ASUS - ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro

I have one of these, use it as a repeater for my BE98Pro. Works great, use the 6e channel as a backhaul and it’s been really solid. I do prefer the Merlin firmware for it, and all of my other ASUS routers, with the main reason being how it displays the wireless log (so much clearer, with device names).

I have an Asus GT-BE98Pro connected to two ONTs from ais and true. I got the BOYD/COYD packages from ais and true where they bring an ONT placed into bridge mode that adapts the optical fiber into ethernet and then the ethernet plugs into my asus WAN ports. Even if you didn't throw away AIS router and replace it with an ONT, I imagine you would be able to put it into bridge mode. Just make sure you get the ppoe creds out of the router or from AIS beforehand so you can plug that into your own router. Maybe someone could correct me if I'm wrong, but that would be the equivalent to using an ONT without having to order a new tech out to replace your equipment. As someone else suggested here, the ucg-fiber or equivalent cloud gateway would also be nice if you want better traffic monitoring. Thinking about getting one as well to bridge between my router and core switches. For AIS I was able to use the app on the phone to order a public IP package and it activated immediately. I don't have a public IP with True but they give IPv6 for free which is almost as handy for me.

I’d see if they would upgrade you to the XB8. Tri-band, supports MoCA 2.5, if not, put it in bridge mode and buy your own router like I just did. Their ports won’t open up all the way for me for my brothers PS5. I just went and got a ASUS ROG Rapture GT-98 pro WiFi 7 router. Best move I ever did. The XB8 also has a 2.5g port. Allowing you to get multi-gig speeds if you ever upgrade speed.

I have the ROG GT-BE98 Pro (WiFi 7 Quad-Band) and I’m about to do a wired mesh backhaul with the ROG STRIX GS-BE18000 (WiFi 7 Tri-Band). With that being said, I love the GT-98 Pro, but I don’t need another one for upstairs. I’m going to try the latter out and see how it does.

It may be a little bit of overkill, but I just bought another GT-BE98 Pro secondhand but got it for the same price as the BE18000. I couldn’t pass up having 2 6Ghz bands for the same price I’d have paid to have only 1 6Ghz band. I’m going to be ready for these new handhelds which I’m pretty sure will have WiFi 7 chips JUST for MLO. Runs off of 2 bands simultaneously. Better for gaming. All of my consoles and PC are hardwired. But when I game on a handheld I want a very smooth connection, so I think it’s a no-brainer. I will still let you know how the backhaul goes. 🍻

I have Comcast Internet but both the modem and the router are my own, no stupid rental fees! Is all very easy to set up btw, instructions are included.

It is the Rapture GT-8E98 Pro Very easy to set up with the Asus app.

ASUS has a couple with dual 10g ports, one for WAN and the other for your network. Several 2.5g ports also. I have the BE98-Pro and a 10g 5-port switch from TP-Link. The router is a little buggy when it comes to the mesh network, but otherwise solid. The switch has been working well, although I currently only have my PC connected (till my new Mac and NAS arrive). I had tried a TrendNet 10g switch first and it was halving my speed on the PC.

ASUS has a couple with dual 10g ports, one for WAN and the other for your network. Several 2.5g ports also. I have the BE98-Pro and a 10g 5-port switch from TP-Link. The router is a little buggy when it comes to the mesh network, but otherwise solid. The switch has been working well, although I currently only have my PC connected (till my new Mac and NAS arrive). I had tried a TrendNet 10g switch first and it was halving my speed on the PC.

ATT modem/router is trash. Get the ASUS BE-GT98 Pro and get full speeds throughout the entire house. Just put the ATT gateway in passthrough mode.

Backhaul is how the routers talk to each other. It's best to do it wired. But, if you can't they will use one of the channels on the router that becomes a dedicated circuit (band) where they talk to each other. That's why you need at least three bands. If you want Wi-Fi, 7 I would recommend the bt-10 or the expensive BE98 pro. If you just want Wi-Fi 6e, any of the routers I mentioned before would work.. et8, et9,xt9,xt12,et12. Additionally, avoid the BQ 16 and the be96u, the firmware on the routers is buggy and has not been updated. I have personally used the et8, xt9 and the be98 pro. They have all been fantastic.

