GT-BE98 WIFI 7

[aublumberg]

You may have provided the answer here.

GT-BE98 Pro - v1.0
GT-BE98 - v2.0

Not sure. Some people got their non-Pro in 2023 already, the H/W Ver. 2.0 also mentions manufacturing year 2024, so it could be that those manufactured in 2023 have a different H/W Ver.

 

[Tech9]

the H/W Ver. 2.0 also mentions manufacturing year 2024

Some Asus routers started with different than 1.0 h/w version and got discontinued on the same h/w version, made in different years. The difference between Pro and non-Pro models is in one of the radios - tuned to 6GHz or 5GHz band. It's exactly the same router, but made for different regions. The hardware is the same, but obviously both can't be released with the same h/w version. This change perhaps required additional FCC certification. The Pro model was released first as 1.0, perhaps the non-Pro as 2.0.

 

[glens]

the H/W Ver. 2.0 also mentions manufacturing year 2024

I believe the version levels and manufacturing times are independently stated.

 

[L&LD]

There's a difference between:

"Maybe the new hardware revision resolved issues"

and

"The first hardware revision was an alpha release"

First is an opinion and is perfectly fine, the second is stated as a fact (without anything to back it) and is misleading to the OP who was asking a legitimate question.

Again, that is your misunderstanding.

I stated my opinion, based on my cumulative knowledge of the forums (complete) here, as I always do. If one is to take it as fact, that is not on me.

As for the first being 'fine', I see that statement as fact. Because no entity creates a new revision, to not fix something.

I cannot account for everyone's perspective. If there is a question, then it can be asked, and I'll answer accordingly.

 

[RMerlin]

Because no entity creates a new revision, to not fix something.

As I mentioned, some new revisions are due to component sourcing changes, not bug fixing.

 

[Tech9]

I believe the version levels and manufacturing times are independently stated.

Of course. There are routers with different h/w version manufactured in the same year and routers with the same h/w version manufactured in different years.

 

[glens]

Yeah, but I said it in fewer words.

 

[Tech9]

The difference - you believe, I know.

 

[ffodi]

I also had that same thought while checking mine. It's possible that they reused the same board, since the main difference would be at the radio filter/amp level.

My GT-BE98 (non PRO) is H/W Ver. 1.0, MFG Year 2023 (bought it at the end of last year).

 

[glens]

The difference - you believe, I know.

I was merely being cordial and it seems you were being "assumptuous".

 

[Tech9]

My GT-BE98 (non PRO) is H/W Ver. 1.0

GT-BE98 Pro - v1.0
GT-BE98 - v2.0

 

[codyrocco]

I found a solution (

https://www.reddit.com/r/esp8266/comments/qc84ac/esp8266_devices_periodically_disconnect_from_wifi

) for frequently disconnects of IoT based on ESP8266 - disabling IGMP Snooping on 2.4GHz band seems to make them work OK, no router reboots in a week (previously i must reboot it daily)


...later edit: nop, after 9 days, rebooting was necessary...all those esp8266 were reconnecting frantically (esp32-based were ok)

 

[C3S4RM3W]

Before reading this thread, I was thinking of getting a GT-BE98 non-pro to have 2x 5ghz bands as almost none of my devices are 6E. Besides this, I live in a third-world country and 5Ghz is just starting to take off here, let alone WiFi 6 is something really rare if you don't import your things as I do.

I currently have a GT-AX11000 as my main router and one as a node which I will be selling soon, and I'm now rethinking that WiFi 7 will take even longer to reach here, so it would make more sense to instead get a GT-AXE16000. What do you guys think? I'm mostly interested in the reliability of the Wi-Fi and LAN speeds.

PD: I'm thinking of getting the GT-AXE16000 as it has faster ports and I have a 2.5 switch, also it has 2GB of ram and I have a lot of amtm addons installed, and will allow me to remove the swap file from my USB drive connected.

 

[Plak]

Before reading this thread, I was thinking of getting a GT-BE98 non-pro to have 2x 5ghz bands as almost none of my devices are 6E. Besides this, I live in a third-world country and 5Ghz is just starting to take off here, let alone WiFi 6 is something really rare if you don't import your things as I do.

I currently have a GT-AX11000 as my main router and one as a node which I will be selling soon, and I'm now rethinking that WiFi 7 will take even longer to reach here, so it would make more sense to instead get a GT-AXE16000. What do you guys think? I'm mostly interested in the reliability of the Wi-Fi and LAN speeds.

PD: I'm thinking of getting the GT-AXE16000 as it has faster ports and I have a 2.5 switch, also it has 2GB of ram and I have a lot of amtm addons installed, and will allow me to remove the swap file from my USB drive connected.

