When comparing NETGEAR Trek N300 vs Asus RT-AC5300, the Slant community recommends NETGEAR Trek N300 for most people. In the question“What are the best wifi-routers?” NETGEAR Trek N300 is ranked 3rd while Asus RT-AC5300 is ranked 17th. The most important reason people chose NETGEAR Trek N300 is:
It has a micro-USB port and since it only needs 100 volts to power up, you can plug it into a PC or laptop if there are no other energy sources available nearby.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Can be powered by a PC
It has a micro-USB port and since it only needs 100 volts to power up, you can plug it into a PC or laptop if there are no other energy sources available nearby.
Pro Great for people who use public connections often
The built-in firewall that makes this router a very secure choice for connecting to public WiFis.
Pro Software is easy to use
Android tablet users will be happy to learn that there is a companion application for using this travel router with these devices, making setup a breeze.
Pro Less congestion with multiple Wi-Fi bands
With the RT-AC5300 you get three separate WiFi bands, one 2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz bands. The additional 5 GHz band helps to lower congestion, because both 5 GHz bands can split the load between each other.
Pro Excellent performance
It's a device that delivers theoretical throughput speeds of up to 3.1 Gbps across both bands. It's capable of moving up to 1 Gbps in the 2.4 GHz band and 2.1 Gbps on 5 GHz bands. In real life testing at close range of 3 feet, RT-AC5300 delivers throughput of 661.6 Mbps. To maximize the router's speed it uses 1024-QAM which boosts the routers performance by 25% when compared to the more commonly used 256-QAM modulation scheme.
Pro You’ll be able to play games or stream 4K videos without a hitch
This router offers game-enhancement options such as Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO), 4X4 data transmissions, and a wealth of management settings. MU-MIMO offers simultaneous rather than sequential streaming and 4x4 data transmission gives four individual streams to deliver and receive data.
Pro Supports MU-MIMO for effective network management
If you have multiple devices using a lot of traffic at the same time, the ASUS RT-AC5300 can handle all of them simultaneously without sacrificing performance.
Cons
Con Rather exensive
At $159.99 it's quite on the expensive side as far as mini-routers go.
Con Bulky design
This router is large, thanks in no small measure to its bulky antennas. Without them, it measure 9.6 x 9.6 x 2.6 inches. Including the antennas increases them to 9.6 x 11 x 6 inches.
Con Overkill for an average user
Unless you have a large house or an office with plenty of Wi-Fi devices that play games or stream media, using the Asus RT-AC5300 is overkill especially considering its price tag.