53 reviews for ASUS GT-AC2900 AC2900 Dual-Band Gaming Wireless Router

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Customer – January 25, 2017

   Works great and easy to setup. Really like the advance security, application monitoring and content filter features. Web interface is great ASUS keep up the good work. ASUS products rarely disappoint me.
2. Rated 5 out of 5

   Tom Hightower – January 31, 2017

   Edit: 12-27-2017Still very much liking my purchase. Still rocking Merlin firmware. No issues with stability or performance.Edit:I have moved from the standard firmware to an open version, search for “ASUSWRT-Merlin” if interested. This has fixed my IP address issue as well as made several other improvements. The changes are too many to mention. That doesn’t mean new features but bug fix’s and so forth. However, if non stock firmware is not your cup of tea. ASUS rolls many of the fixs into its firmware from my understanding. So if you want to maintain more stock and less bleeding edge. Simply wait a bit longer and most of the changes will make it to you.I am still very thrilled with my purchase.The only thing I find meh is the antennas tend to be more floppy than I would like. However if you set it and don’t get behind it monkeying around they stay just fine. I am sure many of us know the cord hell behind the entertainment center. This past go round I eliminated 90% of that and hopefully made it future proof. The only area still needing tweaking is behind my router. :(Oh, I also turned off the smart connect feature. I was having issues with some of my iOS devices and its just easier for me to keep 3 separate SSID’s and use them.I maintain the following.1 – 2.4 GHz for the IOT devices such as smart lights switches, older iOS devices of the kid’s, etc.1 – 5 GHz for all higher capable devices, media streaming devices so forth. Also configured as failover protection in devices that can support multiple configs and use ethernet first and wifi on failure of ethernet.1 – 5 GHz for the wife’s MacBook / iOS devices, my MacBook / iOS devices etc.I am going to experiment using the smart connect more soon and see if the previous usage changes.Original:I purchased this to replace an aging Airport Extreme. I love the unit. It is easy to setup and the GUI is stable in Safari on OSX, Which I, often find other manufacturers have issues with. I had returned a competing product a week earlier as it had a security flaw. I could not be happier with my decision to spend the extra money. I generally believe you get what you pay for however, I was skeptical. So far it lives up to expectations and I think I received my moneys worth. It is a hefty sized unit. As for range, I have an older plaster walled home ( @ 1300 sq f) with metal mesh backing through out the home. Normally router signal don’t play well, however the unit appears to reach all the corners of my home. I was using multiple Airport expresses as access point to fill in the holes so to speak. I have been able to turn off those units.The only issue I had with the unit is the static IP is capped at 64 places. Additionally the GUI will take mac addresses as lower case. *Do not input the addresses using lower case.* It will prevent you from customizing the device name and the graphic. Once you remove the entry and re add it properly using upper case letters/numbers, you can easily customize the entry to your liking. This small issue is by no means a deal breaker for me. Its good points far out weigh its few issues.
3. Rated 5 out of 5

   Thomas I. – March 8, 2017

   I had to put some thought into this AC5300 router due to price. Naturally I checked out the reviews and found them to be mostly favorable. Of course when unfavorable reviews cloud the issue it can be a cause for concern and a pause that could lead to a poor choice. I went with my feelings and trusted the Asus brand. For those who posted bad reviews or questioned the performance of this router I’m here to tell you that I’m a novice who crashes stuff as often as fixing it. I installed this router played with the settings and my learning curve brought me to these results: That’s from Ookla, DSL Reports, WiFi analyzer, and Acrylic WiFi Pro Analyzer…..I don’t get compensated for this review…I do it for two reasons; 1) To thank the Asus team for the excellent products they produce and 2) to offset the negative assertions with FACTS and these tests ARE facts…To anyone on the fence about this RT5300 Tri-Band Router I can tell you that it is by far the best router I have ever owned. And I’ll let the facts back me up!!!
4. Rated 5 out of 5

   ThEGuRU)1 – March 28, 2017

   After trying several configurations with other linksys routers combined with 2 x repeaters on my 3700sqft home, I finally made the decision to try the ASUS RT-AC5300. This was the best decision I made regarding our network setup. We have a total of 20 devices currently connected on this beast of a router. Currently stress testing this router with 2xApple TVs (4th gen) both currently streaming HD 1080, 1 PC streaming Youtube, 1 PC gaming (Black ops 3), 3x chromecasts streaming (1 is chromcast ultra / non 2G), Roku TV streaming, all with NO LAG! The furthest PC has 3 bars (its in the worst possible place in the house) but still gets 140mbps up/down. I have Google Fiber connected and have QOS enabled. I have load balancing enabled via smart connect on the 2.4ghz band for older chomecast, to better allocate our devices across the 3 bands (required settings varies by client location of course). I’m currently putting my older routers on ebay, would buy again if out of warranty. Works flrawless! Only complaint regarding this buy was the delivery. It didn’t come in a box! See photo, that’s EXACTLY how it arrived on my door step, but I won’t count that against the product like some people might (via FEDEX). Fully recommend this router!
5. Rated 5 out of 5

   Exitwounds – April 11, 2017

   Great router and easy to setup/install. Works well on a DMZ with existing Cisco ASA and Switching devices. No issues with my AT&T Fiber ISP at the home.
6. Rated 5 out of 5

   Kevin Stilwell – April 20, 2017

   I have a symmetrical Gbit connection, and I nearly achieved it wirelessly with this router and the ASUS PCE-AC88Here is my speedtest:
7. Rated 3 out of 5

