ASUS RT-AC1200 Wireless Router

I wanted to replace my excellent but aging Billion 7800n with a 5Ghz capable router.
Based on the good experience I had with the RT-N56U (used in Access Point mode as a network extender), I went for this RT-AC1200 on Gearbest, and it's definitely a good deal for 49.99$

You will however need to know these points before buying:
The RT-AC1200 has a Mediatek MT7628AN chipset so it's unliekly to ever work with custom firmware like DD-WRT or AsusWRT-Merlin.

The RT-AC1200 is the only router of the range (compared to RT-AC1200G+, RT-AC1200G, RT-AC1200HP) not to have Gigabit Ethernet and I didn't catch that point during my comparisons. Even for half the price of its siblings, I would probably have re-considered otherwise.

Good to know:
If you have troubles seeing the 5G Access Point with your devices, check the Professional tab under Wireless settings, and set the appropriate Region. I had to change this from China to Europe (You'll probably have to update the firmware to 3.0.0.1.380_9474 to see this option).

+ Interface well thought and easy to use
+ Internet access permissions can be easily set individually from the network map.
+ Good Wi-Fi coverage
+ Stable so far

Suggestion

- Ethernet ports are only 10/100 BaseT!
- No VPN server

May 24,2017

-A dual-band WiFi (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) router for a good price
-Fast
-Easy to set up
-Good WiFi coverage
-The router interface is easy to use
-Stable
-The ASUS router mobile app is great, it can give a lot of options
-The AiPlayer mobile app is good but it can only play music and can't play videos

At the first i couldn't see the 5Ghz network but I've changed the region from Chain to United States and the 5Ghz network appeared

Suggestion

-There isn't a lot USB Application like the printer server or Download manger like in other ASUS routers there is just a samba file sharing service
-There isn't an AiCloud Service in this router
-There isn't VPN Server
-The USB is't 3.0

Oct 10,2017

EN:
Very easy to set up, lots of options, lot of languages.
I bought it to use as an Access Point, in this mode, the WAN port became one of the ports in the switch, 5 ports in total, the signal strengh of the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz is awesome, it covered some blind spots in my home.

PT-BR:
Muito fácil de instalar, muitas opções, muitos idiomas.
Eu comprei ele para usar como Access Point, nesse modo a porta WAN se torna uma das portas do switch, totalizando 5 portas, a potência do sinal 2.4GHz e do 5GHz é incrível, cobriu vários pontos cegos na minha casa.

Suggestion

EN:
When I bought it I was aware that this router wasn't Gigabit, it's a shame, it has potential but is limited by the network speed of 10/100Mbits.
If your need is under this limit, go ahead it will be awesome, if you need Gigabit, custom firmware and other advanced functions it's not for you.

PT-BR:
Quando comprei eu já sabia que esse roteador não era Gigabit, é uma pena, pois tem potencial porém é limitado pela velocidade de rede 10/100Mbits.
Se sua necessidade será atendida dentro desse limite, vá em frente ele atenderá perfeitamente, porém se você precisa de conexão Gigabit, Firmware modificado e outras funções avançadas ele não atenderá suas necessidades.

May 10,2018

Setup with support for multiple languages (English/简体中文/Česky/Deutsch/Español/Français/Hungarian/Italiano/日本語/Malay/Polski/Portuguese(Brazil)/Romanian/Pусский/ไทย/Türkçe/繁體中文/Український).
Many advanced settings.
Support Android App (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asus.aihome)
File server - USB Stick (NTFS file system supported and multiples disk with hub USB), with protection by creating users accounts and read and write permission.
802.11ac mode, band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, ensures speed and stability network.

Suggestion

Signal range, expected more, for the price this too good.

Oct 30,2016

Just received so still looking for best position and evaluating signal strength. This ac router was a replacement for my ageing TP-Link 'N' router which served me well for several years.

First thing I did after I got this ASUS router up and running was to update the firmware. The router AUTOMATICALLY informed my that updated firmware was available. It was a simple one click to install with no surprises.

It is also nice to have the 5 Ghz band to run a TV box on since my 2.4 Ghz band is fairly busy when guests arrive.

Suggestion

2.4 GHz band doesn't seem to be any stronger than my old router but that is o.k. since it covered most of my home just fine. I will have to wait until guests come to see how it handles lots of traffic ? ?

Router does NOT seem to like to have other devices attached to it. It took several reboots to get my BLU Cell Phone to connect to it. It took 3 reboots to get my Roku box to connect and would only work AFTER it was first attached by ethernet and then wifi. Figure that one out if you can, ha ha. My TV box on the other hand connected all by itself and I didn't have to do anything except change it to the 5 Ghz band. My spouses BLU phone connected automatically and I didn't have to touch it. .

Moral of this story is - it might take you some fiddling to get this router to do what you want it to do.

Jul 13,2016