![]() One reason that Asus’s router performs better than Apple’s over long distance is that the RT-N66U’s three adjustable antennas are mounted outside the device, where the AirPort Extreme’s antennas are hidden inside. ![]() Believe it or not, Asus has one of the better router user interfaces. It’s not that the RT-N66U is difficult to install or configure, it’s just that the AirPort Extreme is so much easier to set up if you’re using a Mac. Asus has installation utilities for Windows, but not the Mac, so you must dial into the router’s IP address and deal with its limited graphical user interface in order to make configuration changes and update its firmware. The AirPort Utility also makes it very easy to update the router’s firmware. Among them are a built-in FTP server, for sharing the contents of an attached hard drive over your Internet connection and a DLNA server, to make media streaming easy with devices that don’t support Apple’s AirPlay.ĭLNA (the acronym stands for Digital Living Network Alliance) is rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the consumer electronics industry.Īpple’s AirPort utility provides a delightfully minimalist user interface for managing Apple-brand routers. ![]() Some other non-Apple routers-including Netgear’s Nexia line, which are available with 1- or 2TB internal hard drives-already support Time Machine.Īsus does offer several other features that aren’t available, at least not out of the box, with the AirPort Extreme. The Asus router, however, currently does not support Apple’s Time Machine technology for client PC backups but a company representative tells me that feature will be offered via a firmware update early in Q3. If you’re looking to stream media over your network, both routers are compatible with Apple’s AirPlay service. Apple Apple’s AirPort Extreme has one USB 2.0 port and a three-port gigabit Ethernet switch (the fourth Ethernet port is a gigabit WAN).īoth routers provide parental controls, to shield your kids from the seamier side of the web guest networks, to permit your guests to access the Internet without granting them access to your network and robust wireless security, up to WPA2 Enterprise. The RT-N66U has two USB 2.0 ports, so it can share both a printer and a hard drive at the same time without needing a hub. But the AirPort Extreme has only one USB 2.0 port, so it can share either a printer or a storage device over your network, but not both (unless you plug in a USB hub). If you need more ports, you can easily connect an inexpensive Ethernet switch to either product (there are consumer models offering anywhere from four to 24 ports). The Apple and Asus routers both have gigabit Ethernet switches for supporting hardwired network connections, but Apple’s switch provides only three ports to Asus’s four.
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