The ASUS ROG GT-98 Gaming Router is the latest premium gaming router from ROG. This networking device is specifically designed for gamers who demand top-tier performance and connectivity. The GT-BT98 promises on paper to deliver blazing-fast speeds, low latency and delivers a suite of features to optimise your gaming experience. But, will it live up to the promise?
Out of the box the GT-BE98 is extremely aggressive in design, it's certainly not the router for you if you’re looking for something to blend into your environment. It's big, it’s loud and it’s in your face. Its got more lights than the average christmas tree and has a very gamery little window on it showing the machines' internals. Having said all that, if you want a show piece for a router. This is the biggest showpiece you're going to find. The build quality is extremely solid, and really gives the sense it will last for a long time and take a beating.
At the heart of the GT-BE98 is some very cutting edge hardware including a powerful quad core processor and advanced Wi-Fi 6E technology. The combination of this allows for lightning fast wireless speeds of up to 10Gbps, this ensures smooth and responsive gaming experience whether you're playing a fast paced FPS such as COD or a MMO like elder scrolls where you need to load massive amounts of data at once. One of the biggest benefits I got out of this router over my standard ISP provided router was a lack of strain on my network running many devices at once. For example, my daughter was able to watch Bluey, my wife watch Netflix while flicking through Facebook/ Instagram, while I played a fast paced online shooter and nobody suffered from any kind of stuttering or lag which I did with my standard router.
I have to be honest, my daily router has been the GT-AX11000 Pro for the past 12 6-12 months. So the jump wasnt that noticeable at first in terms of internet speed etc, But then I plugged in my ISP provided router and the difference was stark. My speed increased dramatically, but it was my ping that was the most noticeable improvement with the GT-BE98. This wont really make a big difference for day to day use, but when gaming is when youll notice. And youll notice a lot!
Game boost technology is another useful gaming feature, this feature will gear your router to focus primarily on gaming devices and funnel the majority of the bandwidth and reduce potential lag spikes towards your gaming devices. With additional support for adaptive QoS (Quality of Service) users can customise their network prioritisation based on specific needs. Meaning if you’re streaming a movie you can prioritise streaming network activities, if you're gaming you can put gaming above all other network activity.
Another standout feature is the built in “Game Radar”. This provides real time network performance monitoring and ping times for popular gaming servers. This proves invaluable in allowing gamers to identify and troubleshoot any connectivity issues as quickly as possible.
Thanks to ASUS I have a couple of AiMesh nodes dotted around my home which with support from the GT-BE98 allows me to set up a mesh network delivering flawless connectivity all around my home with absolutely zero dead spots all the way to the bottom of my yard and all the way to the top of my driveway.
Another handy feature, not necessarily for gaming as such, is the robust online security that the GT-BE98 boasts. The in built AiProtection Pro which is powered by Trend Micro includes intrusion prevention, malicious site blocking and vunerability protection. This safeguards both the router and connected devices from the threat of cyber attacks.
Overall, the ASUS ROG GT-BE98 router delivers on its promise of providing high speed and high performance networking. With a range of impressive hardware specs and all the software and security features you can poke a stick at. It stands out as one of the best Gaming Routers on the market. Its price point might be a sticking point for some, as might its overall design in terms of size. If youre a gamer looking for the ultimate solution for high speed gaming with the lowest latency possible, then look no further.
