ASUS RT-AC1200GU, WiFi router with gigabit ports

Today I'll be talking about a small upgrade to my home network: replacing my old router with a newer, faster one.
For a number of reasons, this review will focus more on the router's internals and software than on speed and performance tests.

I'd been thinking about replacing the router for a while. The main reason was that I needed something that worked properly on the 5 GHz band. Just recently, I ran into a situation where I couldn't test devices that use this band. Partly because it hasn't caught on very widely yet, and partly because signals at these frequencies don't travel as far.
I don't use this band myself, but decided to get a router with room to grow. The same goes for most of the router's features, but I'll get to those as the review goes on.

A little background on how my home network has changed over the years. It probably won't be all that interesting, so I'll tuck it under a spoiler.

Based on my previous experience, I was looking for a more modern router. My minimum requirements were 5 GHz WiFi and gigabit ports, and I also wanted something from a better-known brand than the Mercury I'd had before.
I considered all the other features more of a bonus.
First, I ordered an ASUS RT-AC51U for a friend. Then I thought, why not upgrade my own hardware too? I wanted 5 GHz WiFi, if only for testing different devices.
So after buying the RT-AC51U, I ordered a router from the same brand for myself, the RT-AC1200GU.


The specifications are taken from the RT-AC1200G+ model, which is similar to the one being reviewed.

Standards — IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IPv4, IPv6
Category — AC1200 enhanced AC performance: 300+867 Mbps
Coverage — Medium homes
Data rate — 802.11n: up to 300 Mbps, 802.11ac: up to 867 Mbps
Antenna — External 5 dBi antenna x 4
Transmit/Receive — MIMO technology 2.4 GHz 2 x 2, 5 GHz 2 x 2
Processor — BCM47189+ BCM43217 (the GU model uses a MT7621AT SoC made by Mediatek)
Memory — 16 MB Flash, 128 MB RAM
Operating frequency — 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
Encryption — 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise, WPA2-Enterprise, WPS support
Firewall / Access control — URL Blocking, MAC Filter, URL Filter, Enable LAN to WAN Filter, Parental Control Web filter
Management — UPnP, IGMP v1/v2/v3, DNS Proxy, DHCP, NTP Client, DDNS, Port Trigger, Virtual Server, DMZ, System Event Log
Connection type — WAN
Internet connection type: Automatic IP, Static IP, PPPoE(MPPE supported), PPTP, L2TP
Multicast Proxy support
Multicast Rate Setting support
Interfaces — RJ45 for 10/100/1000 BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for 10/100/1000 BaseT for LAN x 4
USB 2.0 x 1
Features — SmartQoS, WMM, User definable rules for IP/MAC/Port, Upload and download bandwidth management, ACK/SYN/FIN/RST/ICMP with highest priority
Parental Control
Guest Network: 2.4 GHz x 3, 5 GHz x 3
VPN server: IPSec Pass-Through, PPTP Pass-Through, L2TP Pass-Through, PPTP Server
VPN client: PPTP client, L2TP client
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
3G/4G data sharing
Printer Server
— Multifunctional printer support (Windows only)
— LPR protocol support
AiDisk file server — Samba and FTP server with account management
Buttons — WPS Button, Reset Button, Power Button
LED indicators — PWR x 1, LAN x 4, Wi-Fi x 2, WAN x 1, USB x 1
Power — DC Output: 12 V with max. 2 A current
Dimensions — 207 x 148 x 35 mm

The bottom of the box has the usual promotional pictures, explaining that as soon as you buy this router, you'll have internet throughout your home and that this router is better than all the others :)


Brief specifications are listed on the side of the box.


What surprised me a little was the size of the packaging. This was a feature of both router models; I could easily fit at least two of these devices in a box like this.
It remains a mystery to me why they do this, since it affects the shipping cost. Though in my case, delivery by Nova Poshta was free.


The package includes:
1. ASUS RT-AC1200GU router
2. Power supply
3. Patch cable
4. Manual
5. Warranty card.
6. The store also included an adapter for the power supply.


