WiFi Performance
To put the ASUS DSL-AC68U through its paces, the wireless performance was tested by sending bi-directional datastreams to a Gigabit-connected desktop from a high-performance laptop making use of the ASUS USB-AC56 wireless AC adapter. This testing was done on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands at three different distances:
- Short range - approximately five metres with no line-of-sight disruptions
- Medium range - approximately 15 metres with wall separation
- Long range - approximately 25 metres with multiple wall separation and floor change; this is close to a WiFi blackspot scenario
It's worth noting that the particular results we achieved are specific to the conditions we tested in: your mileage may vary. ASUS informed us that making use of the PCE-AC68 would have yielded dramatically faster results, though the USB-AC56 is more reflective of the AC-type of speed of consumer mobile devices.
The three wireless routers we tested span three different market segments. The ASUS DSL-AC68U (£180) is a flagship dual-band 802.11ac router, the DSL-N66U is a flagship dual-band 802.11n router (£120) and the RT-AC52U (£55) is an entry-level, dual-band 802.11ac router.
Wireless performance
2.4GHz performance displayed an interesting 'quirk': despite all routers sharing a broadly similar 450Mbps 802.11n 2.4GHz implementation, the cheapest RT-AC52U router demonstrated the highest performance, with the DSL-AC68U a close second. The best explanations for this are that the RT-AC52U and USB-AC56 may share a similar network chipset, or the RT-AC52U featured antennae placement that worked particularly well in our environment.
As we extended to longer-range performance both the RT-AC52U and DSL-N66U could not establish reliable connections to complete the test. The DSL-AC68U, on the other hand, managed to keep a reliable connection open, albeit a slow one. The results demonstrate that if you only require 2.4GHz Wireless N performance then the DSL-AC68U isn't the most cost-effective solution; a lower-cost Wireless N router with a range extender is a better a choice.
5GHz is where the DSL-AC68U is able to come into its own, at short and medium range it is dramatically faster than both the other routers. Furthermore, it was the only router able to sustain reliable connection to the long-range testing location.