Asus ac5300 review: Asus GT-AC5300 | Tom’s Hardware

Overview and testing of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 wireless router / Overclockers.ua

1 — Package contents and appearance
2 — Firmware and bundled software
3 — Test results and conclusions
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Needless to say, we are currently witnessing the rapid growth of the market for various products for gamers. This is not surprising, since a variety of mobile gadgets do an excellent job with most everyday tasks, while laptops, and even more so classic personal computers, become the lot of professionals. Or gamers, although the latter already play on smartphones, fortunately, the growing capabilities of mobile chipsets make it possible to provide realistic graphics. However, many digital entertainment enthusiasts are looking for gaming PCs that are also great for a variety of tasks, whether it’s professional use or media content in 4K resolution and above. And all because the concept of «gaming» has become synonymous with the word «productive», since impressive graphics require both a powerful processor and a powerful video accelerator, as well as a fast and capacious storage subsystem. As a result, every self-respecting manufacturer of computer components and accessories has acquired a line of products designed for gamers, although the ubiquitous RGB backlighting often determines belonging to gaming products in recent years… Against this background, the appearance of gaming wireless routers is quite natural, since a high-quality and stable connection with The Internet is extremely important for comfortable gameplay. There is nothing surprising in the fact that gaming models are in the product lines of most vendors of network equipment of the SOHO class, including ASUSTek, one of the industry leaders both in terms of market share and in terms of product range. ASUS wireless routers have already visited us, and today we will see the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 model, a tri-band Wi-Fi router of the AC5300 class, the flagship of the lineup, designed for the most demanding users. This is easy to verify, just look at the specifications of the hero of today’s review.

Features

Model	ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300
Operating modes	Wireless Router Access Point Repeater Media Bridge AiMesh Node
WAN connection	Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE (MPPE support), PPTP, L2TP, USB 3G/4G
Network standards	IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, IPv4, IPv6
Baud rate	802.11a: 6; 9; 12; eighteen; 24; 36; 48; 54 Mbps 802.11b: 1; 2; 5.5; 11Mbps 802.11g: 6; 9; 12; eighteen; 24; 36; 48; 54 Mbps 802.11n: up to 600 Mbps 802.11ac: up to 1734 Mbps 1024QAM (2.4 GHz): up to 1000 Mbps 1024QAM (5 GHz): up to 2167 Mbps
Antenna	External, 8 pcs.
Operating frequency range	1 x 2.4 GHz, 2 x 5 GHz 20/40/80 MHz
Bandwidth	20/40 MHz (2. 4 GHz band) 20/40/80 MHz (5 GHz band)
MIMO technology	4 x 4
Encryption	64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise , WPA2-Enterprise , Radius over 802.1x, WPS support
Firewall and access control	Firewall: SPI intrusion detection, DoS protection, Access control: Parental control, Network service filter, URL filter, Port filter
VPN server	IPSec Pass-Through, L2TP Pass-Through, PPTP Server, OpenVPN Server, IPSec(Host-to-Net) server
VPN client	PPTP client, L2TP client, OpenVPN client
System functions	UPnP, IGMP v1/v2/v3, DNS proxy, DHCP, NTP client, DDNS, port jumper, virtual server, DMZ, system log
Processor	1.8GHz 4 core ARMv8-A 64bit
Memory	RAM: DDR3 1024 MB Flash: 256 MB
Ports	1 x RJ45 10/100/1000/1000+ BaseT for WAN 8 x RJ45 10/100/1000/1000+ BaseT for LAN 2 x USB 3. 0 Type A
Buttons	Power, Reset, WPS, Wi-Fi off, LED off
Additional functions	Link Aggregation IEEE 802.3ad Beamforming, MU-MIMO Airtime Fairness Smart Connect Traffic Analyzer Adaptive QoS AiProtection Parental Control Mac OS Backup Enhanced media server (AiPlayer app compatible) — Image : Jpeg — Audio : mp3, wma, wav, pcm, mp4, lpcm, ogg 9002 3 — Video : asf, avi, divx, mpeg, ts, vob, wmv, mkv, mov
LED indicators	1 x Power 2 x Wi-Fi 1 x WAN 1 x LAN 1 x WPS
Power supply	65 W external
Dimensions (WxDxH), mm	245 x 245 x 65
Weight	1880
Recommended value,	€399/$449

Is there anything other than a big name in this product that can interest gamers?

Package Contents

The gaming router comes in a heavy cardboard box, the dimensions of which will envy other flagship video cards and motherboards. As the name implies, the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 belongs to the Republic of Gamers series, which is clearly reflected in the packaging design. The design is dominated by branded red and black tones, on the front surface you can see the image of the device in a state of «full combat readiness».

The back side lists key product features such as support for WTFast’s Gamers Private Network technology, advanced ROG Gaming Center, powerful quad-core processor, and more.

The contents of the package are packed in cardboard organizers, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of the device during transportation. At the same time, the delivery set of ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 cannot be called outstanding, in addition to the router itself, the buyer receives eight detachable antennas with SMA connectors, a pack of paper documentation, an Ethernet patch cord with RJ-45 connectors, and a network adapter on which worth a closer look.

Large enough power supply with non-removable CEE 7/16 plug. The adapter is designed to work in AC networks with a voltage of 100-240 V and a frequency of 50-60 Hz, and the marking ADP-65DW C hints at an output power of 65 watts. The good news is that such AC power supplies are often found in ASUS laptops, so if it fails, there will be no problem finding a replacement.

Device design

Even just looking at the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, it immediately becomes obvious that we have an extraordinary product. This router has nothing to do with faceless plastic boxes; most of all, the device looks like an alien monster baring its teeth with manipulators-antennas. At the same time, the router has a solid body size — 245×245 mm with a height of 65 mm and, despite the use of plastic in the design, a very solid weight: as much as 1880 g, that is, almost two kilograms! The top cover bears the Republic of Gamers logo (suddenly — without illumination!) And has perforations for ventilation throughout the area.

All eight antennas are detachable, equipped with standard SMA type connectors, so if something breaks or fails, you can come up with something to replace it. The antennas have a complex shape, which is unlikely to help in the formation of a special radiation pattern, but rather serves to create a harmonious appearance. At the same time, half of the antennas are responsible for the operation of Wi-Fi at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, while the remaining ones are responsible for the operation of two wireless networks in the 5 GHz band. The manufacturer recommends installing the side antennas at an angle of 45° for better reception and transmission, however, during the tests, no dependence of the throughput on the position of the antennas was recorded.

There are six LEDs on the front panel of the device that are responsible for indicating the presence of power, activity of local and wireless networks, WAN connection status, as well as the status of the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) function, which is used to quickly connect client devices to a Wi-Fi network. fi.

By the way, the LED indication can be turned off by the corresponding button located on the left side of the router case. There is also a key to activate the WPS function and turn off wireless networks.

The rear panel of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 has an external network adapter connector, a mechanical power button, two USB 3.0 ports and nine RJ-45 connectors: one for connecting to an Internet provider and eight for connecting LAN devices. All ports support Ethernet 10/100/1000/1000+ BaseT, moreover, the 1st and 2nd ports are recommended by the manufacturer for connecting gaming PCs, and the 5th and 6th can be used to aggregate the bandwidth of two gigabit links in IEEE mode 802.3ad. It should be noted here that the location of the USB jacks is not the best: they are too close to the antenna, which can interfere with the installation of overall 3G/4G modems, as well as the lack of LED indication of activity and operating modes of the Ethernet ports.

At the bottom of the device, you can see four massive rubber feet, in the center there is a plastic sticker with service information, and the remaining area is occupied by ventilation holes that even go to the side edges of the case. It’s easy to see that the designers have taken care to cool the internals of the router, so for normal operation, you should not place it in a closed, poorly ventilated place.

Almost the entire internal volume of the device is occupied by a printed circuit board, «chained» on both sides with massive metal heatsinks. Since it turned out to be a non-trivial task to remove them without damaging the thermal interface, it was decided to abandon this idea, and to get information about the element base from open sources. So, ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is based on Broadcom BCM49 SoC408, which is based on four 28-nm computing cores with ARMv8-A 64-bit architecture and a clock frequency of 1800 MHz. SLC NAND memory chip S34ML02G2 with a capacity of 256 MB is used to store the sewing, and a DDR3L SDRAM chip with a capacity of 1024 MB manufactured by Nanya is used as RAM. The SoC supports three PCI Express Gen2 lanes, USB 3.0 and SATA3, is equipped with a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, as well as an SGMII + (Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface) interface with a bandwidth of 2. 5 Gb / s for connecting MAC-level devices. Here it is necessary to note the support of BCM49408 IPSec hardware encryption and NAT hardware acceleration. Since the SoC can provide a maximum of five Ethernet ports, the product is additionally equipped with a BCM53134S switch. At the same time, WAN, the first and second, as well as the fifth and sixth LAN ports are connected directly to the SoC, while the rest are served by an additional “switch”, which, in turn, is connected to the main chipset by the SGMII+ bus. Connection of external drives and 3G/4G modems is provided by two USB 3.0 ports connected directly to the processor.

