Can this older customary router nonetheless impress? Up to date: Jul 1, 2024 9:35 am WePC is reader-supported. If you purchase by means of hyperlinks on our web site, we could earn an affiliate fee. Costs topic to vary. Study extra Desk of Contents Desk of Contents Though WiFi 7 is simply across the nook, and new routers are showing in assist of this newest customary, for many customers it’s not essentially an important improve. The ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 isn’t even a WiFi 6E router, supporting solely WiFi 6, nonetheless it’s nonetheless a powerful system in lots of ways in which it is best to think about choosing up. Specs Wi-fi customary: WiFi 6 Band Frequencies: 2.4GHz, 5GHz (x2) Max Velocity: 10Gbps LAN Ports: 3x 1Gbps WAN: 1x 2.5Gbps CPU: 1.7GHz tri-core Reminiscence: 256MB Flash, 512MB DDR4 RAM USB: 1x 3.2Gen A-type Dimensions: 172.3 x 78.1 x 176.75mm Weight: 0.88kg Present extra What We Suppose A compact mesh router with numerous gaming-centric options, ASUS AiMesh know-how, spectacular sign energy, and good speeds. If you happen to don’t thoughts being restricted to the older WiFi 6 customary, or by the 1Gbps LAN ports, then it is a nice purchase. Professionals Nice sign energy Good obtain/add speeds Has a USB-A port for storage Good and compact in measurement Included safety software program, VPN, and gaming options AiMesh means flexibility through which routers you pair it with to setup mesh community Cons WiFi 6 customary Considerably costly contemplating the older customary Solely 1Gbps LAN connections (although hyperlink aggregation mitigates this) Pricing With an MSRP on the time of writing of $249.99 for a single router, the ROG Rapture GT6 isn’t significantly low-cost for a WiFi 6 router. It prices lower than you’d usually see a WiFi 6E and positively a WiFi 7 router go for, however that is what you’d anticipate for tech supporting this older customary. Given it’s a mesh router there’s likelihood you’ll wish to decide up a couple of, through which case you’ll be able to usually discover a pair on sale for round $480, although given it has ASUS AiMesh you don’t want it to be paired with the very same router: some other AiMesh mannequin ought to work. General Design Earlier Subsequent In comparison with a number of the crazier, almost-arachnid trying ASUS gaming routers we’ve seen, the ROG Rapture GT6 is sort of a smart trying system, with its inside antennas giving it a way more compact profile. It nonetheless has that ‘gamer aesthetic’ look, with the RGB lighting up the ROG brand and numerous stylized diagonal cutouts, but it surely’s completed in fairly a tasteful means and we’d really say it is a good trying router. By way of measurement, measuring 172.3 x 78.1 x 176.75mm it doesn’t take up a lot area in your desk, nor within the vertical sense. Cooling is assisted by air flow grills on the highest, backside, and sides and there’s a standing gentle on the entrance of the system. The router is powered by a 1.7GHz tri-core processor, complemented by 256MB of flash storage and 512MB of DDR4 RAM, making certain it could actually deal with in depth community processing and duties effectively. Concerning its wi-fi functionality, the plain huge disadvantage of this router is that it’s WiFi 6 customary, which means it doesn’t have entry to 6GHz frequency bands in any respect, though it does nonetheless supply twin 5GHz bands and a 2.4GHz band. Whether or not it is a drawback for you actually relies on your particular wants and your wider setup; 6GHz channels have decrease latency and revel in quicker speeds on common, which is healthier for video conferencing and on-line gaming, plus an extra frequency band simply means higher capability so as to add extra gadgets. You possibly can nonetheless undoubtedly get sufficiently excessive speeds and low latencies on 5GHz nonetheless to get pleasure from gaming and different on-line streaming companies. By way of the wired connectivity, the GT6 gives a good choice of ports. The first WAN port helps as much as 2.5Gbps, offered your ISP can ship such speeds. Nevertheless, the three LAN ports are restricted to Gigabit speeds, which signifies that the high-speed 2.5Gbps WAN connection doesn’t absolutely lengthen to wired gadgets when you use these individually. Nevertheless, you will get round this by means of hyperlink aggregation, which means you’ll be able to mix the bandwidths of the LAN ports to extend the bandwidth to a single system. Moreover, there’s a USB 3.2 Kind-A port out there for storage wants, which is sweet as usually even bigger, newer-gen routers generally don’t embody this. Different options Establishing the router is pretty simple, partly because of the user-friendly nature of the ASUS app. The applying offers you in depth controls over the community/mesh, plus some good QoS choices for gaming (permitting you to prioritize bandwidth to gaming site visitors), parental controls for extra safety in multi-person households with youngsters, permits you to setup a VPN for extra safety, port forwarding options, and extra. A Recreation Radar diagnostic utility additionally helps you determine the connection high quality of servers for particular video games. You possibly can monitor every linked system and handle their knowledge site visitors, providing you with the flexibility to set controls on a per-device foundation. This complete administration functionality ensures you’ve gotten