Comparison: Linksys EA4500 vs. Asus RT-N56U (aka Not All Routers Are Created Equal)

Obviously, not every router is constructed with the same parts and programmed with the same bits, even those that advertise similar features can produce very different real-world results.

Over the course of the last couple days, I’ve had the chance to check out two equally spec’d gigabit routers:

                    Linksys EA4500                                                      Asus RT-N56U

Both routers are rated to be gigabit, dual-band routers. Before I dive into the real-world speed tests, here is a raw speed test benchmark for the network that I am working on.

All of theses tests are being run over a wired connection to EPB’s gigabit fiber network with the highest available package. The SpeedTest.net test is being run through Comcast’s Atlanta, GA server. The other test is EPB’s gig test page, available at speedtest.epbfi.com/gig.

The reason that there is such a dramatic difference between the EPB test and the SpeedTest.net is due to the file size each test uses. The SpeedTest.net test is unable to reach the maximum potential of the fiber network because the file is done downloading before peak speeds can be clocked.

Each router was connected via Cat6 to a late 2009 MacBook Pro with a gigabit ethernet card. All of the tests were performed under OSX.

Linksys EA4500:

Asus RT-N56U:

So there you have it: two different routers, producing dramatically different speeds. The Linksys router, which, at the time of this writing, is just over $60 more than the Asus one, produced network speeds that were immensely slower. This test only takes into account the actual speed coming off of the ports, and ignores the other features of the routers (PNP abilities, quality of the admin panel, etc.). However, it still provides an interesting view into the raw speed differences of each device.

In the next day or two, I will upload the results of my tests on each router’s wireless.