The follow up to Asus's Lyra Home Wi-Fi System, the Lyra Trio ($249), is a three-piece whole-home Wi-Fi system designed for multilevel residences of up to 5,400 square feet.
It consists of three cool-looking nodes, one of which serves as a primary router, that use mesh technology to communicate with each other and to provide seamless roaming throughout your home using a single SSID and password.
The system is installed and managed using an intuitive mobile app and offers robust anti-malware tools and parental controls.
In our testing, though, it couldn't match the performance of our reigning Editors' Choice, the original Linksys Velop, but it is half the price of that high-end system.
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Stylish System
Each Trio ($236.37 at Amazon) node is equipped with three internal antennas that meet at the top, giving them a unique pyramid-like design.
Sporting a semigloss pearl finish with blue trim, they are designed to be placed out in the open and will look good in any room in your home.
The nodes measure 3.1 by 5.5 by 5.1 inches (HWD) each, have two LAN ports and a power jack around back, and a Pairing button on the base.
You can connect the nodes wirelessly, or use one of the LAN ports using Ethernet cabling, provided your home is wired for it.
The inner portion of each antenna leg has LED lighting that is white when the system is ready for setup, light blue when everything is up and running, red when a node has lost its connection to the primary router node, and yellow when it's lost its internet connection.
The Trio is a 3x3 dual-band system powered by a Qualcomm 750MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM, and 32MB of flash memory.
It's an AC1750 system which means it can achieve maximum speeds of 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,300Mbps on the 5GHz band.
It uses band-steering to automatically select the best radio band based on available bandwidth.
However, as is the case with the original Asus Lyra Home Wi-Fi System ( at Amazon) , you can't separate the bands.
The system also supports beamforming technology, which sends Wi-Fi signals directly to a client rather than broadcasting in all directions, but it does not support MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, which is found in most other mesh systems including the original Asus Lyra, the Linksys Velop ($397.21 at Amazon) , and the TP-Link Deco M5 Wi-Fi System ($185.99 at Best Buy) .
MU-MIMO allows the router to transmit data to clients simultaneously rather than sequentially, but client systems must be equipped with MU-MIMO-capable hardware in order to take advantage of the improved throughput.
As with the original Lyra system, the Trio uses Asus's AiProtection to safeguard your network and any connected users.
Powered by Trend Micro, AiProtection is a cloud-based security solution that detects and removes malware and viruses and offers robust parental controls with website blocking, content filters, and scheduled access.
It also detects and blocks infected devices before they can log into the network.
You get a lifetime subscription with the Trio so you never have to worry about ongoing monthly or annual fees.
It uses the same mobile app as the original Lyra Home Wi-Fi System and can also be managed using the Asus web interface, which offers more advanced settings than the mobile app, including those for WAN and LAN, Firewall, VPN, and IPv6.
There's even an option for configuring the Trio to work with Amazon Alexa voice commands to do tasks such as turn guest networking on and off, update the firmware, and pause the internet.
That said, the mobile app is all about ease of use and has plenty of settings of its own.
It opens to a network map showing all three nodes and the number of connected clients, and below the map are buttons labeled Family Members, Easy Wi-Fi Sharing, and Security Insight.
There's also a Real-time Traffic analyzer that shows current internet upload and download throughput speeds.
The Family Members button allows you to create groups of devices and place limits on their internet access.
For example, you can place your child's phone, laptop, and gaming console in a group and put limits on when any device in that group can go online.
With Easy Wi-Fi sharing you can send your network credentials (SSID and password) to friends and family members via email or text message, and the Security Insight displays any malicious attacks that the AiProtection feature has thwarted.
Tap the three-bar icon in the top left corner of the network map screen to launch a menu where you can enable the Traffic Manager, which lets you set upload and download bandwidth limits for specific applications, create a guest network, access Family Members, and select an Operation mode (Router or Access Point).
Here you can also set up an Ethernet backhaul (connect all nodes with wire) and configure the Asus AiPlayer, which allows you to stream video, photos, and music.
