ASUS - ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000

The only thing I kinda dislike is that it only has one 2.5Gbps WAN port and one 10Gbps LAN port — they really should've included two 10Gbps ports instead.

Yup check the tech spes for GT-AXE11000 such a skem

Another super happy camper with the 11000 running Merlin.

I got a ROG Rapture AXE 11000 earlier this year for $250. I don’t think there was anything that had comparable specs and features for a better price at the time.

I am using the older version (GT-AXE11000) and it has been running fantastic for many years. I have heard good things about the newer model (GT-AXE16000) which looks like what you have. That router should last for years and years. My router has been fantastic and I’m sure yours will too.

I have this router, only thing good about it is setting reboot every week at 3am, works out all kinks I had before.

OK, here's a budget-pick upgrade (ASUS): ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000. $266 at Amazon (USA). Tri-Band (2.4ghz/5ghz/6ghz). You didn't specify a requirement for the WAN port, but mentioned 1gbps internet speed. So with this router you could configure a 1gbps LAN port as a WAN, and use the single 2.5gbps port as a LAN port. Then connect a 2.5gbps switch to that 2.5gbps LAN port and your NAS, etc. are connected at 2.5gbps. As for antennas: 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz are all 4x4. But if you ever get internet speed greater than 1gbps you'd need a new router to maximize internet speeds and have faster LAN ports too. For a most substantial upgrade (in case you upgrade internet speed beyond 1gbps): ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000. $419 at Amazon. This one is quad band (2.4ghz/5ghz/5ghz/6ghz). All bands are 4x4. Also has two 10GB WAN/LAN ports, one 2.5gb WAN/LAN, and four gigabit LAN ports. So this would support up to 10GB internet speed, then also give you up to 10GB LAN speed (connected to a 10GB switch) for your local LAN clients. Or use the 2.5gb LAN port w/switch for that. So more expandability down the road, but this is fairly costly for a WiFi 6E router. At this price you could consider tipping your toe into WiFi 7 products. ASUS doesn't have any affordable tri-band WiFi 7 routers with at least 2.5gbps WAN and at least one 2.5gbps LAN port, from what I see ("affordable" = Less than the eye-watering $419 price above for the GT-AXE16000). I would be happy to be corrected if other Redditors know of any good options. So you could consider other brands. TP-Link offers great value, but not sure about their reliability. One option is the Archer BE800 (AKA BE19000). $350 at Amazon. 2.4ghz/5ghz/6ghz bands all 4x4. 10GB WAN/LAN, another 10GB WAN/LAN+SFP port (use one feature or the other for this port), and 4 2.5GB LAN. One note about TP-Link: They charge extra for additional security features. Looks like $53.98/year if you sign up for annual Security+ and Advanced Parental Controls subscriptions - [https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/4319/](https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/4319/) Compare that to ASUS, which gives you all the security features (Ai Protection Pro) for free with the router purchase. Just another data point.

As a huge fan of ASUS routers and MERLIN-WRT in general - this isn't worth it as a main router in 2025.

bought this model 2.5 years ago at $300, it works well, I have around 30 devices in my house

yeah 100% a scam... I went from 120mbps default isp modem was getting 21ms, upgraded nic to 2.5gbps, internet to 500mbps and gaming router configured to perfection (QoS, etc) and now im sitting at 26-29ms LOL - edit: running an Asus ROG gaming router with 2.5g port(s)

I was using an ASUS AXE11000 6e router with all of its 2.4, 5, and 6GHz bands in use. I replaced it with the ASUS BE98U. Picked up 30% better WiFi coverage on 2.4 and 5 GHz. Improvement on the 6GHz band was about 10% better with connections on 6GHz no longer needing to be in the same room as the router or a Mesh unit. The new WiFi 7 protocols also provide more stable connections between the router and clients - sidestepping interference. The only downside is LOT (legacy) devices can have trouble connecting to WiFi 7 - but the BE98U creates a "friendly" WiFi 6 LOT device channel in its multiple band streams. The improvement was enough to eliminate interference problems from all other WiFi interference outside my home coming from as far away as 600 feet. This doesn't even take into account the huge improvement in available download and upload speeds.    One of my LOT devices is 200 feet from my home at a gate and it's connection is now rock solid. So, yes there are good reason to upgrade to WiFi 7. Ignore the naysayers.