The manual is completely useless; all I learned from it was the username and password. It doesn't even list the default IP address.
The patch cable looks very neat, but it's quite stiff. It feels like they used ordinary cable instead of proper flexible twisted pair.
The power supply was a pleasant surprise—not because of its flat-pin plug, but because of its specs: 12 V, 2 A is quite a lot for a router. It also has a rather unusual connector for plugging into the router: it's very short.


The router itself has a fairly familiar design for Asus devices. The two rear antennas fold down, while the side antennas are positioned parallel to the body for transport.


The indicators are on top:
1. Power
2–5. LAN activity
6. WAN activity
7. 2.4 GHz mode enabled
8. 5 GHz mode enabled
9. USB connection.


The rear has the connectors and several controls.
1. Power connector
2. Power button
3. USB port
4. Reset button
5. WAN port
6. LAN ports
7. Configurable WPS button


There are lots of ventilation holes on the bottom. The router gets a little warm during operation, by the way. There are also holes for mounting it on a vertical surface.


The standard position on a desk is with all the antennas pointing up, but they can be rotated.
When mounted vertically, it's more convenient to position the antennas in the same plane as the body.


Naturally, I opened it up almost right away. At first I was pleased: I removed the four rubber feet and unscrewed the four screws. Then I discovered that the manufacturer had gone all out with the clips.


The clips didn't stop me, of course, although I did break one while taking it apart. But since the case is also held together with screws, I don't think anything would have changed even if I'd broken all the clips.


On the inside of the top cover, you can see spots for a whole bunch of LEDs, possibly for some upgraded version.
The LEDs glow blue, but the light is somewhat diffused. They'd probably be annoying at night, though fortunately that's not an issue for me.


As I was opening it, I kept thinking: I'll open it up and find a board the size of a pack of cigarettes, like in some branded models. But the reality was much better: the board takes up almost the entire case, and I wouldn't call it empty, either.


The previous router's board wasn't small either, though. I originally planned to review it and even prepared all the photos, but then figured nobody would be interested. Now it'll probably end up being used for experiments somewhere.


An Asus board. It's strange that there are spots for installing shields on the board, but no shields are actually there. I wonder if the + version is the same?
You can see two separate RF modules inside. By the way, the router's name includes the number 1200, which is the combined speed of both modules, roughly 300+900. You can only get 1200 here when using two devices.


A closer look. The power supply section—or rather, one of them. I'll come back to it with some criticism.


Isolation transformers and a couple of control buttons.


A closer look at the modules. There are basically just three of them.
PBZ1, the processor module


PBZ2, the RF module connected to the side antennas.


PBZ3, the RF module connected to the rear antennas.


The router is built around a Mediatek MT7621AT SoC. According to the available information, it's a dual-core 880MHz microprocessor.
But there's also information that, among other things, it has the following onboard:
5xGbE, 1xRGMII, 3xPCIe, 1xUSB 3.0, 2xUSB 2.0.
PCIe aside, where's the USB 3.0 port?

Next to it is a 128 MB RAM chip.

One of the RF modules is built around an MT7612EN from the same manufacturer. It's a 2.4/5GHz wireless module with a stated maximum speed of 867Mbps.
The RF switches are next to it.


The second wireless module uses an MT7603EN chip, also made by Mediatek, but with a maximum speed of 300Mbps. The I/O switches are next to it, along with some chips that presumably serve as amplifiers.
There are two DC-DC power converters between the RF modules.


1. There are also several converters scattered across the board.
2. I said I'd be critical. This is where I was puzzled: a fairly high-end device uses some cheap Chang capacitors. I think these are already candidates for replacement.
3.4 There are another couple of converters near the power connector. This photo is mostly for the record.


The underside is a little simpler. It's mostly passive components, although near the processor there's a 16 MB flash memory chip, S25FL128P, exactly as specified.


