GT-BE98 WIFI 7

[Jansen3]

Very expensive and the specs of the new generation aren't even finalized yet, are they?

The specs are pretty much finalized. It’s the ballot voting that’s going to take up most of the year.

 

[glens]

AX16000 could be a good option for sure but I still prefer the Wifi 7 model.

What I'd had in mind wasn't top-of-the-line AX gear for the interim upgrade. More along the lines of RT-AX88U Pro / GT-AX6000. Both are very much the same hardware and see-saw in price over time, often in the low-$200 range.

 

[L&LD]

If history has taught us anything, current WiFi 7 hardware won't be the sought-after model that will be proven stable, reliable, and as cheap as possible in the next few months (up to a year from now).

Agreed that the GT-AX6000 and (the even better) RT-AX88U Pro will give us the performance we need/want to be patient for the worthy WiFi 7 models that have yet to be introduced. Without requiring an arm and a leg to acquire.

 

[kaanaslan]

Do an ax6000 and the new gt-be98 have the same admin interface with the same features? Mostly!i?

 

[RMerlin]

Do an ax6000 and the new gt-be98 have the same admin interface with the same features? Mostly!i?

GT-BE98U will have the ROG-themed UI, it will also offer the new features included in the 3006 firmware series, such as VLAN and Guest Network Pro. GT-AX6000 (which I assume is the model you are referring to, as there can be multiple models that are part of the AX6000 class) is still on the 3004 series for now.

 

[kaanaslan]

GT-BE98U will have the ROG-themed UI, it will also offer the new features included in the 3006 firmware series, such as VLAN and Guest Network Pro. GT-AX6000 (which I assume is the model you are referring to, as there can be multiple models that are part of the AX6000 class) is still on the 3004 series for now.

Oh I understand. Thank you. I was planning to make an upgrade in my house. I don’t have a router but instead I have a DSL AC88U modem which I bought probably 6-7 years ago.

Since I’ve got a Z790 motherboard with Wifi 7 features I thought maybe a futureproof addition to my house with Wifi7 feature would be great. But I keep reading some recommendations like wait for the Wifi7 Gen2. Since the Wifi7 has just almost been out, is it really worth waiting for the Gen2? Honestly I don’t know what it will bring as feature wise but I hope I don’t hear more recommendations to wait for the Gen3 when the Gen2 is out

And I’m really interested in getting a GT-BE98. So when the Gen2 is out, will they just update the unit or are we going to see the Gen2 upgrade in other routers of Asus?

Thank you again for your help.

 

[glens]

Can only speculate what might happen this time, but can peruse history for a pattern.

 

[RMerlin]

Since I’ve got a Z790 motherboard with Wifi 7 features I thought maybe a futureproof addition to my house with Wifi7 feature would be great. But I keep reading some recommendations like wait for the Wifi7 Gen2. Since the Wifi7 has just almost been out, is it really worth waiting for the Gen2? Honestly I don’t know what it will bring as feature wise but I hope I don’t hear more recommendations to wait for the Gen3 when the Gen2 is out

Wait for more users to actually try the current generation of Wifi 7 devices to see what their experience is like. Wifi 7 hardware relies heavily on Wifi 6e`s 6 GHz band, so that part has been tried and tested for a few years already. MLO would be the big Wifi 7 change that might prove tricky, or be MIA on some devices (I believe in Asus' case, they stated it would be added to their device at the end of 2023 or in Q1 2024).

Right now, there is no reported reason to avoid getting Wifi 7 router. But more feedback would be helpful before making a purchase decision, so waiting a few weeks or a few months just to see more reviews and user experiences might be a good idea, considering how expensive these routers are.

IEEE finalization of the standard is a non-issue. At this stage it`s largely a marketing/political issue, not a technical one. Just like Wifi 6, the last year or so is wasted debating on minor details such as "should we rephrase this sentence in the specifications document to clarify this or that", with the voters only meeting every 2-3 months to take new votes. The technical portions of the standard have been finalized long ago. Otherwise, companies like Qualcomm and Broadcom wouldn`t have invested millions in selling products to ODMs. The industry learned since the K56Flex days.

 

[kaanaslan]

Wait for more users to actually try the current generation of Wifi 7 devices to see what their experience is like. Wifi 7 hardware relies heavily on Wifi 6e`s 6 GHz band, so that part has been tried and tested for a few years already. MLO would be the big Wifi 7 change that might prove tricky, or be MIA on some devices (I believe in Asus' case, they stated it would be added to their device at the end of 2023 or in Q1 2024).

Right now, there is no reported reason to avoid getting Wifi 7 router. But more feedback would be helpful before making a purchase decision, so waiting a few weeks or a few months just to see more reviews and user experiences might be a good idea, considering how expensive these routers are.

IEEE finalization of the standard is a non-issue. At this stage it`s largely a marketing/political issue, not a technical one. Just like Wifi 6, the last year or so is wasted debating on minor details such as "should we rephrase this sentence in the specifications document to clarify this or that", with the voters only meeting every 2-3 months to take new votes. The technical portions of the standard have been finalized long ago. Otherwise, companies like Qualcomm and Broadcom wouldn`t have invested millions in selling products to ODMs. The industry learned since the K56Flex days.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. I think I get your point. So Gen 1 or Gen 2 it’s mostly a marketing issue as I understand.

Then I won’t hesitate to buy the GT-BE98 model once I read a little more review and feel comfortable about it. Thank you again.

Just one more question:

Would it be absurd to try using a AX6000 with AiMesh mode with GT-BE98? Would it cause a bottleneck instead of extending Wifi coverage?

