If you want to maximise your internet speed at home then keep reading because the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro has transformed how I play online games.
Over the last 12 months I have been lucky enough to test some amazing products, but none have had quite the effect on my gaming experience as the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro. Sure I've tested other routers, that don't get me wrong, are awesome pieces of machinery, however the AX11000 Pro is in my opinion, the best of the best with only 1 real stumbling block, the price…
Features:
Interface:
1x 2.5 Gigabit Wan port
1x 10 Gigabit WAN/LAN port
4x Gigabit LAN ports
1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port
1x USB 2.0 Port
Antennas:
8x Antennas
Memory:
256MB Flash & 1GB DDR4 RAM
Operating Frequency:
2.4GHz, 5GHz-1, 5GHz-2
This router boasts some truly epic features like ultra wide coverage, blistering transfer speeds, many gaming specific features and it looks truly incredible, despite its massive footprint. Lets take a minute to compare the AX11000 Pro to my standard ISP provided modem. The coverage on the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro is truly exceptional, let me put it to you this way, I have the GT-AX11000 Pro set up at the very back of my house in my gaming room. My standard ISP modem is set up toward the middle of my house in the study and when arriving home and pulling up to my driveway, my phone is already connected to the 11000 Pro which is a full 13 meters further away from me than my standard router. What this means is that no matter where in my house I am I get a completely lossless connection. I have speed tested my connection right next to my router, 15m away and in side my garage at the other end of the house and no matter where I am i have a full 3 bars of signal and get a consistent speed of around 46Mbps download and 19Mbps upload with a ping of just 14ms. I should clarify here that the good old NBN is limited in my house to a 50/20 connection so to get pretty much as close as I can possibly get to that speed is incredible for my house. Previously on my standard router I am used to getting speeds of around 10-12Mbps as standard with the occasional spike of around 25MBps but these are very few and far between. So as you can see in terms of coverage the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro is an absolute game changer.
The ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro is as mentioned a tri-band WiFi 6 router that uses the latest technology to give you combined 11000Mbps of wireless speed (hence the name) which is an impressive 2.5x more than WiFi 5 and blows WiFi 4 out of the water. For comparison, my standard ISP modem is capable of only 2200Mbps combined wireless speed, only 1/5th of the AX11000 Pro
GT-AX11000 Pro also comes with a 2.5G port and a 10G port that work with both WAN and LAN connections, what this means is that the router provides additional bandwidth for connected devices but also increases port flexibility for heavy duty network usage.
In terms of gaming specifically, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro comes packed with useful features to benefit just about anyone no matter what you're doing. Features like 1 step port forwarding which essentially creates a connection between your PC or console and other gamers to improve connection speeds, lobby wait times and things like gameplay response times. This is technically possible with other routers however there's usually a rather tedious setup process involved especially for people without the technical knowledge to do so. The AX11000 Pro allows you to activate it with the push of a button either through the mobile app or through your router settings via a web browser. In addition to port forwarding the ASUS AX11000 Pro has 3 levels of assistance for better gaming speeds. Firstly, we have Gaming Port which allows you to tell your router to prioritise a certain type of device. from gaming devices, Smart TV’s, Streaming Devices, etc. Whichever type of device you select will receive a priority connection from your router providing it the best possible speed and bandwidth allowance. Secondly there is Game Boost, Game boost allows you to prioritise a certain type of activity, and allows you to choose from things like Gaming, Media Streaming, Web browsing and file transfers. Once again whichever you select will be prioritised ensuring that if another family member is doing some heavy downloading in another room or bingeing The Last of us TV show this type of activity won't affect your gaming speeds. This is very important in a house with multiple people doing multiple things at once. Lastly we have the in-built gamer VPN. This one connects your router to the game server using the absolute shortest path reducing things like ping time and ping variation. Allowing you to get that slight edge in reaction times over your opponents. These three features combined really do take your online gaming to another level and are in my opinion a must have if you partake in a lot of online gaming.
For me the only real downside for the AX11000 Pro is its rather hefty price tag coming in at around the $1000 mark, which I know puts it out of some peoples reach. However, if you have that sort of disposable cash and are looking for a sure fire way to elevate your gaming, then i can't recommend the AX11000 Pro enough. It's become a vital part of my gaming room and my household in general and is something I can't see myself parting with anytime soon.
Of the multiple gaming routers I've tried over the last 6 months or so, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro definitely looks and feels the most premium of the lot. Aside from the 8 antennas that it sports, the thing doesn't look overly “gamery”, it's all quite sleek looking despite the fact that it's large enough to require its very own dedicated side table to sit it down on.
Overall, I strongly believe that the AX11000 Pro will improve just about any setup. Internet speed and latency are one of, if not the most important aspect of online gameplay which makes having a router with the features this does a must have. Of course the price tag might be enough to put this out of reach for a lot of people, to whom I'd recommend checking out the AX5400 that we reviewed last year. But do yourself a favour and definitely consider upgrading your ISP provided router today.
