This is a review of the Asus RT-AC65 WiFi router, which I recently purchased from Amazon. Overall this is an impressive router, with decent WiFi signal strength and excellent connection speeds!
I was previously using an “Askey Wave2” WiFi router, provided by Spectrum Internet. It worked OK some of the time, but it would randomly lose the internet connection to my OBi202 unit, that I use for VOIP phone calls. After much experimenting, I determined that the VOIP disconnection issues were being caused by the Askey router. After doing some online research, I learned that other users were also experiencing issues with VOIP phone calls using this Spectrum router, so I decided it was time go shopping for a replacement WiFi router.
The first new router I tried was a TP-Link AX1800 router, but it failed in less than a month, so I returned it to Amazon for a refund. My second purchase was this Asus RT-AC65 router. The configuration of the Asus router was super simple – I didn’t even need to consult the manual to configure the router! Also I like the router’s built-in configuration menu system – it is intuitive and easy on the eyes.
Once I connected the Asus router to the Spectrum cable modem and rebooted the modem and the router, both my desktop computers connected right away, and so did the Obihai VOIP unit. Phone calls were clear and problem free, when using the VOIP phone, connected to the internet via WiFi.
When I did the “OOKLA” speed test with my desktop PC, I initially noticed that the download speed was roughly half what I was expecting, based on previous experience with the Spectrum WiFi router connection. However, after re-positioning the Asus router ( I raised it up by just 11 inches ), the signal strength and download speeds nearly doubled! I am now getting stable WiFi download speeds which are equivalent to the speeds I get when the PC is connected by ethernet cable to the router (about 230 Mbps down and 11 Mbps upload).
After using this router for a month, I am very satisfied with both its speed and its stable WiFi connection …. definitely recommended!
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This item: ASUS AC2600 WiFi Router (Blue Cave) - Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router, Featuring Intel WiFi Technology, Works with Alexa, AiMesh Compatible, Included Lifetime Internet Security , White
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This Item  ASUS AC2600 WiFi Router (Blue Cave) - Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router, Featuring Intel WiFi Technology, Works with Alexa, AiMesh Compatible, Included Lifetime Internet Security , White |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | -5% $57.00 List: $59.99 | $137.99 | -18% $203.99 List: $249.99 | -20% $87.49 List: $109.99 | -20% $159.99 List: $199.99 | -23% $68.97 List: $89.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Sep 25 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Sep 25 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Sep 24 | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Sep 24 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Sep 25 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | AmaMax (USA) Since 1993 l iMBAPrice® Authorized Distributor | Amazon Export Sales LLC | Amazon Export Sales LLC | TRENDY-TECH (We Record Serial Numbers) | Amazon Export Sales LLC | Amazon Export Sales LLC |
| connectivity tech | Ethernet, USB, Wired, Wireless | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | Ethernet, Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB |
| number of ports | 1 | — | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| data transfer rate | 2600 megabits per second | 1800 megabits per second | 5700 megabits per second | 1800 megabits per second | 5400 megabits per second | 1 gigabits per second |
| wireless standard | 802 11 ABGNAC | 802 11 A, 802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 G, 802 11 N | 802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 A | 802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 A | 802 11 AX, 802 11 AC, 802 11 N, 802 11 G, 802 11 A | 802 11 A, 802 11 AC, 802 11 AX, 802 11 B, 802 11 G |
| frequency band class | dual band | dual band | dual band | dual band | dual band | dual band |
| lan port bandwidth | 1000 Mbps | 1000 Mbps | 2.5 Gigabit | Gigabit | Gigabit | Gigabit Ethernet |
| RAM size | — | — | 1 GB | 256 MB | 512 MB | — |
| security protocol | WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPS | — | WPA3-Personal, WPA2-Enterprise, WPS | WPA2-Enterprise, WPA-Enterprise, WPS | WPA2-Enterprise, WPA-Enterprise, WPS | WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA2-Enterprise |
| frequency | 5 GHz | 5 GHz | 5 GHz | 5 GHz | 160 MHz | 2.4 GHz |
| operating system | Windows-10,8.1,8,7,Vista, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Mac OS X-10.1,10.4,10.5,10.6,10.7,10.8 ,X, Linux Kernel (Support Ubuntu only), Linux | — | Windows, App, Mac OS, Linus | Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, Mac OS, Linux | Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, Mac OS, Linux | — |
| antenna type | internal | fixed | fixed | fixed | fixed | retractable |
From the manufacturer
Built to Perform
Styled to Be Seen
The Blue Cave is built to perform, and styled to be seen. Combining the power of Intel WiFi and ASUS engineering innovation, the easy-to-use Blue Cave gives you super-smooth streaming and lag-free gaming all around your home.
