Belkin N600 DB Vs Asus RT-N56U

Belkin N600 DB is a new generation of Belkin wireless router with N600 technology. How do you compare with Asus RT-N56U?

Like other wireless manufacturers, Belkin introduces new generation of wireless routers including Belkin N150, Belkin N300, Belkin N450, Belkin N600 DB and Belkin N750 DB. The first three routers are powered by a single 2.4GHz band while the last two routers are powered by simultaneous dual band N technology.

Wireless Standards

Belkin N600 DB and Asus RT-N56U are two routers which support simultaneous dual band technology delivering the speeds up to 300Mbps each band. Belkin N600 DB is powered by 3x Internal Multi-beam antenna technology for better speed and range coverage. Asus RT-N56U is powered by Al radar technology for optimized and reliable wireless coverage. Wireless speeds and range coverage are prone to any environmental factors; you never reach the speeds they specified.

Ethernet Ports

Generally home wireless routers include Four Ethernet ports and one WAN port. But not all routers include four LAN ports. Apple Airport Extreme includes less port, only three gigabit LAN ports. Even D-Link DIR-632 includes eight LAN Ethernet ports. Both Belkin N600 DB and Asus RT-N56U include four LAN Ethernet ports and one WAN Ethernet port, but the speeds are different. Belkin supports fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps, but Asus supports gigabit Ethernet ports both LAN and WAN interfaces.

USB Port

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Both routers are designed to support high performance environment in delivering smooth streaming high definition media and fast responsive gaming. Being able to stream the media from the storage to the streaming adapter is very essential in home theater environment. You can download the preview videos from the internet and store them into the storage and watch later by streaming from the storage to your large screen HDTV. Therefore the router that supports the shared storage is very important in home theater environment.

Both Belkin N600 DB and Asus RT-N56U support the shared storage. Belkin includes one USB port to let you attach an external storage and share it across the network. Video Mover application helps you stream the HD media from the storage to the HDTV. The print-Genie helps you manage the printer attached to the router’s USB port. Since the port is only one, you can only attach either storage or printer at a time. In Apple airport extreme with one USB port you can add a USB hub to let you host both storage and printer at the same time. On the other hand, Asus RT-N56U includes two USB ports to let you attach both external storage and printer at the same time.

Guest Network

Guest network allows you provide internet access to your guests with limited access right. Guest network is separate network with different password other than your normal password. Belkin N600 DB supports guest network but Asus doesn’t.

In Amazon, Asus RT-N56U receives many positive customer reviews. Averagely it gets 4.4 stars out of five stars customer ratings for ease of use, speed and reliability, lots of features and range. Belkin is still far away to make a justification how good the customer reviews are. Currently it still receives averagely 3.9 stars out of five for ease of setup and documentations.

Networking Diagram

The networking diagram of both Belkin N600 DB and Asus RT-N56U can be shown in the following figure where the Belkin is the center of the network and connects to the cable modem to share the internet connection with some computers.

You can connect your XBOX console to the network wirelessly by adding wireless XBOX adapter or any types of multi-port wireless bridge such as Buffalo WLI-TX4-AG300N Wireless N Dual Band Client Adapter.

See also:

1. Best values dual band wireless routers
2. The new WNDR4000 N750 and WNDR3800 Premium edition
3. Linksys E2500 Vs Linksys E2000 - the new Linksys E Series
4. NEW DGND3700 N600 ADSL2 Wireless Modem Router
5. Linksys E-4200 Dual Band Gigabit Router