   AHelpfulVoice – April 29, 2017

   Picked this new ASUS Gaming router up at a local big box store. I’ve been waiting for it to come out and to pass my time I was using the Asus AC3100. First off this thing is HUGE, make sure you have a lot of room wherever you put it.I’m a huge fan of ASUS’s UI, especially compared to Netgear and other router companies. I love how you can monitor packets being sent on an individual device basis and see where they are going. Definitely cool to see what your PC is connecting to and doing when you aren’t around. This router has a lot of the features of their other high end models like the ASUS RT-AC88U and the Previous RT-AC5300.I am a big fan of the Trend AiProtection on these routers for an extra layer of security. Also I really love the phone app they have for their routers. You can pretty much control everything from it.So lets first talk about the hardware. Quadcore 1.8 ghz, some of my work laptops aren’t even this powerful. The signal strength is very good on this router. I live in a 3 story TH, and the router is in the basement in a closet. I have no issues getting a signal on the top floor. My current phone shows an Excellent signal Strength with a Link Speed of 390mbps right now. I currently have 14 devices connected. The majority on the 1st 5ghz network and 3 on the 2.4ghz. I have not put anything on the 2nd 5ghz network yet, but I will soon be adding my Wii U and Xbox to it.Now here is why I’m going to say you might want to hold off on this router. While the hardware is great, the software needs a lot of work. This router has been available for about 2 months world wide (and 1 week in the US) and its already had 4 firmware updates. There are a lot of annoying UI issues such as not being able to rename connected devices (after the first few are done). Connected Wifi Devices mysteriously disappearing from the Network Map (this is a display issue only, but annoys me a lot since the same issue was happening on my AC3100). There is a few other issues I’ve seen folks on other message boards post about but have not confirmed them myself. For the cost of this router it should be almost flawless out the door, it shouldn’t have these annoying little UI issues. Now obviously they are trying to fix the issues as you can see by all the firmware updates, but 4 in a month means this router wasn’t ready for prime time. Anyways for now I’m giving it 3 stars, ASUS routers usually don’t hit their full potential until 6 months to a year of being out and most of the software issues are resolved.
8. Rated 1 out of 5

   Superman – April 30, 2017

   Being a Proud Owner of Asus RT-AC5300, i was very existed to buy GT-AC5300 and was hoping to increase Wifi Range, USB Read/Write Speed, etc. But what a disappointment!!!I spend close to 4 Hrs try to troubleshoot the router and could not connect to my Verizon FIOS internet, and there are tons of users in different forums having the same issue. Router’s Software is terrible, it was keep crashing and becomes un-responsive after login into router setup, and every time i reboot router it resets its self to back to default settings.It seems like Router has been rushed to the market. Also Router was overheating, even though it was placed in sub 40F environment in the basement, where i already had my RT-AC5300 for years and never had any heating issue.Comparison – GT-AC5300 vs RT-AC5300- GT-AC5300 VS RT-AC5300 has same footprint / thickness, and body.- GT-AC5300 Antennas are taller VS RT-AC5300 Antennas- GT=AC5300 Antennas are slimmer VS RT-AC5300 Antennas- GT-AC5300 has 1GB RAM VS RT-AC5300 has 512MB RAM = This will help with the NAS Setup or when you are trasferring large files , e.g 70GB.Pros:1.8 Ghz Quad Core Processor1GB RAM8 Gig Ports.2 X USB 3.0 Ports.Cons:- Could not setup the Router as Router Keep crashing!!! and could not conduct any TESTING.- Software Crashes every second.- Router Could not connect to the FIOS Internet.- Router Resets to Default settings every time it Reboots.- Expensive – $399 price for a consumer router is getting out of control.- Overheating Issue.- 4th firmware update in a month. That Explains all the problems users are facing.- Tons of buyers in different Forums experiencing the same problems.Final Decision = Returned GT-AC5300 and KEEPING RT-AC5300!I would expect great WiFi products from Asus as being Product owner of previous routers like – AC1750, AC1900, and AC5300.
9. Rated 5 out of 5

   DJ Sean Elliott – May 12, 2017

   If you’re looking for a powerful and stable router that gives you multiple firmware build choices, look no further. I’m listing them below in order of personal recommendation.1. Asuswrt-Merlin “Hardware Accelerated NAT”2. Shibby’s Tomato3. Toastman’s Tomato4. ASUS Stock “Hardware Accelerated NAT”5. DD-WRTI’ve been running custom firmware on several different router models for over a decade. Tomato is my overall favorite for several other router models but I prefer the Asuswrt-Merlin build for the RT-AC3200 and the Xwrt-Vortex build for my Netgear Nighthawk R7000.Install the custom firmware builds at your own risk if you’re an inexperienced user.
10. Rated 5 out of 5

    Gifford Hwa – May 23, 2017

    I am replacing a TP-Link Archer 3200. It’s more responsive and has faster page loading. Also it solved an issue my wife had with using WiFi with her iPhone 6s Plus.My only major gripe is the AC adapter. The positioning of the prongs are less than ideal. I am including this photo to hopefully help most of you prospective purchasers to see what you are in for. You won’t be easy to hide this guy. This was a big fail in my opinion. BUT… I am more interested in the robustness of the router handling multiple streaming, Facebooking, Instagraming, gaming insanity in my Airbnb.I was able to download four simultaneous AV files and view HD streaming programing without any problems.But that AC adapter… man that sucks.
11. Rated 5 out of 5