Features
Get Ready for a Smarter Home
The Blue Cave works with IFTTT and Amazon Alexa, so you can integrate the Blue Cave into your smart home with ease to make your life easier. For example, you can just tell Alexa to suspend the WiFi so you can have a family dinner without interruptions.
Make the Internet a Safer Place for Everyone
The Blue Cave includes Advanced Parental Controls to give you total peace of mind, with commercial grade security for your home network and comprehensive, easy control of the online experience for each family member and each device, all via the mobile app.
Commercial-Grade Home Network Security
ASUS AiProtection, powered by Trend Micro, is built into the Blue Cave to add comprehensive protection to your home network. With AiProtection, all your connected devices — including smart home (loT) appliances — are protected to prevent your personal data from being compromised.
Advanced Parental Controls
The Blue Cave lets you keep a watchful eye on your family's internet usage, and decide how much internet time or what apps each family member is allowed.
Complimentary Antivirus for Complete Security
The Blue Cave includes exclusive added protection for your devices even when they're not connected to your home network.
ASUS Routers
 ASUS Blue Cave |  ASUS RT-AC66U B1 |  ASUS RT-AC68U |  ASUS RT-AC86U |  RT-AC88U |  ASUS RT-AC5300 | |
|
Customer Reviews
|
2,673
|
3,403
|
10,124
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9,783
|
4,750
|
2,863
|
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Price
| $57.00 | $133.50 | $84.99 | — | $125.00 | $275.95 |
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WiFi Speed
| 2600 Mbps | 1750 Mbps | 1900 Mbps | 2900 Mbps | 3100 Mbps | 5300 Mbps |
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WiFi Coverage
| Large homes | Large homes | Large homes | Very large homes | Very large homes | Very Large Home |
|
Total Gigabit Ethernet Ports
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
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ASUS AiMesh Compatible
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
Ai Protection
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
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All About ASUS Blue Cave AC2600
ASUS Computer International Direct
Reviews with images
Easy Setup and lightning Fast. 892Mbps Wireless connection!
I bought this used from Amazon just yesterday. I used this as a wired node to extend my ASUS Tri band router. I was shockingly surprised that my 2015 Macbook Pro went from 400-450Mbps (Absolute max wireless speeds I've seen) to 892Mbps "wireless" to the blue cave. It looks like my Tri band ASUS uses my second 5Ghz channel as quote: "5 GHz-2 is now used as dedicated WiFi backhaul under AiMesh mode." The second image of 757Mbps is my Tri band Asus direct wirelessly connected to my Blue Cave and my 2015 Macbook Pro "wirelessly" connecting to the Blue Cave. The two routers were only 15 feet away but the signal was going throught a wall. If you want the fastest speeds direct wire your routers together and/or make sure your main router is a Tri band.Note: I have have a COX 1Gbps Gigablast connection.As for setup. Initial setup took 5-6 minutes. In total. I Plugged in the Cave Blue, Within 2 minutes it was booted up and I searched for new AiMesh Nodes. Agreed and in 3 more minutes it was completely setup and firmware upgraded. What bothered me is that you get locked out of any ability to check log into the Blue cave and mess with it's Router admin pages. I was not happy with that because I wasn't sure it was secured down and I never ever had the chance to check out the admin page or features.Factory Resets can be tricky if you manually it with the reset button on the unit. After the Factory reset it took me over 60 minutes trying to gain access and get into the admin page as a stand alone router. Probably my fault as when you factory reset you can reset in several modes if you don't follow the reset instructions properly. Make sure you see blue led flashes on reset, not purple or red. You can end up in firmware Recovery mode or a looping boot mode if you time the reset wrong.Also once I reset it, and set it up as a AiMesh Node with my Tri band Asus Router everything appeared to work but Wifi wasn't really broadcasting on the Blue Cave node at all even with the admin page saying it was working properly. It's hard to know this as you will have TWO separate SSID's with the same name per band and most operating systems won't show you both of them. To see them download the free app NetSpot at netspotapp dot . com and make sure each band has TWO separate SSID's with the same exact SSID name.To fix this, from your main routers admin page. Just Remove your BLUE_CAVE again and "Click the MINUS sign, let it factory reset and reconnect it and it will all configure properly the second time with both bands transmitting correctly.Overall this thing with AiMesh Node is mind blazingly fast directly wired to my main router or wirelessly. I can now stream 16 HD 1080p Security Camera's "simultaneously" and 4K TV and game all at blazing speeds with no ping increase at all. 5 Stars all the way. If you already have a high ASUS end router and use this as a AiMesh Node. Your main router will take over control and you'll only have one tiny page to admin for the Blue Cave. Everything will be managed on your main router and so will firmware upgrades. Essentially it makes it much simpler and it saves so much time as you don't need to manage two routers. It's all done for you.Note if your hardware can handle it. Do NOT get AC1750 or AC1900. There is a huge difference between AC1750, AC1900 and AC2600. My 450Mbps wireless is now running 892mbps. 4×4 MIMO at 80Mhz is way faster then 2×2 MIMO and 3×3 MIMO.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018
More importantly, it works in every way that matters. I am an IT consultant working on networks constantly, and this router has all the bells and whistles I wanted in my home network. The range is good, the wireless speed is amazing, and the reliability has been solid so far. It's smaller than you imagine it is from the photos, and I think that's a good thing! Recommended buy, if you're looking for a good-looking router.
