Hello everyone, I'm Zhaohua.
As a bridge between the digital world and real life, routers are arguably the cornerstone of home networks. As a world-renowned network equipment manufacturer, ASUS has launched devices that are also widely favored by users. However, as we all know,ASUS's network equipment is almost all based on the Broadcom platform,And last year launched several new product routing,ASUS began to introduce the MediaTek platform,Although it is not as mature as the Broadcom platform in terms of tuning,But the positioning for entry and mid-range,It is also a cost-effective position。
The RT-AX57 series is ASUS's entry-level product, and although there are not many highlights in terms of hardware, it also has good product capabilities with powerful firmware and a perfectly adapted AIMESH intelligent networking solution. Recently, ASUS has launched a new router ASUS RT-AX57 Youth Edition, as the third product in the series, the router is known for its fresh color matching, balanced performance, and people-friendly** as its main selling point. Out of curiosity, I also started it for the first time, so let's take a look at its specific performance.
First of all, let's talk about the characteristics of the equipment.
The ASUS RT-AX57 Lite and RT-AX57 Hotblood are both MediaTek platforms, while the RT-AX57 is a Broadcom platform.
The CPU is MediaTek MT7981B, dual-core +13GHz max frequency, running memory is 128MB.
The RF chip is MT7976DAN, 24GHz band 574 Mbps + 5GHz band 2402Mbps, dual-band concurrent 3000M.
2.Both 4G and 5G have independent amplifiers, which is why I abandoned Xiaomi.
1 * 1gbps wan + 4 * 1gbps lan
It supports WiFi6 and ASUS AIMESH intelligent networking solutions, and can be used as nodes for subsequent network upgrades.
The ASUS RT-AX57 Lite Edition is the third product in the AX57 series, and it can also be seen as a replacement product for the RT-AX57 Enthusiastic Edition, which is also equipped with MediaTek 13Hz dual-core processor. In addition to the difference in the color of the shell, the RT-AX57 Youth Edition is also cheaper on the **, and it seems that ASUS is also planning to grab the entry-level product line with machine sea tactics.
In terms of styling, the youth version uses the same mold as the previous two versions, with a slightly convex body shape in the middle, three planes separated by lines, and the ASUS logo in the lower right corner are all completely retained. Pure white spraying is more fresh and elegant, which is more suitable for modern decoration style. 
The bronzing logo in the lower right corner
The router working status indicator on the front end has a large area of hollowing out on both sides, which is more than enough as a heat dissipation hole for air circulation. 
At the bottom is a large area of hollow grille to ensure the heat dissipation effect of the router when working, and the two sides are reserved hanging holes, and the form of hanging on the wall not only saves floor space, but also theoretically has a stronger signal. 
The router adopts a four-antenna design, which does not support manual disassembly, and the socket area from left to right is the reset button (top), WPS button (bottom), power switch, power jack, WAN port, and LAN port*4. After all, the positioning of the entry-level model, there is no use of 2The 5G network port is also reasonable. 
ASUS's router plays firmware, with a variety of detailed setting options, and tuning is also abnormally in place. Not to mention the high-end model, the biggest highlight of the entry-level model is this, but the hardware configuration is not outstanding. Once you're connected to the internet, you can use the web to set it up, but I recommend the ASUS onerouter app，Guided setup is even more convenient. 
On the web side, the main focus is richness, and although the ASUS RT-AX57 Youth Edition is positioned as an entry-level, the functions that it should have have not been left behind. It is no exaggeration to say that the starting price of this firmware alone is right. Just like Synology on the NAS side, everyone says that Synology buys software and gives hardware, but many people recognize that this is a typical software advantage. 
The firmware still has a built-in NetEase UU game accelerator, and new users can enjoy a 40-day free membership. This is also the only legal and regular accelerator at present, which supports PS4, Switch, Xbox, PC full-platform console acceleration, and can realize simultaneous acceleration of multiple devices in the LAN. For those who have high requirements for gaming network speed, you can take a look at ASUS's mid-to-high-end models, which are equipped with professional features such as three-stage gaming acceleration and port ** presets to provide a better gaming experience. 
The aimesh function is now also available on all models, and any router produced by ASUS in recent years can use this function to achieve mesh networking. The RT-AX57 Youth Edition is not only suitable for small and medium-sized households to be used as the main router, but also as a wireless node extension, which can show its cost-effective advantages. 
Let's do a performance test simply, in fact, there is almost no difference between the youth version and the blood version, and the test I did before is also applicable, mainly to see the performance of the new firmware.
China Telecom has contracted a 300m fiber-to-the-home bandwidth, with a whole house area of 110, pre-embedded Category 6 network cables, and the routing is located at point A. The black walls are all load-bearing walls, 2I won't try 4G, it's not necessary, and it will seriously affect the Internet experience. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you turn off the dual-band combination function, 24G is designed for smart home appliances in the home.
The signal strength is unexpected, I don't know if ASUS has optimized it on the hardware side, or if the firmware tuning is getting better and better, and the signal strength of the BC two-point signal strength is extremely obvious. Point B achieves -62dBm with a theoretical rate of about 72Mbps, and Point C achieves -57dBm with a theoretical rate of about 20Mbps. You know, the previous hot-blooded version of BC was above -80dbm at both points.
In terms of signal coverage alone, the ASUS RT-AX57 Lite Edition is enough to meet the signal needs of small apartments, and it is recommended to use it as a node if the apartment is large and has too many walls.
Connect your phone to the ASUS RT-AX57 Lite WiFi and access the wired NAS to determine the LAN transfer rate. Judging by the results from librespeed. The uplink and downlink bandwidth is basically full, and the overall performance is fully up to standard.
ASUS's AIMESH has evolved over the years and is now the current top tier of mesh technology. First of all, the pairing is easy, the wired connection only needs a network cable to connect the LAN port on the main router and the WLAN port of the sub-router, and the wireless connection only needs to keep the two routers on and close to each other, and the connection can be completed according to the wizard, the connection speed is extremely fast, and the mesh network can also be viewed in the background after completion.
AIMESH wired networking, ASUS RT-AX57 Youth Edition WiFi as a sub-node, the actual measurement can also reach 2The 4Gbp connection rate is enough to fill up the bandwidth, and it can easily meet the needs of 4K when you put it at point B.
In addition, ASUS's AIMESH has two features that should not be left out.
1. AIMESH supports the binding of specified devices to specified nodes, for example, you can bind the TV to the B node to avoid the TV from connecting to a node farther away.
Second, AIMESH wired backhaul is not enough, wireless backhaul has the problem of signal interference, and ASUS router has an optimization button, which is specifically to solve this problem.
ASUS has also been making new products recently, especially after cooperating with MediaTek, and has continuously launched models for the most sensitive entry-level users, the most typical example is the RT-AX57 RT-AX57 Passionate Edition RT-AX57 Youth Edition, while maintaining the same performance, it is not unavoidable to develop its own tactics with slight changes, or it is not unavoidable to call it a disguised price reduction.
To put it simply, the RT-AX57 Youth Edition is an entry-level model that pays attention to cost performance, and the hardware does not have much shortcoming, but the excellent firmware and excellent hardware tuning are huge advantages, and it can also be used as an expansion node for subsequent network upgrades, with a 3-year ultra-long warranty and less than 300**, you can start with your eyes closed.