Usage
Using standard 802.11g equipment, the latency and throughput of the ASUS RT-N15 is standard. I did a range test using my T-Mobile G1 and was able to walk out of the house and down the street a little bit before I lost signal.
Wired tests between my desktop and my QNAP TS-109 Pro showed nothing out-of-the-ordinary for a gigabit home switch, approximately 7.8 MBps = 62.4 Mbps. There is more than enough switching bandwidth for four ports. Obviously, more serious home network admins would want a dedicated gigabit switch for the highest throughput.
The green Ethernet moniker is a system which detects the length of the attached cables and adjusts power output accordingly. If it would take 100% power to push signal 300 ft, the device can determine that it needs only 2% power to push signal 6 ft. For a device that takes around 5 W to operate, the power savings aren’t worth a lot: 5 W works out to approximately 3.6 KWh in a month, However, a reduction in power of just 1 W is 2.8 KWh, perhaps a few cents per month.
Final Thoughts
The ASUS RT-N15 is simply the next model in a line of excellent hardware from ASUS. It’s fine for the typical home user. However, enthusiasts will want to stay away: The RT-N15 uses an Ralink chipset, which means that alternative firmwares such as OpenWRT and DD-WRT will not work on it.
The RT-N15 can be had for approximately $65 at my favorite retailer. ThinkComputers gives the ASUS RT-N15 Wireless Router a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Lots of configurability for a consumer router
– Green Ethernet more of a marketing scheme, but every little bit helps
Cons:
– Admin panel retains ugly color scheme
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