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Yes, the latest Wi-Fi 6E you've been holding your breath for is real! Asus announced today the ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 router—the very first router on the market that supports the new 6 GHz Wi-Fi standard—as part of its Meta Buffs product lines.
Update: The new router is now officially available.
Meta Buffs is an all-new line-up, within Asus's Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand, of gaming that includes video cards, monitors, mice, headphones, and others. And of course, there's this new router.
Asus's ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 Router: Similar design and specs
The details of the ROG GT-AXE11000 are still sketchy for now, but the name itself, GT-AXE11000, rings a bell.
This router is clearly the next step from Asus's existing GT-AX11000, which is currently the top Wi-Fi 6 tri-band gaming router. That said, for the most part, you can expect it to deliver everything the GT-AX11000 has and more.
And the new GT-AXE11000 is very similar to its older brother, including the design, which is—don't hold your breath for it!—a square box with eight antennas sticking up from the sides. On top of that, it also has similar processing power, with a quad-core 1.8 GHz 64-bit CPU and 1 GB of RAM.
It has the same amount of ports, too. The GT-AXE11000 comes with a 2.5 Gbps LAN/WAN port, four Gigabit LANs, and one Gigabit WAN. It also supports Link Aggregation on both the WAN and LAN sides to deliver multi-gig speeds.
However, there's one big difference. The GT-AXE11000's third band is now a 6 GHz one. It's a tri-band router of three frequency bands, including 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz.
As a result, it has access to an additional seven continuous 160 MHz channels or fourteen 80 MHz ones. This allows for super-fast Wi-Fi 6 speeds with ease. In return, though, in a wireless mesh, the router can't use any band as the dedicated backhaul.
In terms of capacity, though, the new router delivers the same as its predecessor. It has up to 11000 Mbps of combined theoretical bandwidth across all bands. The new 6 GHz band means you will likely enjoy its top speed consistently when you use Wi-Fi 6E clients.
Due to the spectrum shortage, the 5 GHz band has proved to have a hard time delivering Wi-Fi 6's full potential. On this band, the only way a router can operate in a 160MHz channel bandwidth is via the use of DFS channels, which are problematic when radar signals are present.
Availability
Asus says the GT-AXE11000's release date is set for sometime in December, though there's a chance it might be delayed till early 2021. You'll likely find its full review here around then.
It's unclear how much it will cost, but you can expect it to be more expensive than the GT-AX11000. There's no rush in getting it, however. You'll also need Wi-Fi 6E clients to enjoy the new standard's speed. And those might take even longer, possibly sometime in 2021, to be available, unless you're willing to get your hand dirty and perform an upgrade from third-party parts.
Nonetheless, this is an exciting development. With the introduction of the ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, Asus has just made the Wi-Fi 6E standard official. My take is other networking vendors will soon follow suit. And that means the new era of hopefully much better wireless speeds is (almost) here.
Update: The new router is now officially available.
Hi Dong,
A question: I was planning on purchasing a Asus AX11000 to serve as the main router with my 2 Asus XT8s in a mesh setup. With the AXE11000 coming out this month I thought I should get it instead. However, your statement ” the router can’t use any band as the dedicated backhaul” is making me reconsider. I can’t do a wired backhaul so does that mean I will actually get reduced coverage with the AXE11000 setup?
thanks,
Carmine
Go with Asus AX11000, XT8 or RT-AX92U, Carmine.
Dong,
You can pre-order this on Amazon now with an anticipated release date of 1/29/2021 (not to be confused with shipping date).
Derek
Yes, it’s happening. 🙂
Omg thank you for this! I wish I saw it before. Now out of stock.
$550 Ouch….
I was thinking that if the 6ghz band doesn’t get me my 1.2gb down at 36″ distance, I’ll have to return it and get the current AX11000, because in that case I’ll value more to have two 5ghz bands. As long as it gets me around 1gb down I’ll be ok, considering that I hate those DFS channels.
