ASUS TUF BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router Review

The ASUS TUF Gaming BE3600 is aimed at gamers who want next-gen Wi-Fi 7 performance without paying a premium price. Almost identical to the BE6500, It comes in the familiar angular TUF design with sharp lines and a matte black finish, built from sturdy materials with cooling vents and an aluminium heatsink that help it run cool under heavy loads. It’s compact enough to fit neatly on a desk or shelf, yet it feels unsurprisingly well made, as we have come to expect from ASUS and as the TUF moniker suggests.

Getting it up and running is a quick job using the ASUS Router app. Within a few minutes the network is live and ready, with clear step-by-step guidance making it easy for even less tech savvy users to configure things like SSID’s and passwords. The interface also makes it simple to tweak performance settings later on without digging through complicated menus.

As with the BE6500, compared to the average router provided by an ISP, the BE3600 is a massive step up. Most ISP units are built to be “just enough” for general internet usage and often struggle under multiple heavy users, let alone when streaming 4K or playing fast-paced online games. Their processors are usually far weaker, their firmware offers little to no QoS or gaming prioritisation, and they typically max out at older Wi-Fi standards like Wi-Fi 5 or entry level Wi-Fi 6. The BE3600, by contrast, delivers up to 3.6 Gbps across dual bands, with 688 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 2,882 Mbps on 5 GHz thanks to 4K-QAM modulation, which pushes data efficiency beyond Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. Multi-Link Operation is a standout, combining both bands to smooth out latency and improve stability, especially in busy households. The quad-core 2.0 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM give it the horsepower to handle multiple gaming sessions, streams and downloads without choking, and during testing it kept ping times low even when other devices were hammering the connection.

Wired connectivity is well covered with a 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN port, three Gigabit LAN ports, and a dedicated gaming port that prioritises traffic from whatever is plugged into it. There’s also a USB 3.2 port for file sharing or 4G/5G dongle backup. AiMesh support means it can be expanded into a mesh network with other ASUS routers, keeping the same SSID for seamless roaming.

Gamers get plenty of dedicated tools here. Game Boost prioritises packets for smoother online play, while Mobile Game Mode trims ping on smartphones with a single tap in the app. Port forwarding has been simplified into a three-step process so you can open up the right ports for your favourite games without trawling through router settings. Adaptive QoS lets you give consoles or gaming PCs priority over other devices, which is particularly useful if you share your internet with heavy streamers or downloaders.

Where it differs from the higher-end ASUS TUF BE6500 is mainly in scope and raw bandwidth. The BE6500 steps things up with tri-band support, including a 6 GHz band for ultra-high-speed short-range connections, and pushes total throughput well beyond the BE3600’s dual-band limits. That makes the BE6500 ideal for households pushing gigabit-plus internet plans and running many high-demand devices at once. The BE3600 doesn’t quite hit those top end figures, but it also costs significantly less while still delivering enough speed and responsiveness for most gamers and families, especially if your NBN plan is under a gigabit.

Security is handled by AiProtection, which blocks malicious sites, prevents infected devices from sending data, and isolates risky gadgets like IoT devices from the rest of the network. Parental controls are built in and VPN support includes popular protocols like OpenVPN, WireGuard and IPSec.

At Scorptec the TUF Gaming BE3600 is currently $269 with free delivery and a three-year warranty, which is excellent value for a Wi-Fi 7 gaming router. It’s a huge upgrade over the average ISP modem-router, offering faster speeds, better stability, and gamer-focused features, and it provides a good middle ground between budget options and flagship models like the BE6500.

The ASUS TUF Gaming BE3600 is an easy recommendation if you want a future proof router that balances speed, stability and gaming focused features without costing a fortune. It may not have the 6 GHz band or the absolute peak throughput of the BE6500, but for most gamers on typical Australian internet plans, its dual-band performance is more than enough. Between its rock solid build, excellent wireless stability and gamer friendly tools, it delivers the kind of reliability you need when every millisecond counts.