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From our tests, we can conclude the Asus RP-AC56 isn’t as fast as having a close-range connection to a 3×3 802.11ac wireless router. Instead, our tests showed you get a solid speed between 150 and 200 Mbit/sec, which obviously drops a bit at range.
Does this make it a poor product? Absolutely not. For a start, although its performance isn’t light years ahead of competing extenders, it still measures up well, since some of the entry-level models are very poor indeed. If you place the RP-AC56 correctly so it covers an area where you have no existing coverage, it will serve its purpose well.
It will be fine for browsing, streaming, and downloading files at a good speed. Maybe not something as demanding as uncompressed 4K video, but the vast majority of people just want to get online somehow in an area where their existing router has poor coverage, and the RP-AC56 solves that problem.
And its software, in true Asus fashion, is excellent. There are not many configuration settings, but that is a good thing. It is really simple with big bold text. You could trust your mum to set it up, as long as she knows the details of her existing wireless network.
The advanced settings give you more control, if you need it.
If you want better performance, it seems you might need to spend a bit more, and for that, Asus has the EA-AC87.
And then there’s the secondary music streaming feature, which surprised us by working quite well too. It’s not exactly a Sonos, but the AIPlayer app is much better than a lot of media software that networking firms usually regard as a secondary feature, and don’t put the effort in.
The Asus RP-AC56 is a simple device. Although it isn’t as fast as we had hoped, it does what it says on the tin, offers some great software that’s really straightforward to use and with its audio streaming function, a small extra that the majority of other extenders don’t offer.
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Pros:
- Simple to set up and configure
- 2×2 802.11ac support
- Music streaming function
Cons:
- Not as powerful as an actual router
- Physical dimensions may block access to some plug sockets
Kitguru Says: The RP-AC56 is worth buying for its simple but solid software, music streaming feature and the value of simply having a wireless extender to improve coverage, rather than a particularly noticeable performance gain.
