Asus’ chunky ROG Rapture GT-BE98 router.
On the Digital, we have chosen not to test wifi routers, preferring to focus on wifi repeaters, better suited to the French market (operators provide a router, the box, but sometimes with disappointing wifi performance). However, some products stand out, such as this Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 router compatible with wifi 7 (802.11be). This model uses four frequency bands. The 2.4 GHz with a rate of 1.38 Gb/s, two 5 GHz with a rate of 5.76 Gb/s each and the 6 GHz band of up to 11.52 Gb/s, a cumulative total of 25 Gbps. Multi-Link technology allows multiple frequency bands to be used simultaneously. It requires wifi 7 compatibility, and the firmware (firmware) enabling the Multi-Link will not be available before the end of the year.
Such speed is especially useful for the local network, since the WAN Ethernet port that manages the connection to the Internet is limited – so to speak – to 10 Gb / s. The router offers two other 10 Gb/s Ethernet ports as well as four more traditional 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet ports. There are also two USB ports, including a USB 3.0 for connecting a storage device, for example. On such a high-end model, it should be possible to combine several internet connections to avoid cuts or maximize throughput.
The router is powered by a 2.6 GHz Quad-Core processor combined with 2 GB of RAM and 256 MB of storage for the system. The spider-like design on the back is identical to that of the ROG GT-AXE16000, easily identifiable with its eight huge antennas. Sold for around €650, this model has a speed of 4.68 Gb/s on the 5 and 6 GHz bands for a cumulative speed of 16 Gb/s, more than enough for most uses.
The Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 router should be available before the end of the year for a price above 700 €. Note that the slightly more discreet Asus RT-BE96U router has the same features except for a 10 Gb/s Ethernet port. Not stamped with the ROG brand, this model should logically be a little less expensive, while displaying almost similar performance.