Three BCM4366E chips are responsible for Wi-Fi operation, included in the SoC using PCI-E 2.0 interfaces. The controllers boast advanced features, including the presence of a coprocessor based on the ARM Cortex-A7 architecture core, support for MU-MIMO and simultaneous operation of four streams for receiving and transmitting. It should also be noted that it is compatible with NitroQAM technology, which, when using the 802. 11n standard, provides speeds up to 1000 Mbps, while when using 802.11ac, you can count on 2167 Mbps, but only if compatible wireless adapters based on the same Broadcom chipsets. Three radio modules allow you to organize the simultaneous operation of three independent access points: one in the 2.4 GHz band and two in the 5 GHz frequency, and the second one is positioned as a “gaming” one, since it works with 802.11ac channels from 100 to 140, where, in theory, there should be even less interference than in the lower part of the range. Thus, it is easy to make sure that the hero of today’s review can offer truly advanced features, and now let’s take a look at how the system software is implemented and what useful utilities the happy owners of ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 can use.

Firmware and bundled software

The ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 software is based on the Linux operating system, the graphical user interface, referred to here only as the ROG Gaming Center, in its organization resembles the control menu of «ordinary» ASUS routers, except for the color scheme. Here it is done in a black and red palette, typical for products of the Republic of Gamers series. After the first power on, the Quick Internet Setup utility is automatically launched, designed to quickly configure the basic settings of the device. We are also interested in the expert mode, on the possibilities of which we will focus our attention with you. After entering the web-interface, which has many localizations, including Ukrainian, and is located on the link, the user enters the information section of the Dash Board, which displays the current network traffic, the status of wireless networks and Internet connections, as well as the current mode of operation of the device. There is also a latency and deviation monitor for the ping command. For an experienced user, this indicator allows you to judge the quality of the channel provided by the provider.

One of the key, and perhaps the most useful features of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is the AiProtection complex, which consists of two functions — Network Protection and Parental Control, which are based on TrendMicro technologies — one of the market leaders in solutions on cybersecurity. AiProtection is a multi-component system that allows you to evaluate the router settings in terms of security, enable blocking access to malicious websites, activate IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) to counter various network threats, and isolate local network computers if infection is suspected by various » malware.» At the same time, the «Parental Control» function allows you to set restrictions on accessibility of certain categories of content for connected devices, such as: «18+», peer-to-peer networks, instant messaging programs and social networks. networks, as well as streaming video services.

The next feature — Game Boost — should be of interest to gamers, due to the dynamic management of the QoS (Quality of Service) parameter, the highest priority is assigned and the maximum bandwidth is allocated for the traffic of the selected category, and this happens in a fully automatic mode. As mentioned earlier, Game Boost works for clients included in the LAN1 and LAN2 ports.

The next interesting feature is the Game Private Network, which is designed to build the shortest route to game servers within the WTFast virtual network. It should be noted that along with the router, buyers receive a basic WTFast subscription for one device. It was not possible to fully check the operation of the service, however, on the Internet you can find many positive reviews regarding the operation of this service, although, of course, it is not able to reduce delays to zero.

The «Game Profile» function will be useful for fans of online battles who do not burden themselves with fine-tuning routing issues. It is enough to select the profile of your favorite game from the drop-down list and the router firmware will independently set the optimal parameters, for example, “forward” the necessary ports to the device on which the game is running. The “Game Radar” option also makes life easier for gamers, which allows you to search for game servers with the lowest response time for many popular projects.

At the same time, the Wi-FI Radar section will be useful, not so much for gamers as for advanced users. With it, you can scan wireless networks in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands in order to select free channels with a minimum of interference from neighboring access points to achieve maximum speeds.

The ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 system software allows you to create a complete VPN server based on it, thereby gaining access to your home network from anywhere in the world. Users can choose one of the connection types, such as PPTP, OpenVPN or IPSec (Host-to-Net), as well as «forward» VPN tunnels to devices on the local network. The Fusion VPN feature will also come in handy here, which will not allow gaming application traffic to enter the VPN tunnel, but will direct it directly to the server according to the routing table.

And finally, Flow Analyzer allows you to view advanced statistics and monitor traffic in real time.

On this, formally, the game «chips» of the hero of today’s review end, but in the arsenal of this device there are many useful features. For example, in the bowels of the setup menu there is an information panel «Network Map», where the processor and RAM load is displayed on the right side, the status of the main and backup WAN connections, the status and encryption mode of wireless networks, the use of network ports and USB connectors. For the latter, the inclusion of sharing functions, secure extraction, checking the status of S.M.A.R.T., as well as formatting, including in the Linux native HFS file system, is available.

For wireless networks, the section of the same name specifies Wi-Fi operating modes, channel width and number, authentication methods, and encryption modes. In the “advanced settings” menu, it should be noted that there is a wireless network scheduler, a choice of modulation type and a number of specific functions, such as MU-MIMO, designed to optimize the simultaneous use of wireless networks by several clients, and Direct Beamforming, aka Beamforming, which serves to form a diagram directed towards users.

In the local network settings, the parameters of the DHCP server and IPTV operation mode, port forwarding from the WAN segment to the local network are set, and, importantly, it is here that the aggregation of LAN5 and LAN6 ports is configured to connect the most demanding clients at speeds up to 2 Gb / s.

In router mode, ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 supports various types of Internet connection, including dynamic and static IP, PPPoE (with MPPE support), PPTP, L2TP and USB 3G / 4G (both modems and smartphones are supported based on Android), and the latter can be used both to organize a backup access channel in case of a failure in the operation of the main provider, and to balance the load in order to increase the access speed. The router supports the Dynamic DNS function, which allows you to organize secure access to a third-level domain on one of the many DDNS services, including the proprietary *.asuscomm.com.

The USB Applications section, as the name suggests, focuses on managing additional services for USB devices, such as AiDisk for accessing the contents of a removable disk from the Internet, organizing a file, media and print server, 3G / 4G modem settings , as well as creating an Apple Time Machine backup repository and a standalone Download master download manager.

Together with the wireless router, customers get access to ASUS’ proprietary AiCloud 2.0 service, which makes it possible to turn an external drive connected to a USB port into cloud storage. To access files, just connect to the ASUS DDNS service and the data will always be available through a web browser or using mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms. But that’s not all! It is possible to synchronize with the ASUS Webstorage cloud service to store backup copies of the most important data.

The next section — Alexa & IFTTT — deals with the operation of the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 as part of Amazon’s «smart home» and the IFTTT IoT platform of the same name (short for the phrase If This Than That), which allows you to create the simplest tasks. For example, the router will understand if you ask him to «turn off Wi-Fi at lunchtime and at night.»

Finally, the device has a built-in SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall, which is also able to protect against DDoS attacks, block access to blacklisted URLs and even cut off requests containing keywords, however, this only works for unencrypted traffic which is getting smaller and smaller these days.

In conclusion of the review of the system software, one cannot fail to note the presence in the firmware of network diagnostic tools, such as ping, traceroute and nslookup, as well as the Smart Connect function, which automatically manages the policy for connecting clients to Wi-Fi access points depending on the radio channel parameters and speed transmission, optimally distributing the bandwidth for given conditions.

As an intermediate result, it can be noted that the capabilities of the system software can satisfy any, even the most demanding and sophisticated «techno-geek», with the exception of network professionals, but for them there are devices of a completely different class on the market. And for beginners or inexperienced users, there is a fairly convenient ASUS Router application available for iOS and Android platforms. After installation on a smartphone or tablet, the application automatically finds the router and connects to it, provided that both devices are on the same network. The «home» section displays the model name and internal IP address of the router, displays real-time information about traffic and the total number of connected devices, displays CPU and RAM usage statistics.

