As with all AsyncControls, the AsyncRepeater comes with many enhancements not found in the asp:Repeater control. Some of the more innovative and robust features are implemented via the inherited class, AsyncPageRepeater. As the name suggest it is a AsyncRepeater that implements not only paging, but built-in sorting. Along with the many DTHML effects that are built into the AsyncRepeater, it has combined the bonus visual and responsiveness of the AsyncControl with a killer function.
The AsyncPageRepeater boast two great features that everyone seems to recognize, paging and sorting. Paging is one of the best known ways to decrease load times and increase readability when it comes to displaying a lot of data. Sorting is the end all for ordering data. Again no database changes, and no code behind changes what so ever. Sorting comes with the price of adding some header controls, but you do not have to change any other components (no db change, no code behind change).