I would choose BT10. I just bought a BE92u yesterday noon and returned few hours later due to terrible 6G range. I was only able to get 100m-150m download speed from 1 floor above it (3-5M away). I also bought a BE800 and BE550 Pro to try out. Suprising BE550 Pro is pretty good overall for both mobile and desktop which makes me think both BE800 and BE550 Pro are very comparable. However, i still decided to return both becasue i didnt get any improvement compared to my old Asus Zen XD5 wifi 6 routers. At the end, I got the Asus BE98 Pro. I am able to max out the max out the ISP speed of 1.5Gbs from 1 floor above the router. Connection from mobiles is also fast and reliable. So i beieve a triband mesh should be as good.

ASUS - ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro BE30000 Quad-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router The Swiss Army knife of WiFi routers with 10GB ports. Lots of controllable features and decent app. Expensive but we have had no problems with it at all. The main selling point for us was the 10GB ports support. We have 3GB internet and wanted this to support our WiFi and 10GB network switches.

Yeah sometimes, depending on the brand and generation. I am in no way saying to get a gaming router. All I wanted to get across is that brands like Asus sometimes lock away features under the ROG line. For example, I have about 5 routers in my network and the one that is gaming was picked only bc of its features at that time. The ASUS gt-be98 pro, way overkill for most, and I know that, but it was the most capable at the time of purchase and no other brands or models had all the features.

Asus BE-88U or 98U, an SPF+ to RJ45 adapter and a couple of TP-Link SX1008 switches.

I bought last month the asus rapture gt be98. It is running beautifully. So smooth. Network latency about 3ms wireless over 6ghz wifi 7. Before this, i had always the warning, slow speed from host or something like this and often stutter.

I recommend changing your existing router to the ASUS GT BE98. I’m using only one router for my multi storey home. Router is installed on the ground floor. I’m getting speeds of up to 600 Mbps on the higher floors, without any wifi mesh. I’m also getting signals from my outside garden. You can refer to this video for the router review. It describes the same experience I am getting from my router. https://youtu.be/XrOYtdEI-KQ

I'll pick the Asus, better coverage and all features available without going through a pay wall.

So I saw what you asked. I would avoid Asus personally. I had both the mesh and the rog pro router and while they ran great at first I got a lot of disconnects due to an N1 chip issue with my wife’s iPhone 17 PM. I ended up getting an Orbi 970 and haven’t has issues. Personally depending on placement I’d recommend netgear at a mid tier level not low tier

Always bought a worthy router , for example I got the ASUS WIFI7 gaming router as I would never get my gigabit speeds via WiFi. It’s disappointing for the money spent monthly and this has been 15+ years of this and it’s a monopoly. I’ve tried others companies as well as ones that came and went. I typically always hardwired and that’s the closet I’d ever get to a gig. I have a rentals properties I own and one is a new build (3 months old) another I built 15 years ago both spectrum all the way through the whole time including my personal home & business. As long as the modem is up to par Docsis3.1 etc, is what they offer but there is better out there, however that is what’s important but even using spectrums new WIFI7 router the equipment is subpar to be nice. Of course, there are variables involved understanding, LoS, waveforms, frequency , channels and interference or whether it’s your walls or you live in a old home or a new build, or where the whole neighborhood is set up for spectrum and you’re stepping onto the signal from line to line & home to home. Everything is expanding to quick all over and they all can’t keep up but want the business and worry about the quality later. Even more troublesome is telecoms infrastructure as a whole is outdated severely is the major culprit and it get a bandaid over a bandaid, spectrum’s architecture is no different and is out of date( I.E. the IP switch up of running out years back & MAC addresses are getting there too) again many variables. Apologies, this is more info than asked , I just dealt with it today via a tech telling me to get a mesh network or router because I won’t be happy with the performance. I know people that have been behind the scenes or even subbed out and worked on the back end of things as I have or have climbed the towers for installation/fixes to the front know. I will always say being you can’t get out of the modem as you could once upon a time , always buy your own equipment for best results. Finally even with my $500 router I still only get 650-700 down & up which is disappointing. In all the years whether admittedly doing what I was trained to do , these days when having techs out they all will tell you all day get your own router or mesh network which is a tad cumbersome when you folks are paying high bills and installation fees and is some cases getting PODS , the glorified signal repeaters. It’s a shame. Please know I am not bashing spectrum per se , they are all the same as it’s a bigger issue. I just don’t see a solution in the near future. YES , always get your own gear when possible and configure it well and properly.

