(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Now that Wi-Fi 7 has been on the market for a few years and has matured, Wi-Fi 8 is the next logical step in the quest to advance wireless connectivity. TP-Link teased its upcoming Archer 8 Wi-Fi 8 router last week, and now Asus has pulled the wraps off its upcoming ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro gaming router.At first glance, the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro doesn’t look too far removed from the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro Wi-Fi 7 router. They seemingly share the exact exterior design, right down to the eight antennas, front LED panel, buttons, exposed heatsink, and clear ROG panel. However, Asus is using an unnamed Wi-Fi 8 chipset inside.Asus hasn’t provided any concrete performance figures we can compare to its existing Wi-Fi 7 routers, but it does offer some broad generalizations. It claims that the ROG Rapture GT-BN98 Pro offers up to a 2x improvement in median throughput and 2x greater coverage for IoT devices. Asus also claims that it will provide lower latency via Multi-AP coordination and allow higher performance in crowded wireless environments. These are all enhancements afforded by the Wi-Fi 8 standard, rather than anything that Asus is doing on its own to improve performance.
