ASUS USB-AC68
A Wi-Fi dongle like no other.
Not content with normal reception or speeds, the ASUS boffins built a dualband 802.11ac adapter that uses the AC1900 spec. The AC68 connects via USB 3.0, and uses a special 3x4 MIMO antenna design (three transmit, four receive), with two fold-out antennae that can lock in multiple positions. Combined with the ASUS AiRadar software, this makes it easy to optimise the connection for maximum throughput. The device is large but quite portable, and can be plugged directly into a USB port, but is better used with the included extension cable and stand.
To achieve full speed, the AC68 needs a compatible router, and pulls up to 600Mbps from the 2.4GHz band and 1,300Mbps from 5GHz. Under the hood it has a Realtek RTL8814AU chipset.
Performance is absolutely top notch, and we hit speeds that no other USB adapter could manage. The large antennae also mean that the AC68 excelled at longer ranges.