Future Router: Asus introduces the first Wi-Fi 8 router
With the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro, Asus presents a spaceship of a router. It comes with 10 Gbit/s Ethernet and four wireless modules.
(Image: Mark Mantel / heise medien)
Manufacturers are preparing for the next wireless generation, Wi-Fi 8, also known as IEEE 802.11bn. Leading the charge is Asus with its high-end router, the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro. Featuring four wireless modules, including two in the 6 GHz band, it aims to push the capabilities of Wi-Fi 8 to their limits. Additionally, it boasts Ethernet ports capable of transmitting up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s).
Strong WLAN
Wi-Fi 8 maintains the maximum speed of Wi-Fi 7. In the case of the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro, this translates to 11.5 Gbit/s in the 6 GHz band with a channel width of 320 MHz. Doubled, that's already 23 Gbit/s, and with the two bands at 5 and 2.4 GHz, Asus reaches a total of over 30 Gbit/s. All bands operate with four MIMO streams each. The necessary chips are supplied by Broadcom. With 2 GByte of RAM and 256 MByte of NAND flash, there is ample buffer memory.
(Image:Â Mark Mantel / heise medien)
Pleasingly, the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro supports Multi-Link Operation (MLO) across all bands to increase speed. Wi-Fi 8 enhances connection stability and spectrum efficiency. In apartment buildings, for instance, routers can better avoid interfering with each other during transmission.
As with every new Wi-Fi generation, new routers represent an investment in the future: to utilize their features, new clients are also required. Smartphones or notebooks, for example, must support Wi-Fi 8 to primarily leverage the stability advantages.
Videos by heise
10 Gbit/s Ethernet
The ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro inherits its Ethernet ports from its Wi-Fi 7 predecessor, the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro. Of the total seven Ethernet ports, two transmit up to 10 Gbit/s, four transmit 2.5 Gbit/s, and one transmits 1 Gbit/s. One 10 Gbit/s and one 2.5 Gbit/s port can be configured as WAN (Wide Area Network) ports to connect a modem upstream. The router itself does not integrate one.
Asus advertises one 10 Gbit/s port as a gaming port. The router prioritizes traffic through this port without requiring any firmware configuration.
Printers and storage media can be connected via two USB ports. One of them supports 5 Gbit/s (USB 3.2 Gen 1, formerly known as USB 3.0), while the other only supports 480 Mbit/s (USB 2.0). The power supply is connected externally.
Asus ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro (6 Bilder)
Mark Mantel / heise medien
)Europe to Follow
Asus plans to initially release the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro in North America, with Europe following later. Considering the current GT-BE98 (non-Pro), prices exceeding 500 Euros are expected. The GT-BE98 features a single 6 GHz and two 5 GHz modules instead of the reversed configuration. The Pro version is currently not available in this region.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(mma)
