Pros: For a normal Joe like me, you no longer need DD-WRT or Tomato 3rd party firmware. Here are the pros:
* Dual Wan
* Multiple Isolated Guest SSID
* 3 Radios and Smart Connect
* Parental Control: Filtering and Scheduling by MAC Address
* Analytics Dashboard of Traffic and Consumption per device (and apps)
* Bandwidth Monitoring and Control
* VPN Server and Client
* ASUS Frequent firmware updates.
*..... Do I have to continue

Cons: There are not that many cons. The latest firmware is stable enough. The only nuisance that I found was related to the Smart Connect rules and THE echo, which was fixed based on a recommendation in a Smallnetbuilder forum.

Other Thoughts: This is one of the best routers money can buy. I used to be a fan third party firmware like HyperWRT, DD-WRT and Tomato. But ASUS own AsusWrt had grown to be a monster. You no longer need to flash a third party firmware unless you want to customize the router to do some other esoteric tasks.

As a parent I thank ASUS for giving such a refined parental control system that no other router in the market have. I can schedule each and every device for certain time during any day of the week. And now I can also filter any specific device of adult contents and other type of kid unfriendly services.

To my surprise now a Traffic Monitoring dashboard is included with a TOP 5 of devices with high data consumption. This helps greatly when you have an internet service that is capped like Comcast (shame on them). With this kind of reports, you know what to block monthly so you don't hit the cap. Graphs could be drilled down to details of each and every web site hit by device or apps used. Knowing that your son is consuming 2.5GB of data daily on Youtube is priceless.

So much about software. The hardware build is great and plastic is not as flimsy as other brand routers, and it has 6 antenna. I which it to be smaller as this router is a monster that takes out lot of desk space. ASUS should include a vertical stand just for it to look like the space saving AC1900 models.

In a nutshell this is all I have to say, you will not go wrong with this router HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Pros: Asus quality, ease of setup, security other than AiProtection

Cons: AiProtection is proprietary.

Owners might want to have a close look at the End User License Agreement (EULA) for this system, which is where privacy concerns rear their head. A copy of that can be found here and applies to all Asus routers using the technology, from which we quote the following warning:

“By using the Software, You will also cause certain information (“Forwarded Data”) to be sent to Trend Micro-owned or -controlled servers for security scanning and other purposes as described in this paragraph. This Forwarded Data may include information on potential security risks as well as URLs of websites visited that the Software deem potentially fraudulent and/or executable files or content that are identified as potential malware. Forwarded Data may also include email messages identified as spam or malware that contains personally identifiable information or other sensitive data stored in files on Your router,” it states.

“You can only opt out of sending Forwarded Data by not using, or uninstalling or disabling the Software.”

Other Thoughts: Do to privacy concerns with Trend Micro I returned the 3200. I will no longer purchase Asus routers as long as they use Trend Micro. My personal data and privacy are to valuable to me to use a device that I paid for, to spy on me.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your time on posting this review, we are sorry to hear your experience with the ASUS router. Please allow me to assist you.

AiProtection, incorporating state-of-the-art, three-pronged security from Trend Micro, gives you enterprise-level security in the home it's one of the most secure home routers you can buy. It constantly monitors the health and safety of your network for total peace of mind.

It has Router security scan, Malicious site blocking, Vulnerability protection, Infected device detection and blocking, Web and app filters and Time scheduling.

For further assistance or if you want to discuss this matter with me, please email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and put case #N160375369 in the subject line for a reference. I'm here to help you and all others with these issues, as our customer loyalty department dedicated to bringing a resolution to all issues related to our products.

If ever you want to call our representatives please check link below for the contact numbers.

http://www.asus.com/us/support/CallUs

Thank you for choosing ASUS.

Best regards,
Jerry A
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Speed, designed and easy to use

Cons: It has a conflict with my VPN (I work from home sometime) this is a major headache. the previous model I had no issue like this for this reason I will give it a lower rating.

Pros: Ease of use, speeds, price.

Cons: A bit of a pain in the when it comes to resetting, but it may just be my knowlege level.

Other Thoughts: Yes I would recommend
I would buy again.

Pros: This has great coverage and the ASUS interface is easy to use.

Cons: The day I bought this I had to call ASUS because the WIFI part wasn't working. Customer support said I had to push the WIFI button the front to turn it on. Okay, I missed that button but it wasn't in the instructions. Also, why would a wireless router come with the WIFI turned off by default? Sounds silly to me, but okay, I can live with it.

A few days later, I called ASUS again because I was getting "Network Error" errors while downloading 70MB files and 30MB files. They had no idea what was wrong but tried to blame it on the source of my download. I then tried to download the 35MB firmware from their own site and got the same "Network Error" again. It would only download about 17MB and then stop with the network error. They suggested updating the firmware to the latest one available on their site (dated 12/29/2016). I did this and everything worked normally.... for a week. Again, downloads started getting "Network Error". I called ASUS and they asked if my QOS was turned on. I told them it was not and they suggested turning it on... What? Why? They didn't give me any good explanation but I did it anyway. Of course, that did not fix anything. In the end they had me hard-reboot the router and the downloads started working again. I lost all my internet schedules for my kids' tablets. Shesh... okay fine. Two weeks later, downloads started getting "Network Error" again. This time, I backed up my schedules through the router GUI, hard-reset my router, and downloads worked like they were suppose to. Then I imported the backup I had made before the hard-reset and my downloads started getting "Network Error" again. Dumb router. I'm not doing anything extraordinary with it. I hard-reset it again and made no changes to it besides the initial setup screens and it seems to be working again... I'm starting to despise this router.