On the Home tab, you can see information about connected clients, and clicking on a line in the device list calls up detailed information, including the current mode and connection speed, as well as blocking Internet access and setting bandwidth limits. If you select the router itself as a device, then you can view the firmware version, current mode of operation, MAC and IP addresses of LAN and WAN using it. In addition, users can disable the Internet connection, reboot, or reset the software to default values.

The Insights section displays «helpful tips», and the Family menu allows you to group devices and set bandwidth limits or access rules for them to the outside world.

Finally, the More tab controls many of the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300’s features, such as the Features submenu for AiMesh mode settings, bandwidth management, and Wi-Fi networks. The System Monitor, diagnostic tools, firmware updates and much more are also located here, and the Plugins subsection contains links for managing additional functions.

Of course, the ASUS Router app doesn’t compare to the web user interface in terms of completeness of control, but it can serve to control the main functions.

Test stand and test results

Testing wireless devices is not an easy process, primarily due to the fact that it is almost impossible to repeat the same conditions twice. This is especially true for the 2.4 GHz band, where 802.11n Wi-Fi networks operate, which in the city is full of interference from neighboring access points. The situation with 802.11ac wireless networks is somewhat better, since the 5 GHz frequency band is less congested, and due to the physical properties of the signal, it attenuates much faster, which means that neighboring transmitters do not have such a detrimental effect. However, this useful property has a negative point: the coverage in the 5 GHz band is noticeably less than in the 2. 4 GHz band, this should be taken into account when planning the installation location of wireless routers.

ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 performance was assessed using iperf3, a specialized software product widely used worldwide by professionals to assess the throughput of telecommunication networks. This utility works in command line mode and offers a wide range of options for setting up testing parameters. The miniature Intel NUC NUC6CAYS PC based on the Intel Celeron J3455 processor, equipped with a Realtek gigabit network adapter and running Windows 10 Home 64 bit was used as a server. Skeptics may blame that a weak platform was chosen as the server, however, running the iperf3 throughput test for localhost gave results of more than 6 Gb / s, which is enough to evaluate performance in our conditions. The functions of the wireless client were performed by the HP Gaming Pavilion 15 gaming laptop (cx0048ur), equipped with a Wi-Fi adapter based on the Realtek RTL8822BE chipset, a modern Wave2 generation solution with support for 802. 11b/g/n + ac standards and MU-MIMO technology. The laptop is based on a quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U processor and has 8 GB of DDR4 RAM; Windows 10 Home 64 bit was also used as an operating system with all updates installed at the time of testing.

With all the advantages of the wireless adapter that the HP Gaming Pavilion 15 is equipped with, it has one weakness — it only supports MIMO in 2T2R mode, while the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 provides MIMO in the 4T4R formula. The ASUS USB-AC68 Wi-Fi adapter with USB3.0 interface based on the Realtek RTL8814AU controller, which has the necessary support for MIMO 4T4R, helped us to unlock the potential of the gaming router. Inside the adapter, which looks like an «overgrown flash drive», a pair of antennas are hidden, two more antennas are in the reclining «horns». With them, ASUS USB-AC68 not only takes on a solid appearance, but also significantly improves the quality of reception and transmission.

First of all, we measured the router’s network address translation (NAT) speed, which is used by many major ISPs to access the Internet. To do this, the server was connected to the WAN port, while the client device was connected to the LAN1 port or to a wireless access point, depending on the testing mode. As can be seen from the results, performing NAT is not a difficult task for the router: regardless of the direction and amount of traffic, the wired connection speed reached 948 Mbps, which is close to the maximum that a Gigabit Ethernet link can provide. An 802.11n wireless connection at 2.4 GHz gave about 140–165 Mbps, which can be considered a very good result, but the router really opened up when working with wireless clients in the 5 GHz band using the 802.11ac standard. In this case, the speed was about 860 Mbps when transmitting eight streams, and for one stream, the throughput was at around 440-510 Mbps. Such high numbers mean that for a device as powerful as the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300, maintaining a wireless connection while performing address translation is not a difficult task. Of course, for VPN connections, the results would have been more modest, but, alas, there was no opportunity to check a device with this type of connection.

It is obvious that such high transfer rates are achievable only with appropriate client devices supporting MIMO 4R4T, which, alas, are not as widespread as we would like. When working with mass models of wireless adapters, the results will be somewhat more modest. However, even in the 802.11n band at 2.4 GHz, you can count on speeds from 150 to 185 Mbps, while a network device with 4T4R support in such conditions “passed over” 200 Mbps. As for 802.11ac in the 5 GHz band, the Realtek RTL8822BE-based adapter provided 620-680 Mbps in multi-stream transmission, and speeds of about 415-435 Mbps were observed with a single stream.

All of the above results were achieved under ideal conditions — with direct line of sight of the access point and the client at a distance of about 5 meters. But what happens if a reinforced concrete wall gets in the way of radio signals? To answer this question, a number of tests were carried out using a standard laptop network adapter. Tests showed a performance drop of an average of 33%, and, unexpectedly, the results in the 2.4 GHz band decreased the most — by an average of 40%, while the 802.11ac standard operating at a frequency of 5 GHz turned out to be more «long-range» — the speed dropped by an average of 28%.

Finally, ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 was tested as a network drive using the SMB protocol. To do this, a 250 GB SK hynix Canvas SL308 solid-state drive was connected to one of the USB ports, placed in a Silicon Power Armor A30 USB 3.0 “pocket”. When connected to a desktop PC, the SSD delivered read and write speeds of around 225 MB/s, so its performance shouldn’t bottleneck. For the purity of the experiment, the tests were carried out for a drive with the NTFS file system, after which the SSD was formatted in HFS by the regular firmware of the router and the tests were repeated again. As a result, on the local network, the read speed reached 112 MB / s, while the write was kept at the level of 80–85 MB / s. As for the Wi-Fi connection, the results were expectedly faster: up to 67 MB / s for reading and from 52 MB / s to 62 MB / s for writing, depending on the file system used. Nevertheless, the performance of sharing an external drive is such that we can talk about using the router as a full-fledged NAS (Network Attached Storage), however, questions about the reliability of such a solution remain open.

Conclusions

Despite the fact that during the review the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 router left the most positive impressions and did not show a single weak point, it turned out to be a difficult task to draw unambiguous conclusions. Undoubtedly, the workmanship of the device and its hardware implementation are beyond praise, the only thing that can be complained about is the location of the USB ports in the immediate vicinity of the Wi-Fi antenna, and even then, this is more of a nitpick than a real drawback. As for the tailoring, it is very stable, in any case, for almost three weeks of continuous use, there were no overloads or freezes. The set of configuration tools is the richest, and the interface, although somewhat overloaded with small details, is quite understandable and convenient. There is not the slightest question about performance: it is at the highest possible level, although devices equipped with a 2.5G Ethernet port and Wi-Fi 802.11ax support are already appearing on the market. An example is the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, however, this wireless router has not yet been delivered to our area. The only question that can be presented to the hero of today’s review is its high cost, which at the time of the announcement was €399/$449, and six months after the start of sales, its average retail price was set at around $470. Of course, the amount is not small, but the set of features is extremely large, however, whether they will all be in demand even by the most sophisticated users — this question still remains unanswered.

Does ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 have competitors? — you ask. We answer: there are few alternatives, but they exist, for example, the “little brother” — ASUS RT-AC5300 has a similar set of characteristics, but is equipped with half as many LAN ports, its SoC Broadcom BCM4709C0 operates «only» two cores with a frequency of 1. 4 GHz, and the amount of RAM and flash memory is 512 MB and 128 MB, respectively. At the same time, on average, they ask for about $ 400 for the younger model, which is also a considerable amount and it is time to think about purchasing the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300. There is an alternative in the Tp-Link lineup — Archer C5400X, which outwardly strongly resembles our test subject, but internally is completely identical! True, ASUS has a much more functional firmware, while the Tp-Link product «takes» a noticeably lower price — about $360. Both Linksys and Netgear have models similar in ideology, but their prevalence is noticeably less than that of ASUS and Tp-Link products. In short, if you are a real fan of online battles and you need an uncompromising solution for organizing a home LAN, then the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is your choice, however, you will have to pay a very high price for the right to own it.

gift for GECID.com gamer. Page 1

::>Communication
>2019
> ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300

06/27/2019

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If any device receives the «gaming» prefix, then this automatically means focusing its capabilities on the needs of gamers. But what are the first associations that come when you mention a gaming router? The presence of a fast channel at a frequency of 5 GHz? This can boast of conventional models. Prioritizing game network traffic? It’s also far from being an exclusive feature.

