Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
The ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 is a surprisingly normal-sized Wi-Fi 6 gaming router, especially compared to models like the TP-Link Archer GX90 I reviewed earlier this year. However, the gaming theme can be seen throughout, where it is loaded with sharply angled lines and interesting design patterns for more visual complexity stereotypical of the PC and console gaming world. When plugged in, user configurable RGB LEDs illuminate the front edge of the router. The entire enclosure is made out of plastic. An array of four LEDs for WAN, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and power status are located at the top left, while an embedded ROG logo is located on the right for additional visual flare. All status LEDs will light up or blink white when everything is working as expected. The router's dimensions are not specified, but is approximately 27cm in width, 16cm in depth, and 5cm in height with no antenna installed at its largest dimensions according to my measurements. If you include the four antennas, the depth and height will increase to approximately 19cm and 16cm, respectively. The ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 weighs 701.3g, which is pretty light weight.
The ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 lays flat on your desk like many modern routers rather than aligned vertically to save space. It is equipped with four dual band non-detachable antennas for multi-user multiple-input and multiple-output wireless communication. Inside, the router is powered by a 1.5GHz Broadcom triple-core CPU with 256MB of flash memory and 512MB of RAM.
Turning the ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 around, we can take a closer look at the dual band antennas attached to the router along with a standard array of ports and switches. From the left, we have a 12V DC power input, power switch, USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, four Gigabit Ethernet ports, one Gigabit Ethernet uplink port, WPS button, and a reset button.
Four antennas are located at the back of the router. While they are non-removable, they can be swiveled and rotated, meaning their aim can be adjusted. Why four antennas, you may ask? The use of multiple antennas for communications has been the foundation of many modern wireless technologies; ranging from short range unlicensed bands such as Wi-Fi to long range licensed bands like 5G cell phone networks. The fundamental principle lies in the fact that multiple antennas allow the designer to enhance performance using beamforming and diversity techniques. Beamforming, in the simplest explanation, allows the wireless signal to be directed towards a certain direction. Diversity exploits multipath -- where a wireless signal can arrive via different paths due to reflection and refraction in the propagation channel -- to enhance the received signal quality. In Wi-Fi 6, spatial multiplexing takes advantage of these different paths between the transmitter and receiver, as limited by the number of antennas and advanced signal processing techniques, so that multiple streams of data can be transmitted within the same frequency band. Multi-user MIMO, otherwise called MU-MIMO, lets multiple antennas from multiple users to communicate with multiple antennas on the router. Obviously, the more antennas on the access point the better, but we are bound by the laws of diminishing returns.
The ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 is advertised as an AX5400 router. This means it operates at 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz band via one 40MHz channel with two spatial streams. 4804Mbps of bandwidth on a 160MHz channel with four streams on the 5GHz band gives it 5378Mbps total theoretical throughput for its AX5400 designation. We will evaluate the performance of this router in just a moment.
The power supply is an ASUS-branded adapter, but if you look carefully, you can find its Chinese language manufacturer name, which is 柏怡電子. A quick search shows this company is known as PI Electronics in English. The AD2131320 is a 19V power supply specified for up to 1.75A of current. This means it can deliver a maximum of 33W. As far as efficiency is concerned, it is "VI" rated. To skip over all the nitty gritty compliance details of this technical specification, the basic gist of it is it has to be at least 87.5% efficient in given conditions and consumes less than 0.50W in no-load mode.
Ventilation openings can be seen at the bottom of the ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400. A pair of ramped plastic feet with patches of rubber bottoms provide about half a centimeter of additional clearance between the router and your table at the highest point. Two mounting holes inside the feet lets you wall-mount or ceiling-mount your router should you prefer that; this is a great option in my opinion. Meanwhile, a label at the bottom shows information like the serial number, default SSID, and hardware revision. Of course, you are free to change your wireless network name in the web configuration interface, but this will get you going right off the bat if you have no idea what you are looking for.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Configuration and User Interface
4. Performance Tests
5. Conclusion