The Settings tab takes you to a screen where you can change the SSID and password, configure basic WAN and LAN settings, block Wi-Fi access to certain clients, and update the firmware.
Mixed Performance
Whether you use the Lyra mobile app or the web interface to install the Trio system, the process is quick and easy.
I used the mobile version and began by downloading the app and selecting Lyra Trio when prompted.
The on-screen instructions had me power up the first node (the Primary node) and connect it to my existing router/cable modem.
When the LEDs turned white I clicked Next and the app found the node immediately.
I tapped the node ID, selected a location from the list (Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Office, etc.), and created a network name and password and an Administrator name and password.
It took several seconds to apply the settings before the LEDs turned blue, indicating that the Primary node was successfully installed.
Next, I logged into the new network and followed the instructions to set up the additional nodes.
I placed the second node in my living room (about 30 feet from the Primary node), verified that the signal was good (in fact, it was Great), and when the LED turned white, tapped Connect and then tapped Search Lyra.
Once the node was identified, I gave it a location and waited several seconds for the app to apply the settings.
The LED turned blue and the app told me the setup was successful, so I repeated the process for the third node, which I placed in my basement.
Its installation was seamless as well.
See How We Test Wireless Routers
The Trio performed admirably on some of our throughput tests, but not all of them.
The Primary router scored a speedy 543Mbps on the close-proximity test, topping the TP-Link M5 Deco and the original Asus Lyra, and barely beating the Linksys Velop Dual-Band system ($193.92 at Amazon) .
The tri-band Linksys Velop system led the pack with 556Mbps.
At a distance of 30 feet, the Lyra Trio router garnered 106Mbps, beating the Linksys Velop Dual-Band by a hair and trailing the original Lyra by just 47Mbps.
The TP-Link M5 Deco took first place with a score of 249Mbps.
Throughput results on the Lyra Trio nodes were mixed.
Node 1 (Living Room) scored 211Mbps on the close-proximity test, beating the Linksys Velop Dual-Band node 1 by just 9Mbps, but trailing the original Lyra, the TP-Link M5 Deco, and the tri-band Linksys Velop by as much as 46Mbps.
At 30 feet, the Trio node scored 91Mbps, beating the TP-Link M5 Deco by 43Mbps, but trailing the Linksys Dual-Band Velop by 6Mbps and the original Asus Lyra by 31Mbps.
The tri-band Linksys Velop took top honors with a throughput score of 238Mbps.
The Lyra Trio's secondary node (basement) scored 98Mbps on the close-proximity test.
That's slightly faster than the Linksys Dual-Band Velop, but no match for the original Lyra (220Mbps), the TP-Link M5 Deco (211Mbps), and the tri-band Linksys Velop (328Mbps).
Results were similar on the 30-foot test: The Lyra Trio node 2 beat the Linksys Dual-Band Velop with a score of 85Mbps, but couldn't touch the TP-Link M5 Deco or the first-gen Asus Lyra.
The tri-band Linksys Velop scored an impressive 286Mbps on this test.
Sexy But Simple
If your current router is having trouble providing Wi-Fi to the far corners of your home, the Asus Lyra Trio can help.
It comes with three stylish nodes designed to provide wireless coverage for homes of up to 5,400 square feet and is easy to install and manage.
As with the original Lyra Home Wi-Fi System, it offers robust anti-malware/antivirus tools and strong parental controls, but it doesn't support MU-MIMO data streaming like its older sibling nor can it match the original Lyra's throughput performance.
If MU-MIMO technology is a must, check out our Editors' Choice for home Wi-Fi systems, the Linksys Velop.
It's more expensive than the Lyra Trio, but it provides more coverage (up to 6,000 square feet), supports MU-MIMO streaming, and is one of our top performers.
The Bottom Line
The Asus Lyra Trio is a three-piece Wi-Fi mesh system that will look good in your home, even if it's not quite as sophisticated as some of its peers.