In this review, we will try to figure out why the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is called a gaming router and what benefits it will bring to you. What sets it apart from conventional routers and how good it is in test measurements. And all this so that you make an informed choice for yourself — is it worth buying or you can get by with a simpler device.

Specification

Packing and scope of supply

We did not save on the packaging. Here you have an image of the router, and detailed characteristics, and a description of the interface panel, and a short list of key advantages.

Delivery includes:

• paper documentation set;
• Ethernet cable;
• eight detachable antennas;
• ADP-65DW C Power Supply 65W (19V @ 3.42A).

Appearance and hardware platform

At first glance, it becomes clear that we have a top-end gaming device. This is indicated by an aggressive asymmetric design, a characteristic top cover pattern and the ROG line logo on it. ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 will definitely attract the attention and envy of your friends and acquaintances.

The case is made of matte plastic, but prints are still visible on it. The good thing is that they can be easily removed with a regular cloth. All six available indicators are located on one of the sides. They burn white and do not attract too much attention. With their help, you can immediately determine whether the router is turned on, what wireless range is used, whether there is an Internet connection, whether a wired connection is used and the current state of WPS.

Three useful buttons nestled on the other side. The first one turns on / off the LED indicators. The second activates WPS technology for quick pairing with compatible devices. The third one enables / disables broadcasting via wireless channels.

All interface connectors are conveniently assembled on one side. It’s nice to see two USB 3.0 ports and eight RJ45 ports for wired client connectivity. Moreover, LAN1 and LAN2 (top left) are dedicated gaming ports. Game traffic passing through them automatically receives the highest priority. Therefore, it is better to connect a computer, laptop or game console to them. And for NAS systems, there are LAN5 and LAN6 ports (bottom left). They support Link Aggregation technology to combine two interfaces into a single channel with a bandwidth of 2 Gb / s (the client device must support the 802. 3ad standard).

The last side panel contains the remaining two of the eight external antenna connectors. Ventilation holes are traditionally located in its lower part.

The lower part welcomes us with a set of traditional elements. Along the edges are large rubber feet, which are needed to comfortably and securely hold the router on the table. They also raise the body, improving heat transfer, and prevent scratches on the table.

The main part of the bottom cover is covered with ventilation slots. And in the center is a sticker with important technical information. There are power settings, a web address for initial configuration, standard names for each frequency band (SSID), MAC address, PIN code, and other useful information.

According to information from the official website and from an open source, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is based on a 4-core Broadcom BCM4908 processor with an operating frequency of 1.8 GHz. He is also responsible for the operation of eight Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. He is assisted by 1 GB of RAM and 256 MB of permanent memory. The implementation of all wireless protocols is entrusted to three Broadcom BCM4366E chips — each is responsible for its own frequency range (one for 2.4 GHz and two for 5 GHz).

We did not have any complaints about the quality of the assembly or fitting of the panels — everything corresponds to the flagship status of the device.

Functionality

Now let’s talk a little about the functionality of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 router. It supports the 802.11ac Wave 2 standard, which offers a number of useful benefits:

• Increased channel width up to 80 MHz.
• Support for MU-MIMO technology to serve multiple clients simultaneously.
• Support for AirTime Fairness technology. It provides the same access time for devices to the air, regardless of their internal speed. Previously, the principle of equality of opportunity was tied to the number of packets received, so if a fast and slow device connected to the network, then the fast one had to wait until the slow one received all its packets. And the AirTime Fairness principle solves this problem by preventing slower clients from degrading system performance.
• Beamforming technology support. It focuses the wireless signal in the direction of the client to create a more reliable and high-quality communication channel.

Broadcom BCM4366E chips used support 1024-QAM modulation. It is she who increases the bandwidth of the 2.4 GHz channel from 600 to 1000 Mbps, and for two 5 GHz bands — from 1734 to 2167 MHz.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 boasts a three-level game traffic acceleration system. The first level is the two mentioned LAN ports with the function of prioritizing game traffic. The second is Game Boost technology. It works in conjunction with the same ports to maximize gaming network traffic. The third level is built-in support for the Gamers Private Network system from WTFast. It automatically optimizes the route of sending data packets, which allows you to reduce delays (Ping) by 30-60% and packet loss by 70-90%.

To manage all the features of the router, a convenient Gaming Center program is provided. It provides access to the Game Dashboard control panel (displays information about all active network connections), the mentioned Game Boost technology and the Gamers Private Network system, the IPS protection system and VPN Fusion technology, and also shows the location of the fastest game servers on a ping map. The program is available for PC and mobile devices.

If you’re using a VPN, you’ve probably noticed a drop in bandwidth and a slowdown in downloading content when this feature is activated. This is extremely annoying in games. Therefore, you will definitely like VPN Fusion technology. It allows you to use a regular Internet connection in parallel with a VPN, without losing speed.

The entire gaming network is protected by the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS). It is based on Trend Micro technologies. IPS allows you to turn off the antivirus and firewall installed on your PC during the game session in order to free up system resources and avoid accidentally blocking game data with an overly strict protection system.

At the same time, IPS takes over the full protection of the system from online attacks, blocks access to malicious sites, identifies already infected devices and blocks their work so that they cannot send your personal data to hackers.

Another useful technology is RangeBoost. This is a set of hardware and software tools for expanding the coverage area of ​​a Wi-Fi network.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is also ideal for creating a wireless network in a large house, because it supports AiMesh technology. This allows you to combine several compatible routers into a single system with automatic connection to the node with the strongest signal.

Test & Review: ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Mesh Gaming Router

WLANs today can handle up to 2.167 Mbps through the use of multiple wide channels and QAM modulation. In the case of 802.11ad, the speed can be up to 5.280 Mbps. Also, more and more manufacturers are dedicated channels for applications that require minimal delays. This also applies to the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 router, which is specifically aimed at gamers. To connect gaming computers and consoles, the router offers a dedicated 5 GHz band. In addition, ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 allows you to expand your home network using a mesh topology (mesh), which we will also consider in the article.

Not too long ago, we looked at current WLAN standards. Our test lab has already visited the Netgear Nighthawk X10 router, which supports the WLAN 802.11ad standard. As a result, a wireless network can operate at speeds of several gigabits per second, although this requires ideal conditions. If you want to 100% guarantee a stable connection, you still need a good old Ethernet cable. But in some scenarios, cabling is not possible. And just for them, ASUS offers the ROG Rapture GT AC5300.

First let me introduce the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 technical specifications.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Specifications Overview
Model	ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300
Retail price	379 euro
Manufacturer website	ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300
Technical specifications
Internet	— PPPOE — PPTP — L2TP — IPv6 support
LAN	8x Gigabit Ethernet
Telephony	—
WLAN	— WLAN AC up to 1. 733 Mbps (5 GHz) — WLAN AC up to 1.733 Mbps (5 GHz) — WLAN N up to 800 Mbps (2.4 GHz) — 1024QAM (2.4 GHz): 1.000 Mbps — 1024QAM (5 GHz): 2.167 Mbps
Interfaces	8x Gigabit-Ethernet (10/100/1000 Base-T) 1x Gigabit WAN for modem or network connection 2x USB 3.0 for printer and storage devices
Dimensions	245 x 245 x 65 mm (without antennas)
Delivery set	ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 Power supply LAN cable Installation manual

ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 is housed in a 245 x 245 mm square case. The design can be called «stealth» aircraft style, which is almost invisible to radar due to the lack of right angles. In principle, we have already seen a similar design on other ASUS gaming products. To improve the WLAN signal, eight external antennas are screwed to the case.

On one of the four sides of the router, there are numerous LEDs that signal the activity of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300. There are indicators of power on, activity of two WLAN bands, Internet connection, LAN activity, WPS connection.

All interfaces are placed on the rear side. You can see two USB 3.0 ports for connecting a printer or storage device. Through the utility, you can create your own cloud, the data of which will be stored on a drive connected via USB. The ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 has not four Ethernet ports, but eight. And two pairs of Ethernet ports can be combined through Link Aggregation. Which theoretically doubles the available bandwidth.

The blue RJ45 port is used to connect to an ISP. You can connect to it, for example, a cable modem or DSL. Or connect ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 to an existing network. On the left is the power socket and on/off button.

There are additional buttons on the side of the router. They allow you to quickly turn on / off the WLAN network and indicators. You can also enable WLAN connection via WPS.