 

[RMerlin]

Would it be absurd to try using a AX6000 with AiMesh mode with GT-BE98? Would it cause a bottleneck instead of extending Wifi coverage?

AX6000 is a wifi class, not a model name. I assume you are talking about the GT-AX6000 here?

It entirely depends on your network setup. If clients connecting to the GT-AX6000 are mostly cell phones and tablets that are in a remote part of the house, then the 5 GHz backhaul between both routers would be more than fast enough to handle the dual stream traffic from these clients that connect to the GT-AX6000 - assuming they aren't too far apart to use a decent 5 GHz link.

If you already own the GT-AX6000 then it's fine. But I wouldn't buy a new GT-AX6000 to use as a node to the GT-BE98U. Cheaper routers would do just as well for a fraction of the cost.

 

[kaanaslan]

AX6000 is a wifi class, not a model name. I assume you are talking about the GT-AX6000 here?

It entirely depends on your network setup. If clients connecting to the GT-AX6000 are mostly cell phones and tablets that are in a remote part of the house, then the 5 GHz backhaul between both routers would be more than fast enough to handle the dual stream traffic from these clients that connect to the GT-AX6000 - assuming they aren't too far apart to use a decent 5 GHz link.

If you already own the GT-AX6000 then it's fine. But I wouldn't buy a new GT-AX6000 to use as a node to the GT-BE98U. Cheaper routers would do just as well for a fraction of the cost.

Yes sorry, I was mentioning the GT-AX6000 model of Asus. Yes I understand now. I find the GT-AX6000 very portable as an extender and hopefully a good model to achieve a good extension in my house. My house is not that big but there are 2-3 walls between the back bedroom and the router so in case I need it after trying the GT-BE98 first by itself, I could maybe add it too to my house for the AiMesh feature.

 

[RMerlin]

Yes sorry, I was mentioning the GT-AX6000 model of Asus. Yes I understand now. I find the GT-AX6000 very portable as an extender and hopefully a good model to achieve a good extension in my house. My house is not that big but there are 2-3 walls between the back bedroom and the router so in case I need it after trying the GT-BE98 first by itself, I could maybe add it too to my house for the AiMesh feature.

The GT-AX6000 is a really big router and takes a lot of space. An RT-AX86U would be half the price, and might fit better due to its standing design.

 

[kaanaslan]

If you already own the GT-AX6000 then it's fine. But I wouldn't buy a new GT-AX6000 to use as a node to the GT-BE98U. Cheaper routers would do just as well for a fraction of the cost.

If I could use my DSL-AC88U modem as an extender it would be great but it’s not an router unfortunately.

 

[kaanaslan]

The GT-AX6000 is a really big router and takes a lot of space. An RT-AX86U would be half the price, and might fit better due to its standing design.

I’ll check that out. Thank you for your suggestion. And I didn’t know the GT-AX6000 was a big router. Thank you.

 

[glens]

Half the price isn't what I've been seeing on the occasion I look. But for merely extending lightweight coverage wirelessly I agree, really both would be overkill.

 

[Jansen3]

Asus GT-BE98 Pro Review: An Excellent Wi-Fi 7 Router | Dong Knows Tech

The Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro is a formidable multi-Gigabit advanced (gaming) Wi-Fi 7 router everyone can enjoy, worthy of its $800 price tag. Get one today!

dongknows.com

“After a long wait, Asus finally confirmed with me earlier this week that US users can purchase the former before 2023 is out or soon into the new year. On the other hand, the GT-BE98's release date is still up in the air, and this non-Pro version might never see the light of day in North America.”

“Asus told me that it, for the foreseeable future, had no plan to release the GT-BE98 in North America, though it "welcomes feedback from the community if they have interest in this model". So, that might change.”

 

[kaanaslan]

Asus GT-BE98 Pro Review: An Excellent Wi-Fi 7 Router | Dong Knows Tech

The Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro is a formidable multi-Gigabit advanced (gaming) Wi-Fi 7 router everyone can enjoy, worthy of its $800 price tag. Get one today!

dongknows.com

“After a long wait, Asus finally confirmed with me earlier this week that US users can purchase the former before 2023 is out or soon into the new year. On the other hand, the GT-BE98's release date is still up in the air, and this non-Pro version might never see the light of day in North America.”

“Asus told me that it, for the foreseeable future, had no plan to release the GT-BE98 in North America, though it "welcomes feedback from the community if they have interest in this model". So, that might change.”

I don't know if it was a good idea to name is as Pro for the US version just for the second 6Ghz channel. I think as mentioned in the review, the reason the European and other region's version's having 2 of 5GHZ of channel and 1 6GHZ channel should be due to legal limitations. I wouldn't consider them as 2 different routers.

 

[Jadehsn]

Finally got around to setting up my GT-BE98 Pro, and it's just been one headache after another. Similar to when I tried setting up my RT-BE96U for the first time, it refused to reboot after making any setting changes. I'd have to manually turn it off and on every time. Couldn't get the firmware to the latest 32882 update no matter if I tried via the app, web gui, or manually uploading. It just wouldn't take. Couldn't get AI mesh to work with the RT-BE96U. Tried hard resetting multiple times, and same result each and every time. I'm still playing with it, but it's not been a pleasant experience so far. I kinda expected as much considering how these things go with ASUS, but one can hope.

 

[omniazure]

My BE98 Pro works perfectly so far. It automatically prompted firmware update before settings fully applied.

 

[Jadehsn]

Yeah, it did that for me too, but the firmware wouldn't stick. Runs you through setting up your wifi network. Wouldn't restart after that to have the new network name/details unless I physically turned it off/on.