    Dan Henning – May 27, 2017

    I picked this up from Best Buy when they had a price glitch a couple weeks ago for $291. I know, lucky… they priced it as the old 5300. Anyways, I picked this up to replace my AC68U that had been running strong for the past few years. That’s when I first bought an Asus product. I loved it. I loved the user interface, everything. I first bought an X10, because this hadn’t come out yet, and I wanted the processor speed of a quad core. This helps the UI and just running everything in general. I picked it up, and had trouble from the get go. Not only is the UI for Netgear complete crap, but the router was worse than my AC68U. The range was great, but the speeds were horrendous. I looked through all the forums and did everything possible to get it working, it was bad. I took it back and waited for this beast.On to the review of this machine. WOW. This machine looks great, like a dead spider, but seriously, I like it. It has great throughput. The range compared to my 68U has doubled, even on 5G bands. When I’m next to the router, I can get 350 mb plus on the phone. When I’m 100 yards away, I can still get 100mb through walls. The UI is custom for the Rapture. It is insane, I love it. It gives much more control, not just for gaming, but for traffic, etc vs the old UI. I haven’t messed with the gaming stuff yet. Honestly, that’s more my kids area. I’ll have to set it up. However, in looking at it, you literally pick a specific game you want to get routed. Its prettt cool.I would definitely recommend this router for anyone that wants to future proof themselves for the next five years. AD isn’t going anywhere. Don’t get the X10. Even for $400, this router is worth it.
12. Rated 5 out of 5

    Cachirulo Milonguero – June 3, 2017

    By far the best wifi router I ever purchased. Very pleased with the performance. Connected to Google internet, I’m able to achieve 300 Mbps on my wireless devices.
13. Rated 5 out of 5

    Uniqueacid – June 9, 2017

    Is this thing fast? Why yes, yes it is. I plugged it in, turned it on, connected my PC with the Asus PCE-AC88 Dual Band AC3100 Wireless PCI-E adapter, no other changes, and the picture tells the story. This was done at 7PM on a Friday night, 670Mbps of 1Gbps/50Mbps server isn’t too shabby. This router replaced a Netgear Nighthawk x6 r8000, besides this router being night and day faster paired with this WiFi Adapter, the connection was quite a bit more stable. The Nighthawk would only maintain 780Mbps – 855.6Mbps in the windows properties. I have seen this one hit 1.7Gbps but stays pretty much at 1.3-1.5Gbps, with the router approx. 30-40 Feet away through 2 walls. I’ll let the photo’s speak for themselves!
14. Rated 4 out of 5

    atomlib – June 14, 2017

    Never had a hiccup with this one. Works perfectly fine and transfers data. I guess that’s all you want from a router after all.Asus however included some added functionality. You can plug in an external hard drive and share it using SMB or FTP protocol. You can leave it to the router to download and seed files using BitTorrent and other P2P protocols.This functionality is limited compared to what you would get on a PC. 2 ARM cores and 512 MiB of RAM can barely chew huge 200—300 GiB torrents. The router cannot download torrents over 1 TiB at all. Oh, and there is a limitation of number of torrents you can seed/download at the same time.I connected an external USB 3.0 hard drive which is supposed to peak at over 100 MiB/s (WD My Passport). It never reaches that speed. In real world situations it hovers around 25—30 MiB/s.There are 2 USB ports: one is USB 2.0 (up to 480 Mbit/s), the other is USB 3.0 (up to 5 Gbit/s). The most peculiar thing is that according to CrystalDiskMark USB 2.0 (second screenshot) can be faster than USB 3.0 (first screenshot) for my hard drive in some situations.Again, this is a router, not a NAS. And it does the router part fine, nearly perfectly. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact there is a USB 3.0 port, and I can’t take full advantage of its speeds.Finally, I’m a bit annoyed by the fact I can’t upload DD-WRT on this thing anymore — as a reaction to FCC regulations Asus removed ability to install any 3rd party firmware in 3.0.0.4.380.3341 firmware update. The only alternative now is Merlin firmware which does not differ that much.
15. Rated 1 out of 5

    Robotic – July 4, 2017

    UPDATE: (7/5/17): I’ve decided to get an exchange, thinking it was probably just defected. Unfortunately, the second one had the same issue. I called customer service once again (The people there were a bit more professional this time). However, the problem could not be resolved despite all of the troubleshooting steps taken. Resetting router, change channels, change bandwidth, turn on “smart connect”; none of it worked. Highly due NOT recommend buying the AC5300 router! A simple google search of this router’s unresolved problems will simply show you how bad and unreliable it is.Let me start off by saying this is by far the worst router I’ve ever purchased. Before switching out my Netgear AC1900 with this ASUS router, I was able to get up to 240mbps (as seen on screenshot). After installing this ASUS AC5300 router, my speed decreased significantly! As you can see the taken screenshot of the test results. It initially was able to get 100+ Mbps, then plummeted tremendously, to the point I cannot even watch a 30 seconds YouTube ad. My Xbox initial speed before switching router was 570 Mbps, after switched to ASUS was 58.92 Mbps with tremendous lags. But wait there are more! Yes, it is a “Tri-band” router, however, you can only get access to two band. Which are the 2.4 and 5GHz-1. The second band, 5GHz-2, which was advertised as the fastest of all, could RARELY if EVER be detected by any devices. The only way for any of your device to detect that band is to reset the router. BUT! The band literally has a 7 feet range. Beyond the 7ft range, it will disconnect and the router will automatically connects you to the 5GHz-1 (slower version of 5G) band. Next, I cannot even log into the router settings using the default password. Now for the most entertaining part! The customer service was so bad, instead of being mad about it, I actually found it hysterically hilarious. They repeatedly kept on insisting that you reset your router, but in many creative ways. Like unplug the router, hold reset button, dismantle antenna… Overall, this is the worst router ever, mind you that it’s made in China.
16. Rated 5 out of 5

    Brad Burton – July 22, 2017

    Bought this used, like new. It came with an open box, but all the components factory sealed, so it was never actually used. I paired it with my ASUS CM-16 modem and I’m getting about 384mb/s on average, huge noticeable difference. Range extended s down the street form my house even. I like how you enable smart connect, and it’ll take all three bands (2.4ghz, and both the 5ghz) channels and makes them one, and auto assigns the best one to your device. I’m a PC gamer, and I would recommend this to all of my PC friends.
17. Rated 5 out of 5