Software

ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 offers quite powerful hardware, including high bandwidth dual band 5GHz, etc. But what about software? Still, it is an important part of any network equipment, since the only way to get to the functions is through the program / firmware.

The ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 API has a gaming design. The home page provides an overview of networks. Since latency is important for gamers, the router constantly measures ping to some IPs, signaling deviations if they occur.

Since game servers can be located anywhere, the router can measure ping to different locations. You can select a specific game/scenario, such as the Battle.net client, and then the router will take a ping measurement. And will not connect to slow servers.

You can also perform various analytics in the firmware. For example, you can view the spectrum of 2.4 and 5 GHz networks, which is useful in an apartment building where there are many WiFi networks. Of course, you can make all the usual settings, such as DHCP and DNS servers. If the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 router is located behind the modem, then most of the settings can be left as default. Otherwise, various manual adjustment options are available.

A second 5 GHz WLAN has been added for the following two reasons:

• 1. All devices that will run games (PCs, consoles, tablets, etc.) are located in an isolated network. Which should reduce latency and guarantee throughput.
• 2. The second 5 GHz network is used to build a mesh topology.

As part of our test, we will test both scenarios. If you are interested in the details of building networks with a mesh topology (mesh), then we recommend that you refer to our comparison of several similar systems. At that time from ASUS, we tested the Lyra system.

To set up a mesh topology in the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 router, you must activate the search, after which a list of compatible devices will be displayed. Including the second ROG Rapture GT AC5300 router. The picture above shows the search result with different ASUS routers.

To evaluate the WLAN speed, we used the ASUS PCE-AC88 PCI Express network card. It is rated at 2,100 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 1,000 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band.

2.4 GHz band — 1 stream IP

Storage room (5 m)

Mbps

More is better

5 GHz band — 1 IP stream

Storage room (5 m)

Mbps

More is better

5 GHz band — 7 IP streams

Storage room (5 m)

Mbps

More is better

5 GHz band — 1 IP stream

Two floors below

Mbps

More is better

5 GHz band — 7 IP streams

Two floors below

Mbps

More is better

Dedicated Link — Ethernet on Ethernet

Line of sight: 15 m

Mbps

More is better

As you can see from the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 test results, the router handles multiple data streams in parallel quite well. The results of the two 5GHz networks are identical. We ran data transfer tests with seven IP streams on one network, and then measured the delays on the second, but could not find significant differences. Regular users are unlikely to need a second 5GHz network. However, it all depends on the scenarios, and in some cases there may be advantages.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 is one of the fastest WLAN routers on the market. But is such a high throughput really necessary in practice? In some tests, we came close to gigabit Ethernet. For any streaming performance will be more than enough, even large files are transferred very quickly.

But theory often differs from practice. The speed of a WLAN network depends not only on the performance of the hardware, but also on the operating conditions. The number of neighboring WLANs is also important, as is the location of the router and end devices. The structure of the apartment or house, the composition of walls and ceilings contributes.

In addition to basic WLAN functions, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 router offers two USB ports, and you can turn off WLAN or LED by pressing the corresponding buttons. Eight Ethernet devices can be connected via an Ethernet cable. Link Aggregation is also supported on four LAN ports, but support for a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port would be more useful here, as this standard is slowly but surely becoming more popular.

As for the web interface, opinions are divided. It has all the necessary options, but for a novice user, the interface may seem complicated. Luckily, the setup wizard lets you select all the important options and walks you through a step-by-step process where you can check individual options.

Gaming specialization makes ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 stand out among the many routers on the market. However, assessing the benefits of gaming features is not so easy. Of course, it makes sense to block IP servers with high delays, but in reality, the delays differ not so much. The «bottleneck» in this case is the user’s connection to the provider, it is here that the most significant delays are added.

We love the ability to mesh the ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 with other devices. Laying Ethernet cables is not always possible, and data transmission via electrical wiring (Powerline) depends on environmental conditions, like WLAN. With one click, you can mesh other ASUS routers into a mesh topology, setting up is quick and easy. The channel between two ASUS routers set a new record in our test lab.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 has not yet appeared in Russia, in Europe you will have to pay €379 for a router. Honestly, at this price, it would be nice to get a 10 GbE port. Some NAS models already have it, so they could just be connected to the router.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC5300 benefits:

• WLAN high throughput
• Mesh support
• Second 5 GHz network
• WLAN hardware shutdown buttons and LED

  ASUS RT-AC5300 Wi-Fi routers and access points for

  from 11 099 UAH

  Offers: 4

  Compare prices Documentation, a router, detachable antennas, a power supply and a patch cord are neatly laid out inside.

  Design

  Flagship routers often look unusual, in the segment of user equipment it should be clear from one appearance — we have a top-end device.

  If the RT-AC87U was large, and the RT-AC3200 stood out for the number of antennas, then the new RT-AC5300 tries to surprise with the number of antennas, and the shape of the case, and dimensions. You could even say that this router looks more like a sinister spider robot than a network device.

  The base of the case is rectangular, but the edges are cut at a non-standard angle. Two antennas are attached to each side (eight in total). The router is large and heavy, and the design turned out to be, to put it mildly, overall — taking into account the fact that vertical mounting (on the wall) is not provided, you will have to think about the installation location — the model takes up a lot of space on the table.

  It seems to me that the design of the RT-AC5300 can only evoke two emotions — very much or very much dislike. In general, it echoes the ASUS ROG series, and it will look good with gaming devices from other manufacturers, because the black and red design is often used.

  Connectors and controls are standard. On the back is the power button, power supply socket, USB 3.0, five shielded network ports without activity indicators, and a reset button. On the left side — USB 2.0, buttons to turn off the backlight of status diodes, WPS and turn on / off Wi-Fi. On the front are five medium-bright white indicators (power, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz, Internet connection, LAN and WPS).

  We can make a couple of non-principal remarks: the manufacturer could move the control keys to the status diode (it’s not very convenient to look at the sides of a huge router in search of the right button), and an increase in the number of network ports would not hurt (potential buyers probably have a lot of network clients, some of which can be wired).

  There are almost imperceptible ventilation holes in the upper part, and the bottom is decorated with large perforations — there are also service information and four massive rubber legs. Through the grilles, you can see the massive heatsinks on the board.

  Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Design and Functionality

  The GT-AC5300 is nearly identical in size to the RT-AC5300, which means it’s huge. Its weight is 1.8 kg, length, width and height respectively — 245 x 245 x 65 mm. When moving the antennas to the working position, the dimensions of the router increase to 320 x 320 x 80 mm.

  Antennas must be attached by hand, which requires some skill. But at least this implies the option of installing alternative antennas or replacing broken ones. And let’s not forget that you can do the same trick as before by flipping the antennas around and making this router look like a mechanical spider.

  On the front edge of the case there is a block of six LEDs that show power, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands (oddly enough, both 5 GHz bands are combined into one LED), Internet access status, Ethernet and WPS activity. Unfortunately, Asus hasn’t added a full set of LEDs to indicate the status of each individual Ethernet port. Most likely this point will make it difficult to troubleshoot and troubleshoot when organizing the connection of your devices to the Asus GT-AC5300.

  Meanwhile, on the back, there are eight Ethernet ports, a ninth Ethernet port for connecting the router to an ISP, and two USB 3.0 ports. Along with the power outlet, there is also a power switch. A useful feature as it helps reset the router without unplugging the power supply. You will most likely have to do this procedure from time to time, unlike MikroTik products:

  MikroTik Router — Initial Setup

  Of the eight Gigabit Ethernet ports, two are labeled «gaming» and two are labeled «link-aggregation». The two gaming ports can be used in conjunction with the router’s gaming traffic prioritization settings, and the «link-aggregation» ports can be connected to the same client device to provide even faster connections up to 2Gbps.

  In terms of Wi-Fi and other features, this router offers the same core AC5300 Wi-Fi capabilities as its predecessor — a sign that Wi-Fi development has finally stabilized after years of constant change.

  These AC5300 numbers are the combined peak throughput of radios in two 5GHz and one 2.4GHz bands. Which theoretically can give 2167 Mbps, 2167 Mbps and 1000 Mbps, respectively. There are very few devices that claim similar characteristics.

  This router also supports MU-MIMO, allowing you to provide customers with higher speed and responsiveness. Several client devices can be connected and actively exchange traffic at the same time.

  You can select an individual SSID and manage each Wi-Fi band, which is useful if you want to prioritize certain groups of devices. Or you can use automatic setup — this feature is called Smart Connect. Here, the router presents only one Wi-Fi identifier (SSID), and the router then decides which band to use based on the speed of the client device, signal strength, etc. At first glance, this is convenient, but often this means that the overall speed connection will not be the highest.

