BE98 pro or BE96U

[Chunjaa]

May be before my question wasnt clear.

BE96U with 3 months warranty $450
BE98 Pro 1.5 years warranty. $550

Which one will you choose?
My ISP plan only 2G.
Only 30 devices in home.
Its only 2 bedroom apartment may be around 50'x50' total space.

I am thinking that BE98 pro would be wiser choice because of longer warranty just in case something happens.

What would you choose?

 

[Tech9]

Just keep your existing GT-BE96U if you are happy with it. Don't rely on warranty too much because if your router stops working you have to replace it with something else right away. No one is going to wait for weeks long RMA process with no Internet.

 

[RMerlin]

The GT-BE98_PRO won't give you much beside an extra 6 GHz band that's of very little use. The internal hardware is almost identical.

Buying the newer router just to extend your warranty is like spending money for an extended warranty - it's mostly wasted money.

Personally, I own both of these routers, and I chose to use the RT-BE96U as my main router. One less radio (that I don't need) means one less potential failure point.

 

[Chunjaa]

Just keep your existing GT-BE96U if you are happy with it. Don't rely on warranty too much because if your router stops working you have to replace it with something else right away. No one is going to wait for weeks long RMA process with no Internet.

But if with BE98 Pro it will have extra 1.5 years warranty, this does not matter for you?

Just keep your existing GT-BE96U if you are happy with it. Don't rely on warranty too much because if your router stops working you have to replace it with something else right away. No one is going to wait for weeks long RMA process with no Internet.

dont you really

The GT-BE98_PRO won't give you much beside an extra 6 GHz band that's of very little use. The internal hardware is almost identical.

Buying the newer router just to extend your warranty is like spending money for an extended warranty - it's mostly wasted money.

Personally, I own both of these routers, and I chose to use the RT-BE96U as my main router. One less radio (that I don't need) means one less potential failure point.

hello! I just updated my question. Because right now the BE96U is in Amazon return window. So if I return it and buy BE98 pro, it will be just $100 extra but 1 year longer warranty.
Do you still think the same?

 

[Tech9]

this does not matter for you?

Not at all. I would never purchase this router to begin with. Quite a few forum members returned it because of issues, Pro and non-Pro versions. More frequent than issues other Wi-Fi 7 models have. You are purchasing warranty you may never use and potentially bringing home issues you may have to deal with. Same advice, if your existing router runs properly and you are happy with it - don't touch.

 

[Chunjaa]

Not at all. I would never purchase this router to begin with. Quite a few forum members returned it because of issues, Pro and non-Pro versions. More frequent than issues other Wi-Fi 7 models have. You are purchasing warranty you may never use and potentially bringing home issues you may have to deal with. Same advice, if your existing router runs properly and you are happy with it - don't touch.

Wait what... did you say the BE98 pro has more issues than BE96u?

 

[Tech9]

Wait what... did you say the BE98 pro has more issues than BE96u?

It will cost you $100 to find out yourself.

 

[RMerlin]

You'd still be paying $100 jus to get an extra warranty year, which would be similar to if you paid $100 for an extended warranty - not worth it.

When router fails, most people end up having to buy another one because otherwise they would be without Internet for 2-3 weeks while waiting for their RMA to be processed.

 

[Tech9]

Big red flag is the fact someone returned this router already for unknown reason. Remaining 1.5 years warranty means it was used.

 

[jerry6]

if the 95u suits your needs there is no reason to spend extra $$ on the 98 , routers tend to last if there is a problem it will show up in the first few months . You have a good router stick with it

 

[zay2u]

Hello Everyone, I just purchased the

The GT-BE98_PRO won't give you much beside an extra 6 GHz band that's of very little use. The internal hardware is almost identical.

Buying the newer router just to extend your warranty is like spending money for an extended warranty - it's mostly wasted money.

Personally, I own both of these routers, and I chose to use the RT-BE96U as my main router. One less radio (that I don't need) means one less potential failure point.

Hello,
I recently purchased the RT-BE96U to upgrade from my 2-pack of XT9. The router has been performing well; and a strong consideration when I purchased it is RMerlin's take on it (as they say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery") along with it being supported by his firmware. However, this Tri vs Quad band router comparison brings up one more question. If additional coverage were needed in a wireless backhaul mesh setup; is the RT-BE96U still the better buy vs a quad band router (such as the GT-BE98 Pro) when adding additional routers to create a mesh network?

 

[wyliec2]

Hope I don't jinx myself by saying this...my BE96Us are working great!!

I purchased at BestBuy with the 15% discount with a trade-in (old NT66 model) so cost was around $410.

As I was setting up and testing, the router, I was so impressed, I traded-in an AC3100 for a second BE96U at $410.

I'm using one as my primary router and the second as an access point. I'm getting great wireless coverage - went from 2 access points to just one.

This is the first ASUS router that I've ran stock firmware on - always using WRTMerlin on past routers (NT66, AC88U, AC3100, AX88U Pro).

Stock 3.0.0.6_102_37839 has been rock solid (knocking wood as I type).

The BE96Us simplified migrating my guest and IoT wireless networks to subnets isolating my intranet from access. This was especially convenient with setting up separate IoT networks on the access point with wired connection to the main router.

Also, I'm using the Dual WAN feature (Metronet and Mediacom). Failover from primary WAN to secondary WAN is working as expected and when the primary WAN is back up, fallback again does exactly what you would expect. My understanding is that the WRTMerlin failover/fallback is more complicated to implement.

It's very simple to swap primary and secondary which I will do weekly - my use is primarily download and the speed of both ISPs is 1 Gbps.

Now, where's my rabbit's foot!!!

 

[jzchen]

@zay2u I would recommend the BE98 Pro for wireless backhaul need.

Personally I like to configure 6 GHz-1 for 6E and 6 GHz-2 for WiFi 7...

 

[Poseidon]

I’ve had both (currently 96U) and I recommend this over the 98 Pro. Like RMerlin said, one less wireless radio (2nd 6Ghz band useless in my situation) is one less problem down the road. Save yourself the money and get the 96U but at the end of the day it’s your money and your decision.