128 MB of RAM. The amount of RAM in a router can impact its performance and capacity to handle concurrent operations and traffic. Higher RAM capacity allows for better multitasking, larger routing tables, and improved overall performance. The 128 MB flash memory in the router serves as the storage medium for the router's firmware. It is a non-volatile memory that retains its data even when power is removed from the device.

The Asus often releases firmware updates to enhance the router's functionality, improve security, fix bugs, and add new features. Firmware updates can provide performance improvements, compatibility with new devices or protocols, and address vulnerabilities. The Asus RT-AC55U router comes with 12 V / 2 A PSU. This unit is responsible for providing electrical power to the router, and if it becomes faulty, it can be replaced with a new, compatible one.

Network

Like many modern routers, the RT-AC55U supports many network standards too. The IPv4 is the fourth iteration of the Internet Protocol (IP) and is the most widely used version of IP on the internet today. The latest firmware supports IPv6 protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. The Asus RT-AC55U has 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN and 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN ports. LAN or Ethernet ports (RJ-45) are used to connect devices to the local area network (LAN).

This router has Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, which provides data transfer speeds of up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) over Ethernet connections. The WAN port on a router stands for "Wide Area Network" port. It is used to connect the router to the external network, typically provided by an internet service provider (ISP). The RT-AC55U router supports Gigabit speed on its WAN port, that can support speeds up to 1000 Mbps. This router ensures that you can fully utilize high-speed internet connections provided by your ISP.

The RT-AC55U router supports 3G or 4G dongles, allowing you to connect to a cellular network. This feature can be useful in areas with limited wired internet access or as a backup option in case of an internet outage. The RT-AC55U comes with OpenVPN support. OpenVPN is a full-featured SSL VPN solution which implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the industry standard SSL/TLS protocol.

IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) is a widely used network protocol suite that provides security services for IP (Internet Protocol) communications. It is primarily used to establish secure and encrypted virtual private network (VPN) connections over public networks, such as the internet. The PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) is an older VPN protocol that was widely used in the past but is now considered less secure compared to newer alternatives like IPsec or OpenVPN.

Wireless

This router has 2 x 5 dBi, RP-SMA antennas. Antennas play a significant role in Wi-Fi performance and coverage. They are essential components of wireless routers that transmit and receive radio signals to establish wireless connections with devices. This router is 2.4 GHz capable. The 2.4GHz band refers to the portion of the radio spectrum between 2.400 and 2.4835 gigahertz. This frequency range is unlicensed and globally available for various wireless applications, including Wi-Fi.

The RT-AC55U supports the 5 GHz band too. The 5 GHz band offers better noise immunity, less interference, and more available channels. The RT-AC55U belongs to the Wi-Fi 5 class. Wi-Fi 5 operates on the 5 GHz frequency band and utilizes wider channel widths and advanced modulation techniques to deliver higher data transfer rates. The AC1200 refers to the maximum combined data transfer rate supported by the router across all Wi-Fi bands.

The RT-AC55U is capable of a maximum throughput speed of 300 + 867 Mbps. The real-world speed of a RT-AC55U router is typically lower than its theoretical maximum speed. The TX power (20 dBm) of a router refers to the transmission power or signal strength at which the router broadcasts its Wi-Fi signal. It determines the range and coverage area of the wireless network. The RT-AC55U router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2.

The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the first security protocol for Wi-Fi networks but is now considered weak and easily compromised. It uses a static encryption key and has known vulnerabilities, so it is no longer recommended for securing Wi-Fi networks. The WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) was introduced as an improvement over WEP and provides stronger security. If WPA3 is not available, WPA2-Personal with AES encryption is still considered secure. A guest network on the RT-AC55U router is a separate network that provides internet access to guests or visitors without giving them access to your main or primary network. It allows you to create a dedicated network segment for guests, keeping their devices isolated from your private network, thereby enhancing security and privacy.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 2 port has a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), which is equivalent to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). The USB 3 ports provide a fast interface for external storage with data transfer rates of up to 4.8 Gbps. You can attach a compatible USB printer to the Asus RT-AC55U device. USB print servers allow you to connect a USB printer to your network, making it accessible to multiple devices. This eliminates the need for each device to have a direct USB connection to the printer. It has built-in NAS functionality. You can connect external storage devices such as USB flash drives or USB hard drives to your router. This allows you to share files, documents, photos, and media across devices on your network. It can be convenient for accessing and sharing files without the need for separate file servers or cloud storage.

Administration

The default IP addresses of the Asus RT-AC55U device is 192.168.1.1. These address allows you to access the router's console login page. If you are unable to log in to the setup panel of your Asus router, performing a reset can be a helpful troubleshooting step. It is highly recommended to change the default password of your RT-AC55U router after the initial setup. If you forget the new password in the future, you may need to perform a factory reset on the router to revert to the default settings.

The specifications above are based on the official data published by the manufacturer, but we also take user reviews into consideration. If you found an error or something lacking in the specifications above for the Asus RT-AC55U, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

Asus RT-AC55U (RT-AC55U) pictures

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