If you have no desire for the latest generation of wireless connectivity but a lot of area to cover then a top mesh router is what you’re after. One of those and the one we review is the ROG Rapture GT6, a WiFi 6 router that isn’t on the top level anymore but brings a lot with it yet.
Although it might not be the newest, it still could be your next-best gaming router, especially considering the price compared to something else. But there’s more to it than just that and with a lot of features and performance to think about it’s key, it does well across the board.
- Standard: WiFi 6
- Frequency Bands: 2.4GHz, 5GHz x2
- Max Speed: 10Gbps
- LAN Ports: 3x 1Gbps
- WAN: 1x 2.5Gbps
- CPU: 1.7GHz tri-core
- Memory: 256MB Flash, 512MB DDR4 RAM
- USB: 1x 3.2Gen A-type
- Dimensions: 172.3 x 78.1 x 176.75 mm
- Weight: 880g
In general, the ROG Rapture GT6 offers a more compact yet still gamer-focused design as a router. Focusing on the mesh capabilities to improve the range and speed it has a lot of features to take advantage of. It does fall behind in the WiFi standards it offers though, limiting to 6 instead of 6E at least and staying with 2.4 and 5GHz. But it does perform well in those without towering external antennae and extends far even as a solo choice.
It also has plenty of IO to take advantage of including USB and a 2.5Gbps WAN, although then limits the LAN to Gigabit without at least another 2.5Gbps option. Further to that, the software onboard gives you a lot of control and capabilities of what you can achieve. Making port forwarding, child control, VPN, and more simple and quick for a full control that makes it a great piece of kit.
- Strong software support with anti-malware and parental control
- Compact and sleek design without protruding antennae
- Multi gig WAN port for those with fast ISPs and includes USB as well
- A choice of two colors, more than most other routers
- Great wall penetration and signal strength
- Lack of WiFi 6E and 6GHz frequency support
- It is still an expensive option for most casual buyers
- Still a bit flashy and RGB shows off gamer design
Design
The GT6 is a lot less over the top than other ASUS routers, without any external antenna, instead opting for 9 internal ones. But still, it sports a more gaming look in general. With ventilation grills around at the top, bottom, and all around it certainly has cooling in mind. Along with plenty of aggressive edges and slopes, and of course, RGB front and center to shine. With plenty of logos and holes although it only measures 172.3 x 78.1 x 176.75 mm taking up minimal space it still grabs a lot of attention.
Apart from the RGB matrix for the logo, there is also the status light at the front, so you sure do get a lot of color. Whilst the sides are littered with diagonal cutouts, ROG certainly doesn’t keep its designs simple or straightforward with a mix of blending in and yet standing out. It should give you an easier time in trying to find a place to set it up and find places to fit in.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 box profile, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 box contents, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 router side, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 router side 2, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 router front, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 router bottom, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 router back, Image by PCGuide
Of course, the limitation of the router now that time has progressed and tech improved is that it’s stuck on WiFi 6. Even then it splits the 5GHz bands into two separate SSIDs and with a 2.4GHz alongside there is plenty of connection opportunities. But now as WiFi 7 is coming out, even WiFi 6E is a bit more of an improvement as it unlocks 6GHz bandwidth for you to enjoy. Although even our own tech hardly supports it, it might not be necessary for your setup but it’s good to have for the future.
ROG Rapture GT6 offers a more compact yet still gamer-focused design as a router
As for the wired options and ports available, there is a good range to choose from and utilize. The initial port of entry is the WAN to provide your internet. That comes in with a speed of 2.5Gbps if you have a good ISP. However, that speed doesn’t translate to the three LAN ports which are limited to Gigabit speeds and so even with fast speeds that won’t translate all the way on LAN. With an additional USB 3.2 type A port available for storage as well.
Other features
The router utilizes a 1.7GHz tri-core processor alongside 256MB of flash and 512MB DDR4 RAM that allows it to keep up with processing and work that needs doing. There are plenty of processing and tasks you can set up to work on for your entire network.
The setup is rather quick and simple, although does require the ASUS app for the best experience and doing so. There you also get a lot of control over the network With the mesh options, parental controls, QOS, VPN, and network tools there is a lot on offer for control. That’s a similar story for the web portal for the router as well with a bit more depth in certain features you’re after and a bit more precision on it.