    David Shim – August 13, 2017

    First off let me start off by saying that I’ve tried the Linksys EA9500, Netgear Nighthawk x10. Both of which are the top dogs within the realm of Wireless networking. I have since returned both because I was not satisfied with the way they performed. The linksys only had a 1.4 GHZ dual core while the Netgear had a 1.7 GHZ. The linksys choked at times running 15-17 devices in my household, The Netgear held up with the power demand. The Linksys also had issues with my 3TB backup drive connected via USB 3.0, Data transfers were very slow as because the memory was only that of 256mb While the netgear had 1 GB and was able to load up and transfer files between my backup storage without any issues. Now the reasons I returned the linksys was obviously Not enough Power, Ram. The Netgear was returned due to not being able to justify using the 60 GHZ AD technology, Nas, & 10 G Fiber, Which at that point only left me with me a basic router with only dual bands of 2.4 GHZ & 5 GHZ. Wireless range of the two were decent but would start degrading outside of the house from the door step..Now that I got those out the way, I read plenty of reviews on the ASUS GT-AC5300 and was skeptical at first because of the Bugginess of the firmware. That didn’t keep me away from looking deeper into the router because the specs were insane. 1.8 GHZ Quad core, 1 GB of ram, two USB 3.0 Ports, and with some high performing antennas (8). The fact it also had a dedicated Gaming 5GHZ band and ethernet ports also was a big plus. I decided to buy the router and try it myself and see if it was Good & Bad like the reviews said. I was blown away once hooking up the router and having it fully set up with my Verizon FIOS Gigabit connection. I’ve done my firmware update out of the box and setup was a breeze. Not a hiccup in install, upgrades and setups. I have the antennas at all angles wide so it can penetrate every aspect of the area it can and I must say, WOW. While sitting in my car in the drive way I had all bars of wifi signal strength on 5GHZ band. I started degrading by the mailbox which I then connected to the 2.4 GHZ and was ROCK SOLID in signal again. I am very pleased with signal strength and the performance this thing has. Even with my 3TB backup drive, I am able to transfer files with ease. In my eyes this router flies like no other, I love the GUI in the router settings that allows me to have full control over the way I want it to perform. I give this 5 STARS.. It is a must have for anyone that have multiple devices, That games, That run multiple devices (MU-MIMO), This will not let you down by far. 15-17 devices connected and its still wanting more !!!!!!!!
18. Rated 1 out of 5

    bob – October 27, 2017

    After four months this VERY expensive router quit working. But the reason for the 1 star is the horrendous Asus service. They make it impossible to get an RMA to send it in for repair. They also make it impossible to register the product. When you try to enter the serial number you get a message saying that the serial number is wrong. I took a picture of the s/n and magnified it and tried every possible way it could be entered and it kept giving me the message that the s/n is wrong. You cannot get an RMA because you get the same message that the s/n is wrong. I am seriously considering small claims court because of my time that was wasted. Rarely do I write a review but this product deserves it so that other people will not have the same problems.
19. Rated 1 out of 5

    D. Avondale – December 10, 2017

    If I could leave a negative rating I would. The router setup without a problem. At the completion of setup, it prompted me to install the latest firmware. I did that and again, no problem. Then after about a half hour, I got the message shown in the photo I added. At this point I could not access the router admin area from the IP address of 192.168.1.1 or from router.asus.com. I tried https and http.I tried port 8888 and port 8443. I tried the reset button on the router to try and reload factory settings…..nothing. I tried a 30-30-30 reset….nothing. The router was not even broadcasting a SSID so I tried to manually enter the SSID that I setup…nothing. I tried to manually enter the default SSID of ASUS…nothing. I tried connecting directly to the router with a network cable, still could not access anything. With these symptoms it would seem like the firmware update bricked it. However, I updated the firmware and was able to connect via WiFi, use the internet and even change settings in the admin area AFTER the firmware update. 2 hours wasted. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m returning this unit and have re-ordered the same router so if my experience with that one is better I will revise my review accordingly. Also, I’m an IT professional with 20 years of experience, a degree in an IT related field and multiple IT certifications. I’ve never had these problems with a router of any brand before.***UPDATE 12/14***Wish I could change my rating to negative 1 million stars. I tried a second one of these with similar results. It is also being sent back. It wouldn’t flash updated firmware until I reset the router multiple times. Then it just kept dropping WiFi connections at random. I’m pretty sure a couple times the router just reset itself completely. I tried a second one of these because I liked some of the features and what the asus apps offered but over all this thing is an unreliable piece of garbage and ASUS should be ashamed to be selling it. I can only imagine what someone with no experience would do if they got this thing. Fool me once…
20. Rated 5 out of 5

    I7 – January 5, 2018

    easy set up follow instruction. then update firmware to latest merlin firmware. after change wifi channels for 2.4 and 5ghz . comcast internet tops at 900mbps, wifi tops 400mbps 5ghz and 2.4ghz top at 120mbps.
21. Rated 5 out of 5

    Billy Atwood – February 12, 2018

    Very satisfied with results. FiOs Gigabit internet. Upgraded from an ancient NETGEAR N600.
22. Rated 5 out of 5

    Bohrdom – February 25, 2018

    I went for the AC5300… not because I’m a gamer, but because I wanted something “overkill” for a heavily internet-connected home. And because my household has really high standards for internet connectivity. 🙂 I must say: this router is really incredible. I replaced two extended Apple AirPort Extreme routers with this one and did an A-B test with the new Asus. Setup was a breeze and I soon found myself with nearly 4x better download scores on Speedtest!! (see screenshots of before & after)I am really pleased with all the security features too… I feel much better knowing that there’s a solid hardware firewall between my home and the outside internet, which was a bonus that hadn’t really factored in to my buying choices originally (it should have!).All in all, I am super pleased with this purchase and look forward to a nice, long life of this big, snazzy beast. And I do mean big: this thing occupies an entire square foot of space. A small price to pay for technology greatness…
23. Rated 5 out of 5

