Why should you care about ASUS’ new RT-N13U router? After all, beyond a couple of ethernet ports and a WiFi aerial, a router is just a router, isn’t it?
Hands up if you even know who makes your current router? Exactly. Who cares?
It’s exactly that attitude which the RT-N13U is about to overturn. Because as important, nay, essential as these obscure pieces of tech are to the smooth functioning of our homes, they’re surprisingly unregarded by most.
That’s because the humble router is borne down by years of bad design and needless complexity. It’s not so long ago that they were unknowable and unloveable without a certificate in advanced network management. But imagine if you had as little knowledge about the workings of your car or oven as you did your router. You’d feel like a bit of an idiot, wouldn’t you?
With the RT-N13U, the router’s proper place as the thriving hub of your network, rather than a misunderstood adjunt to it, is made clear.
It’s exceptionally easy to set up for a start, thanks to an EZ UI interface that demystifies home network, wireless security and sharing files between PCs.
Even better though, it’s a smart device which not only prioritises game and voice traffic for low latency performance, but comes with a USB port which allows you to access an attached portable hard drive or printer from anywhere in the world, even when your PC is turned off.
Download king
We’ve seen a few routers that have done that in the past, but only a couple that can compete with the RT-N13U’s next trick. It has a built in Download Master, which means that if you start downloading a file to that hard drive, the connection will stay open after you turn off the PC. So you can grab large files overnight, when bandwidth is usually free, without having to leave your PC on running up your power bill and giving you a size 12 carbon footprint.
That’s not all, either. The RT-N13U rounds off its impressive spec sheet with an optional 3G dongle, so you can connect to the wireless web as well as the one coming in through the phone lines.
It’s the most versatile router we’ve ever seen and it looks good too. Just one thing – couldn’t you have come up with a better name, ASUS?
Bobby O’Reilly
Less is always more to the mind of techno-minimalist Bobby, whose favourite PC is just a motherboard on a table that’s been tweaked and tuned to perfection over a period of several years. He’s spent the best part of a decade and a half writing about computers and videogames, and has the eyestrain to prove it – you’ll have to pry his glasses from his cold dead ears if you want him to stop though.