For those who live their lives according to the philosophy of “these go to eleven”, Asus has a high-end router for you. The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 ($450) has almost every feature you could reasonably ask for, adding even more for what Nigel Tufnel would say “…that extra push over the cliff.” If you’re looking for a router that gives you plenty of software tweaks and game-friendly options to prioritize your gaming traffic, this is a solid choice. But don’t buy it just for performance, because despite all those antennas, we’ve seen comparable speeds on routers that cost a lot less – some from Asus’s own product stack.
Design
If you’re looking for an unobtrusive router that can sit unobtrusively on a shelf, this is the opposite. The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 is a horizontal router with no fewer than eight antennas surrounding its sturdy, square housing, two on each side. Even the 3.8-pound weight will cut it off some shelves, and it’s quite visually loud. Decorated with orange accents, it would look more at home on an Avengers sequel’s spaceship set than in most living rooms, so plan your placement accordingly. To complete the look, the ROG logo in the center of the router is illuminated by Aura RGB, which can thankfully be turned off for those times when for some reason you don’t want to draw attention to the big techno crab beast. at the heart of your wireless world.
Specifications:
| Processor | 1.8GHz quad-core processor | |
| Memory | 256MB NAND Flash and 1GB DDR3 SDRAM | |
| Ports | RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for LAN x 4, Multi-Gig Ethernet Port 2.5G/1G x1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 x 2 | |
| encryption | Open System, WPA/WPA2-Personal, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise | |
| Wi-Fi technology | IPv6 | |
| Universal beamforming | ||
| 2.4GHz x 3.5GHz-1 x 3.5GHz 2 x 3 | ||
| Dimensions | 11.3 x 4.74 x 14.86 inches | |
| Weight | 4.1 pounds | |
| Price | $449.99 |
The specifications of the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 are undoubtedly impressive. The core is a quad-core 1.8GHz CPU, with access to 256MB NAND and 1GB DDR3 SDRAM. The connections include a WAN port, along with four 1 GB Ethernet ports and a 2.5 GB Ethernet port. If we nitpick, we’re left with a total of five Ethernet ports, not counting the WAN, and we’d like to see a few more. There are also a couple of USB 3.1 ports for adding network storage. Physical buttons are as follows:
- WPS button
- Reset button
- Power button
- Wireless on/off button
- Boost key
Wireless specs are also here to impress, with the ability to broadcast three simultaneous signals known as tri-band, which supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard (aka 802.11ax). For the older 2.4 GHz frequency, that is up to 1148 Mbps and for the 5 GHz, each frequency is up to 4804 Mbps. Peak theoretical throughput is achieved using 160MHz wide data lanes and OFDMA with Beamforming.
Queue up
Setting up the GT-AX11000 starts with manually screwing in the eight antennas for the router. After connecting and connecting the required wires, we launched our computer’s browser and followed the initial setup prompts, including setting a wireless password.
One issue we encountered initially was that the shipping firmware on the router could not be updated out of the box, even if we intentionally triggered an update. We just got a message that the router was unable to connect to the server. Fortunately, the workaround of manually searching and downloading the firmware code from the Asus website and then manually uploading it to the router was successful. After that, the router was able to automatically connect to the Asus server for further updates.
Functions
Packed with features, the GT-AX11000 is sure to meet the needs of just about any reasonable gaming router use case. This includes integrated VPN, the ability to work with other Asus routers to create a mesh network, and a traffic analyzer.
Focusing on the gaming features, the GT-AX11000 starts with tri-band frequencies, with Asus recommending designating one of the two 5GHz bands for gaming only to avoid congestion altogether.
Then there’s Triple Level Acceleration, which prioritizes the Gaming Port; Game First V that shapes client-side traffic; Game Boost, Asus’ name for adaptive Quality of Service for gaming priority; and WTFast, a gamer’s private network. Yes, there are four, and maybe it should be renamed Quadruple Level Acceleration.
Finally, there’s Game Radar, which can measure ping times to different servers from different global locations. In the screenshot above, we look at the latency to different Overwatch servers to choose the best one to minimize the latency.
Security
The GT-AX11000 has integrated security from Trend Micro, which delivers AiProtection Pro to the router for complete network security. Several features are provided, including a router security assessment to locate vulnerabilities and block infected devices.