As I mentioned above, all the equipment is on the balcony. Of course, it’s not the best place: temperature fluctuations and the farthest point from the center of the apartment. But when I set it up, it never occurred to me that it would be more convenient to put it in the middle of the apartment, and now it’s too late to redo everything.
Besides the router, there are temporarily disconnected UPS units here: a small Mastech 600 VA to power the equipment you see in the photo, and an online 1000 VA UPS to power the main computer, which has its own dedicated line.
There’s also a five-hard-drive storage unit here, along with a mini PC that serves as a server.


In almost every review, I mention the so-called “test points” where I check the connection quality of various devices, but I’ve never shown where they are located.
The diagram marks:
1. Access point.
2. The ideal location for the access point, but there’s only one cable routed there.
3. Desk.
X1. The spot with the worst conditions. If something works here, that’s already pretty good.
X2. The spot where most devices usually work, but with varying levels of performance.
X3–X5: everything usually works fine here.

Distances are shown on the diagram. Thick walls are load-bearing; thin ones are 70 mm reinforced-concrete partitions. Next to the access point is a double wall: foam concrete with metal mesh, plus a load-bearing wall. The diagram is to scale, and all the locations match the real ones.
There’s a large mirrored door near point 2, so it adds extra shielding. Some of the windows also have aluminum blinds.


We’re replacing one access point with another. Unfortunately, I still have at least one of the cables I was using left unconnected, though there are actually four more, making eight in total.
I originally wanted to buy a router with eight ports, but they’re usually pretty expensive, so I’ll have to use an additional switch.


For now, everything looks like this. I’ll install the switch later.


I ran into a few issues when connecting it. I try to use static IP addresses, usually in the 192.168.100.xx range, but I also have the standard 192.168.0.xx and 192.168.1.xx ranges configured for various other devices.
The connection attempt failed here, so I had to switch to a dynamic IP address and let the router assign one. Its range turned out to be 192.168.50.xx.


I connect to the router and see hieroglyphs. I think, “Well, that’s it, we’re sunk”—the same thing that happened with Mercury.
But it turned out the router was designed from the start to support several languages, including Russian and even Ukrainian. The translation could certainly be more accurate in places, but overall I’d give it a 4 out of 5. I didn’t notice any glaring mistakes.


The initial setup wizard launched right away, and I learned the access point’s SSID. I wasn’t interested in anything else, since all I needed to do to configure the connection was change the MAC address to mine (or simply update the details in my account).


Next, I'll give a relatively brief overview of the router interface. To get a more detailed idea of how everything works, you can visit the emulator page. The link is for a different model, but they have quite a lot in common.

Once the setup wizard is complete, we arrive at the main interface page.


The page looks exactly the same when accessed from an Android device.
To see the entire page in one window, you can rotate your phone/tablet to portrait orientation, but it's not very convenient to use that way; landscape is better.


In addition to WiFi network information, the home page has a CPU load indicator, and it shows 4 cores rather than 2.
The home page also shows the number of connected users, and you can view more detailed information about the connections.


I'll take a brief detour here and mention my TP-Link TL-WR743ND router, which has a small quirk and was bought for a specific purpose. A couple of years ago, my internet went down for a month. Since my provider had been doing a great job for almost 10 years before that, I decided not to switch to another one. I found a temporary solution very quickly: there were two open access points nearby. So I bought a router with two antennas that can operate independently, one for receiving and the other for transmitting. In other words, one wireless module connects to a shared access point, while the other rebroadcasts the connection throughout my home and also provides internet over cable.
I don't know whose access point I connected to, but in any case, thanks to that person. So when I saw that this router has an option for setting up guest networks, I created two of them, on 2.4 and 5 GHz. The password is disabled, and the speed isn't limited (although it isn't limited in this mode anyway). The only restriction is that access to resources on the home network is disabled. Maybe this will come in handy for someone in a similar situation.

If you want, you can set operating hours and a password in this mode.


