Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've owned and upgraded one ASUS gaming router I have with this one and it certainly outperforms my old router in a few areas but there are some things I wish ASUS would address on such a high-end device as it's now in the range of professional level network hardware. What's great: Speed - Wifi 7 and 6ghz with AFC (though there are caveats with AFC) I have been able to get near 2.5g transfer speeds near the router without any issues RGB - always welcomed but not essential if this is going in a "home network closet" 2.5gb Ethernet Ports Multi-wan with mobile tethering support (this is awesome!) Smart Home Master for network segmentation (this is awesome and makes it easy to do this!) Ethernet backhaul for network extension (though this is also an area where this router could be better!) OpenNAT updates - this is pretty cool when you have a ASUS ROG Handheld or supported device and it works great Updates/support is great - Asus has clearly been addressing firmware issues where this is a new tech, I can't say the same about every other router vendor Internal antennas What could be better: -The power brick being a wall plug - it's huge and a pain to deal with -No 10g SFP uplink/downlink ports for WAN and LAN Wired backhaul to connect to other APs - Again, many high-end routers have this ... even the older ASUS RT-BE88U does and yet this one doesn't? -No Tailscale support -File sharing is SLOW with the USB port even with a SSD (USB 3.0 limitation I suppose) - why not add dual NVME sots for storage? -No docker support for apps (like Tailscale - if it cannot be supported natively why not support Docker for power users like me who wish to expand/push capabilities of the hardware) Don't get me wrong, while there are some things I'd love to see ASUS add, I think this router is good and I'd recommend it. Especially if you're a gamer and you want something you can just plug and play and expect to get going with little tech knowledge/experience. It has plenty of speed and features that are easy to configure and do help you get the best performance for games where every bit of latency and speed matters. The dedicated gaming ports are awesome, similarly just plug it in and it works with no configuration to get the best performance on those ports. The only reason I moved my rating down is the comparison to the older RT-BE88U and comparison to other higher end router/firewall appliances in a comparable range.. the RT-BE88U seemly offers many of the same features and performance comparable to this one (minus a few new things such as the latest Wifi 7 features, internal antennas, and, AFC (which has it's limitations right now) and all 8 ports being 2.5gb along with a few other small feature differences). As a side note, I recently switched my ASUS router to just be an AP as it does perform SOLID as an access point and I still love ASUS routers/AP's as they tend to perform better than other brands. I ended up going the route of a dedicated router/firewall appliance running OPNSense and haven't looked back. The network has been far more stable and outperforms much of the off-the shelf networking gear, especially over ethernet. I had high hopes that maybe ASUS with this router would have made something to compete with that and perhaps start to offer some of the features that the enthusiasts who want the most out of their network gear actually use.

As a gamer, having the top speeds, low latency, is absolutely necessary. Not too bad to have fast speeds when streaming via multiple devices in the house, either. With that said, I was excited to test out the ASUS - ROG Strix GS-BE18000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router, and after using it for about a week, I can strongly say it's a great router...once it's setup. I've read a couple reviews regarding this router as I was wondering if others were having the same issues I was. My previous mesh system is ASUS as well, and I had issues connecting that with my Spectrum internet service. It wasn't plug and play at all. Router, adjustments, resets, disconnect, reconnect...even a call to Spectrum...I can't exactly tell you what the magic button was to get this router to work with my service...but it took time. Once it did work however...sky was the limit! To be fair, my previous mesh system has been giving me pretty solid results, so I'm accustom to getting solid speeds...however, disconnecting the other system and opting to go with the ASUS - ROG Strix GS-BE18000 dropped my latency by 50% on average, while still getting similar speeds at distance. This may have been just from converting from a mesh system...but I was able to do this while still keeping my speeds across my 2 bedroom house, which for me is a big enough win. Maybe my setup issues were due to me using Spectrum internet...still, for that alone I have to deduct 1 point from an overall rockstar router which I would strongly recommend. Even those who come across the setup hiccups I did would still find it worth it once connected.

Wireless routers are getting more and more powerful and this is no exception. It's touted as one of ASUS's gaming routers, although unfortunately it's missing some of their gaming features. To start: Packaging is straightforward, even minimalist for a router of this size. No additional antennas to attach, just comes with the router itself, power and an RJ45 network cable, not much to it and that's just fine by me. Setup: If you're used to the setup of the recently cloud-controlled devices that prevent most direct access, this is going to be a bit different for you. The best way to manage this is through the management web page which will give you access to all of the basic and more advanced features. To just get "up and running" it's pretty easy, but when you start turning on additional features, such as AFC and some of the gaming features, that's where some of the complication comes in (and some unfortunate disappointment, though I do understand ASUS's need to segment the market with higher end features on some routers and not others). Advanced Setup: This router has the capability (now, with a firmware update) of AFC, what that does is allows the router to use extra power on the 6GHz radio provided your locale allows it, and that's where complication comes in. The router uses attached devices such as your cell phone to determine where it is installed, as IP location isn't good enough to determine that. If your local laws/codes allow for higher power 6GHz radio capabilities, then the router will enable it, which may give you increased range even over the 5GHz radio, the problem is, with the local requirements being a need, it's not the most straightforward feature for these companies to implement. Fortunately where I am, I was able to turn it on and see the benefit, although I really only have 3 devices in my home that use the 6GHz radio (2 phones and a new laptop). This AFC function is technically usable on both WIFI 6E and WIFI 7 as those are the two current standards that support 6GHz. It might be worth turning on, though it will be very dependent on where you live. As to the gaming features. The router has 2 'game ports' which allows for low latency cut-through routing of the traffic from that port, but it does not have ASUS's game radar or private game network as some of their higher end models do, it's a bummer, but again, depending on the price point, somewhat expected. In general, performance from the router is good, all ports support 2.5gig connectivity, though it is missing 10g connectivity that some of the newest routers come with. Wireless connectivity is good, range is good, and it has the ability to segment your SSIDs into gaming, IOT, etc. I will say that the NAS capability is a little bit slow, even with an attached SSD, but I dont tend to use that feature much as I have a server for my media. Overall: As a gaming router it's decent, but not the highest end, there are definitely some performance caveats that may be important to you depending on your needs (private gaming network, 10 gig ethernet, game radar, better NAS performance) but it's still a good entry to the market if you're in the need of the more advanced features beyond the cloud-controlled devices without completely breaking the bank.

