ASUS RT-AX58U review: Wi-Fi 6 at a more affordable price!

ASUS RT-AX58U is part of a recent wave of more affordable Wi-Fi 6 wireless routers. While it still bundles all the advanced features that you expect from an ASUS router, it also provides support for Wi-Fi 6, and its price is lower than that of the first wave of Wi-Fi 6 routers. Does this lower price translate into less performance? Is ASUS RT-AX58U a reliable wireless router that you can buy to future-proof your home's Wi-Fi network? Read this review and find out:

ASUS RT-AX58U: Who is it good for?

This wireless router is a suitable choice for:

• People who want to invest in the Wi-Fi 6 standard
• Users who want fast Wi-Fi
• Parents who desire efficient parental controls for their home network
• Users who want a secure network, with proper antivirus and firewall protection
• People who want to remotely control their router using a mobile app, from anywhere on the internet
• Users who want to control their home network using the Alexa voice assistant
• People who want task automation services from their wireless router, through IFTTT (If This, Then That)

Pros and cons

There are plenty of things to like about this wireless router:

• Support for the newest wireless standard - Wi-Fi 6 or 802.11ax
• Excellent speed on the 2.4 GHz band
• Fast USB 3.0 port
• Excellent security features
• Powerful hardware that can handle many clients and connections
• You can remotely control it with a mobile app, from anywhere on the internet
• Great multilingual support and easily accessible Help documentation
• It can be mounted on walls

There are also a few downsides to consider:

• You may have to update the drivers of your Wi-Fi network cards to use Wi-Fi 6 in your network
• The variability on the 5 GHz band could be improved

Verdict

ASUS RT-AX58U is a dual-band wireless router with a classic look. Sizewise, it is rather small and light when compared to other Wi-Fi 6 routers. It is also more affordable than others. However, this doesn't make it a lesser choice. On the contrary! It is one of the most balanced wireless routers with Wi-Fi 6 that we have tested so far. We recommend it to anyone interested in making the switch to Wi-Fi 6.

Unboxing the ASUS RT-AX58U wireless router

The ASUS RT-AX58U AX3000 dual-band wireless router comes in a black box with a big picture of the device on the top cover. Some stickers showcase that this router has a Broadcom processor, and it is Wi-Fi 6 compatible. It also works with the AiMesh ecosystem, and it bundles the AiProtection module for enhanced security in your network. When you open the box, you find the following: the wireless router, its power adapter, an Ethernet cable, the Quick Setup Guide, the warranty, and a few leaflets with useful information. We recommend that you read the one letting you know what you need to connect your wireless devices with Wi-Fi 6. Unboxing the ASUS RT-AX58U wireless router is a quick experience. Inside the box, you find the usual items, and you can get started with setting up your network immediately.

Hardware specifications and design

ASUS RT-AX58U features a tri-core Broadcom BCM6750 processor, running at 1.5 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, and 256 MB of storage space for the firmware. It is a dual-band wireless router, with support for the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) wireless standard, that is capable of 2x2 MU-MIMO wireless transfers. The total maximum bandwidth is split as follows: 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, and 2402 Mbps on the 5 GHz, both when using the Wi-Fi 6 standard. ASUS RT-AX58U has four non-detachable external antennas. As you can see below, it has a classic router design. There are ventilation grids on the margins of the top side and on the sides, which give it a slightly aggressive look. On top, you also see the ASUS logo and the usual LEDs that signal the status of the router and its main features. On the back, you find the power jack, the Power button, four Ethernet ports working at 1 Gbps, one WAN port, the WPS button, and the Reset button. The bottom of the router is covered with ventilation grids that help keep it cool. There are also four rubber feet, and two holes for mounting it on walls and other surfaces. ASUS RT-AX58U is a relatively small router. It is 8.8 x 6 x 6.2 inches or 224 x 154 x 160 mm in width x depth x height, and it weighs just 18.9 ounces or 538 grams. You can find more details about the technical specs of this router, here: ASUS RT-AX58U Specifications.

Setting up and using the ASUS RT-AX58U wireless router

Setting up the ASUS RT-AX58U can be done using a web browser or the ASUS Router app for Android and iOS. You have to provide the details for your internet connection, choose a network name and password for the Wi-Fi, and set up the login name and password for the router. You are also asked whether you want to use the Yandex.DNS service to restrict access to malicious sites and adult content. Considering that this DNS service is from Russia, most international users won't enable it for their network. During the quick setup wizard, you are also asked whether you want to enable Wi-Fi 6 mode. Before you do that, it is essential to update the drivers for all the Wi-Fi network cards to make sure that they're compatible with Wi-Fi 6. If some of your laptops and computers don't see the Wi-Fi 6 network, then your drivers are incompatible with this standard. You have to either update them or disable Wi-Fi 6. The user interface is easy to use, well organized, and available in 24 languages. If you are an advanced user, you are going to appreciate the complete control that you get. There are plenty of settings available for all the features of this wireless router. The user documentation is accessible and well-made. When you move the mouse cursor over a setting that you do not understand, a question mark is shown. Click on the question mark, and you see information explaining that setting. One downside is that the documentation has not been updated to include information about all the features included by ASUS in their latest firmware. Therefore, this trick does not work for everything. Some users may prefer the ASUS Router mobile app for setting up and administering the ASUS RT-AX58U. You can use the app to control your network from anywhere on the internet. With it, you can view the devices connected to the network, see their traffic in real-time, block them or limit their bandwidth, manage the devices used by your children, set up parental control rules, and configure the main features of the router. We connected more than a dozen devices to the network managed by ASUS RT-AX58U, including a desktop PC, two laptops, one tablet, several smartphones, one wireless printer, two smart plugs, one smart bulb, an intelligent robot vacuum cleaner, and an Xbox One console. We then evaluated the speed and variability of wireless transfers. We took our laptop and moved to a room that is separated by one wall from the router. We made a wireless transfer on it. As you can see below, the average speed was quite high, but the variability deserves some improvement. We noticed this trend mostly on the 5 GHz band, in almost every room of our apartment. If you want to know more about the real-world performance offered by ASUS RT-AX58U, including comparisons with other wireless routers, go to the next page of this review.

Wireless network performance

First, let's look at the apartment that was used in our testing and how it is set up. You can see that the router is placed in the living room. With most wireless routers, the signal strength is not that good in places like the Kitchen and the Medium balcony. Our testing was done using a fast 1 Gigabit Internet connection that is capable of uploads on the internet of up to 500 Mbps. We used an HP Spectre 13 laptop for all our measurements and several software tools. To get a better idea of the performance offered by ASUS RT-AX58U, we compared it with NETGEAR Nighthawk AX4 and TP-Link Archer AX6000. We analyzed the 2.4 GHz band first and measured the signal strength with NetSpot. As you can see below, we enjoyed good signal strength in all rooms. Next, we used SpeedTest to measure the speed of the internet connection when connected to the 2.4 GHz band. ASUS RT-AX58U provided outstandingly fast downloads in all rooms. The same was true when we measured the upload speed with SpeedTest. Continuing our measurements on the 2.4 GHz wireless network, we used the PassMark Performance test to transfer data between two computers connected to the network. Except for one room, ASUS RT-AX58U was the fastest router in our comparison. When we measured the upload speed, things were not as clear-cut, and ASUS RT-AX58U was outperformed in some rooms. On the 2.4 GHz wireless band, ASUS RT-AX58U provides excellent speed that often beats its direct competitors. For the next set of measurements, we analyzed the performance of the 5GHz wireless band, using Wi-Fi 5. We looked at the evolution of the signal strength, from room to room. The signal strength provided by ASUS RT-AX58U was similar to that of other wireless routers. Next, we measured the download speed with SpeedTest in every room of our test apartment. ASUS RT-AX58U was a fast router but not the fastest in our comparison. Uploads were fast too, but there was no clear winner in our comparison. For the last measurements on the 5GHz wireless network, we used the PassMark Performance test to transfer data between two computers connected to the network. ASUS RT-AX58U delivered fast downloads in all rooms, without being the speed champion. The same was true when we measured the upload speed. To see the speed on Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), we used a desktop computer with an ASUS PCE-AX58BT network card. On it, when we ran SpeedTest, we measured 785.85 Mbps for the download speed, and 498.07 Mbps for the upload. These are excellent speeds which prove the potential of the Wi-Fi 6 standard and the advantage of switching to it. NOTE: Do remember that the upload speed for our internet connection is capped at 500 Mbps. On the 5 GHz band, ASUS RT-AX58U delivers great performance, similar to that of other Wi-Fi 6 routers.