With the ability to look at each device connected and the traffic transmitting there’s plenty of control you can have. Including setting each device’s control individually.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 logo, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 bottom, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 those who dare, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 ports, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 phone interface, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 setup, Image by PCGuide
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 web interface, Image by PCGuide
Pricing
As a mesh router, you can buy it in a two-pack at around $480 for the pair. But there are singular options available for a lot cheaper. Such as the white model that we tested and reviewed can be found on Amazon for $249.99 which is a bit of a steeper price for a unit that’s a bit older these days. But without a requirement for a mesh a single router is not too awful with the performance and features it has to offer.
With the features available and ease of setup, it is a strong choice and recommendation from us
Performance
We put the router through a variety of tests and although it might not be an ideal setup and too thorough there’s plenty of information and comparison to gain from it. Set up in our office it was supplied with our ethernet which is rated up to 300Mbps and it might get throttled. Tests between each router may have varied as traffic and amount of people around changed between days and tests but it should still be a good look. We tested these using a Samsung S21 FE with SpeedTest and WiFiMan apps.
Router benchmark – LAN internet speeds, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – latency to router @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – signal strength @ 5GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – LAN read write speeds to SSD plugged into router, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – download speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – download speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – signal strength @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – physical download speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – physical upload speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – physical download speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – upload speed @ 2.4GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – latency to router @ 5GHz, source PCGuide
Router benchmark – physical upload speed @ 5GHz, source PCGuide
Signal strength
Firstly we look at how well the antenna and signal work over certain distances. Starting off with a distance of 10ft/3m, then going back to 30ft/9m both of which are in open air. Then further back to 60ft/18m with a wall in between the phone and router, and lastly a long shot of 90ft/27m with about 4 walls and 2 rooms in between which is a rather tricky task.
In these, we see the GT6 does well across the board even compared to other bigger devices. With 2.4GHz achieving a range from -36dBm to -68dBm. Whilst at 5GHz speeds that jump to a -48dBm and -89dBM range and hold up well considering no external antenna to send off the signal. But with 9 internal, the advertised 5,800 square feet of coverage is a worthy target and seems reasonable.
Speed tests
For the speed tests it’s a straightforward Mbps speed of data transfer. Although we looked at both the physical and network speed. These relate to the speed between the phone and router and then the speed at which the internet can reach the device connected to it.
With the physical connections, the 2.4GHz download goes between 172Mbps to just 8 at the farthest, whilst the upload ranges from 286 down to 51Mbps. The 5GHz reaches 1080Mbps close but drops to 17Mbps furthest away in download speeds, with the upload at 1020Mbps dropping to 48Mbps.
As for the internet speeds, we see the trend for actual usage. Where the 2.4GHz download goes from 59.4 to 0MBps as it drops out, with the 5GHz first at 213Mbps then to 51.8Mbps. With the uploads going from around 40Mbps to 0 for 2.4GHz again, with 5GHz from 290 to 12.9Mbps.
The latency of the wireless is also relatively small between the router and phone, as at 2.4GHz it only increases from 14 to 32ms, with the 5GHz increasing from 7 to 17ms, with the LAN internet speed reaching that 260Mbps download mark that tops out alongside the rest of the tested options as the upload gets to around 280Mbps.
File transfer test
Since the router also features a USB port, we also plugged in our trusty SSD to test out the speeds that can be achieved over the network. Here the GT6 kind of falls behind, even over wired networking it doesn’t get the most out of the storage. As the CrystalDiskMark test shows the read and write speed averages are not too great. As the sequential reads hover around 66MB/s, and writes around 55MB/s. While random falls lower to even single digits.
Conclusion
Overall, the ROG Rapture GT6 is in fact a strong choice for a gaming router. It may not be on more recent WiFi standards but you might not need it either, and keeping the price down from the likes of the Nighthawk RS700 WiFi 7 we reviewed that cost around $700. Plus this offers a bit easier time meshing for even larger range support. With the features available and ease of setup, it is a strong choice and recommendation from us.
- Standard: WiFi 6
- Frequency Bands: 2.4GHz, 5GHz x2
- Max Speed: 10Gbps
- LAN Ports: 3x 1Gbps
- WAN: 1x 2.5Gbps
- CPU: 1.7GHz tri-core
- Memory: 256MB Flash, 512MB DDR4 RAM
- USB: 1x 3.2Gen A-type
- Dimensions: 172.3 x 78.1 x 176.75 mm
- Weight: 880g
