Asus first with Wi-Fi 8 router

Asus has once again proven that it is not afraid to overtake official specifications. The company has offered the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro model for sale in the Canadian market for approximately 808.96 euros, which is the first to support the Wi-Fi 8 wireless standard. The latter standard is not yet in its final form and will not be approved by the IEEE until May 2028.

Both the flagship Pro (BN30000) and the standard Asus GT-BN98 (BN25000) feature a quad-band design with 4T4R antennas and 4096-QAM modulation per band. These technologies enable a theoretical total throughput of up to 30 Gbps for the Pro model and up to 25 Gbps for the standard version. The Pro model is tailored to North American frequencies, while the standard version is intended for the EMEA and APAC markets. In terms of wired connections, there are two 10 Gbps interfaces and four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports, supporting connection aggregation of up to 20 Gbps. For comparison, the existing Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro model with Wi-Fi 7 and 30 Gbps is about 30 percent cheaper on Amazon.

According to the manufacturer, client devices with Wi-Fi 8 support are not necessarily required for a noticeable improvement in speed and coverage, as existing Wi-Fi 7 devices should feel the speed jump. However, the real benefits will come to the fore with new devices that will take advantage of the UEQM and NPCA functions for more stable connections without interference. For October, Asus plans to release the Asus ZenWiFi BN12 mesh system with three bands, eight antennas, 12 spatial streams and coverage of up to approximately 650 square meters.