ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 Wi-Fi 6e Router Review

TweakTown's Rating: 90%

The Bottom Line

If you are in the market now for a router upgrade, the ROG Rapture is the first 6e platform available and promises high performance and some level of future proof.

Buy at Amazon

Like past Wi-Fi platform launches, ASUS again is at the forefront of the consumer router market, releasing its first Wi-Fi 6e platform in the ROG Rapture AXE11000. As most of you know, Wi-Fi 6e opens up the unlicensed 6GHz band to home network traffic. While it doesn't technically offer any bandwidth increase, it still has the same theoretical 9.6Gbps top speed of the current Wi-Fi 6 standard.

The ROG Rapture AXE handles this by offering a tri-band solution that gives us 1148Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, 4804 Mbps on the 5GHz band, and 4804Mbps on the 6GHz band. Additionally, this router lives on the same Broadcom platform as its predecessor, paired with 1GB of DDR3 and 256MB of Flash for the OS. It offers a single 2.5Gbe WAN/LAN port and 5x Gigabit LAN/WAN ports along with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports that provide additional functionality such as storage or 4G LTE WAN.

MSRP of the ROG GT-AXE11000 comes in at $549.99 with a two-year warranty.

21

Packaging stays with the ROG theme, logo at the top, and the router's image in the center. We have platform features across the bottom, along with ASUS branding.

21

On the back, we have features and performance outlined with several diagrams.

21

On the spine, you will find full specifications along with package contents listed to the right.

21

The ROG Rapture design has been updated for this new model with square corners and a more aggressive aesthetic. The top ROG logo offers full RGB support while eight antennas address connectivity.

21

On the front right of the router, we have LEDs for power, connectivity, and Wi-Fi.

21

On a separate corner, we have a set of three buttons; the boost can be configured to change RGB or enable game mode while WPS allows easy connection to modern devices, and Wi-Fi can enable or disable the radios.

21

On the router's backside, we have a set of four gigabit LAN ports on the left with WAN and 2.5GBe to the right.

21

Outside another antenna, we have both USB 3.2 ports.

System Software

21

Firing up the ROG Rapture, we start with a familiar setup screen. It is worth noting you can switch this router to AP mode or AiMesh in the advanced settings menu now.

21

Setup continues with SSID and password setup.

21

Above is where you would configure the boost button on the router to handle Aura or Game boost.

21

Landing in the dashboard, we once again have the "gaming" skin for the ASUS Ai Mesh platform. This includes additional features such as Game Radar and Ai Radar, along with acceleration features related to gaming.

21

Running down the menu, we start with Ai Mesh that allows you to mix and match any ASUS platform to create a DIY mesh network in your home.

21

Next up, we have Ai Protection that offers router security, malicious site blocking, and parental controls.

21

Port prioritization, ROG First, and Outfox are included within Game Radar.

21

Another feature of the platform is Traffic Analyzer, which can show overall traffic and per device utilization.

Wired and Wireless Performance

21

Putting the ROG Rapture through testing, we have typical LAN performance at 950Mbps and Wireless to Wireless performance reaching 369Mbps.

21

20MHz performance for 2.4GHz is just under 100Mbps while 40MHz pushes up to 353Mbps.

21

5GHz touched just over 800Mbps for 80MHz and 1291Mbps for 160MHz. 6GHz WiFi-connected just slightly higher at 1351Mbps.

21

Moving out a bit father with our mobile testing, we see 150Mbps from the ROG Rapture.

21

5GHz numbers with our iPhone 12 Pro touched just under 800MBps at 30ft.

ROG Rapture has been the flagship platform for ASUS for the last three generations, and it's more often than not the platform they lead with when introducing new technology. For the current AXE11000, we have Wi-Fi 6e making its debut, and while no client devices exist until later this year, it's a solid platform for those wanting to get ahead of the market. With that said, the AXE11000 isn't a huge upgrade over the AX11000, and I wouldn't necessarily pick one over the other until client devices become more abundant.

In testing, we saw pretty solid numbers upwards of 1290Mbps with Wi-Fi 6 and 1350Mbps, taking advantage of 63 with a second AXE11000 as a client. 2.4GHz performance was typical of the past solution and right in line with expectations. LAN hit all the marks as intended, and the 2.5Gbe port delivered around 2390-2447Mbps pretty consistently in use.

Pricing is typical of new technology with an MSRP of $549.99. That said, it's not too far out of line with current flagship routers from all major vendors going anywhere from $399 to $499.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Formula X570 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Corsair MP600 1TB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)