full oversight and management of your community’s efficiency and safety. Included with the router is free lifetime anti-malware and parental management software program powered by Pattern Micro, plus Asus’ Prompt Guard software program (for VPN setup and different safety). As talked about AiMesh means you’ll be able to pair the router with a distinct ASUS mannequin that additionally has this when establishing your mesh, which is all the time a very welcome function with the ASUS routers which have it. Efficiency When evaluating the efficiency of the Rapture GT6, we performed our customary checks, although it’s vital to say that our testing setting has one predominant limitation: our workplace web connection is capped at roughly 300Mbps. Nonetheless, we assessed the wi-fi efficiency between the router and our testing system (a Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone) on the following distances utilizing each SpeedTest and WiFiMan apps: 10ft/3m (no obstructions) 30ft/9m (no obstructions) 60ft/18m (with one wall in between) 90ft/27m (with two partitions in between) We examined for sign energy, latency, community obtain and speeds and bodily obtain and add speeds. Lastly, we carried out a file switch check by connecting an SSD to the router’s USB port and transferring a file to and from a PC linked to the router’s Ethernet port. Sign energy (measured in decibel milliwatts aka dBm) is a technique to decide how constant and dependable the reference to the router shall be. At one finish of the size -30 dBm is the perfect consequence, with across the -90 dBm mark usually signifying disconnection on the backside finish: something across the -50 dBm to -67 dBm vary is usually thought-about a decent consequence. Utilizing the WiFiman app we discovered that the GT6 maintained sign strengths between -36dBm and -68dBm on the two.4GHz frequency band, and -48dBm to -89dBm on the 5GHz band, relying on the space. As you’ll be able to see from the graph, it was one among a choose by means of routers that managed to keep up a sign at our most testing distance (with two obstructing partitions). Regardless of missing exterior antennas, the router’s 9 inside antennas successfully coated the marketed 5,800 sq. toes. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent Latency outcomes (measured in milliseconds aka ms, with decrease being higher) have been strong throughout the distances as you’ll be able to see from the under graph, with latency rising from 14ms to 32ms as the space elevated on the two.4GHz band and from 7ms to 17ms on the 5GHz band, the latter of those being the clear desire for wi-fi connection when you’re on-line gaming. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent We examined the WiFi obtain and add speeds utilizing a few totally different strategies, in addition to the speeds utilizing a wired ethernet connection from the LAN port. General, the GT6 router demonstrates sturdy efficiency throughout numerous distances, significantly given its value level in comparison with the dearer routers we’ve examined, with important velocity reductions solely on the farthest factors, significantly on the two.4GHz band. The 5GHz band maintained higher efficiency at higher distances, and latency remained comparatively low, making certain responsive connections. Community obtain & add velocity was measured by the Oopla velocity check app in Megabits per second (Mbps). 2.4GHz WiFi band: Obtain speeds began at 59.4Mbps however dropped to 0Mbps on the farthest distance. Add speeds ranged from round 40Mbps to 0Mbps on the farthest level. 5GHz WiFi band: Obtain speeds started at 213Mbps and decreased to 51.8Mbps on the farthest distance. Add speeds began at 290Mbps and dropped to 12.9Mbps on the farthest level. LAN connection: the ethernet connection achieved a most obtain velocity of 260Mbps, with add speeds reaching round 280Mbps. That is considerably under the 1Gbps LAN extra capability, however as soon as once more displays the constraints of our testing setting, fairly than the routers itself, so stays a strong consequence. Earlier Subsequent Bodily obtain & add velocity is measured by way of the WiFiman app, additionally in Mbps. 2.4GHz WiFi band: Obtain speeds ranged from 172Mbps near the router to only 8Mbps on the farthest distance. Add speeds various from 286Mbps close to the router to 51Mbps on the farthest level. 5GHz WiFi band: Obtain speeds have been spectacular near the router at 1080Mbps, however dropped to 17Mbps on the farthest distance. Add speeds began at 1020Mbps close to the router and decreased to 48Mbps additional away. Earlier Subsequent File switch check The file switch check was the ultimate one we performed. For this we used CrystalDiskMark to document the speeds of transferring a file from a pc hooked up to the router by way of the LAN port to an exterior SSD plugged-into the router’s USB port, after which again once more. Sadly, the GT6 underperformed on this space, even with a wired connection. Sequential Learn Speeds: Averaged round 66MB/s. Sequential Write Speeds: Averaged round 55MB/s. Random Learn/Write Speeds: Dropped considerably, generally to single digits. These outcomes point out that the GT6 struggles to totally make the most of the potential of linked storage gadgets, making it much less very best for customers who want high-speed community entry to their exterior drives. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent
