Hello, I'm Dong Ngo for CNET.com and today, we're taking the first look at a router that earned CNET's editors choice award, the Asus RT-N56U Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router.
Now, at a glance, this device looks more like a black marble tile than a router.
It's also very compact, but don't let the look fool you, this is actually a very powerful networking device.
It's a true dual-band router that topped our charts in performance.
The router comes with 4 Gigabit LAN ports and one WAN port.
Impressively, it also comes with 2 USB ports.
This is the first compact router we've ever seen that has 2 USB ports.
These ports can be used to host printers or external hard drives.
On top of the router, you can find a line of little blue lights that show the status of the router.
These lights are only visible when lit up.
On the front here is a little WPS button which comes in handy when you want to connect wireless clients to the network.
The router is not wall mountable but comes with a detachable base for it to work in a vertical position.
As a true dual-band router, the RT-N56U offers two separate wireless networks at the same time, one for the 2.4 GHz band and the other for the 5 GHz band.
In our testing, both of these networks offer very good performance and long range.
The router's wireless signals are also very stable.
What we liked the most about the router is its web interface which is robust and intuitive.
You can use it to quickly set up the router, manage its networking, and network storage features.
The router supports external hard drives very well and offers a very convenient way for you to access it from the internet.
At around $130, we find the RT-N56U one of the best, if not the best, true dual-band router on the market.
To find out more about it, check out the full review at CNET.com.
My name is Dong Ngo and this has been the first look at the Editors' Choice RT-N56U Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router from Asus.
