We’ve been hearing a lot about WiFi 7 recently. It seems all of the new high-end Z790-E and X670E motherboards have been outfitted with WiFi 7 and most new laptops have WiFi 7. Of course in order to fully take advantage of WiFi 7 you’ll need to have a WiFi 7 router. Today we are going to be taking a look at the ASUS RT-BE96U, which is a Tri-Band WiFi 7 router with all of the WiFi 7 features you want like 320MHz bandwidth, 4096-QAM and Multi-link operation (MLO). On top of that you are going to get dual 10G ports, subscription-free network security through ASUS AiProtection, and the AiMesh feature which allows you to create a mesh network with this new router and your older ASUS router. WiFi 7 routers are a great way of future-proofing your home network, but are they worth picking up? Read on as we find out!
Special thanks to ASUS for providing us with the RT-BE96U Tri-Band WiFi 7 Router to review.
Features of the ASUS RT-BE96U
- Next-gen WiFi Standard – Beyond-fast WiFi 7 (802.11be) with new 320MHz channels in the 6 GHz band and 4096-QAM significantly increases network capacity and throughput, with speeds of up to 19 Gbps
- Multi-link Operation – Links to multiple bands at the same time to ensure stable internet connections and efficient data transfers
- Dual 10 Gbps Ports – Maximized wired connectivity and flexibility with dual 10G WAN and WAN/LAN ports and LAN aggregation support
- Subscription-free Network Security – With commercial-grade AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro™, plus a one-tap security scan and Safe Browsing
- Advanced Parental Controls – Protect your kids online with instant monitoring, content filters and customized settings for every connected device
- Comprehensive VPN Features – Including the Instant Guard mobile app for secure connection over public WiFi
- AiMesh Extendable Router – Enables whole home seamless roaming with rich, advanced features
Packaging of the ASUS RT-BE96U
The RT-BE96U comes in a very nice retail package. On the front we have a picture of the router with some of the main features listed. On the back many of the features are detailed.
Getting everything out of the box we have quite a lot. First of course we have the router itself and then we have a power adapter and power cable, Ethernet cable, quick start guide, and a WiFi helper card.
