15.11.2022 
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is a massive Wi-Fi6E router with an aggressive yet good-looking design that tries to attract people who want the best money can buy. It also packs some great hardware and an extensive list of features that cater to the needs of different audiences: gamers, knowledgeable users, small businesses, and families with children. If you want to see how well it performs in real-life tests and understand whether it’s a good fit for you and your specific needs, read this review:
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000: Who is it good for?
This wireless router is a suitable choice for:
- Homes or offices with 2.5 Gbps internet connections
- Users who own Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices
- Gamers who often play online games
- Users who want a secure network with excellent antivirus and firewall protection
- Parents who require efficient parental controls for their home network
- Knowledgeable users who want tons of advanced features (two USB ports, VPN, Dual-WAN, Alexa and IFTT support, etc.)
Pros and cons
Here are the things I like about ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000:
- Works with 2.5 Gbps internet connections
- Wi-Fi 6E support
- Powerful hardware that can handle many network clients
- Many features for gamers
- Top-notch security tools and parental controls
- Tons of advanced features, including VPN
- Two USB 3.2 ports
There are some downsides to consider as well:
- It’s very expensive
- It’s massive and heavy
Verdict
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is a premium wireless router for people who want to future-proof their Wi-Fi and have access to speedy 1 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps internet connections. While it is not as fast as the even more expensive ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000, it’s one of the fastest routers on the market and delivers tons of features. So, if you can afford it and have a fast internet connection, you’ll love using the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000.
Unboxing the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 comes in a large cardboard box featuring the Republic of Gamers logo, the product name and picture, and broadcasting its compatibility with the Wi-Fi 6E standard and its most important hardware and software features.
The packaging used for ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000
You will find further information on the box’s sides and back, including a description of the new Wi-Fi 6E standard and its benefits. When you unbox everything, you find the following items: the router, an RJ-45 network cable, a troubleshooting guide, the quick setup guide, the warranty card, and the power adapter. GT-AXE11000 is a powerful router that requires a large power adapter the size of those used for laptops. One neat aspect is that the European version of the router bundles two power plugs: the standard EU version and the UK version. Therefore, even if you buy this router from another European country, it will surely work with your country’s power plugs.
What you'll find inside the box
When you remove all the protective materials from the router, you will be awed by how massive and great it looks. Furthermore, visually speaking, it fits the Republic of Gamers family of devices.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 has an aggressive look
The unboxing experience offered by ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is impressive. You get the feeling that you just bought a premium router, and ASUS provides you with everything you need to get started.
Hardware specifications and design
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is a beautiful wireless router that looks great, especially when you turn it on and configure its RGB lighting system. It has a size of 10.4 x 10.4 x 2.9 inches or 26.4 x 26.4 x 7.4 cm in width x depth x height, and it weighs a massive 3.94 pounds or 1.79 kg. Its eight tall, non-detachable external antennas make it even more imposing.
The RGB lighting looks great
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 looks similar to the even more expensive ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000. However, I like the GT-AXE11000 better because its top cover is not made of glass but matte plastic. Therefore, it looks better and is more practical. Also, it doesn’t gather as many fingerprints and is easier to clean. Furthermore, the LEDs signaling the status of the router and its features are also more visible. However, if you find them annoying, you can disable them from the router’s firmware.
The LEDs on the top
Inside the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, you find some potent hardware: a Broadcom BCM4908 quad-core processor running at 1.8GHz, 1 GB of DDR3 RAM, and 256 MB of storage for the firmware. The router broadcasts its wireless signal on three bands, as follows:
- On the 2.4 GHz band, using Wi-Fi 6, with a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 1148 Mbps
- On the 5 GHz band, using Wi-Fi 6 and 160 MHz channel width, with a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 4804 Mbps
- On the 6 GHz band, using Wi-Fi 6E and 160 MHz channel width, with a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 4804 Mbps
Summing up all bands, you get a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 10756 Mbps. GT-AXE11000 provides 4x4 MU-MIMO and OFDMA wireless transfers on all three bands, which is great. It’s also compatible with the WPA3 encryption standard for maximum security, and it can also work with older wireless standards, like 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) or 802.11.ac (Wi-Fi 5).
All this powerful hardware requires a lot of cooling, so you’ll see ventilation grids on all sides. The antennas are very thick and tall too, which is not to everyone’s taste.