Traffic monitoring is available, but to me it seems to have a mind of its own. More precisely, it seems to show things correctly, but there are some unexplained spikes, probably caused by caching, and it doesn't show traffic within the network.


Additional options. There are quite a few useful ones here, although so far I've only used one of them.

1. Set up a network drive that can be accessed over the internet.
2. Media server or file server when a drive is connected to the router's USB port.
3. Print server, with several options. Unfortunately, it didn't help in my case; my old LBP810 refused to work.
4. Connect a 3G/4G modem to access the internet through it.
5. Download files from the internet directly to a drive connected to the router, without using a computer. I'm not sure how useful this is for me.


In media server mode, you can connect from any device and watch movies or listen to music from a drive connected to the router's USB port.


This is where you configure access to a drive connected to the router. I did have to change the workgroup name to make the drive show up in Network Neighborhood. It was originally Workgroup; I changed it to Universal—a workgroup name carried over from way back in 2004, when local area networks were common in our neighborhood.

Overall, this is a pretty handy feature, if not for a few quirks:
The router takes quite a while to appear in Network Neighborhood—about 30 seconds. The only thing that helps is a direct link to the network folder.
Read and write speeds are disappointing: 5-10 MB/s write and 10-20 MB/s read, depending on the file system.


This is where you configure WiFi access. The screenshot shows the 5 GHz band settings; the 2.4 GHz settings are almost the same, with only minor differences. Each band has its own password and settings.


The advanced settings menu has different options, but in practice, all I needed to do was change the location, since that determines which channels are available. This setting is changed for both bands at once.


Configuring the router to work with IPTV. There was some kind of IPTV service on my network, but I hadn't used it in so long that I couldn't get it running. There are several configuration options, such as enabling access and selecting the ports through which it will be available.


Configuring the internet connection. There are several connection types. My network uses a very simple one: everything is automatic, with identification by the network card's MAC address. You can either clone it from the computer or enter it manually. Since I no longer have the computer with that network card, I entered it manually. I could have logged in to my provider's account and reset this setting, but typing it in was easier :)
I left everything else as it was.


Port forwarding. I don't use it myself, but it's a useful feature that may come in handy.


The DDNS service lets you configure access to your network or devices on it over the internet. For example, it could be used to access a home video surveillance system without relying on cloud services.
There are various services that offer this, and Asus.com is one of the options.


IPv6 settings. I'm not sure yet whether this will be useful to me personally, but the option is there, so there it is.


Firewall. There are tons of settings here. I've left everything at its defaults for now; I'm not even sure whether I'll configure it.


The router can operate in three modes: Router, Bridge, and Access Point. In my opinion, three modes is a bit limited for a device like this. For example, the TP-Link TL-WR743ND I mentioned above had five modes: Client Router / Router / Repeater / Bridge as Access Point / Client.
I used the “Client Router” mode for quite a while; it came to the rescue when I was left without my own internet connection.
Overall, the options here are pretty limited. Very limited.


The router's own settings: access password (admin/admin by default), time zone, and so on.
I'll spend a little more time on the time settings. This is what I really didn't like about this router. The time syncs with an NTP server, but then does its own thing. For example, I sync the time, and 30 minutes later the router's clock is five minutes slow, or even ten. What's more, the router might show 11:40; I switch to another menu and immediately go back, and now it shows 11:35. In other words, it's complete nonsense. That rules out a whole bunch of options that depend on the actual time, such as scheduled access restrictions, not to mention the logs, which can no longer be matched up with real-time events. I don't know what to do about it yet. For example, it's 12:20 right now, but the router's clock says 11:46 :(

On the plus side, there's a handy setting here. There's a WPS button on the back of the router that can be configured to turn WiFi on and off. I know some people use this feature.


The firmware update attempt ended with a message saying I already have the latest version. But the ASUS website doesn't have firmware with that version number, and the versions it does have are lower than the one installed here.


Logs, all sorts of logs, but unfortunately they're useless for now because they aren't tied to the correct time.


