ASUS Announces 802.11ax WiFi Routers at Computex 2018

802.11ax is a new WiFi standard offering better performance, especially in high-density scenario, where average per usage bandwidth may be improved by up to 4 times, so city dwellers should benefit the most.

Last year, we started to see 802.11ax compliant chips from Broadcom, Marvell, Qualcomm, and others, so it should come as no surprise that some of first 802.11ax WiFi routers are launched this year. ASUS introduced two 802.11ax WiFi routers at Computex 2018 with ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 tri-band 802.11ax router, RT-AX88U dual band 802.11ax router , and the AX6100 WiFi System for mesh networking.

ROG Rapture GT-AX11000

The ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 is a high-end router with a peak aggregate throughput of about 11000 Mbps. Specifications:

Processor – Quad core processor @ 1.8 GHz
System Memory – 1 GB RAM
Storage – 256 MB flash
Connectivity
- WiFi
  - 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, IPv4, IPv6
  - Tx/Rx – 2.4 GHz 4×4, 5 GHz-1 4×4, 5 GHz-2 4×4
  - Data Rates
    - 802.11ax (2.4GHz) – up to 1148 Mbps
    - 802.11ax (5GHz) – up to 4804 Mbps per band
  - 8x External antenna
  - 20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth
- Ethernet – 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports for LAN, 1x 2.5Gbps LAN/WAN port
Misc – Buttons: WPS, Reset, Power, Wireless on/off, Boost; LEDs for WiFI, Ethernet, USB, WPS
Power Supply – 19 V/3.42A
Dimensions – 240 x 240 x 60 mm
Weight – 950 grams

This router is apparently designed for very large homes, and supports features like “triple-level game acceleration”, ASUS AI Mesh, and more. Visit the product page for a few more details.

RT-AX88U

This model is said to be based on the Rapture router, but with a dual band design supporting up to 6000Mbps which should make it more affordable.

ASUS RT-AX88U specifications:

Processor – Dual core processor @ 1.8 GHz
System Memory – 1 GB RAM
Storage – 256 MB flash
Connectivity
- WiFi
  - 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, IPv4, IPv6
  - Tx/Rx – 2.4 GHz 4×4, 5 GHz 4×4
  - Data Rates
    - 802.11ax (2.4GHz) – up to 1148 Mbps
    - 802.11ax (5GHz) – up to 4804 Mbps per band
  - 4x External antenna
  - 20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth
- Ethernet – 8x Gigabit Ethernet ports for LAN, 1x Gigabit Ethernet port for WAN
USB – 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports
Misc – Buttons: WPS, Reset, Power, Wireless on/off, LED on/off; LEDs for WiFI, Ethernet, USB, WPS, Power
Power Supply – 19 V/2.37A
Dimensions – 300 x 188 x 61 mm
Weight – 950 grams

The router also supports AIMesh. More information can be found on the product page.

AiMesh AX6100 WiFi System

I could not find a product page with the full details for that model, but a blog post on ASUS website reports AX6100 WiFi system is comprised of two packs of RT-AX92U nodes used to extend coverage and eliminate dead spots. They are much more compacts than the two 802.11ax described above, but the tri-band routers still support up to 6100Mbps aggregate bandwidth, and come with 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, AiMesh AX6100 WiFi System, and RT-AX88U routers will start selling in Q3 2018, but pricing has yet to be disclosed.

Via Anandtech

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.