It’s not out yet. You didn’t miss anything. 🙂
Hi Dong,
Xiaomi recently made its first Wi-Fi 6E router official. The Mi Router AX6000 is priced at CNY 599 (about $91) and is currently available for reservation in China and will be going on its first sale on January 8 2021.
I was shocking that the price is so cheap compare to North America. If I have someone in China, can I ask them to buy one and send to me, do you think it will ok to use in North America? Thanks
Likely not, George. The hardware needs to be certified to work in the US (or EU) and for good reasons. Also, don’t go cheap with your networking devices, it’s not worth it. Take my word for it.
Thanks for your advise.
Hi George,
AX6000 is NOT a Wi-Fi 6E…. it is Wi-Fi 6.
But the price is really good.
It is 6E
Hey Dong,
Any idea how the GT-AXE11000 will play in AiMash with the XT8? Will the 5GHz band be used for backhaul?
Thanks,
Dror
What I would like to know is when this thing is going to come out
Hopefully this month, Piticli.
Luckily I got the “defective” Archer AX11000 at Costco, so I have three months to return it. But it makes no sense to pay $450 for the current Asus, when the 6E version is going to likely cost $550. Unless they put the current on on sale. Which I saw in on camel camel for $330 at some point, then I’ll probably try it…
Prolly later this quarter if not this month Dror.
Sounds like the price will be up there, at lease initially. Would love to see how the XT-8 model evolves to include 6E. I have 6000 SQFT to cover, lots of walls and floors for the signal to go through. I need mesh coverage with good signal strength for getting to wifi cameras positioned outside the building.
None of the existing router will “evole” to include Wi-Fi 6E, Msabaro. More here.
They’re already selling Wi-Fi 6E antennas for PC. I wonder if this 6ghz band would be worth it at around 35 feet from the router.
There’s no such thing as retail Wi-Fi 6E antennas, unless you mean the adapter card. In that case, check out this post.
Yeah that’s what I meant sorry. Still some people say that you need different antennas for the 6ghz band, which I find hard to believe.
I thought so. 🙂
Yes, it is, Bob. And it’s an adapter, as I mentioned in this post.
@Bob Hart, I would just get the Asus one (Pce-AX58BT) Which more than likely has the best PCE board and the best antennas. Then buy a separate AX210 card.
Which 7 160mhz channel numbers will be dedicated to 6ghz band?
We’ll have to wait and see, Bob.
@Dong Ngo, Newegg Business has the Asus AXE11000 listed as out of stock but there’s a price of $550US attached to the ad.
This is about $100 more than the AX11000 was when first available for basically the same hardware except for the replacement of the 2nd 5ghz band radio with a 6ghz band radio.
Thanks for the tip, Bob.
This site has become my go to place for wifi related stuffs. Review from someone who knows what he is talking about. I have a wish that you also measure average wattage on the wall socket. I run most of these devices on the solar system (with average battery enough to run through the night). Just because wattage is a concern for me, I thought perfect mesh pair for me would be one Asus XT8 with one Asus XD4 (mini).
I might do that at some point, Koby, since I’m planning on going solar this year — keeping my fingers crossed. For now, it’s quite hard. But generally, these things don’t use a lot of power.
I have saved up almost 800GBP to buy the AXE router in December as a gift for my father. Yet I live in the UK and have only seen it’s availability mentioned being (NA) only. Will it be released in Europe (UK) this month (December) as well? If not, please could you inform me when it will be available here or if I could maybe buy one from America and use it here in Europe without any voltage issues? Thanks!
Your guess is as good as mine, Tammy. There’s a chance it’s not available for purchase this year. We’ll have to wait and see. 🙂
That’d be a shame if not. Though all the same, thank you very much for your insight, Dong!
Sure, Tammy. I hear you! Your old man must be quite awesome. But, of course, he is! 🙂
Personally find the boxy design of this to be pretty gross. Hopefully when it launches its different looking but I doubt it. I guess if it works well then who cares. Keeping a close eye on here for reviews. I have a 68u which is REALLY long in the tooth, definitely wanting to upgrade ASAP.
As December is two weeks away, any more information on this router?