  Inside this router, you’ll find a 1. 8GHz quad-core processor, 1024MB of RAM and 256MB of flash, twice the flash storage of the previous generation RT-AC5300.

  Platform

  RT-AC5300 is an ideological continuation of RT-AC3200 — it is a tri-band router based on the Broadcom BCM4709C0 platform (dual cores, 1.4 GHz), it is equipped with 128 MB of RAM and 512 MB of permanent memory. Like the previous model, the router creates three wireless networks — one at a frequency of 2.4 GHz with a data transfer rate of up to 600 Mbps and two at 5 GHz, each of them provides up to 1734 Mbps. If the client supports Broadcom NitroQAMTM technology, then the maximum connection speed will increase to 1 Gbps and 2167 Mbps for 2.4 and 5 GHz networks, respectively. In this mode, the total data transfer rate in all networks can theoretically reach 5334 Mbps, which is reflected in the name of the device.

  All network ports are gigabit. The Broadcom BCM4366 chips are responsible for the operation of wireless networks, the work of the wired segment is assigned to the processor. The antennas work according to the MIMO 4 × 4: 4 scheme, MU-MIMO technologies, Wi-Fi directional beam forming (AiRadar) and selection of the optimal communication channel (Tri-band Smart Connect) are supported. The router can operate as an access point and media bridge.

  Specifications ASUS RT-AC530

  • Supported network standards: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, IPv4, IPv6. • Simultaneous operation in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands • 802.11ac (5 GHz) — up to 1734 Mbps; 1024QAM (5 GHz) — up to 2167 Mbps; 802.11n — up to 800 Mbps; 024QAM (2.4 GHz) — up to 1000 Mbps • Signal conditioning: universal • 1024QAM — channel width 20/40/80 MHz • MIMO technology: 2.4 GHz — 4 x 4 MIMO, 5 GHz — 1: 4 x 4 MIMO, 5 GHz — 2: 4 x 4 MIMO • Processor — Dual Core (1.4 GHz) • Memory — 128MB Flash / 512MB RAM • Interfaces — 1 x 10/100/1000Mbit/s WAN, 4 x 10/100/1000Mbit/s Ethernet LAN (1 can be configured to be used as a second WAN port), 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0 • 8 external detachable antennas (4×4 MIMO) • Administration — ASUSWRT Web Interface • Firewall — SPI Technology, DoS Protection • Access Control — Parental Control, Network Filter Service, URL Filter, Port Filter • Technologies — Link Aggregation, Smart Connect, Traffic Analyzer, Adaptive QoS, AiProtection, Support IPTV, Parental Control, Roaming Assist, Dual WAN. • Guest Network: 2.4GHz x 3.5GHz — 1 x 3.5GHz — 2 x 3 • VPN Server: IPSec Pass-Through, PPTP Pass-Through, L2TP Pass-Through, PPTP Server, OpenVPN Server, VPN client : PPTP client, L2TP client, OpenVPN client • Mac OS backup • Media server (compatible with AiPlayer application): image format — jpeg, audio formats — mp3, wma, wav, pcm, mp4, lpcm, ogg, video formats — asf , avi, divx, mpeg, mpg, ts, vob, wmv, mkv, mov • AiCloud cloud service • Data sharing via 3G/4G • Print server: Printer support (Windows OS only), LPR protocol support • Download Master: bt, nzb, http, ed2k support; support for encryption, DHT, PEX and magnet links; download and upload speed control; download schedule • AiDisk server: Samba and FTP servers with administration • Weight — 1814 g

  Software

  To configure the router, you can use both the familiar web interface and the application for a smartphone on iOS or Android.

  The familiar ASUSWRT is used as a web interface, translated into many popular languages, with a logical layout of items for configuring the router. The menu items are divided into two conditional groups — general settings and management of various services, as well as additional network settings.

  General settings include Network Map (a list of connected clients and basic information about them), guest network management (you can create three guest networks for each wireless network — nine in total, configure the authorization method, work schedule), AiProtection (real-time protection — built-in antivirus and firewall, as well as parental control), bandwidth management (QoS), Game Boost (prioritization of game traffic), traffic analysis, USB device management and AiCloud 2.0 cloud service.

  In advanced settings, you can fine-tune wireless networks (channels, channel width, authorization protocols), Internet connection, routing, VPN, enable remote access to the router, etc. A demo version of the web interface is available for review.

  Dual WAN is an interesting and unique feature. The router can simultaneously use two network connections, the load between them will be distributed automatically or one channel will be used as a backup — even a USB modem can perform this function.

  Printers, modems and storage devices can be connected to the USB ports. You can create a media or FTP server, there is a built-in torrent client, Time Machine is also supported. The drives can be connected remotely, synchronization with the ASUS WebStorage service is also possible, there is support for Samba.

  Traffic analysis tools provide insight into customer consumption, security features block access to malicious resources (using Trend Micro database), and parental controls block access to certain categories of resources (social networks, peer-to-peer networks).

  Conveniently, most of the functions are duplicated using mobile applications available for popular platforms. ASUS Router is used to configure everything related to the functionality of the router, ASUS AiCloud acts as a client to access connected drives. There are also plugins for Windows — a torrent file downloaded to a PC can be sent for download by a router.

  Testing

  ASUS RT-AC5300 was used for a month as the main home network device, a couple of home PCs were connected to it, as well as various smartphones. During testing, I had no complaints about the stability of the router. Separately, it is worth noting the quality of network coverage — ASUS position the model as a solution for large houses. It is difficult to check this parameter, but in a single apartment I noticed an improvement in signal quality compared to the home Linksys EA6400.

  For basic performance testing of the RT-AC5300, the ASUS PCE-AC68 adapter was used, it can show the potential of the device, although not fully. So, when connected to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network at a speed of 600 Mbps, the real data transfer rate (WAN-WLAN and LAN-WLAN) was about 350 Mbps, in a 5 GHz network when connected at a speed of 1.3 Gbps with we got speeds of 590 Mbps.

  WAN-LAN and LAN-LAN routing speed approx. 925 Mbps. The results obtained correspond to the declared characteristics and class of the device.

  4. 5

  ITC.UA rating

  Pros: Conclusion: ASUS RT-AC5300 left a good impression. The router really turned out to be a flagship one — it is well equipped and provides good performance. It’s nice that in addition to the iron component, the company has worked on the software side of the product — this allows you to unleash the potential of iron and turns the router into an almost smart device. It’s better not to ask about the price — the recommended price will be 12759hryvnia, and sales will begin in May. Such devices are always expensive. They are primarily aimed at enthusiasts and are intended to demonstrate the capabilities of companies, but gradually comparable functionality appears in simpler routers.

  Specifications

  + + + +

  900. (virtual networks)

  ASUS RT-AC5300 11 099 − 13 322 UAH0021	802.11ac
  Work in two ranges (Dual Band)	+
  Maximum compound speed, Mbit/s	1000 + 2167 + 2167
  Support Multiple SSID	connection interface (LAN port)	4x 10/100/1000 Ethernet
  Entrance (WAN-port)	1x 10/100/1000 Ethernet
  USB	2 (1xusb 3. 0, 1xasb 2.0 )
  Connection by USB (external drive/printer/3g-model)	Drummer/printer/modem
  Interseter screen	+
  NAT	+
  +
  DHCP server	+
  Demilitarized zone (DMZ)	+
  Antenna type	external	external	external	external0021	+
  Outdoor capability	—
  Bridge mode	—
  Other	support seamless roaming. Modes: router / access point; dual WAN; IPSec/PPTP/OpenVPN server; MU-MIMO; VLANs 802.3ad Link Aggregation; AiProtection, Tri-level gaming accelerator, Quad-core CPU, Tri-band Wi-Fi: 2.4 + 5 + 5 GHz,

  ASUS RT-AC5300 router setup

  The next step is to connect the ASUS RT-AC5300 router to a laptop or personal computer (PC). To do this, you need to connect the cable that the provider ran to the WAN port of the router (that is, this is the cable that goes to the apartment, house, office, etc. from outside), and the cable that came with the router is one connect the end to one of the four LAN ports, and connect the other end to a laptop or PC. And yes, do not forget to connect the power cable.