Always bought a worthy router , for example I got the ASUS WIFI7 gaming router as I would never get my gigabit speeds via WiFi. It’s disappointing for the money spent monthly and this has been 15+ years of this and it’s a monopoly. I’ve tried others companies as well as ones that came and went. I typically always hardwired and that’s the closet I’d ever get to a gig. I have a rentals properties I own and one is a new build (3 months old) another I built 15 years ago both spectrum all the way through the whole time including my personal home & business. As long as the modem is up to par Docsis3.1 etc, is what they offer but there is better out there, however that is what’s important but even using spectrums new WIFI7 router the equipment is subpar to be nice. Of course, there are variables involved understanding, LoS, waveforms, frequency , channels and interference or whether it’s your walls or you live in a old home or a new build, or where the whole neighborhood is set up for spectrum and you’re stepping onto the signal from line to line & home to home. Everything is expanding to quick all over and they all can’t keep up but want the business and worry about the quality later. Even more troublesome is telecoms infrastructure as a whole is outdated severely is the major culprit and it get a bandaid over a bandaid, spectrum’s architecture is no different and is out of date( I.E. the IP switch up of running out years back & MAC addresses are getting there too) again many variables. Apologies, this is more info than asked , I just dealt with it today via a tech telling me to get a mesh network or router because I won’t be happy with the performance. I know people that have been behind the scenes or even subbed out and worked on the back end of things as I have or have climbed the towers for installation/fixes to the front know. I will always say being you can’t get out of the modem as you could once upon a time , always buy your own equipment for best results. Finally even with my $500 router I still only get 650-700 down & up which is disappointing. In all the years whether admittedly doing what I was trained to do , these days when having techs out they all will tell you all day get your own router or mesh network which is a tad cumbersome when you folks are paying high bills and installation fees and is some cases getting PODS , the glorified signal repeaters. It’s a shame. Please know I am not bashing spectrum per se , they are all the same as it’s a bigger issue. I just don’t see a solution in the near future. YES , always get your own gear when possible and configure it well and properly.

WiFi 7 and MLO. It has 4x 2.5gbps Ethernet and 2x 10gbps. So it can handle 10gbps fiber which is future proof for most people. It can handle an insane amount of devices and it has 16x antenna (2 in each antenna) so the signal is great. It is also quad band, the US version has 1x 2.4ghz 1x 5ghz and 2x 6ghz. The European version is the same but with 2x 5ghz instead of 6ghz. Which is handy for load balancing if you have a lot of wireless devices or using as a wireless back haul. It also has decent security features built in that doesn't require a subscription like the other brands. Then it has beefy specs as far routers go. It does all this passively cooled too, which is pretty awesome as other routers with these specs have a fan. It's expensive yes, but it depends on how much you want/need those features and how long you want to keep it for. I have one and I don't have any regrets and I don't need no expensive mesh system anymore to cover my house. It will probably last me 10 years given the slowness of my area when it comes to upgrading the fiber speeds.

I have this monster of a router. It's crazy fast and will easily last 10 years.