It’s coming. 🙂
I stumbled across your site a few weeks ago and being an ASUS router fan, I didn’t understand why I failed to come across it before. Thank you for your dedication and passion.
I’ve just purchased a couple of AX210NGW (Intel 6E) M.2 cards and hope to be able to buy the AXE11000 soon, so looking forward to your review.
Happy to have you, Mark. 🙂
I’m looking forward to an AXE version of AX92U. *If* the 6GHz can be used for backhaul for a mesh network, then I can finally ditch the MOCA 2.0 adapters Im using as a backhaul for my Google Wifi. I’ve had it with Google Wifi and their crippling firmware updates.
Noted, Jun. 🙂
This may be a stupid question but will we be seeing quad band routers in the future? Current routers offer tri-band with one 2.4GHz and two 5 GHz. The GT-AXE11000 offers one 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz band each and thus if you do upgrade your losing a 5GHz band.
I currently own a TP-Link Archer C5400X and plan to upgrade sometime next year as I start acquiring more WiFi 6 devices. I am looking to upgrade to a WiFi 6E router (future proof) but do not one to lose a 5GHz band since I have many WiFi 5 devices that will remain in my ecosystem until we start slowly transition from WiFi 5 to WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E.
Thanks
That’s a possibility, Mohammed. But we’ll need to wait and see.
Any idea if Asus is planning to launch a similar 6E version of the RT-AX89X soon?
Your guess is as good as mine, AB.
So, if I understand 6E correctly, if you live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of EM interface in the 5G range, or experience clogged bands from having a lot of people close by, the additional higher frequency 160 MHz bands in 6E don’t really offer any performance boost (and maybe performance loss due to shorter range). That, and the fact that there are no new features like what we saw in the generational jump from 5 to 6 means that someone like me who lives in a somewhat rural area would have no benefit from a 6E system over a 6 system. Correct?
Well, maybe that isn’t totally true… maybe the introduction of the AXE-11000 will drive down the price of the AX-11000 even further so I won’t feel guilty about buying a second one to deploy in my mesh.
There’s no need to worry about “if”, Barry. This post will make you understand it for sure. 🙂
Hey Dong,
I’m getting 1Gb Fiber installed soon so i’ll be replacing my R7000 Nighthawk with something like the ASUS RT-AX86U. However reading that WiFi6E is right around the corner, should i just rough it out a little longer and wait for an AX86UE or something? Currently the only WIFI 6 Devices we have are our new Note 20 Ultras.
I wouldn’t wait, Daniel. It’s gonna be a long time before you can find a Wi-Fi 6E client, and those clients will work with your router, too. More here.
If you use several of these in an AIMesh network, can you use the 6GHz band for wireless backhaul? Right now I use three GT-AX11000s in an AIMesh network, but the only way I can get 160MHz channels on my backhaul is to use DFS channels. Unfortunately, I frequently get kicked off of those because of radar interference. If the GT-AXE11000 allows the 6GHz band to be used as a dedicated backhaul, it’d solve my problems with DFS channels. Here’s hoping…
You won’t be able to use the new 6 GHz band with ANY existing router or client, Greg. More here. But if you use multiple GT-AXE11000 units then that will work.
Right – I knew that I wouldn’t be able to use the 6GHz band with existing hardware, but I am interested in replacing my three GT-AX11000 routers with three GT-AXE11000s. For reference, I want 4×4 160MHz channels for both the main (client) band and the backhaul…and the GT-AX11000 (and presumably the GT-AXE11000) are the only mesh-enabled routers I’ve found that support such a configuration. A dedicated 6GHz backhaul would be even better that what I have now (since my 160MHz 5GHz DFS backhaul routinely picks up interference), but it’s unclear to me whether the GT-AXE11000’s firmware will allow the router mesh to be configured that way. One would assume so, but I guess we won’t know for sure until the routers are released.
Yeap, we’ll have to wait and see, Greg.
Its December ,when can we purchase it?
You have to ask Asus, Sergio. 🙂
@Greg, You can use the 6ghz band if you have a laptop or pc, right now with the AX210 card.