Network diagnostics options, which are useless in my case.


A setting to force computers to turn on using WOL (Wake-on-LAN). It's genuinely handy, but none of my computers support it at the moment.


Here are a few more screenshots and tests.
As I mentioned above, my attempt to connect the printer failed. Though perhaps that's for the best: I'd have been disappointed to find out that my printer worked and then have to decide whether to move the router over to the printer or carry the printer out to the balcony.
When I connected it, I got a message saying my printer was visible.


Then you have to download the software for connecting from the computer. I downloaded and installed it, but got no further: the system can't see the printer. :(
The problem is that there are no 64-bit OS drivers for my favorite printer, so I'm currently printing through a virtual machine running XP.


This is what the router looks like when accessed over the network. Of course, you can change the name, but I probably won't, and I may even disable this feature altogether.
In my opinion, this mode is better suited to backups, since using a drive with an access speed of even 20 MB/s (in reality, closer to 10–15) isn't very convenient.


As far as I can tell, the speed limit is due to the router's relatively modest processor. The screenshot shows the load while watching a movie from a flash drive connected to the router. By the way, the connection speed is perfectly adequate for video playback; problems may only arise with “heavy” 4K files.


When writing to and reading from the flash drive directly, however, the processor load is noticeably higher.


Since I don't have any devices that would let me properly test the connection speed, I decided to at least compare what changed after replacing the router.
At test point 2 (shown in the diagram above), the signal strength was actually lower than with the previous router. Obviously, this isn't a completely fair test, but I tried to make the experiment repeatable. The tablet used for the test was in exactly the same spot; I didn't even turn it off, just switched between access points.


At test point 1, the spot with the weakest signal, the new router's signal was weaker here too.
But interestingly, the connection quality improved—not dramatically, but noticeably.


As another check, I tested the speed over a wired connection.
iPerf reported a speed of 270 Mbps.


The copy speed from my server was over 100 MB/s, though, which was more than good enough for me. I tried copying both from hard drives connected to the server via USB 3.0 and from an SSD connected via mSATA; the results were the same. The network is the bottleneck, not the drives.


The store page said the router was genuine, and mostly out of curiosity I decided to check by registering it in my account on the Asus website.
Registration went through without a hitch; the model number was filled in automatically based on the serial number.
I wanted to apply for the extended warranty, but it asks for the seller's address and phone number. I don't know where to find those yet—unless I copy them off the envelope :)


While preparing this review, I tried to borrow a device from someone so I could properly test WiFi speeds, but I haven't found one yet :(

That seems to be everything. I'll try to assess what I've ended up with.
Pros
Good build quality
5 GHz band support
Gigabit ports (4 LAN + 1 WAN)
USB port for connecting printers and storage devices
Can be used with 3G/4G modems
Fairly powerful power supply
A wide range of features

Cons
Low storage device speeds
Problems with the internal clock
Only three operating modes — router, bridge, and access point
Input capacitors from an unknown manufacturer.

My take: I bought this router with room to grow, so at the moment I'm using no more than 10-15% of its capabilities. My overall impression is mixed. On the one hand, it's decent and it works, but I can't shake the feeling that something is a bit off. The speed is fine and it provides internet access, but the glitch with the built-in clock was surprising.

I also noticed a quirk during use: after powering on and booting up, the router has no internet access. That is, the router itself connects to the provider, it can ping out, and the network is working, but the computer has no internet access. I log into the router and click Restart, and then everything works perfectly. I don't know what's causing this yet, since it doesn't happen every time.

The USB port is very handy. I tried connecting flash drives and hard drives, and if it weren't for the low speed, I'd say it was great. But since the speed is quite limited, this feature is of questionable use to me for now.

A few questions came up along the way.
1. Can anything be fixed by installing alternative firmware?
2. If so, how can I save the original firmware just in case?
3. If all of the above is possible, how can I revert everything if needed?

I think that's everything. If you have any questions or advice, I'd be very glad to hear it :)