I used to like the nest but never got the speeds promised until I bought Asus rog router and mesh link wow I’m getting the whole gig almost every where in the house

Only reason I bought one because at the time when I upgraded my speed to multi gig and needed 10G WAN and 10 LAN, the only option was an ROG Gaming router. Otherwise, there's nothing on it that justifies an upgrade from my regular Asus router

I personally use all rog routers using their AI mesh

I was previously using Linksys products before they were sold to Belkin, and then switched to ASUS routers, I have had two main routers by them, both ROG. Plus many others I’ve used as AiMesh Nodes. I haven’t had any trouble them. Their tech support was helpful the few times I’ve reached out to them. They even replaced there router free of charge with a NEW one (not refurbished) of the same model when I had an issue not related to the quality of product. A few ports on the routers switch went bad after a near Lightning strike caused EMP damage to it (a lot of networking gear from different companies got damaged) I have no qualms about ASUS and their products have never given me problems.

FYI , all of our current routers and mesh product all have extensive on router functionality including Open, Wireguard and much more. As such you could pick BT6, 8, 10, 16 our any of the routers. Also all of the units have our Gaming QoS option for prioritizing game packets and or specific systems, if you want a more streamlined experience our gaming models ( ROG, ROG STRIX, TUF GAMING ) also have dedicated Gaming Ports which are pre configured should you connect your device to that port. You can also do this manually through our firmware/app. Also note unless you need the coverage specific to a kit ( which can be done via AiMesh ) on the router side you have the benefit of no backhual use maximizing throughput if you are within the coverage area of a router.

I have an Asus ROG with an Access Point and haven't been happier. I've got 3 bands set, one for guest, 1 for 2.4 and 5. I can set up a website for guest mode and have all the control I need through their app. My coverage is a 3000sq ft single story and I can get a signal all through my yard. I moved away from Google and others because I needed dedicated bands for IoT devices. I have 30 devices connected, most dormant, but still hold 130mbps+ for each on a 500mb ISP. I stream all TV and WFH without issues.

Get ASUS as that is the best for gaming ! Particularly any ROG models !

We have a ROG router and I fucking hate the thing (roommate got it years before we met). I have two DNS servers (primary being pihole) added, why the fuck does the house lose internet if I have to reboot it, isn't that the point of a backup DNS server?! and it's great if I have to log into proxmox in a hurry because I suddenly can't resolve my single sign in domain anymore /s

With current routers the ping issue really comes down to what servers they play on, the routers you use won’t see much of an impact as long as they’re functioning as expected But having said that, I do like knowing that my tech can handle the traffic IF we ever get home internet speeds above 10gbps So here’s a link to my fav biases https://www.asus.com/us/site/gaming/rog/gaming-routers/rapture.html

ASUS ROG products are a complete joke. If they spent the same amount on building a better router that they do on marketing they'd be much better off. You can search ASUS under my username for all my grievances. But they abandon all their ROG products after 1 year. After you buy that $699 router if you need warranty or it has a bug (like mine) where it'll stop dropping macs onto ethernet after a few weeks you just get to deal with it. $699 would be better spent literally anywhere else but ASUS. If you are spending that much you won't be happy with consumer devices anymore. You may want to look into ubiquti or rukus wifi and a custom router.

500mbs is more than enough for couple of people. Even for doing 4k streaming is fine. Don't really see any benefits of 1gig unless you are downloading/uploading tons of data. 2gb is just overkill and definitely not required. Look at review website dongknows to narrow down the choice of routers based on your requirement. Everyone is different so hard recommend, still some are good. Few router recommendations 1. Unifi UDR7. Great all-in-one router with lots of features. 2. Asus with wifi 7 and support for merlin firmware. Check above website for reviews. 3. If you want more control and would like to go DIY route, Any N100 mini pc with dual nic running opnsense/pfsense on it. Maybe directly or virtualized. Add an AP like unifi or omada or something else.

Was doing research on deco mesh systems and one thing i noticed is that there’s a lot of complaints about hardware revisions and firmware. I was interested in the ability to select preferred connection between decos and device preferred connection. That way i could set the mesh topology as i wanted while steering non mobile devices to specific decos where signals are strong from multiple decos to the correct one. Simple right? Nope. The updated firmware for this feature only applied to specific versions of hw. So a v1 xe75 got it but not a v2 at the time. Then an xe200 didnt have it at all and it some older popular models never got it at all. It just seemed like a mess and the model i ordered didnt have it but amazon lost the pkg so i got an asus instead that feature is just naturally in their firmware… Their wifi7 models all support it but it’s like they just stop supporting previous popular hardware and move on so quickly

If the internal walls in your apartment are concrete and you don't have line of sight to the router it can be hard to get reliable wifi in multiple rooms even in a small apartment. The issue is made worse by the fact that there are a lot of competing signals in most places in Hong Kong. WiFi 7 does deal with these issues better than previous technology, but is expensive. I use as Asus WiFi 7 router and it is a distinct improvement on the one that it replaced. With a 2.5G connection I am seeing download speeds in a 700sq ft apartment of 500mbps at worst and about 1100mbps as best.

