ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000

WiFi 6E soll 2022 als neuer Standard den Weg zum Endkunden finden. Angekündigt und spezifiziert ist WiFi 6E schon seit einigen Jahren, aber als typischen Henne-Ei-Problem muss es zunächst genug Client-Hardware geben, die das schnellere WLAN auch nutzen kann, bevor es Sinn macht, sich einen entsprechenden Router hinzustellen. Mit dem ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 schauen wir uns einen solchen an.

The GT-AXE11000 is a tri-band router, albeit it operates on a different frequency spectrum than previous tri-band routers. These normally operated on a single 2.4 GHz and dual 5 GHz band. The GT-AXE11000 operates at 2.4 GHz for up to 1148 Mbps throughput, 5 GHz for 4804 Mbps, and 6 GHz for a further 4804 Mbps. Add them all together and, with the normal rounding that occurs in networking, we arrive at the round figure in the name of the product, of 11,000 Mbps total throughput. Before we could even connect to 6G we had to go through a myriad of firmware updates and on the desktop client-side, Windows 11 Updates, and Intel WIFI6E driver installers. In the end, it worked though and it impressed the hell out of us. The ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 indicates that early adoption of a new standard, in this instance Wi-Fi 6E, is not without issues. Also, your 6G range will be much more limited once passing through walls. We appreciate the incredibly fast overall Wi-Fi throughput, the ease of setup, the integrated security, and the wired ports' versatility, which allows for link aggregation, among other things (yes you can even combine two WAN inputs). The ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is a proper alternative to consider for people prepared to pay for cutting-edge networking equipment, both in terms of money and problematic firmware. However closing in at 600 EUR, we doubt very much it is actually worth the money at the time of writing. It did, however, deliver some of the fastest throughputs we've seen from a router thus far. Most users, on the other hand, should look elsewhere or wait until more Wi-Fi 6E devices become available in homes before entering the world of 6E routers. If you're comfy and keen on 6GHz networking, this router could be a good fit. Just keep in mind that 6GHz is most effective when used within the same room or at a relatively short distance plus on the client side you need to be OS (Windows 10 with the available latest driver, Windows 11 complete up-to-date) and Network (Intel AX210 or AX211) compatible.