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

[Redskins16]

I get really good range with mine. I'm currently having issues with the 320hz wifi 7 frequency not being stable with certain clients. Still trying to pin it down.

The GT-BE98 Pro may have an additional 6 Ghz band but what it is really doing is splitting the channel width into two sub-bands, which can decrease the chance of forming a 320MHz channel. From Dong Knows Tech: "In a 6GHz + 6GHz split, each sub-band’s 600MHz total width is wide enough for one possibility of a 320MHz channel. As a result, when multiple individual 6GHz broadcasters are in close proximity, only narrower channels (160MHz or 80MHz) are likely possible instead of the desirable 320MHz due to interference." A pure WIFI 7 tri band can have better performance benefits if you have 320Mhz capable devices.

As far as privacy goes, all processing is occurring locally on the BE19000AI as opposed to going through a cloud server that the other Asus routers use and you can run a AdGuard DNS edge server locally, so the BE19000AI would be better from a privacy standpoint.

It really comes down to. Do you need a 10 gig wan port and multiple 2.5 gig lan ports? Do you have multigig internet? Are you interested in Docker/Portainer and running edge servers, smart home servers, NVRs or other network programs?

I have the AI adblocker turned off as it has been problematic with WIFI, the latest firmware was supposed to fix that though. When I did have it on, it would sometimes trigger those annoying ad blocker lockouts on some websites. I also don't use the new QoE function as I have multigig service. So really I'm only using the Docker function which I do like. I have a Home Assistant server, AdGuard DNS, MQTT and Matter server running on it so far.

Thank you very much for this information.

 

[SandmanXX]

How am I supposed to know the Redskins are now the Commanders, and that the OP is in Europe?

Having the two routers, and currently a single 6 GHz capable device, I thought my post made sense. Who knew I was artificial...

Have you or anyone done a real world test yet to see any differences in signal strength in all three bands? I'd be real interested in that, as I have the 98 pro and it would be more of a want thing unless coverage is better. Thanks.

 

[degrub]

somewhat meaningless as each wifi environment is different.
That is why testing is done in RF isolated chambers. No outside interference or internal interference. No walls, etc , to get in the way.
If you want anecdotes, fine, not much, if any difference in coverage for WIFI 7 versus WIFI 6 APs. Potential for limited higher throughput for WIFI 7 clients IF they and the AP match for implementation of WIFI 7. Usually don't at this time.

 

[SandmanXX]

somewhat meaningless as each wifi environment is different.
That is why testing is done in RF isolated chambers. No outside interference or internal interference. No walls, etc , to get in the way.
If you want anecdotes, fine, not much, if any difference in coverage for WIFI 7 versus WIFI 6 APs. Potential for limited higher throughput for WIFI 7 clients IF they and the AP match for implementation of WIFI 7. Usually don't at this time.

Just wondering if jz or anyone else did it in their real-world environment. Sometimes differences are just differences. I understand lab testing, and you exactly explained why I'm not as interested in that, in this post.

 

[jzchen]

Just wondering if jz or anyone else did it in their real-world environment. Sometimes differences are just differences. I understand lab testing, and you exactly explained why I'm not as interested in that, in this post.

Sorry I missed your question. I did testing with Net Analyzer on my Android One Plus Open phone. I also tried for a little while adding the GT-BE98 Pro as an AiMesh node to the GT-BE19000Ai. Interestingly enough even though I have 10 Gb Ethernet backhaul, they connected with 5 GHz WiFi backhaul. I then used the Optimize function and it changed to 6 GHz backhaul. (I was concerned that something was wrong with my Ethernet network and switched to Ethernet Backhaul Mode, and sure enough immediately they switched to Ethernet Backhaul. When I toggled it off, they went back to 6 GHz backhaul.

So I believe I mentioned it somewhere but with low power mode I see around -3x dBm, holding the phone hovering right in the center of the antennae. With standard power (and my location allows the full 320 MHz) I was seeing in the single digits. (In fact I'll go and re-do it and take a screenshot now. I have the power saving option enabled and want to measure how much the electrical use changes over a week)...

 

[degrub]

i believe signal strength needs at least 1 m of separation from the antenna(e).

 

[jzchen]

i believe signal strength needs at least 1 m of separation from the antenna(e).

Thank you. I have so many WiFi nodes I feel it's the only way I can reasonably compare among 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and (2.4 GHz). I definitely find AFC valuable since the power of 6 GHz seems to have been decreased from way back in 2022, (up until maybe a couple of years ago)...

 

[CornfieldWin]

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.

I get that ASUSWRT, Merlin and AMTM scripts can push to the limits how much network functionality gets crammed in one place: routing and firewall, NAT, switching, VLANs, radio, FTP, DNLA, USB, web server, GUI host, etc. But all of that comes as canonical software not altered by the average user even with some users deploying AMTM scripts to add third party software (which does get a bit dicey but runs amazingly well).