The Asus ROG Strix Router is amazing to say the least. After three different Wi-Fi routers in the house, none of which could produce over 500 Mbps download for Wi-Fi, this one was able to produce no less than 800 Mbps. Keep in mind, I am running over 40 separate devices, which include several computers, multiple personal devices, and several smart devices. This router has not failed me yet. The gaming experience has been flawless. My kids and I have gamed using the PC and our consoles at the same time, and it's been a wonderful gaming experience. I cannot say the same for other routers that I have owned that have been name brand and have also advertised themselves as being "Gaming routers." This one, by far, has the others beat. Another wonderful plus side is that if you have the ZenWifi nodes from ASUS, they also work with this router, which means phenomenal Wi-Fi speeds throughout the entire house. I would recommend this router to anyone. Oh yeah, and it has some amazing other features as well, such as parental controls, also device controls for when your kids don't do their chores, just shut off the wi-fi to their device (It's kind of fun to hear them yell when their device doesn't work). You're also able to do a lot of the same things from the web user interface as you can from the phone application as well.

Ok so I just received my ASUS ROG STRIX GS-BE18000 gaming router a few days ago and have been putting it through its paces. First, if you know the name ASUS, you know they usually put out a great line of products, mostly if not all, geared towards the gaming industry. So going into this setup that was what I've come to expect from ASUS as I've tried several of their gaming laptops before as well as a desktop. First off, unpacking this router was fairly simple. Just open the box and you're presented with the ASUS ROG STRIX BE18000 gaming router, power adapter, and an ethernet cord. Also included in the package is user documentation. On the front of this router is the logo everyone knows and love. This logo can be tweaked once inside the settings as to how your want to show off the RGB effects (static, breathing, rainbow, etc.). The back of this router has 8 2.5GB ports as well as a USB port and the power adapter port. Now to get started simply download the ASUS Router app from the App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for Android and follow along for the setup process. Now this is where I started to have some issues. The app setup has a very clunky feel to it. Plus the red and blue background screen colors kinda take away from the user experience the app. Its kinda distracting. A simple while background and/or dark mode would suffice without the weird color scheme. So during the setup process, I see where some others may have been having issues getting connected because it took me several times and about 30 minutes or so before the router was recognized. I unplugged and replugged everything back and forth and also did hard resets until finally it came through. Which the next best thing to do was to immediately upgraded the firmware on the router. After the firmware was downloaded and installed, everything else started to work as it should. Now I didn't go too hard on making tweaks and whatnot due to the issues that it initially had just going through the setup process but once it rebooted and everything started reconnecting I did feel like everything seem a bit faster than my previous router. So far its been a very decent router and its allowed us to create 3 different band networks inside the house allowing our devices to determine which one best suits. The amazing thing is that so far there has not been any lags whatsoever because we tend to have a ton of connected devices running simultaneously throughout the day. Overall I think its a pretty decent router, I still feel that even though its been stable over the last few days that it may still have a few quirks about it. But I think ASUS needs to focus a little more on that ASUS Router app as well and really gut a lot of junk and make the app more streamlined and user friendly without the weird coloring and clunkiness of it.

I needed a router and while I was initially a little scared based on reviews, I decided to go with it as I read more recent reviews saying that firmware issues had been fixed by ASUS and that now it’s an incredible router. They weren’t lying, I LOVE this router! My house must have weird walls or something because despite it being “only” 1000sqft, networks struggle to make it to the opposite side of the house from the router. While the 6G band doesn’t quite hit the opposite side of the house, the 5G band works beautifully. I have 5 different networks coming from this device and it’s exactly what I want. I have the standard 2.4G, 5G, and 6G bands for general use around the house. I then have a specific 2.4/5G band for IoT (internet of things) devices as I have many smart devices at home that I want to keep separate from the main network. Lastly I have a 5G band as a dedicated gaming network with settings that go a long way in helping me play online. It feels like overkill, and while for a lot of people it definitely is, it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting from a router for a while. There have been zero issues that older reviews mentioned, so clearly ASUS has done the work to get this working again. It has 8 internal antennas but I do wonder if performance would be even better, especially for the 6G band, if it did have them. A fix though is that you can use any modern ASUS router to create a mesh network with this device. I might try that and see how that goes, although likely with something a little cheaper than this one. It is a great deal for all the features packed into it, you just want to make sure that you’ll want all these features. As you can see by the pros and cons list below, I have a lot that I love about this router and very little that I don’t like. If you are a gamer with top-tier internet that plays online regularly, I think there are few other options as good as this one. With launch issues cleared up, this is a no-brainer if you like the features! Pros: Blazing fast Tri-Band performance Easy, fast setup 6G hits 900mbps on my Gig plan Optional dedicated IoT network and gaming network Can be expanded to mesh with outer ASUS routers Easy to use App with parental controls WPA3 security support RGB on front if that’s your thing 7 ethernet ports Cons: 6G has very limited range, does not make it to opposite corner of 1000sqft house No external antennas

After that it would continuually reboot. Tried to bounce it and the modem, but no change. Unit seems dead after workinging briefly.

So many software bugs , router bricked itself when i changed some settings, cant even recover it using the pinhole reset