  If you have problems with the network when connecting, go here to solve it:

  ASUS RT-AC5300 router authorization

  So, we connected the router, now you need to use any browser (be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) e.) get into its web-interface. To do this, open the browser and in the address bar we drive in the address of the router: router.asus.com or 192.168.1.1 and press the button » Enter » on the keyboard.

  We see that the router requires authorization, i.e. asks for a username and password. By default, ASUS routers are set to: English » and select « Russian »

  Wi-fi password setting

  5 GHz frequency. 5 GHz allows you to achieve higher throughput, but has a shorter range than 2.4 GHz, 2.4 GHz is more prone to interference. 5 GHz is not supported by all devices. You can select both, and depending on the circumstances, change the wireless connection already on the devices. I offer Video instructions for setting a password for wi-fi on a router ASUS RT-AC5300 using the ASUS RT-N56U router as an example.

  Let’s also take a written and illustrative look at setting a password for wi-fi on a ASUS RT-AC5300 router in three frequencies. 1. Go to the Web interface in the menu in the tab « Wireless network «. 2. Go to the column « Band » select « 2.4GHz «. 3. In the column « Network name (SSID) » come up with and specify the name of the wireless network, this name will continue to glow when you connect to the network. I advise you to indicate the frequency used in the name of the network, for example: “imya seti 2.4”. 4. « Channel width » — 20 MHz . 5. Now you need to set a password for the wireless network. To do this, select « Authentication method » — WPA2-Personal «. 6. In the field « WPA Preshared Key » we invent and drive in a password. Then click » Apply «.

  7. Go to the column « Range » select « 5GHz-1 » (the third frequency 5GHz-2 is configured in the same way). 8. In the column « Network name (SSID) » come up with and specify the name of the wireless network, this name will continue to glow when you connect to the network. I advise you to indicate the frequency used in the name of the network, for example: “imya seti 5”. 9. « Channel width » — 20/40/80 MHz . 10. Now you need to set a password for the wireless network. To do this, select « Authentication method » — WPA2-Personal «. 11. In the field « WPA Preshared Key » we invent and drive in a password. Then click » Apply «.

  Setting up PPTP

  I offer Video instructions for setting up the connection type PPTP on the ASUS RT-AC5300 router using the ASUS RT-N56U router as an example.

  Let’s also take a written and illustrative look at setting up the PPPOE connection on the ASUS RT-AC5300 router. 1. Go to the menu in the tab « Internet «. 2. In « WAN Type » select « WAN «. 3. In « WAN connection type » select « PPPOE «. 4. « Obtain WAN IP address automatically » and « Connect to DNS server automatically » select « Yes «. 5. Below it is proposed to indicate the username (in the line « PPP Username «), password (in the line « Password «. All of the above data is provided by the provider (Organization that conducted the Internet). All this data is usually written in contract with the provider.If for some reason you could not find them, you need to call the provider’s hotline and find out how you can get them.0317 6. After you have entered all the necessary data, press the button » Apply «.

  Configuring PPPOE with a static IP address

  Consider setting up a PPPOE connection with a static IP address on a ASUS RT-AC5300 router. Typically, a static IP address is provided to legal entities, or as an additional service to the basic tariff for individuals. 1. Go to the menu in the tab « Internet «. 2. In « WAN Type » select « WAN «. 3. In « WAN connection type » select « PPPOE «. 4. Since the connection uses a static IP address, put « No » in front of « Obtain WAN IP address automatically » and « Connect to DNS server automatically «. 5. Specify the server ip address (in the line « IP address «), subnet mask (in the line « Subnet mask «), default gateway (in the line « Default gateway «) and DNS (in the line « DNS server 1 » and « DNS server 2 «). All of the above data is provided by the provider (the organization that conducted the Internet). All this data is usually prescribed in the contract with the provider. If for some reason they could not find them, you need to call the provider’s hotline and find out how you can get them. 6. You are prompted to enter a username below (in the line « PPP Username «), password (in the line» Password «). All of the above data is provided by the provider (the organization that conducted the Internet). All these data are also prescribed in the contract with the provider. 7. After you have entered all the necessary data, press the button » Apply «.

  Connecting a computer to a wi-fi network, see here:

  I hope the article was as useful as possible. If you wish, you can support the project:

  Review of ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Router GreenTech_Reviews

  08/21/2017 in Reviews / Networking tagged ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 / ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 review / ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 test / ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 test — admin Review

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  router ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300

  In online games, you need not only the ability to perform certain actions with manipulators, but also a stable connection to the network itself. Just a few years ago, the ability to play online when connected to Wi-Fi was puzzling — wireless network equipment could not meet the requirements of the players. Today, we have in our hands the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 gaming router, which should dispel doubts about the possibility of conducting online battles without connecting a cable to your PC or laptop. Anyone can call a router a gaming one — this is a matter of marketing. But in this case, this is not the case — the Rapture GT-AC5300 supports several extremely useful functions so that you can really enjoy the online game without stretching the network cable familiar to many throughout the apartment.

  The

  ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is a wireless router designed specifically for gamers. It combines high-speed Wi-Fi data transmission, flawlessly stable operation under heavy loads, and powerful information security tools with innovative gaming optimizations.

  Contents:
  1. Overview of the router, technical part
  2. Overview of the administrator interface
  3. Testing, conclusion

  The device comes in a fairly large box with ASUS ROG branded design — in black-gray-orange colors.
  The front side shows the router itself, as well as its key features, which we will consider below.

  The manufacturer indicated the most basic differences from classic routers on the back of the box.

  The first main advantage is three levels of game traffic acceleration.
  Level 1 — The two wired LAN ports on this router are optimized for gaming devices. Network traffic passing through them will have the highest priority.
  Level 2 — When Game Boost is enabled, the router will analyze network traffic and process game-related data first.
  Level 3 — WTFast’s Gamers Private Network system automatically optimizes the path of sending data packets, which can significantly reduce network lags and minimize the number of lost packets.

  If other users on your local network are using VPN technology and this is having a negative impact on the game’s performance, then you will definitely like the VPN Fusion feature that will be available in the ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 router with a firmware update. It allows you to use a regular Internet connection in parallel with VPN tunnels without any loss in terms of data transfer speed.

  The

  ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 allows you to select one of two supported 5GHz bands for gaming devices, while other digital devices can use the other 5GHz or 2.4GHz band.

  Main specifications (click to expand)

  Spoiler

  Network standards	IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IPv4, IPv6
  Product category	AC5300 ultimate AC performance:1000+2167+2167 Mbps
  Wi-Fi coverage area	Very large houses
  Baud rate	802. 11a : 6,9,12,18,24,36,48,54Mbps 802.11b : 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps 802.11g : 6,9,12,18,24, 36,48,54 Mbps 802.11n : up to 600 Mbps 802.11ac : up to 1734 Mbps 1024QAM (2.4GHz) : up to 1000 Mbps 1024QAM (5GHz) : up to 2160 Mbps 9021
  Antennas	External antenna x 8
  Transmit/receive	MIMO technology 2.4 GHz 4 x 4 5 GHz-1 4 x 4 5 GHz-2 4×4
  RAM	256 MB Flash 1024 MB RAM
  Wi-Fi Technology	Beamforming: standard-based and universal 1024-QAM high data rate 20/40/80 MHz bandwidth
  Operating frequency	2.4GHz, 5GHz-1, 5GHz-2
  Encryption	64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise , WPA2-Enterprise , Radius with 802.1x, WPS support
  Firewall and access control	Firewall：SPI intrusion detection,DoS protection Access control：Parental control, Network service filter, URL filter, Port filter
  Administration	UPnP, IGMP v1/v2/v3, DNS Proxy, DHCP, NTP Client, DDNS, Port Trigger, Port Forwarding, DMZ, System Event Log
  WAN Connection Type	Internet connection type : Automatic IP, Static IP, PPPoE(MPPE supported), PPTP, L2TP
  Connectors	RJ45 for 10/100/1000/Gigabit BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for 10/100/1000/Gigabit BaseT for LAN x 8 USB 3. 0 x 2
  Button	WPS, Reset, Power, Wireless on/off Button, LED on/off Button
  Features	Link Aggregation -802.3ad MU-MIMO Airtime Fairness Smart Connect Traffic Analyzer0318 Adaptive QoS AiProtection Parental Control Guest Network : 2.4 GHz x 3, 5 GHz-1 x 3, 5 GHz-2 x 3 Mac OS Backup Enhanced media server (AiPlayer app compatible) — Image : Jpeg — Audio : mp3, wma, wav, pcm, mp4, lpcm, ogg — Video : asf, avi, divx, mpeg, mpg, ts, vob, wmv, mkv, mov AiCloud personal cloud service 3G/4G data sharing Printer Server — Multifunctional printer support (Windows only) — LPR protocol support Download Master — Support bt, nzb, http, ed2k — Support encryption, DHT, PEX and magnet link — Upload and download bandwidth control — Download scheduling AiDisk file server — Samba and FTP server with account management Dual WAN IPTV support Roaming Assist
  LED indicator	Power x 1 Wi-Fi x 2 Internet x 1 LAN x 1 WPS x 1
  Power supply	Input : 110V~240V(50~60Hz) Output : 19V, up to 3. 42A
  Dimensions	245 x 245 x 65 ~ mm (L x W x H) (without frame)
  Weight	1880
  Color	Black
  Equipment	GT-AC5300 Extreme Gaming Router RJ-45 Cable Power Adapter Quick Start Guide Warranty Card
  Operating modes	Wireless Router Wireless Access Point

  Actually, so that the user does not lose sight of these functions, the manufacturer has enclosed a special leaflet with information about them, which falls into the hands earlier than any other accessory from the delivery set.