That said, thrusting user managed docker containers into the mix strains safe practices. They are a configuration convenience, but they are not safe from each other or the host system. Containers are not VMs. God only knows what unrelated application software will get downloaded but Black Ops Central (BOC) must be salivating to supply them. I doubt that ASUS has made the leap to protected memory management, so this is especially dangerous, absurdly so - the attack surface already huge just grew to potentially infinite. Would not want to be on the ASUS bug fix team.

Lastly with cheap mini-PCs widely available, why do this? What ASUS might do is sell a configured version of OMV or similar that has been customized for integration with their routers. Maybe even sell a hardware box that clips physically onto the router but let GMK or other partner do the OEM hardware manufacturing and big boy systems support.

Think of the product opportunities that become available to a competitor looking for cost optimized advantages or a chance to set the rules for an entire industry. Imagine a home router box with a nice Interface better than Opnsense, maybe like ASUSWRT-Merlin. Imagine another box that manages ethernet and wireless APs that clips on top of or beside the router sharing common power (and maybe even PCIe connection). Note the proprietary device drivers are isolated within each box. Then imagine an high customized OMV box that clips on top or sits in a stand next to that. After that scale the architecture with interchangeable application blocks as you wish. Network protocol integration and APIs make any piece of it interchangeable. You could call the entire architecture Component Networks, the grandchild of Component Stereo. Maybe somebody is looking for a project along those lines?

 

[Tech9]

That is not the road to family peace, trust me.

I'm sorry... your configuration in signature is a road to vertical drop cliff. One miniPC firewall, another miniPC with virtualized services, switch made by someone you have to Google, APs with no native VLAN support in ASUS closed source AiMesh and 3rd party firmware on top... This mix-and-match hardware with "me, myself and I" sysadmin as actually more expensive and much harder to manage than any AIO router including GT-BE19000AI. You could have a nice SMB system for similar cost with single screen management.

 

[CornfieldWin]

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.

Or will WIFI 8 be the ATSC 3 of WIFI? Time will tell. Seems mainly to introduce standardized mesh architecture and some new analog modulation.

One thing to note, WIFI is very close to exceeding the needed features for many people just like PCs did15 or 20 years ago which will still do what many people do with light duty personal needs. Mobile phones reached that stage at least 5 years ago. It is largely demanding minorities and marketing fashion that drives most features forward (local AI may change that but let's not open that can of worms).

If your home equipment is good enough today and you don't foresee significant changes like going on a homelab spree, the existing WIFI 6 may last a long time at which point maybe re-enter the market at inevitable WIFI 10 or 11.

 

[Blacklistedcard]

Or will WIFI 8 be the ATSC 3 of WIFI? Time will tell. Seems mainly to introduce standardized mesh architecture and some new analog modulation.

One thing to note, WIFI is very close to exceeding the needed features for many people just like PCs did15 or 20 years ago which will still do what many people do with light duty personal needs. Mobile phones reached that stage at least 5 years ago. It is largely demanding minorities and marketing fashion that drives most features forward (local AI may change that but let's not open that can of worms).

If your home equipment is good enough today and you don't foresee significant changes like going on a homelab spree, the existing WIFI 6 may last a long time at which point maybe re-enter the market at inevitable WIFI 10 or 11.

The whole Intel wireless wifi 7 cards not working in AMD systems is also something that has caused problems. Most people are just sticking with Wifi 6. You can use the Intel wifi 6 cards in any system.

WIFI 8 be the ATSC 3....

I hope not..

 

[CornfieldWin]

The whole Intel wireless wifi 7 cards not working in AMD systems is also something that has caused problems. Most people are just sticking with Wifi 6. You can use the Intel wifi 6 cards in any system.

WIFI 8 be the ATSC 3....

I hope not..

WIFI 6 seemed to me to be a worthwhile upgrade from prior generations. But for now constrained by Spectrum cable service, faster WIFI will make little difference and my coverage if anything goes too far into the neighborhood. Not playing with radio parameters, so WIFI 6 is good enough.

 

[CornfieldWin]

Routers are themselves a security risk. There's constantly new CVEs and fixes, whether Ai is a security risk, I'd have to agree with @RMerlin it is more risky if the processing of data is done remotely vs locally.

? What is local "AI" support - a faster matrix multiplication unit on this totally underwhelming platform. It is hard to imagine what application will be simple enough with such totally inadequate total compute and memory for it to be useful, but let ASUS prove what they can do. In good faith, "AI" appears to be a marketing con job.

However you parse Merlin's oblique comment and even if the "AI" function placed inside the router appeared to work, you can never be sure what a neural net will do next. With the "AI" unknown and unknowable attack surface, it strikes me as many time more dangerous than keeping it outside on clients and remote hosts. I will go one step further, all "AI" being neural nets emulations also have unknowable internal ability to malfunction (to do what is not desired) because there is no way to adequately analyze their potential behavior. There is no rule determining code base to examine and to fix.

Further turning Merlin's adage on its head, add the danger of promoting docker container downloads that are inherently unsafe by nature, and you have something approaching a crime against the the Internet to join the 14,000 polluted ASUS routers already out there. Merlin's comment is, however, especially true in one special case - when he and others in a privileged circle control and nurture the code base to provide software of high confidence level. But the BE19000AI is a menace to human society.