    Chris W. – March 4, 2018

    So far this thing is a beast. Good range fastest net I ever had. I need to upgrade my modem to a Doc 3.1 mine is a older Doc 3.0 and not really up to pare. But I love it.
24. Rated 5 out of 5

    Ethan – March 29, 2018

    I’ve had this router (AC3200) for a bit over a month at this point, and I have to say that I am very impressed. Setup was easy, and the software has a great feature set, including things like dual WAN capability for automatic failover to an LTE connection or second internet feed, which you would see more often in enterprise solutions. My household is relatively bandwidth heavy, and uses between 400 GB and 700 GB per month, with lots of devices. Cable TV has been long gone here, and everything is streamed. Like I said in the title, the total bandwidth capabilities of this router (3200 Mb/s across all bands at once) far surpasses every single person’s raw internet speed who will buy this router. My internet package is 400 Mb/s download and 20 Mb/s upload, and I get closer to 480 Mb/s download and 24 Mb/s upload. This router is more than capable to support this and the speeds have been excellent and impressive over WiFi, pictures attached.I can also speak for the reliability of the router, at least after one month. I monitor my home internet connection by pinging the external IP address every five minutes from an external service. If it goes down, it’s logged and I get a notification, along with when it goes back up. Sure enough, it’s been about 33 days of uptime logged with zero downtime since I put the router in, which is thanks to my ISP, along with the router not crapping out, which is expected from a $200 router.I will update this review if I see any problems. But overall after one month, thumbs-up to ASUS for making a solid, reliable, feature packed product.
25. Rated 5 out of 5

    davidr – April 15, 2018

    Covers whole home with fast speeds on all 24 wifi devices!
26. Rated 1 out of 5

    Brad Mills – May 12, 2018

    Asus routers are dead to me.I’ve had 5 Asus routers in the last 4 years.I upgraded to the AC-3100 because my last unit broke.The AC3100 would not allow my smart devices to be discovered on the network. It was infuriating, nothing solved it. My printers, smart speakers etc would all drop off the internet.I got this ROG 5300 – there Lamborghini of routers, to give Asus one last chance.Its a beautiful device. I love the look of it. It has 8 ports and 2 USB3 ports a drool!I really wanted this to work.Guess what – firmware upgrade installed and the thing bricks itself.I’m returning it and going to another brand, this is just sad. I’m done with Asus routers for good.Probably going to a mesh net like Google home WiFi etc.Asus mobile app is not great anyway, and the router interface is not great either… Looking forward to trying another brand.
27. Rated 5 out of 5

    Matt Johnson – May 14, 2018

    This router has passed my expectations it is handling 20 plus connections with ease.
28. Rated 1 out of 5

    lindros – June 3, 2018

    These are horrible.The radio is suspect, the coverage range is awful, ASUS support is infuriating, and radio burns out.Not to mention the Taiwanese brainiacs released bad firmware which bricked TWO of these. One ended up having a permanent WiFi issue – even after reverting to the old 380-series firmware and performing 8 factory flush resets, the stupid WiFi radios refused to broadcast.Mine is now in a landfill – 6 months after purchase.
29. Rated 5 out of 5

    LJRossPhoto – August 12, 2018

    Purchased to push 1000 Mbps fiber optic internet with CenturyLink, and this router does it with ease once configured correctly. WiFi coverage is also very good. I’ve received speed tests in the 800Mbps range on my iPhone X. Asus also has the best interface/UI in the business.
30. Rated 5 out of 5

    Edward J Young – August 16, 2018

    Tons of adjustable settings and automatic optimization. Best for those with networking experience. Best router I’ve used.
31. Rated 4 out of 5

    Guilherme C. C. Ramos – August 20, 2018

    The router is awesome. The best router I have used so far. My old one was Asus RT Ac88U. The Ac5300 seems faster and more stable.I’m not completely happy with this new router because it arrived with one (1) broken antenna!! (attached photo)I had to use Durex Tape to keep it in place (up right position).This is not nice for a product of this price range.
32. Rated 2 out of 5

    Trespassers W – September 19, 2018

    I bought ASUS AC3200 three years ago when my house got connected to fiber optic Gigabit internet. Our household has multiple network clients, including security cameras, home automation devices, smart thermostats, etc., plus I work from home quite frequently and need a reliable connection. Having pretty high demand for network performance, I was looking for a higher end ‘prosumer’ router and AC3200 seemed to be a good choice.Initial setup was relatively straightforward thanks to well designed and intuitive GUI. The router had decent amount of features for a consumer level product, although some of them did not run as expected. Pretty soon I noticed that turning on Traffic Analyzer puts a tremendous load on router CPU and ultimately freezes it. I had to reboot it multiple times before I finally decided to turn this feature off. The router runs pretty hot and needed a reboot once in a while, possible because of overheating, but otherwise it was running relatively stable for 2+years and I did not have many problems with it.Apparently, the solution ASUS found for the CPU overload problem was to move Traffic Analyzer, QoS, network protection and parental controls to the cloud. I am not sure exactly when they made this change, but after one of the recent firmware updates I discovered that I am not getting full 1Gbs internet speed at router ports. Speed test at provider’s modem was still showing 900-1000 Mbs, but I couldn’t get anything higher than 350 Mbs past the router.After short investigation I discovered that turning off QoS and Parental Controls brings speed back to almost normal. When I tried turning Parental Control back on the disclaimer window popped up asking for my consent to send internet traffic information to the 3rd party (Trend Micro). Furthermore, it says that ASUS bears no responsibility for how your information is being used by Trend Micro. The amount of information they collect is abundant – it includes network topology, device IDs. MAC addresses, your network browsing history (URLs and IPs), e-mails (including message body, attachments and addresses) and more. I am absolutely sure It wasn’t there when I bought this router 3 years ago so it had to be installed with one of the recent firmware upgrades and quietly turned on!Needless to say that I immediately replaced this router with a different brand and model. I absolutely don’t need a device on my network that sends out my private information while degrading the network performance.
33. Rated 5 out of 5