There are many ventilation grids on this router
You find three buttons on the corner opposite the LEDs: WPS, Wi-Fi, and Boost. They enable or disable the features written on them. However, the Boost button can be configured in the router’s firmware to activate or deactivate things like the LEDs, the DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) Channel, the Aura RGB lighting, or Game Boost.
WPS, Wi-Fi, and Boost
Rotate the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 a bit, and you find two USB 3.2 ports, which is incredibly rare on a wireless router. They will be very useful to knowledgeable users, who want to build their own NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution using their router, and to small business users.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 has two USB 3.2 ports
TIP: Here’s how to turn your ASUS router into a NAS.
Rotate the router further, and you see the WAN port in blue (working at 1 Gbps), and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port that can be used for the internet connection or for connecting a device can take advantage of it. For example, I used it to connect my desktop PC, on which I installed the ASUS XG-C100C PCI-Express network card. Next to them, you also find four 1 Gbps Ethernet ports.
You can use a 2.5 Gbps internet connection
Lastly, after one more rotation, you see the Power jack, the Power button, and the Reset jack.
The Power jack, the Power button, and the Reset jack
There are even more ventilation grids on the bottom of the router, a sticker with details about the device you bought, and a hole for wall mounting. Considering how massive and heavy this router is, one hole feels insufficient for safely mounting it on walls. I recommend placing the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 on flat surfaces in your home or office.
The bottom side of the router
The hardware and the design of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 are impressive. This router has everything you can think of, from Wi-Fi6E support to 160 MHz-wide channels on Wi-Fi 6 and WPA3 encryption. For more technical details, visit this page: ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000.
Setting up and using the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000
The installation process for the ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is the same as for all other ASUS routers. You can set it up using a laptop and a web browser or the ASUS Router app for Android and iOS on a smartphone or tablet. I followed both processes during my testing, and it all worked well each time.
Setting up ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is not complicated
The setup wizard does a good job presenting the necessary information to set things up correctly: connect the router to the internet, choose a name and password for the Wi-Fi, set an admin account and password, etc. When you are done with the initial setup, you are shown a summary of your settings, and you are recommended to upgrade the firmware to the latest version. Follow this recommendation as you benefit from the latest bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements.
For managing this router, I prefer using the web-based admin interface offered by ASUS because it gives you access to all the tools and features. For ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, this interface has a Republic of Gamers skin with red and black accents. Some people may like it, while others prefer the classic skin from other ASUS routers.
The web-based admin interface
The admin interface is available in twenty-five languages, and the help documentation is easily accessible with links to the manual at the bottom of the interface. Gamers should not hesitate to familiarize themselves with this router’s firmware, as they will find many features targeted at them. They’ll also appreciate the RGB lighting with some stunning effects that you can easily personalize.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 has many features for gamers
One improvement of the latest firmware versions for this router is the option to set DNS servers from a list provided by ASUS, which includes many great services, including those offered by Google.
The new DNS settings are useful
Administering the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is a pleasant experience. The web-based interface is well organized and split into logical sections with plenty of settings and information. In addition, newer versions of firmware improve how some settings are organized, like the VPN or AiMesh.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 works with AiMesh
The ASUS Router app is easy to use, even though it doesn’t give you access to as many features and tools. However, it does cover the basics you need, including more advanced features like Parental Controls and setting up rules for your children and their devices.
The ASUS Router app
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 broadcasts its signal on a third 6 GHz band, using the new Wi-Fi 6E standard. While the new standard is speedy, it can also be troublesome because it works only with compatible devices. Like in the early days of the Wi-Fi 6 standard, your new and shiny laptop may not see the Wi-Fi 6E network, even though it is compatible. You may have to update Windows 11 to the latest version, update the Wi-Fi network card drivers, and install the newest firmware on the router before the laptop can connect to the network emitted by this router. You’ll probably have a similar experience because we live in the early days of the Wi-Fi 6E standard. However, just like with Wi-Fi 6, a year from now, Wi-Fi 6E compatibility issues should be resolved, and the whole experience will become much smoother.
Overall, I’m happy with how easy it is to set up the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, how it works, the administration experience it offers, and its general performance. If you want to know more about the real-world performance offered by this router, go to the next page of this review, where I present detailed measurements and comparisons.
