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After connecting the router up to the power and modem, we can then access the router control panel to set it up. The simplest way of doing this is by entering its IP address into a browser but this may not be possible or some people due to conflicts with the modem. So, Asus provide a software utility which we can use to find the router and access the configuration page without conflict.
When accessing the control panel we are first instructed to input a username and password (user: admin, pass: admin) before we can make any changes. Then we are presented with a network map, visually displaying all connected devices. Alongside this there is a summary of the router settings including SSID, security type, and key. These can all be configured easily from this page.
The two USB2.0 ports in the back of the router let us plug in USB storage devices and share their files over the network. This function can be disabled in the control panel under the ‘UPnP Media Server' tab. Additionally, the USB devices can be accessed remotely over the internet via FTP. This can be configured under the ‘AiDisk' tab in the control panel. The USB ports can also be used to share a printer over the network.
The ‘EzQoS Bandwidth Management' tab provides a very simple interface for traffic prioritisation, letting us give priority for certain applications over others to optimise performance.
Under the ‘Advanced Setting' tab we can configure almost every setting we could ask for and more. But all the essential settings are configurable from the main page so we can't see a huge number of users ever using this tab.
The provided software utility has a few other functions which are worthy of a mention. The ‘Download Master' application lets us download files from HTTP, FTP or BitTorrent onto the attached USB devices. It also has a ‘Firmware Restoration' application which lets us update the router's firmware without hassle.
It looks like a very well made product, I like the styling. more business like than something for a kid. The pricing seems a little off as usual for asus however.
If they dropped the price by £25 it would be a better all round purchase. EVerything else looks spot on to me.
A high quality purchase, but sadly a little over the odds in todays market. I think asus need to work generally on their pricing structures. They can get away with it on a rampage motherboard, not so sure this market is as forgiving.
good review Henry, thanks.
Seems like a good enough product. I like the appearance, looks very ‘serious’. some of the routers in our local PC world look like tonka toys.
Asus make quality products, I dont mind paying extra as I know they will last. some people are very shortsighted. I bet that DLINK router you buy will be dead in a year.
Nice article… I would be happy if I see more of those articles because I would like to change my current wireless router (cheap stuff from local supermarket) and those types of hardware I don’t follow…
reading reviews like this can help a lot… 🙂
This is a great site. I think this router is easy to set up/