If the internal walls in your apartment are concrete and you don't have line of sight to the router it can be hard to get reliable wifi in multiple rooms even in a small apartment. The issue is made worse by the fact that there are a lot of competing signals in most places in Hong Kong. WiFi 7 does deal with these issues better than previous technology, but is expensive. I use as Asus WiFi 7 router and it is a distinct improvement on the one that it replaced. With a 2.5G connection I am seeing download speeds in a 700sq ft apartment of 500mbps at worst and about 1100mbps as best.

Asus zenwifi is worth considering. Just got 2 nodes of the 6E one from 2023 for $200 @ microcenter. After some issues with a new fully updated asus wifi7 router constantly rebooting & some similar claims across a few of their wifi7 devices i fear they've got a bug. The 6E has been running fantastic for ~4days now

Avoid tp-link and any other CCP networking equipment. Don't intentionally put stuff with backdoors in them just to save a few bucks. Unifi is great but it's expensive and you really should use it wired. If you're just looking for plug and play mesh Asus has good offerings. Their AI mesh system works well

I've had zero problems with M1 for many years. Only went down once, and that was for scheduled maintenance in the middle of the night. Also, it's not just your internet plan that could be the cause of any issues. If your router isn't good enough, or is in a terrible position, or is overheating, or the bomb shelter is between your laptop and the router, you are gonna have issues no matter what plan you have. I have a standard 1Gbps plan but an Asus gaming router with ethernet cables going to the 3 heaviest users in the home – PS5, living TV and bedroom TV. I also set up a second router using Asus AImesh to provide wifi signal to one of the further corners of the house.

I've been using AiMesh since the beginning, and it was rocky at first, but now I'm currently quite happy with it. One solid main router and two APs outside. What unifi did you get to replace your setup and do you think it was worth the cost?

Asus AiMesh - Yea TP-Link Deco - Yes TP-Link Easy Mesh - Not sure

ASUS aimesh is the best option besides true ap based systems.

I've been using Asus Aimesh for years. 3 nodes and seamless switching when walking around. There does seem to be a client limit at about 75-80 wifi devices whiche forced me to move iot devices to a separate wifi network. Asus is great to start with but unifi likely my next system

I use Asus routers in my Ai mesh network and it gives me complete control over everything and I've loved it. I use that coupled with family link from Google and I feel like I've done my job as a parent blocking as much bullshit as I can for my kids.  But don't worry, their friends who's parents don't care about a single thing they consume will come along and ruin your hard work. Or your kids will be kids and find loop holes, which they always do. But you still tried. 

Asus AiMesh can be configured without an app and uses local credentials for management.

For gaming use cable, for wifi coverage of this size, you can do well with asus aimesh, you can pick two routers of your choice, cheaper than ismesh system and many settings available.

I went from DD-WRT for years to ASUS AiMesh and have been on Unifi equipment for a good four years now. I never have any issues with roaming (3600+ home) and I can fine tune whenever necessary (rare). I love the Unifi and don't plan on moving away any time soon. If you want peace of mind, I definitely also recommend Unifi.

As has been said, plug in everything you can. For a basic option, the Asus routers with AiMesh are a pretty simple solution. Start with one on the second floor centrally located and see if you need more. Use inSSIDer to see how your signal strength is as what kind of interference you have and set settings accordingly. If you’re not reaching all corners, add another compatible Asus and put them on floors 1 and 3 (both wired connection to WAN jack)

ASUS AIMESH Stable and cheap.