The look of a router is a common point of complaint among users. Most models with attractive designs sacrifice performance by hiding and shrinking their antennas, while on the other side we find true imitators of the facehugger. The folks at Asus believe they can offer the best of both worlds, and used the start of Computex 2017 to reveal its new Blue Cave router, which at first glance looks like… anything but a router.
Routers carry an ever-growing responsibility as central managers of home connectivity, but there is one small detail that has never been solved satisfactorily: many people think they are horrible, hide them behind the television or a piece of furniture, and the final performance is as bad as their appearance. One of the main companies to address the aesthetics situation in its routers was Google, first with the “OnHub”, and later with its unit called “WiFi”. Add to that a new wave of smart routers that update automatically and try to balance signal reach against the number of connected devices. That said, Asus is not planning to miss the party, and with its presentation at Computex 2017 comes Blue Cave.
Honestly, the last thing we'll think if we have it next to us is that it's a router. If someone mistakes it for a speaker or a subwoofer, it would be more than justified, but the illusion disappears once we see the five RJ45 ports (WAN x 1, LAN x 4), along with a USB 3.0 port. The Blue Cave is what is known as an AC2600 router, with a top speed of 1,734 megabits per second in ac mode, and 800 Mbps in n mode with TurboQAM. There are four internal antennas, installed at the top, so the hole serves as a separator between them and the motherboard, based on Intel hardware. Blue Cave includes an integrated protection system from Trend Micro called AiProtection, IFTTT and Alexa support, guest networks, firewall, an advanced management app for smartphones, and of course, dual-band 2.4 or 5 GHz.
Asus decided to keep the launch date of the Blue Cave a secret; however, what it did share with those present was the price, estimated at around $180. It's definitely a number that places it among high-end routers, but if the priority is a polished aesthetic combined with high performance, maybe it's a good option.
