ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI VS Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 PRO BE30000/BE25000/-BE19000

[Redskins16]

I know that there are maybe many treads already being made about this topic, but now that the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI is available on the market and already it has a merlin firmware version, I thought based on experience that people have with the router that they could share with us information about it, aside of the well known information online which are sometimes contradictory. The ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI has being put as a gaming router and some say that they sacrifices a dedicated 6 GHz band in favor of much more powerful internal processing hardware? Also the question comes the mind doesn't the AI function sabotage or maybe be risk for the privacy? I want to hear all you option and experience and hope that you could me be patience in regards to the question and information one whats to know.

 

[Redskins16]

the information that is on the web as summary:
The main distinction is that the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI is a tri-band router with powerful new AI-driven features and superior processing hardware, while the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro is a quad-band router with higher theoretical total wireless bandwidth.
Feature Comparison
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro

Wi-Fi Bands	Tri-Band (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz)	Quad-Band (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, dual 6 GHz)
Max Wireless Speed	Up to 19,000 Mbps	Up to 30,000 Mbps
Key Differentiator	First "AI Router" with AI Core (NPU) and Docker support	Dedicated second 6 GHz band for potential wireless backhaul in mesh setups
Processor	Dual system (CPU, NPU, MCU) for AI tasks	Quad-core 2.6 GHz CPU
RAM/Storage	4GB RAM, 32GB Flash (plus another 4GB/32GB for AI core)	2GB RAM, 256MB Flash
Firmware	ASUSWRT 6.0	ASUSWRT (older version)
Wired Ports	Dual 10G ports, four 2.5G ports, one 1G port	Dual 10G ports, four 2.5G ports, one 1G port

Key Takeaways

• ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE19000AI: This model is a newer generation that sacrifices a dedicated 6 GHz band in favor of much more powerful internal processing hardware, including a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for on-device AI tasks (like ad-blocking and game optimization) and the ability to run Docker applications. It is generally better in real-world performance for wired connections and offers a more responsive user interface.
• ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro: This router focuses on maximizing wireless bandwidth with its quad-band design, offering two separate 6 GHz bands. One can be dedicated to a wireless backhaul for AiMesh systems, potentially benefiting users with large homes seeking seamless, high-speed mesh coverage. It has less powerful internal processing hardware than the AI model.

In summary, the GT-BE19000AI is a more advanced "smart" router with greater processing power and AI features, while the GT-BE98 Pro is focused purely on raw, theoretical wireless bandwidth maximization through its quad-band structure.

 

[Tech9]

Are you sure you want to spend so much money on Wi-Fi 7 AIO router right now?

Shallow Packet Inspection for 2025

Since wifi 8 is not expected to be completed until 2028, maybe we'll see a few years of router model stability which should make your efforts a little easier.

www.snbforums.com

ASUS development will shift focus on Wi-Fi 8 devices in 2026. Your latest and greatest will be old news in about a year. If you have good working equipment - wait, no rush to spend money on disposable devices.

 

[Redskins16]

Are you sure you want to spend so much money on Wi-Fi 7 AIO router right now?

Shallow Packet Inspection for 2025

Since wifi 8 is not expected to be completed until 2028, maybe we'll see a few years of router model stability which should make your efforts a little easier.

www.snbforums.com

ASUS development will shift focus on Wi-Fi 8 devices in 2026. Your latest and greatest will be old news in about a year. If you have good working equipment - wait, no rush to spend money on disposable devices.

What do you mean? Can you elaborate?

 

[Tech9]

What do you mean?

This:

ASUS debuts a new WiFi 8 demo system

https://edgeup.asus.com/2026/asus-debuts-a-new-wifi-8-demo-system-and-puts-it-to-the-first-ever-real-world-throughput-test-at-ces-2026/

www.snbforums.com

Shallow Packet Inspection for 2025

Since wifi 8 is not expected to be completed until 2028, maybe we'll see a few years of router model stability which should make your efforts a little easier.

www.snbforums.com

Still not clear?

 

[Ripshod]

TBF, reads like some AI involved in this thread.

 

[Tech9]

GT-BE98 Pro

This model is not available in your region (Europe). Don't import routers from other regions. You won't be able to use the second 6GHz radio effectively turning GT-BE98 Pro into much cheaper RT-BE96U. It may also allow much higher Tx power and offer additional channels not available in EU and this is illegal.

TBF, reads like some AI involved in this thread.

AI selling AI.

 

[RMerlin]

ASUS development will shift focus on Wi-Fi 8 devices in 2026. Your latest and greatest will be old news in about a year. If you have good working equipment - wait, no rush to spend money on disposable devices.

You say that as if Asus was a team of three persons who can only work on one thing at a time. Their team is large enough that they can even continue to provide security updates to devices that they themselves marked as being End of Life almost two years ago. That should tell you a thing about their ability to do active development on multiple products.

Wifi 7 is fine right now if you have Wifi 7 clients, and it will be fine for many years to come if you buy it today. Waiting for Wifi 8 makes zero sense, and they won`t stop development for Wifi 7 devices because of products that are around a year away from launch, and are currently in the hands of completely different engineers. The Wifi 8 portion of the code is developped by Broadcom/Qualcomm/Mediatek, not by Asus.

People should just buy what suits their needs today, and stop worrying about what was and what will be. Technology will never stop advancing, having buying paralysis because something better will eventually come is pointless.

 

[RMerlin]

In summary,

In summary, stop trusting AI chatbots...

The CPU and wifi SoCs are the same (BCM4916 CPU, BCM6726 wifi). So no, the performance won`t be different.

including a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for on-device AI tasks (like ad-blocking and game optimization)

The NPU has nothing to do with either of these. It's currently used by Frigate for its video image recognition, for instance. I suspect it`s possibly also used for their "AI assistant", which is a basic LLM that can answer various configuration questions on-device - that LLM runs on the SL1680 board. I haven`t confirmed whether it taps into the NPU or not.

It is generally better in real-world performance for wired connections

There will be no difference for wired connection.

They removed one Wifi SoC that was used for the second 6 GHz band, and replaced it with a Synaptics SL1680 that contans the CPU and the NPU, both being used by Docker.

 

[Tech9]

You say that as if Asus was a team of three persons who can only work on one thing at a time.

Nope. I say that based on what we've seen with the flagship model GT-AXE16000 just before the appearance of first Wi-Fi 7 devices. People who paid big money for this gaming spider were wondering at one point if it was abandoned by ASUS, waiting for firmware with almost a year gap between releases.