AS AN IT PROFESSIONAL, HERE'S A MORE GEEKY AND DEEP REVIEW:
I love the deep customization options available on the router's HTTP page (which is partially accessible via phone app or website remotely or locally via IP address). Of course, I disabled the remote access abilities in general for security, but it seems like a great feature for most home users. The customization covers whitelists, DMZ, network logging, Firewall, IPS, Proxy, OpenVPN, and Connected USB devices, among many others.
I played with the OpenVPN options and loved it. Easy to set up (though documentation is pretty bad on that part). Unfortunately, Netflix complains about VPNs so that is a no-go for the moment. There are 4 gigabit ports and the speeds on those, as well as the speeds over the 5GHz network are incredibly fast. I get my full 100Mbit FiOS connection over Wireless to my 802.11ac devices.
The signal strength of the 5GHz radio across the house in my bedroom through 4 walls and other furniture is about -70dBm. My previous router would drop to -90 or even disappear under those conditions. -70 is perfectly usable, though the throughput will attenuate some of course.
ASUS seems to be releasing updates on schedule and have recently added AIMesh and other services to the router, so that's a great sign! I haven't run into any downside yet. I will come back and update this review if problems arise, but so far, I'm happy. If you're on the fence with this one, just go ahead and grab it. It isn't the most powerful router available, but it's top-notch and it's about time routers started looking like a reasonable fixture in a modern home!
Style: AC2600 AiMesh Router NodeVerified Purchase
Looks Good, works Great. Brief review from an IT Pro.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018
Probably the second or third prettiest router I've ever seen. It's not a work of art, but it looks good and has a nice glowing light that you CAN adjust the brightness of, if you desire. (that's important) There are some routers out there that truly look beautiful, and I wouldn't call this beautiful, but it fits in well with our very clean, sleek, modern decor.Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018
More importantly, it works in every way that matters. I am an IT consultant working on networks constantly, and this router has all the bells and whistles I wanted in my home network. The range is good, the wireless speed is amazing, and the reliability has been solid so far. It's smaller than you imagine it is from the photos, and I think that's a good thing! Recommended buy, if you're looking for a good-looking router.
AS AN IT PROFESSIONAL, HERE'S A MORE GEEKY AND DEEP REVIEW:
I love the deep customization options available on the router's HTTP page (which is partially accessible via phone app or website remotely or locally via IP address). Of course, I disabled the remote access abilities in general for security, but it seems like a great feature for most home users. The customization covers whitelists, DMZ, network logging, Firewall, IPS, Proxy, OpenVPN, and Connected USB devices, among many others.
I played with the OpenVPN options and loved it. Easy to set up (though documentation is pretty bad on that part). Unfortunately, Netflix complains about VPNs so that is a no-go for the moment. There are 4 gigabit ports and the speeds on those, as well as the speeds over the 5GHz network are incredibly fast. I get my full 100Mbit FiOS connection over Wireless to my 802.11ac devices.
The signal strength of the 5GHz radio across the house in my bedroom through 4 walls and other furniture is about -70dBm. My previous router would drop to -90 or even disappear under those conditions. -70 is perfectly usable, though the throughput will attenuate some of course.
ASUS seems to be releasing updates on schedule and have recently added AIMesh and other services to the router, so that's a great sign! I haven't run into any downside yet. I will come back and update this review if problems arise, but so far, I'm happy. If you're on the fence with this one, just go ahead and grab it. It isn't the most powerful router available, but it's top-notch and it's about time routers started looking like a reasonable fixture in a modern home!
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Victor Perez
Basico pero eficiente
Reviewed in Mexico on September 27, 2023Style: AC1750 Router | RT-ACRH18Verified Purchase
AmazonCustomer
Great Router for a good price!
Reviewed in Canada on July 5, 2023Style: AC1750 Router | RT-ACRH18Verified Purchase
David B
set up as access point with Shaw router
Reviewed in Canada on January 10, 2023Style: AC2600 AiMesh Router NodeVerified Purchase
george k.
Funcionalidad.
Reviewed in Mexico on January 29, 2021Style: AC1900 RepeaterVerified Purchase
erick estrada
Calidad y duracion.
Reviewed in Mexico on November 1, 2018Style: AC2600 AiMesh Router NodeVerified Purchase