  As for the rest, the scope of delivery is not surprising.
  The box contains a power adapter and an RJ-45 network cable.

  User manual and warranty information.

  And as many as 8 external removable antennas.

  The router itself is the already familiar RT-AC5300, but in a different color scheme and with different hardware inside.
  The ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 is equipped with a powerful 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core processor, while the RT-AC5300 had a 1.4GHz 2-core processor.

  On one of the sides there are LED indicators of the activity of certain interfaces.

  On the other side there are three buttons — turn on / off the backlight, WPS and turn on / off Wi-Fi.

  On the third side — a connector for connecting the power adapter and a power on / off button.

  And on the fourth side there is a WAN port, as many as eight LAN ports and two USB 3.0 ports.

  Mounts the router on four large triangular rubber feet.

  ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 complete:

  Read more: review of the administrator interface or, if you are not interested in the menu, then immediately — testing and conclusion

  Express review of ASUS RT-AC5300 router At the same time, there are companies that apply this approach to all product lines.

  For example, ASUS tries at least once a year to show one more, the coolest home router. Today we will get acquainted with the flagship solution of 2015/2016 — ASUS RT-AC5300.

  ZMIST

  • 1 Complex
  • 2 Design
  • 3 Platform
  • 4 Software
  • 5 Testing

  000 ASUS RT-EC5300 is delivered in the usually large box from dense cardboard. Documentation, a router, detachable antennas, a power supply and a patch cord are neatly laid out inside.

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  Design

  Flagship routers often look unusual, in the segment of user equipment it should be clear from one appearance — we have a top-end device.

  If the RT-AC87U was large, and the RT-AC3200 stood out for the number of antennas, then the new RT-AC5300 tries to surprise with the number of antennas, and the shape of the case, and dimensions. You could even say that this router looks more like a sinister spider robot than a network device.

  The base of the case is rectangular, but the edges are cut at a non-standard angle. Two antennas are attached to each side (eight in total). The router is large and heavy, and the design turned out to be, to put it mildly, overall — taking into account the fact that vertical mounting (on the wall) is not provided, you will have to think about the installation location — the model takes up a lot of space on the table.

  It seems to me that the design of the RT-AC5300 can cause only two emotions — very much or very much not. In general, it echoes the ASUS ROG series, and it will look good with gaming devices from other manufacturers, because the black and red design is often used.

  Connectors and controls are standard. On the back is the power button, power supply socket, USB 3.0, five shielded network ports without activity indicators, and a reset button. On the left side — USB 2. 0, buttons to turn off the backlight of status diodes, WPS and turn on / off Wi-Fi. On the front are five medium-bright white indicators (power, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz, Internet connection, LAN and WPS).

  We can make a couple of non-principal remarks: the manufacturer could move the control keys to the status diode (it’s not very convenient to look at the sides of a huge router in search of the right button), and an increase in the number of network ports would not hurt (potential buyers probably have a lot of network clients, some of which can be wired).

  There are almost imperceptible ventilation holes in the upper part, and the bottom is decorated with large perforations — service information and four massive rubber legs are also located there. Through the grilles, you can see the massive heatsinks on the board.

  Platform

  RT-AC5300 is an ideological continuation of RT-AC3200 — it is a tri-band router based on the Broadcom BCM4709C0 platform (dual cores, 1. 4 GHz), it is equipped with 128 MB of RAM and 512 MB of permanent memory. Like the previous model, the router creates three wireless networks — one at a frequency of 2.4 GHz with a data transfer rate of up to 600 Mbps and two at 5 GHz, each of them provides up to 1734 Mbps. If the client supports Broadcom NitroQAMTM technology, then the maximum connection speed will increase to 1 Gbps and 2167 Mbps for 2.4 and 5 GHz networks, respectively. In this mode, the total data transfer rate in all networks can theoretically reach 5334 Mbps, which is reflected in the name of the device.

  All network ports are gigabit. The Broadcom BCM4366 chips are responsible for the operation of wireless networks, the work of the wired segment is assigned to the processor. The antennas work according to the MIMO 4 × 4: 4 scheme, MU-MIMO technologies, Wi-Fi directional beam forming (AiRadar) and selection of the optimal communication channel (Tri-band Smart Connect) are supported. The router can operate as an access point and media bridge.

  Software

  To configure the router, you can use both the familiar web interface and the application for a smartphone on iOS or Android.

  The familiar ASUSWRT is used as a web interface, translated into many popular languages, with a logical arrangement of items for configuring the router. The menu items are divided into two conditional groups — general settings and management of various services, as well as additional network settings.

  General settings include Network Map (a list of connected clients and basic information about them), guest network management (you can create three guest networks for each wireless network — nine in total, configure the authorization method, work schedule), AiProtection (real-time protection). time — built-in antivirus and firewall, as well as parental control), bandwidth management (QoS), Game Boost (game traffic prioritization), traffic analysis, USB device management and AiCloud 2.0 cloud service.

  In advanced settings, you can fine-tune wireless networks (channels, channel width, authorization protocols), Internet connection, routing, VPN, enable remote access to the router, etc. A demo version of the web interface is available for review.

  Dual WAN is an interesting and unique feature. The router can simultaneously use two network connections, the load between them will be distributed automatically or one channel will be used as a backup — even a USB modem can perform this function.

  Printers, modems and storage devices can be connected to the USB ports. You can create a media or FTP server, there is a built-in torrent client, Time Machine is also supported. The drives can be connected remotely, synchronization with the ASUS WebStorage service is also possible, there is support for Samba.

  Traffic analysis tools provide insight into customer consumption, security features block access to malicious resources (using Trend Micro database), and parental controls block access to certain categories of resources (social networks, peer-to-peer networks).

  Conveniently, most of the functions are duplicated using mobile applications available for popular platforms. ASUS Router is used to configure everything related to the functionality of the router, ASUS AiCloud acts as a client to access connected drives. There are also plugins for Windows — a torrent file downloaded to a PC can be sent for download by a router.

  Testing

  ASUS RT-AC5300 was used for a month as the main home network device, a couple of home PCs were connected to it, as well as various smartphones. During testing, I had no complaints about the stability of the router. Separately, it is worth noting the quality of network coverage — ASUS position the model as a solution for large houses. It is difficult to check this parameter, but in a single apartment I noticed an improvement in signal quality compared to the home Linksys EA6400.

  For basic performance testing of the RT-AC5300, the ASUS PCE-AC68 adapter was used, it can show the potential of the device, although not fully. So, when connected to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network at a speed of 600 Mbps, the real data transfer rate (WAN-WLAN and LAN-WLAN) was about 350 Mbps, in a 5 GHz network when connected at a speed of 1. 3 Gbps with we got speeds of 590 Mbps.

  The routing speed in the WAN-LAN and LAN-LAN directions is about 925 Mbps. The results obtained correspond to the declared characteristics and class of the device.

  4.5

  ITC.UA score

  Pros:
  Performance, high-quality Wi-Fi coverage, software capabilities (remote access, cloud services, built-in torrent client)

  Cons:
  Price, dimensions

  Conclusion:
  ASUS RT-AC5300 left a good impression. The router really turned out to be a flagship one — it is well equipped and provides good performance. It’s nice that in addition to the iron component, the company has worked on the software side of the product — this allows you to unleash the potential of iron and turns the router into an almost smart device.