    Sev – September 24, 2018

    Before I start let me just say that wifi performance can vary depending on your home/apartment walls material and interference. I’ve read some great and some good reviews about the GT-AC5300. Some reviews say it’s way too much money to spend and some say it’s great in every way. At the end of the day, the only way to know what you will like is BUYING IT and TESTING IT for days.I ended up testing both the RT-AC5300 and the GT-AC5300 to see which one I liked more. I ended up sticking to the GT-AC5300 for some good reasons; hardware specs, tools and the awesome webui that I liked the most. I will go over the things I liked first and then what things I didn’t find too great which was totally not a deal breaker at all. If 8 ports and gaming boosts with the different webui is not a thing for you then the RT-AC5300 is more than enough to support your network. Plus with the RT version you can get merlin firmware (asus alternative firmware that is a more minimalist approach which I really like. I spend a good time also on small netbuilder website and its forums to watch how the GT-AC5300 firmware improved over the past year.Hardware – This router has pretty insane specs. A 1.8Ghz CPU with 1GB of ram. This thing is like a gaming computer, pretty nuts. The bootup is a bit faster than the RT-AC5300. The 8 ports are one of the reasons I liked this one including the link aggregation. By the way, if you will not use this feature you need to turn it off so that you can use port 5+6 with different devices or they won’t connect! I tested the network under heavy load with my smart TV doing netflix 4k along with my laptop transferring files to my NAS in the same time over wifi at over 75 MB/sec and the wife watching her youtube videos on her cellphone with zero issues. I do know that the GT-AC5300 and the RT-86U both have the newer wifi chips so that’s nice.Connectivity – A neat feature are the first two gaming ports that I use for my two gaming stations. I noticed they get a little nice performance boost. Things just respond faster on the network, the web and gaming wise. Lovely feature. I also really like the dashboard webui that shows network ping and ping deviation. Another feature that I have yet to test but is really awesome is the VPN fusion where you are able to assign specific clients on your network to be on VPN. I attached speed tests I did on speedtest by ookla and dslreports.com. DSLreports one can vary as their servers aren’t really the best but it shows that the QOS I setup works well so I have zero complaints there. Keep in mind that these tests can vary time to time depending on the server load. There are times you can have bit slower speeds which doesn’t mean you have any issues on your end. Before I got these two routers to setup I actually had spectrum come out to improve my cable signal since the signal was too strong (I only have the cable modem I use in my apartment complex so usually they send stronger signals since most homes have more than one device). I was also getting more error logs in on my Netgear CM600 cable modem before the fix and after the fix I only would get maybe one T3 error in 3 weeks now instead of a few daily. Wifi range and speed are absolutely incredible just amazing.Gaming/Performance – I really love the gaming features of this router. When you combine the WTfast gaming network with the game boost for specific game like how I tested for Destiny 2 for PS4, you can get some pretty damn low pings in the low 10’s. I really like also the game radar that shows you the servers that are close to you in your region. For the WTfast network, it only boosts one device for free which is perfectly fine as I mainly do online gaming more on the PS4. I used to play world of warcraft a lot on my PC but I quit that game a while back. Overall compared to the RT-AC5300 I like these small features that the GT version comes with that helps in small ways. Anything that helps to me is good in my book!Here are some other things I noted that weren’t maybe the best about the GT-AC5300 which I can improve over time.Wifi radar. When I initially tried this the feature just did not work. I found out that you actually have to click the “start data collection” button to be able to scan the wifi in your area to get information.The information you can gather is quiet nice and can be useful.5GHz-1 and 5GHz-2 Wifi performance. The two wifi bands actually have different performance. The 2nd 5GHz has better signal and performance than the 1st one. I verified this using the wifi analyzer app on my phone and the wifi radar app on the router. I disabled the 2.4GHz and will leave the 1st 5GHz for visitors/friends to use while I use the 2nd faster wifi band. I am using the latest firmware that is dated 9/19/2018 which has noted “fixed wifi stability issue.” Not that I have any wifi problems or stability issues but that’s kind of interesting. I sort of was hoping that maybe in future Merlin would support this router and make firmware for it but that is definitely not going to happen as the hardware is quiet different.That’s all. Overall I highly recommend the GT-AC5300 if you really are going to use the awesome features it comes with, want the 8 LAN ports and better hardware specs. I am just in love with this router and it’s awesome features.
34. Rated 5 out of 5

    oNLineAdDict – October 25, 2018

    Love it… what more can I say…740Mbps download and 680Mbps upload….
35. Rated 1 out of 5

    Eddie Rodriguez – November 27, 2018

    First, I have owned 4 Asus Mother boards and 4 routers. I have been really happy with all of them. After reading reviews on this ASUS AC5300 I was worried but gave it a chance anyway. Please don’t make the same mistake I did…The antennas are not like old ASUS quality. One antenna was broken on arrival. Then I was very gentle in putting in the others. The plastic broke just from putting into position. I thought, no big deal I can still use it. The cable snapped off about a minute later as the antenna fell over. They are junk.I thought, Asus will make it right. I called them hoping for replacement parts. They were incredibly rude, unhelpful and a nightmare to deal with. This purchase turned me from a lifetime ASUS customer to wanting to avoid them.
36. Rated 5 out of 5

