This Asus range extender looks like a Hellraiser puzzle box

There’s no doubt The ZenFone 2 and Transformer Book Chi were the two biggest highlights from Asus at this year’s CES show, but the RP-AC68 stood out during our tour of the company’s stand because of its demonic styling. The ominously glowing red device looks like something pulled straight from the pages of Clive Barker, rather than a Taiwanese R&D department.

The RP-AC68 is actually a 3-in-1 network range extender, acting as access point, wireless repeater and media bridge. Asus calls it the world’s fastest range extender, reaching 1,900Mbps throughput speeds with dual concurrent 2.4 and 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi over six internal antennae. Roaming assist will also pass you back to your router if it detects the signal to your device is too weak.

Flip the RP-AC68 over and it’s business as usual, with five Gigabit Ethernet ports for connecting set-top boxes, games consoles, PCs and streaming media players over a more stable wired connection, which should be ideal for gaming or streaming Full HD video around the home. There’s also a USB port for sharing multimedia files over your network, but it’s the glowing pattern on top that instantly grabs your attention.

Asus has styled the RP-AC68 to match its Republic of Gamers sub brand, which has traditionally targeted gamers and enthusiasts with its mix of high performance hardware, all black products and red LED lighting. We’re beginning to wonder whether Asus will have to add Satanists to that demographic now too.

The RP-AC68 should be going on sale in the coming months, although we’re still waiting for an official UK price. Just don’t try to open it up – we don’t want to be held responsible for unleashing anything that might be hiding inside.