Definitely not a bad idea since the axe16000 has had plenty of firmware updates and you'll be using a 2.5 switch anyway. Wifi 7 will take a long time to become more of a standard anyway everywhere. And if you have no wifi 7 devices anyway, then there is no need to upgrade. It also is not a bad idea to just wait and not buy anything. Let the BE98 Pro/BE98 get a few firmware updates to become more stable and prices to go down. Honestly if I was in your shoes I'd just wait and use what you have. The AX11000 is a very powerful capable router that should serve you for years to come easily. I am fairly confident the BE98 will only get better with time. Probably by end of this year it will go down in price and after couple firmware updates will become really stable and have issues fixed. I reported issues myself to asus too for the BE98 Pro so we'll just have to wait, let things mature.

 

[Tech9]

What do you guys think?

Unless you really need significantly faster than Gigabit WAN - don't touch your currently working well network. Your plan is the most expensive 2x 1GB RAM upgrade ever and your 2.5GbE switch will work exactly the same way for your LAN devices with 2.5GbE NICs. Your existing routers are good hardware and still supported.

 

[snakebite3]

Is the BE98 better than the BE98pro? I read that MLO requires 5&6Ghz band to have the same Wifi ID + WPA3 which make it incompatible with wifi6 devices. I'm assuming the extra 5Ghz band can be use for wifi 6 while also have MLO for wif7.

If I use the BE98pro I would have the extra 6Ghz band but the 6Ghz is limited in device support making all my device stuck with 2.4Ghz wifi only if I use wifi7 MLO. Is this correct?

 

[RMerlin]

Is the BE98 better than the BE98pro? I read that MLO requires 5&6Ghz band to have the same Wifi ID + WPA3 which make it incompatible with wifi6 devices. I'm assuming the extra 5Ghz band can be use for wifi 6 while also have MLO for wif7.

If I use the BE98pro I would have the extra 6Ghz band but the 6Ghz is limited in device support making all my device stuck with 2.4Ghz wifi only if I use wifi7 MLO. Is this correct?

They are the same device, but sold in different regions depending on whether that region allows 6 GHz frequencies or not. You don't chose between the two, you get whichever is available in your region.

 

[snakebite3]

They are the same device, but sold in different regions depending on whether that region allows 6 GHz frequencies or not. You don't chose between the two, you get whichever is available in your region.

I see.

 

[steveH]

I have found this thread useful after buying the GT-BE98 yesterday (the Pro version is not for sale in my region), so I would like to thank everyone for their active contribution.

I am on my 5th Asus router, so I am not new to them, but do not count myself as overly techie with them - so please do not assume knowledge or understanding I most likely do not have. I have had three AiMesh wired setups, (RT-AC68U & RT-AC86U, RT-AX86U & RT-AX82U) and now have the BE98 ethernet linked to the RT-AX86U (I guessed it had slightly more horsepower than the AX82). The AC and AX AiMesh setups worked well, especially the AX one.

I have noticed a few issues with the BE98, some of which I solved, others I have not resolved, or have to workaround. The first issue is of little consequence, but slightly strange. The Wireless page keeps going mostly blank, saying Smart Connect is active (it is not). I have to log-out, then log-in again, to get it to show the Wireless settings again.

Another issue has been already connected wireless clients being dropped, as the password is "incorrect" - it is not incorrect, after a router re-boot, the clients re-connect.

I had the AiMesh node not outputting a 5GHz signal, which I managed to fix by disabling 160Mhz bandwidth on the BE98.

More of an observation than a problem. I noticed that after getting the 5GHz channel working at the node, it behaved differently to the AX setup - where both the router and the node broadcast on the same channel. The BE98's 1st 5GHz band is on one channel, however, the node's 5GHz channel is on another (the same channel as the BE98's 2nd 5GHz band). Turning off the BE98's 2nd 5GHz band, causes the router and node to broadcast on the same channel, just like the AX system did. I have no idea what behaviour is more desirable.

The issue that I cannot currently resolve, is the guest network only appearing on the BE98 router, not on the AX86 node, as it did when I had an AX only AiMesh. It is set to appear on the router and node in the settings, so I assume it is intended to work.

I wonder if a WiFi 7 node would be the eventual happy solution to aim for, if a future firmware update does not smooth these issues.

I am impressed with LAN and WiFi speeds.

As for the aesthetics of this router, that might be an acquired taste, it has been described in my household as a giant upside-down cybernetic spider!

HW version is 1.0

 

[Unisoft]

I can't buy this as no Merlin firmware