    TED – December 4, 2018

    Love this Router..Great Features…Easy to setup if you are a Average Computer user …To truly utilize all of the features Advanced Networking knowledge and skills are needed ..Neither the less Even with a basic setup this Router Is Super Fast On Wireless and wired …Speed Test Shown is on Wireless Iphone 6s
37. Rated 5 out of 5

    Frank Nevado – December 19, 2018

    Good for gaming, easier to manage. It supports link aggregation for NAS.
38. Rated 1 out of 5

    Diego – December 27, 2018

    Let me start saying that I’m a network engineer. I purchased this router AC5300 a year ago to replace the RT-ac68u and was a nightmare since day one. I set the 3 bands separated to feed different types of clients 2.4 Ghz fixed at channel 11 N only at 40 mhz for old devices . 5_1 Ghz N-AC in channel 48 at 80Mhz for new ac devices (ipad-iphones) and 5_2 Ghz channel 161 at 80mhz exclusive for my 2 HD stream boxes. In theory sounds perfect but guess what. As the 20 % of the one star review here the WIFI radio channels started to fail and drop clients first sporadically until last week when the 5_1 Ghz channel went automatically to channel 0 and stopped broadcasting. sooner after that the 5_2 Ghz radio went to channel 0 as well. I did factory reset multiple times, downgraded to previous firmware cleared NVRAM all you can think of and nada. I just send the router with RMA USBVJC0566 and hope this get resolved asap.I have installed my old RT-AC68u and is running rock solid 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz channels same settings as the AC5300 with 23 clients and zero issue. I can’t believe that my old router perform 100% better than this $300 router.
39. Rated 5 out of 5

    Mike J. Zippro – March 16, 2019

    Love this piece of “ROG” architecture for running my games and watching movies at the same time. Easy setup with every kind of setting you can think of and then many you have to read the manual to find out what they do. Completely programmable for your situation.Expensive, but well worth the dollars I spent for it!
40. Rated 5 out of 5

    Wayne – April 7, 2019

    I upgraded from the ASUS RT-N66R Dual-Band Wireless-N900 that worked flawlessly for me for over 6-7 years. So when I wanted to upgrade, looking into another Asus router felt comfortable for me given the track record I had with them.I broadcast live streams as well as all the typical media streaming. My network consists of a 2 pcs (gaming and streaming) hard wired, and on WiFi a 4k tv, an iPad, a laptop, and my cell phone. I use the ARRIS SURFboard Gigabit DOCSIS 3.1 modem and my ISP plan is 1Gb down / 20Mb up. I have a 1k sq foot condo on 1 floor and it supplies strong 5GHz and 2.4Ghz WiFi signal throughout my entire place. I’m able to stream content on Twitch at 8k bitrate while watching 4k video, playing whatever online game, and watching other streams via any other device. It never hiccups. I’m baffled by the number of negative reviews. My experience with this device has been stellar. This could be overkill for some depending on your network needs, but I would definitely recommend this for those looking to upgrade to a high quality router for intense network traffic. Nothing else to say. (Forgive the cable management, or lack thereof in my pic)
41. Rated 3 out of 5

    Karl Pauls – April 21, 2019

    My RT-AC5300 had a 24M warranty. It recently started having problems so I updated its firmware and had to start rebooting it regularly. It’s been pretty well care for. First on display and more recently on the top of my bookshelf.I suppose my next purchase will include the 4 year warranty.
42. Rated 5 out of 5

    Brendon Goede – June 9, 2019

    Personal Experience: When my older router was beginning to lag from all of the devices that I had on my network I knew it was time to upgrade. When I did the research I came upon this asus router with the “Tri-Band” label, which I originally though was just a gimmick but I have found it to be and AMAZING feature. High traffic on a single band was the main reason my old router was not keeping up with my expectations so splitting the traffic over 3 bands solved so many issues. The first thing that I did was dedicate the “first” of the 5GHz bands for newer laptops and cell phones, this alleviated a significant portion of my congestion because these devices used a good portion of my bandwidth. The second thing that I did was dedicate the “second” of the 5GHz bands for streaming and gaming devices such as my Nintendo Switch. The remaining devices like my network printer or those which couldn’t connect to 5GHz stayed on the 2.4GHz band. This “simple” adjustment of setting my devices to certain wireless networks alleviated all of my network congestion instantly. I cannot state enough how effective the “Tri-Band” feature is especially when you have 30+ devices connected to your network at one time. When you do set up the tri-band make sure that you have an idea for what you want connected to each band. The next feature that I really appreciate about this router is the power that it provides. My house is around 2,900 square feet and I have coverage throughout the house on all three bands (Side note: I did add the Blue Cave to make an AI Mesh and cover the backyard but I will talk about that later). The 2 different 5GHz bands cover the entire house while the 2.4GHz covers the house and most of the front yard. Tied to the power of the router is the MU-MIMO feature which helps the router send packets of information in parallel to multiple devices. I would do a poor job of describing MU-MIMO any further so I would suggest looking on Asus’s website or researching on the web if you want more information. The last feature that I really appreciate about this router is the software built in. Whether you want to set up the router quickly or deep dive into the settings and make the most of every setting the software makes it easy for both types of people to use it. The setup wizard is easy to use and I had all 3 of my bands set up in minutes, but I also am able to track and prioritize my network traffic from my phone so I really enjoy that. The last thing about this router (and most Asus routers) is that you can add more to create a “Mesh Network” and expand your coverage. I created a mesh network to cover my backyard by adding the Blue Cave router to my network. Adding a router to the mesh was not as easy and straight forward as you may think, it took multiple updates and tries to get everything to connect properly. I personally connected the network through a hardline so I can get the most speed but using the wireless mesh connection setting worked well with just a minimal loss in speed when I tested it. Overall this is a great router with tons of features and can be expanded with additional Asus routers.Pros: Easy to use software for setup of router Powerful router lets you have a large area of coverage Tri-Band helps reduce network congestion Ai-Mesh compatible so you can upgrade in the future Replaceable antennas Supports gigabit speed App support with traffic metersCons: Big footprint Ai Mesh setup is not straight forward
43. Rated 5 out of 5