Performance
Using our Netperf throughput testing software yielded solid results between this Asus GT-AX11000 router and our Wi-Fi 6 client. The close test is performed 2 meters away with a direct line of sight, and far is 36 meters away on another floor with intermediate piping. This also demonstrates the significantly faster speeds on the 5 GHz frequency.
| 2.4GHz close up | 2.4GHz version | 5GHz close by | 5 GHz version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth (Mbps) | 396.46 | 143.3 | 1296.48 | 937.21 |
Using our Netperf throughput testing software yielded solid results between this Asus GT-AX11000 router and the Wi-Fi 6 client. The close test is performed 2 meters away with a direct line of sight, and far is 36 meters away on another floor with intermediate piping. It also demonstrates the significantly faster speeds on the 5 GHz frequency.
| Test configuration | QoS | FRAPS average | min | max | 8K lost frames | Pingplotter spikes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethernet | New | 111.761 | 98 | 139 | N/A | 0 |
| Ethernet + 10 8k videos | New | 110,549 | 96 | 137 | 38.54% | 1 |
| Ethernet + 10 8k videos | adaptive, gaming priority | 106.933 | 94 | 137 | 35.80% | 1 |
| Ethernet, 2.5G port | New | 110.883 | 95 | 137 | N/A | 0 |
| Ethernet, 2.5G port, 10 8k videos | New | 24,283 | 9 | 41 | 62.20% | 10 |
| Ethernet, 2.5G port, 10 8k videos | adaptive, gaming priority | 101.717 | 56 | 133 | 13.40% | 6 |
| 5GHz | New | 105,683 | 92 | 132 | N/A | 0 |
| 5GHz + 10 8k videos | New | 109,067 | 92 | 134 | 57.90% | 0 |
| 5GHz + 10 8k videos | adaptive, gaming priority | 111.467 | 97 | 138 | 3.30% | 1 |
| 2.4GHz + 10 8k videos | adaptive, game priority | 109.7 | 94 | 127 | 27.80% | 4 |
Next we look at the network congestion tests of the GT-AX11000. It’s not that the results weren’t solid – they were – but rather that the bar was set so high in our minds for such a top-end gaming router.
For example, the 5GHz gaming test with the ten 8k videos playing and QoS set to adaptive/game priority shows us how well it handles that staggering amount of network congestion. Us overwatch game played at 111,467 FPS, a speed that closely matches the same game on a wired connection, but the reduced frame rate on our 8k video was low at 3.3%, much lower than the 35.8% seen when the same test was performed on Ethernet.
The tests performed on the 2.5G Ethernet port show no improvement over the 1G Ethernet. Considering that our test laptop (an Asus G512LW-WS74) doesn’t have a 2.5GbE port, that’s not exactly surprising. But oddly enough, the 2.5G test with the ten 8k video streams had the highest number of lost frames on the video with QoS turned off at a sky-high 62.2%, worse than the 1G Ethernet port. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but it could be a combination of hardware and software issues with the 2.5Gb port. Without a faster 2.5Gb device to test with, it’s hard to say. But if your laptop or desktop doesn’t have a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, the safe bet is to stick with one of the 1GbE port alternatives.
We also found that compared to the Asus RT-AX82U midrange router (which costs over $200 less than its big brother) the scores are quite similar, making it hard to justify the price difference, at least just for performance.
Prices
With a suggested retail price of $449, the Asus GT-AX11000 is clearly priced for the high-end market. The problem when you compare the top end of a product like a CPU, GPU or this router is that you often come across the law of diminishing returns, where the price at the top rises significantly while the features and performance are just a few. bit better than the lower products below. When analyzed from a pure value proposition, it’s hard to argue in favor of the Asus GT-AX11000. But for those who want all the bells and whistles in their wireless setup, this Asus option defends its crabby self.
Bottom Line
Overall, the Asus GT-AX11000 doesn’t offer the best bang for the buck, but it still offers solid equipment for those who can afford this higher price tag. The pros include the integrated game features like WTFast, adaptive QoS, and Game Radar. We also appreciate the included security to protect the network. Some shortcomings include the automatic firmware upgrade issue we encountered, benchmark results in our tests that weren’t significantly better than Asus’ own midrange alternative, and only five Ethernet ports. But for those who like its looks and want their router to go to eleven, this Asus GT-AX11000 is a versatile, aggressive-looking option.
Note that the only advanced feature this model lacks is 6E Wi-Fi, which uses the new neat 6GHz spectrum. For that, you’ll have to pay about $100 more, at least on the Asus side, and opt for the ROG Rapture GT-AXE1100. However, you may have to wait a while to find that model in stock as availability has been rather spotty at the time of writing, not unlike some of the best graphics cards or best CPUs.