Holy Routers, Batman!

Behold, the router worthy of the Dark Knight himself! This is my mini-review of my new router: the Asus RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 router.

Asus RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router

This is my first "costly" router and I feel that I have invested in a very good product. My previous modem-cum-router cost me about Rs.2000 and was good for what I required from a router at the time. Now that I've bought a PS3 which lives next to the TV in the living room and everyone in my household has a wifi-enabled Android phone, my old router could not quench the wireless-content thirst of every device in the house effectively (or, at all).

I like my new Asus RT-N66U router for the following attributes:
- Excellent range: This is the main reason that I bought this router for. With my old Netgear, I was lucky if I got even a weak signal near my TV (just 15 meters away from the router). But with the RT-N66U, I get 100% signal strength anywhere in my house even with all kitchen equipments running. Impressive! I knew this router had a good range even before I ordered it and I am glad I was not let down.
- User Friendly: You don't need to connect to the router wired to configure it initially. The UI is simple and configurable. I was able to connect to the Internet in a matter of minutes after unpacking the router.
- Upgradable: The router is DD-WRT/Tomato compatible so power users can choose to upgrade the firmware if they want to. Even the router's antennae are easily upgradable, if you wish to increase its already great wireless coverage. I will probably end-up upgrading both after a few months.
- Great Features: The router can act as a VPN server, a Printer server (with a USB Printer), 3G/WiMax Server (with USB 3G/WiMax modem), Samba/FTP server (for USB drive files) and more. I have yet to use any of these features and I am excited because this is the first router that I've used that has USB ports!

Negative Points: Except for it being a tad costly, I can think of nothing negative about this router. Maybe once I start to care about throughput at a distance, I may have something to moan about. But so far, nothing.

Bottom Line: I am loving my new router. If you are looking for more than the basic level of network connectivity and have the budget for this router, just go for it.

Kudos to Flipkart for listing this router with the cheapest price I've seen for this router in India and also for the fast and extra safe shipping of this item.