Wired network performance

We measured the speed of the internet connection with a 1 Gbps Ethernet cable using SpeedTest. In this test, ASUS RT-AX58U was the fastest router in our comparison, as you can see below. Then, we ran a network transfer between two computers, using the PassMark Performance test. This time too, ASUS RT-AX58U performed admirably well. ASUS RT-AX58U delivers real 1 Gbps Ethernet connections, as expected from a modern wireless router.

USB performance

We connected a portable SSD to the USB 3.0 port of the router and made some data transfers on it. We measured a download speed of 567.55 Mbps, which is excellent for most users. However, more expensive routers deliver even better speeds. ASUS RT-AX58U has a fast USB 3.0 port that you can use to connect fast storage to the router.

Extra features

The firmware on the ASUS RT-AX58U wireless router comes with plenty of advanced features:

• Integration with Amazon's Alexa and IFTTT - you can say things like "Alexa, ask ASUS ROUTER to upgrade the firmware" to perform different tasks. You can also automate tasks that might otherwise be repetitive or unable to "talk to each other."
• A comprehensive Router Security Assessment tool that verifies whether your settings are secure. When it finds problems, it proactively informs you and helps you fix things.
• Malicious Sites Blocking - an efficient cloud-based module that blocks malicious websites on all the devices connected to your network.
• Two-Way IPS - a two-way intrusion prevention system that protects all your network from spam, DDoS attacks, network attacks, and more. Additionally, it also scans the packets that are sent from your network to the internet.
• Infected Device Prevention and Blocking - if your network devices get infected and become zombies in malware networks, they are automatically blocked, and you are informed about this problem.
• Parental Controls - useful, cloud-based parental controls that can be used to set rules about internet access for children's devices.
• Adaptive QoS - an advanced Quality of Service feature that you can use to optimize network traffic, including but not limited to online gaming.
• Guest Network - you can enable three wireless guest networks with individual security and access settings, on each band.
• Traffic Analyzer - offers visual traffic statistics that give you a clear picture of how your network is used and by which devices.
• AiCloud 2.0 - it gives you the tools to create your own cloud storage service, using a hard disk connected to the router.
• IPv6 - support for IPv6 addresses that are going to replace IPv4.
• VPN - you can set the router to work as a VPN server, and you can also use it to turn your network-connected devices into VPN-enabled clients without additional VPN software required.
• Network Tools - for analyzing the network and identifying what's wrong. They are useful when you need to troubleshoot problems.
• DDNS - a service that allows you to connect to the router from the internet, even if your internet provider assigns you a dynamic public IP address.

The list of features available on the ASUS RT-AX58U is quite impressive, and it makes it stand out in the crowded market of wireless routers.

What is your opinion about the ASUS RT-AX58U wireless router?

Now you know our opinion about the ASUS RT-AX58U AX3000 dual-band wireless router and details about its strengths and weaknesses. Before closing this review, tell us what you think. Are you interested in purchasing this router? If you already own it, what has been your experience with it? Comment below and let's discuss.