The ASUS RT-AX57 GO portable WiFi router: what separates it from the crowd?

A look at the specifications

The ASUS RT-AX57 Go is square in shape with a thin chassis and weighs a mere 200g, making it very easily portable within a small bag. The chassis is primarily constructed of plastic, which minimises the weight, and comes in a single white color option, with the ASUS logo visible on one side.

You can lie the router flat or use the included stand to have it in a vertical position, there is also a triangular hole through one of the corners which you can use to securely tie it to something, should you wish, plus two holes on the bottom which can be used to wall mount the stand – so a great amount of flexibility.

Besides the standard WAN and LAN ports you get a USB- A 3.0 socket, plus a USB-C port that can be used to charge a device such as a smartphone, making 4G/5G mobile tethering (which we’ll discuss below) more practical. You can also use this port to plug a portable drive and create a mini NAS server for instance.

Looking at the more techy stuff, the router has five internal antennas, which includes one more 5GHz antenna than you’d expect to find on a router of this size, amplifying its signal strength at this frequency. The two supported frequency bands are 2.4GHz and 5Hz, which both have two spatial streams in the 2×2 MU-MIMO setup, meaning more efficient sending and receiving of data. The 160MHz channel in the 5GHz band allows for ultrafast WiFi 6 connections, and the total combined bandwidth across both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands equates to approximately 3Gbps.

What makes the ASUS RT-AX57 GO better than its competitors?

Compared to other portable routers, the ASUS RT-AX57 GO is feature-rich, in fact it has pretty much all the same features as your standard sized ASUS router. We’ve summarised the main features below. Although you’ll find some of these in other portable routers, you certainly won’t typically find all of them. 

WISP & 4G/5G mobile tethering

The ASUS RT-AX57 GO comes with what the company calls ‘Tri-mode connectivity’, which is essentially three different ways you can connect your devices to the internet via the RT-AX57 GO, which are particularly suited for home, work, and travel.

Router mode

This is the standard type of connectivity you get from a router, where it simply connects your devices to it either via wires or wireless connection and then to the internet. It’s the best option for use in your home where security issues are less of a problem.

WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) mode

WISP provides a similar WiFi connectivity to the standard router mode, however with a few added extras: firstly, it boosts the WiFi signal, giving you improved coverage and range for wireless devices to connect to it; secondly, it allows you to bypass ‘captive portals’ – i.e. the login pages that users of public WiFi channels often need to complete by providing personal details before they can access the internet; finally it provides additional security via AiProtection, which protects from dangerous websites and malware by cross-referencing them against a database, plus fixes any security loopholes in your setup and mitigates the spread of an infection by identifying and quarantining any affected device on the network.

Because of the additional security and connectivity boost, it’s ideal for workplace use.

4G/5G mobile tethering

In a feature that is pretty much unique to ASUS Wi-Fi routers as far as we’re aware, you can connect the ASUS RT-AX57 GO to your phone in order to turn the device into a 4G/5G router. 

This is especially useful for when you’re travelling and don’t have conventional internet access, or in situations where your internet goes down and you need a stop gap. The advantages of doing this over just connecting you web-using devices to your phone directly are that it has much improved connectivity, signal strength, general functionality, and prevents your phone from overheating as typically happens when you use it in this way for any length of time (which will degrade your phone’s battery life).

ASUS Extendable Router

If you want to extend your Wi-Fi network through your house, office building, or other, there are a couple of ways to do it. Using Wi-Fi extenders to expand the range of a single router is the most basic method, whereas a mesh network is basically when several routers are connected together to provide better coverage around your home/workplace/wherever your network is set up. A mesh network is a better (although more expensive) solution to just using WiFi extenders because you get overall better speeds as the routers work in tandem to hand-off connections to each other in the most efficient way.

ASUS AiMesh is essentially a mesh network, but better. Whereas most mesh networks require multiples of the same product, AiMesh networks can be made out of any ASUS device that has the feature, potentially saving you money. The Mbps over the connection is typically greater with AiMesh than on competing networks as well, so it’s the ideal way to extend your network’s range.

Advanced VPN features

The ASUS RT-AX57 GO comes with advanced VPN features that are particularly useful for business people that want to ensure privacy of sensitive information, or just anybody else that values data privacy and is security conscious. These include:

• Creating a VPN server: Rather than having to pay a subscription to an external VPN company, you can set up your own one for free. Although this won’t give you the advantage of alternative geo–location that you can use with subscription-based VPNs (to watch Netflix US if you’re in Europe for example), it does give you greater control over your data – removing the risk of an external company logging your activities or similar.
• VPN Fusion: This feature allows you to mix VPN and non-VPN connections in the same network.
• Instant Guard: This creates a private VPN server on your router that your mobile phone links back to, ensuring a safe connection on your mobile phone, wherever you are.
• Compatibility with WireGuard, OpenVPN, or client supported system protocols.
• Supports more than 30 VPN service providers if you do want to use a third-party subscription.

Parental control

The router comes with standard preset profiles for different age-groups which filter out inappropriate content for children; these can be adjusted and personalised yourself with your own custom filters. You can monitor what your children are looking at through the internet activity dashboard, and also set screen time schedules to limit the amount of time they spend on their devices.

Other features

• The ASUS Router mobile app allows you to easily control the features and security settings of your router, even when you’re in a different location.
• Guest Profiles can be easily set up, allowing restricted access to your network according to your requirements – ideal for businesses.
• Quality of Service allows you to prioritize the bandwidth allowance given to different programmes or devices.

Why pick the ASUS RT-AX57 GO?

The ASUS RT-AX57 Go would be a great buy for multiple different types of consumer. If you’re travelling alone or in a group, it’s arguably the best option out there in terms of features in such a highly portable chassis. It’s particularly good if you’re traveling in a family given the additional parental control it allows you to have over what your kids have access to. The USB-C charger further improves its general utility when plug sockets/power outlets might be in short supply.

On top of this, its relatively large WiFi coverage and breadth of features means it’s also a solid ‘home’ router to use when you’re not traveling, meaning you can have the same device with you wherever you are without having to go through any additional setup. The ASUS AiMesh tech also means you can easily incorporate it into a home network with other ASUS router devices if you want to expand your coverage further in a larger building.

For business people, it has the advanced VPN features required to keep your data secure, which extends to your phone via Instant Guard, plus additional security tools, and an easy setup and customizable guest portal.

Finally, for the tech enthusiast, you get an impressive amount of customization and tweak-ability options, given this is such a miniature device.