Other Thoughts: Why am I having these entry level issues this router? I would have thought for $250, this router would just work. I guess I was wrong. I've had $10 Rosehill routers work better than this one. I'd be hard pressed to ever recommend this router to anyone and it will be a cold day at the gates of Hades before I ever give Asus another $250 for a router.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Travis,

Thank you for your time on posting this review, we are sorry to hear your experience with the ASUS router. I understand that you are disappointed with the unit. Please allow me to assist you.

Please try the steps below to try to fix the router's connections issue.

Check for interfering devices i.e. Cordless Phone / Microwave Oven / Bluetooth Devices
Check the wireless settings {Wireless Channel: 1 / 6 / 11 }
Try to test with 5ghz
Try with different wireless computer or other wireless devices and check the connection if its stable
Try using the hardwire cable and check the connection if its stable
Bypass router and connect PC directly to the modem then check the connection if its stable
Update the firmware
Restore the router to factory defaults
Reconfigure the router
Change channel bandwidth to 40 Mhz then to 80, control channel to 157, DTIM to 3 and
Beacon Interval to 70.

For further assistance or if you want to discuss this matter with me, please email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and put case #N160259417 in the subject line for a reference. I'm here to help you and all others with these issues, as our customer loyalty department dedicated to bringing a resolution to all issues related to our products.

If ever you want to call our representatives please check link below for the contact numbers.

http://www.asus.com/us/support/CallUs

Thank you for choosing ASUS.

Best regards,
Jerry
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Great range and speed , been running with no problems for 3 months . Even my N clients benefit , N clients gain in transfer speeds if transferring large files at least 4 MBPS gain . Super stable with latest Merlin FW goes months with no need for reboot .
Forget smart connect , best set up clients to the radio of your choice .
Capable of setting up many guest network ssids for all those gadgets you don't want sharing your lan .
Built in protection a plus if you trust it , easily turned off if you don't

Cons: Not many cons , key rotation should be set at zero instead of 3600 , if you leave it at 3600 your wireless clients will drop for a couple of seconds every hour , set to zero no wireless drops ,
Update , this has been fixed , works perfectly with key rottation set at 3600 or every hour

Other Thoughts: Expensive , but worth it , as of Jan 2016 very stable , everything works . One of the best AC 3200 ROUTERS OUT THERE

Pros: I will say that I usually purchase ASUS products for a majority of my computer parts but with their routers, I was very skeptical of the quality on their newer models. Most of the reviews across the board are average at best.

Albeit, I took the plunge and I am very glad that I did. Great performance, quality and there are tons of features for the enthusiast and novice!

Cons: - It's fairly large compared to the routers I've had before
- The documentation of the extra features seems to be limited to 3rd party resources

Other Thoughts: I live in an area with over 20 2.4 ghz hotspots in close proximity and my ISP provided router/modem combo couldn't compete. This router makes a huge difference.

[UPDATE] - Make sure you go to ASUS's website to get the latest firmware. I tried to use the auto update function but it wouldn't grab the latest version. I am guessing a majority of the bad reviews are due to an old firmware version.

Pros: Good feature over all but pricey though...

Cons: Big times WiFi drops, firmware is up-to-date! - very disappointing after using few months consistent WiFi drops.
Quality and design had got bad from Asus
for this size - it should have more then 4 ports!

Other Thoughts: I am a big time Asus customer 15+ years, this product made me so much disappointments. I also own Asus RT-AC66 router and it did not have any issues. I might have to go for different brand unless Asus can help me.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your time on posting this review, we are sorry to hear your experience with the ASUS RT-AC3200. Please allow me to assist you.

Please try the troubleshooting steps below to try to fix the router's issue.

* Place your router in an open and strategic area since this device uses radio waves to communicate.
* Do not place your wireless device or computer right next to the router because the 18-inch radius around the router is a wireless dead zone.
* Ensure that the distance between the router and the wireless device is three (3) meters apart as this is the area with the best signal strength.
* To resolve wireless speed and strength issues, it is recommended to use WPA-Auto Personal.
* If you wish to attain optimal Wireless-N speeds set your wireless security to WPA2-Personal.
* If the issue still exists after performing the steps above, this could mean that the router needs a firmware upgrade. However, if the router is currently using the latest firmware version, you may perform a firmware re-flash/downgrade. The re-flash process lets you update your firmware with a similar version that you are currently using.


For further assistance or if you want to discuss this matter with me, please email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and put case #N160174636 in the subject line for a reference. I'm here to help you and all others with these issues, as our customer

Pros: the setup is simple
the range is gr8

Cons: Does not Support SonicWall Applications
ASUS Support Staff are near Useless

Other Thoughts: I was so excited for this Router but the lack of ability to use VPN and the fact that ASUS Technical Support are incapable of reading English..

Sending this back..

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Adam,

Thank you for your time on posting this review, we are sorry to hear your experience with the support and the unit.

Was router already returned? Can we have a detailed information about the issue about the router's VPN feature. I understand that you are disappointed with your purchase, please allow me to assist you. May I know the steps that you have taken to try to troubleshoot the issue with the Support Sonic Wall Applications.

For further assistance or if you want to discuss this matter with me, please email me at customerloyalty@asus.com and put case #N160128283 in the subject line for a reference. I'm here to help you and all others with these issues, as our customer loyalty department dedicated to bringing a resolution to all issues related to our products.

If ever you want to call our representatives please check link below for the contact numbers.

http://www.asus.com/us/support/CallUs

Thank you for choosing ASUS.

Best regards,
Jerry
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: My connections seem to be more reliable and somehow my speeds doubled from my old wireless router to this one. This is based on speed tests I ran before and after the router installation. I've only had it for a month and I'm very impressed.

Cons: The only downside is it's size. It takes up a very large footprint.