    Alexander – August 12, 2019

    I loved the device from the first minute I received it. I thought of buying a newer version, but knowing that Asus is among those guys that need more time to fix all the bugs in their firmware, I decided to grab this older RT-AC5300 model. Before I had a cheaper Netgear and these two experiences are incomparable. I’ve got Midco with download cap of 100 mbs. I download Xbox games at up to 80 mbps (maybe more, I didn’t really watched for a long time), the connection is so stable for online-games throughout all my 3 beds/2 baths apartment, no more dark areas. I’ve got 20+ devices connected to wifi, no issues whatsoever. setup was superfast and easy. I just needed to wait for a while until my laptop opened the setup page of the router. Router updated its firmware itself immediately.
44. Rated 5 out of 5

    Wenxiao Wang – October 14, 2019

     Very cool
45. Rated 5 out of 5

    Rustam – October 25, 2019

    👍👍👍
46. Rated 1 out of 5

    customer – December 14, 2019

    The router has following issues1. Most of time it is not able to detect PC that are in network , sometime they are visible and sometimes not.2. internet connection drops , so reboot is need .3. Opened Ticket ,talk to support , was communicated when new firmware update is installed , then user has to reset the router and again configure all setting .4. Asked for document with step to follow in email from Tech Support , still waiting .5. I spend 4 to 5 hour in these issues , not worth for time and value .
47. Rated 5 out of 5

    Some guy – December 30, 2019

     Upgraded my entire network with this baby as the main router. Paired it with the asus blue cave as the ai mesh node and covers the entire house (front/back yard) and then some (house is 1300 sqt ft single story).The asus app on the phone is great. Can manage each connection and keep tabs on network speed/usage. You can also see how it manages all of the devices within your mesh network ( that’s cool).The only drawback is the occasional issue with app connectivity to the router. It stops working for some reason, but a regular power cycle on the router itself fixes that right away.Overall a great device.
48. Rated 3 out of 5

    Jeff Powell – January 15, 2020

    I purchased this router in December 2019. But I have had substandard reception since. Thought I bought the best. Thee tech calls in and still have sub par reception.
49. Rated 5 out of 5

    JOSH – February 9, 2020

    Why did I not purchase this YEARS AGO! This is the most incredible machine I have ever invested in for my home WiFi network! If you are reading this review you NEED to purchase this. I was paying for 300mbps with Spectrum in FL and was only getting about 200 with the hardline connection and about 80mbps with WiFi. With this router I am now experiencing 500+ mbps (yes 200+ mbps more than what I’m paying for) and 400+mbps on WiFi! Incredible purchase and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Do not opt for a cheap router, invest in the best!
50. Rated 5 out of 5

    A. Bailey – April 26, 2020

    Great router better than my wifi 6 router I had before! My ping went from 23 to 4ms with this router
51. Rated 5 out of 5

    Hector – May 17, 2020

    Excellent router with many features, especially aimed at gaming. Easy to set up with app or browser. Hands down best looking and innovative router so far. The ROG button is remappable and there’s different RGB settings too.
52. Rated 5 out of 5

    Customer – June 3, 2020

    strong signal I’ve never seen before,interface also great!easy to install easy to use.
53. Rated 5 out of 5

    Scrub175 – June 6, 2020

    Today I received the GT-AC2900 after researching and comparing with the RT-AC86U. The AC86U was highly recommended from several publications but I went with the AC2900. I really like the LED network monitoring so that was a deciding factor.I am replacing an AT&T U-verse Pace gateway’s WiFi network. Due to limitations with U-verse I cannot bypass nor place the gateway in bridge mode, so since I have a static IP block I assigned a public static IP to the router. I basically recreated my existing network on the new AC2900 and all clients swapped over perfectly.The reason for the change from the AT&T gateway; I was experiencing low signal inside the house to the point where the gateway app detected the weak signal and had an extender ordered and sent to the house. Plus we were having devices kicked off the network requiring network reboot in some instance to restore WiFi, this was mainly on the WiFi extender for security cams. Due to home automation devices I think we had the gateway overloaded with devices and experienced network drops during the work and school from home period. An AT&T tech recommended a new router since it would have a stronger network and accept more devices than the gateway.Now for coverage, as you can see in the photo I mounted the router on the wall close to the ceiling in our home office/gaming room. Normally I would just keep the router on my desk or shelf, but I wanted to optimize signal strength. Coverage in the house appears to have doubled through the home. Areas that were weak even with the extender are much stronger and have greater network speeds. Ping went from 21 to 12-14 now. I tested areas in the yard and also see dramatic improvement in signal coverage and network speeds, even through our exterior block walls. So far I’m very pleased with the signal and speed throughout the various test spots in and out of the home. We will see how long that lasts.Setup: having two integrate a new WiFi and disable the old WiFi required swapping Ethernet cables but went pretty well. The support ASUS app was so helpful and is a must for setting up the new router. I was very impressed with the function and speed of the support app during network set up.Features: having gone from a walled garden of feature set limits its been refreshing to see what I would consider to be new features that my previous router (netgear) didn’t have or the Pace gateway didn’t either. I’m still learning much of the features and settings. I’m a gamer so the gaming aspects are nice but I’m pretty much hardwired with gig fiber service so I will be testing and seeing if QoS is helpful. I also have a block of static IP’s to help alleviate the open nat issues I was experiencing with the Pace Gateway since AT&T doesn’t allow upnp on their gateways so open nat was a struggle on multiple consoles. I still need to check nat status but that really shouldn’t change.Overall: I’m very pleased with this router and features available so far. I will give it some time and update my review if things go a different direction.