ASUS Teases ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro Wi-Fi 8 Gaming Router At Computex

Computex officially kicks off next week, but as is customary with events like this (and CES), hardware makers are already touting awards. Such is the case with ASUS and its ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro, a flagship router for gamers based on the Wi-Fi 8 protocol. Ahead of the event, the next-generation router has racked up a Computex Best Choice award.

"As a pioneer in the networking industry, the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro introduces WiFi 8 and a Multi-AP coordination architecture, integrating intelligent path optimization, dynamic bandwidth management, and a patented thermal design. It is engineered to meet the rigorous demands for low latency, high stability, and sustained performance in high-density connection environments," the description states.

The overall design is a familiar one that retains the head-crab aesthetic that ASUS has been leaning into for years, versus the Dungeons and Dragons D20 dice vibe from an earlier teaser of the ROG NeoCore router concept.

It's also evolved a bit since I reviewed the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 nearly seven years ago. Which, by the way, is still going strong despite my cat Pixel often using it as a makeshift bed. Because, you know, if she fits, she sits.

Caught on camera by the YouTube channel Aotter Girls: Girl's Tech Talk (embedded below), the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro looks even bigger and beastlier. Have a look...

ASUS is not sharing too many details just yet, but the award page does reveal that ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro sports 10Gbps LAN ports, ASUS AiMesh support for whole home coverage, and ROG gaming acceleration tricks (optimized QoS, basically).

Just so we're clear, Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn) is not yet officially ratified. Even so, companies are already preparing for the next era of Wi-Fi. For example, Qualcomm unveiled a Wi-Fi 8 chipset portfolio with native AI a Mobile World Congress a couple of months ago.

As we have seen with recent Wi-Fi protocol updates, Wi-Fi 8 is designed to better handle multiple devices with low-latency, high-throughput connectivity. It builds upon the Wi-Fi 7 protocol by adding key features, such as Multi-AP coordination, with the bulk of the focus on improving reliability and stability rather than outright speed gains.

The caveat, which is always the case, is that both the router and client devices need to support the protocol to take full advantage of it. Wi-Fi 8 routers like the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro will be backwards compatible with Wi-Fi 6/6E and earlier devices, but the benefits exclusive to Wi-Fi 8 will go untapped on non-Wi-Fi 8-enabled devices.