Wireless network performance

Let's look at the apartment that was used in our testing and how it is set up. You can see that the ASUS Lyra Voice is placed in the living room. With most wireless routers, the signal strength is not that high in places like the Kitchen and the Medium balcony.

Our testing was done using a fast 1 Gigabit Internet connection that is capable of uploads on the internet of up to 500 Mbps. We used an HP Spectre 13 laptop for all our measurements and several software tools.

To get a better idea of the performance offered by ASUS Lyra Voice, we compared it Linksys EA7500 v2 AC1900 and Synology RT2600ac. We analyzed the 2.4 GHz band first and measured the signal strength with NetSpot. The signal strength offered by ASUS Lyra Voice was similar to the routers we compared it to.

Next, we used SpeedTest to measure how fast the internet connection offered by this router is when using 2.4 GHz wireless network. The download speeds offered by ASUS Lyra Voice were unimpressive.

The same was true when measuring the upload speed with SpeedTest, on the 2.4 GHz band.

Continuing our measurements on the 2.4 GHz wireless network, we used the PassMark Performance test to transfer data between two computers connected to the network. When we measured the download speed, ASUS Lyra Voice performed similarly to the previous test. Unfortunately, the high variability of WiFi transfers on the 2.4 GHz band translates into slow average speeds.

When we measured the upload speed, the trend was similar in all rooms.

ASUS Lyra Voice delivers underwhelming WiFi performance on the 2.4 GHz band, that needs to be improved in future firmware updates. The culprit is the high variability of network transfers on this band, which translates into slow transfer speeds.

We then analyzed the performance of the 5GHz wireless band. We looked at the evolution of the signal strength, from room to room. ASUS Lyra Voice offered good signal strength in all rooms except the one furthest from the router.

To see how fast the internet connection is when using the 5GHz band, we used SpeedTest. We took our laptop and measured the download speed in every room of our test apartment. ASUS Lyra Voice was a speed champion in the rooms closest to it, and it managed to deliver fast downloads in all rooms.

Uploads were fast too, in all rooms, except the one furthest from the router.

For the last measurements on the 5GHz wireless network, we used the PassMark Performance test to transfer data between two computers connected to the network. ASUS Lyra Voice delivered fast downloads in all rooms.

We measured fast uploads too, in all rooms, except the one furthest from the router.

ASUS Lyra Voice shines when using the WiFi on the 5 GHz band. It is capable of delivering fast transfers that compete well with similar routers.

Wired network performance

To test the quality of the wired Ethernet connection, we used a desktop PC, and we measured the speed of the internet connection when using a 1 Gbps Ethernet cable, using SpeedTest. As you can see below, you can enjoy 1 Gbps internet connections on the ASUS Lyra Voice, without problems. The upload speed did not go beyond 500 Mbps because our internet connection is capped at that level.

Since ASUS Lyra Voice has only two Ethernet ports, and we used it as a router, we could not test the speed of Ethernet transfers, between two desktop computers on the same network. There weren't enough ports to connect two computers to the network, using cables.

ASUS Lyra Voice has no problems in offering speeds of 1 Gbps when using Ethernet connections.

Extra features

In typical ASUS fashion, the Lyra Voice has a generous set of features, with some unique elements:

• Integration with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant - you can say things like "Alexa, ask ASUS ROUTER to upgrade the firmware" to perform different tasks. On top of it, if you also install the Alexa mobile app and integrate it with the Lyra Voice, you can use it as an Amazon Echo device.

• A comprehensive Router Security Assessment tool which verifies whether your settings are secure. When it finds problems, it proactively informs you and takes you where you need to be to fix things.

• Malicious Sites Blocking - an efficient cloud-based module that blocks malicious websites on all the devices connected to your network.

• Two-Way IPS - a two-way intrusion prevention system that protects all your network from spam, DDoS attacks, network attacks, and more. Additionally, it also scans the packets that are sent from your network to the internet.

• Infected Device Prevention and Blocking - if your network devices get infected, and they become zombies in malware networks, they are automatically blocked, and you are informed about this problem.

• Parental Controls - useful, cloud-based parental controls that parents can use to set rules about internet access for their children's devices.

• Adaptive QoS - an advanced Quality of Service feature that can be used to optimize network traffic, including but not limited to online gaming.

• Guest Network - you can enable one wireless guest network with individual security and access settings, only on the 2.4 GHz band.

• Traffic Analyzer - offers visual traffic statistics which give you a clear picture of how your network is used and by which devices.

• IPv6 - support for IPv6 addresses that are going to replace IPv4.

• VPN - you can set the ASUS Lyra Voice to work as a VPN server, and you can also use it to turn your network-connected devices into VPN-enabled clients, without additional VPN software required.

• Network Tools - for analyzing the network and identifying what's wrong. They are useful when you need to troubleshoot problems.

• DDNS - a service that allows you to connect to the router from the internet, even if your internet provider gives you a dynamic public IP address.

The list of features available on the ASUS Lyra Voice is quite impressive, and it makes it stand out in the crowded market of wireless routers.

What is your opinion about ASUS Lyra Voice wireless router?

Now you know what we like and do not like about the ASUS Lyra Voice. It is an ambitious wireless device, with interesting features that may catch your attention. Sure, it is not an affordably priced device, but similar options aren't either. Before closing this review, tell us what you think about the ASUS Lyra Voice and whether you want to buy it. If you already have it, share your experience with us, in a comment below.