#2 Best WiFi Router

If the wifi is down, the world comes to a screeching halt. No more streaming video, surfing the web, or access to the outside world.  When Scott McNealy said "The network is the computer!" he was definitely on to something.

So how do you keep your wifi rock solid? The rooster picks the ASUS Dark Knight RT-N66U dual band wifi router.

ASUS Dark Knight RT-N66U (black)

While it might seem a little pricey at $120.00 I can assure you it is worth every penny extra over that $69.99 wonder router you are looking at at Target or Walmart.

This router literally plug and play.  The wireless range and speed of this device are amazing.  I purchased about 10 of these in 2014 and every one of them got the job done without a hiccup.

ASUS Dark Knight RT-N66U (white)

I especially like the USB ports where you can hook up a printer or put in a memory stick and use it as a network file server.  Just setup your all All-in-One printer to store scans on the router which makes scans available everywhere even when your computer is not powered on.

Another nice touch is that it comes in WHITE or BLACK plastic. I did a wireless survey of my home and found the optimal place to put the router to cover the house and yard. I ended up mounting it close to the ceiling next to the doorbell chime in white so that it doesn't look like a big black spider up on the wall.

Let's talk security.  This year was a bad year for router hacks and security problems.  Many vendors that produced the cheap routers never release any updates. If you bought one you are left exposed or have to shutdown features to stay safe.  ASUS releases regular firmware updates for your router and they are painless to install right over the Internet.  In the off chance your firmware upgrade fails, the router resets in a safe mode and let's you try it again.   Other routers just break and end up as an e-waste brick since there is no way to recover from a failed upgrade.

Two other favorite features are VPN (Virtual Private Network) and having multiple SSIDS (router names).  If you have ever looked at your iPhone, you may have noticed the ability to setup a VPN, but thought that was only for your corporate network.  By setting up VPN, this gives you an encrypted network connection back to your house.  When you access the web, all the traffic is sent to and from your router without using the wifi network which you are connected.  This keeps the creepy people from monitoring what you are doing on public wifi.  Also, if the wifi you are on arbitrarily chooses to block something such as a website, as long as it isn't blocked at home you can access it over VPN.  I like to use VPN whenever I am out in public.  Some malls and restaurants are shutting down VPN access but stores like Target currently allow VPN use.  Thank you Target!

With this router you can have up to 6 SSIDs (router names).  This is useful if you want to add a public SSID to your router and be a great-guy or maybe setup a private network for guests when they visit.  This keeps people out of all the goodies on your home network , but still gives them Internet access.  Some of the more hilarious SSIDs I've seen on routers are"

"Everyone loves your barking dog!"

"The NSA is Listening!"

"Too Fly for Wifi"

Knock on wood, this router never crashes or needs rebooting.  Other routers I've owned tend to get weird after about 30-days of uptime, but not the ASUS Dark Knight.