Tom's Hardware Verdict
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 boasts some impressive hardware specs and good overall performance.
Pros
- +
Seven 2.5 GbE LAN ports
- +
Mesh-expandable via Asus AiMesh
- +
Can be set up and maintained with a desktop browser or smartphone app
- +
Wealth of configuration options
Cons
- -
No 10 GbE LAN
- -
Poor long-range 2.4 GHz performance
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The last gamer-centric, tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router we tested from Asus was the RT-BE96U, an arachnid-esque router with strong 6 GHz performance and a wealth of configuration options. We now have our hands on the ROG Strix GS-BE18000, another tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router with a gaming focus, but with a less animalistic look.
The router is stacked with features, offering seven 2.5 GbE LAN ports (plus one 2.5 GbE LAN port), a USB 3.0 port, configurable RGB lighting, and a relatively compact form factor. Asus offers all of this in a router with a street price of around $450, but the lack of a 10 GbE LAN port and performance that can’t quite match its peers means that it isn’t ranked among the best Wi-Fi routers. The lack of a 10 GbE LAN port and relatively subpar 2.4 GHz performance.
Design of the Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000
At first glance, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 doesn’t even look much like a router — in fact, it appears more like an Asus small form factor PC than a router. It has a tall, book-style design with no external antennas (the router’s eight antennas are all internal). The front face of the router has a large RGB-illuminated ROG logo and four status LEDs in the lower-right corner (Wi-Fi, LAN, WAN, Power). You’ll also find a generous smattering of “Republic of Gamers” printed on the front of the router.
Where the real action happens, however, is on the back of the router, which is loaded with ports. It’s not often that we see eight Ethernet ports on the back of a gaming router, but that’s what you have assembled here. Asus provides one 2.5 GbE port for WAN, and seven 2.5 GbE LAN ports (two of which are designated as Gaming ports with automatic network prioritization). There’s also a USB 3.0 port that can be used for external storage or connecting a smartphone or USB cellular modem for Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity. One thing that you won’t find is a 10 GbE port, which is expected at this price point for a gaming router.
As for wireless connectivity, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router with 2.4 GHz (2x2), 5 GHz (4x4), and 6 GHz (4x4) bands. The 2x2 2.4 GHz radio is a downgrade from the 4x4 arrangement on the RT-BE96U, resulting in a theoretical maximum of 688 Mbps rather than 1,376 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band.
Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000 Specifications
| MSRP | Wi-Fi Standard | # of Bands | 2.4 GHz Speeds | 5 GHz Speeds | 6 GHz Speeds | Coverage | Ports |
$449.99 | Wi-Fi 7 | 3 | 688 Mbps | 5,764 Mbps | 11,529 Mbps | 3,300 sq ft | 1 x 2.5G WAN, 7 x 2.5G LAN 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 | |
$549.99 | Wi-Fi 7 | 3 | 1,376 Mbps | 5,764 Mbps | 11,529 | 5,400 sq ft | 1x 10G WAN, 1 x 1G WAN, 3x 1G LAN, 1x 10G LAN, 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 | |
$599.99 | Wi-Fi 7 | 2 | 1,376 Mbps | 5,760 Mbps | 11,520 | 3,600 sq ft | 2x 10G WAN/LAN, 4x 2.5G LAN, 1x SFP+, 1x USB 3.0 |
Setting up the Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 can be set up via the traditional web interface in a desktop browser or Asus’ excellent smartphone app. I opted for the latter, as it’s the quickest option. After plugging power into the router and connecting a cable to the WAN port, I tapped “Add a Network” in the smartphone app, then scanned the QR code on the bottom of the router.
After a couple of prompts from the setup program (naming SSIDs and setting passwords for each band, establishing an admin username and password, etc.), the installation process was complete. From start to finish, including rebooting and network optimization, the process took about five minutes.
When the setup process was complete, I was given the option to bind the router to my Asus account, which lets me manage it when I’m not on my home network. In other words, as long as you have a stable internet connection, you can use the Asus Router app to access and manage the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 from anywhere.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 also supports Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC), allowing for boosted power levels on the 6 GHz band. Instead of using the default Low Power Indoor profile, if your local region allows it, AFC can enable the Standard Power Profile, which increases the range of the 6 GHz band. I was able to use the Asus Router app to verify my location and enable AFC.
Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000 Software
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 uses the AsusWRT 5.0 platform with a gaming-oriented focus. While the interface may appear familiar to people who have used previous Asus routers, the version used on the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 makes heavy use of black and shades of red. You'll also find the Republic of Gamers branding in the top right corner of every page.
The first page you'll see when visiting the desktop Web GUI is the Dashboard, which provides at-a-glance information such as the number of connected clients, internet connection status, wireless band status, network traffic, ping times, and quick controls for the RGB logo on the front of the router.
If you want to delve deeper into configuration settings, the left panel is where you control every aspect of the router. Since the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 is Asus AiMesh compatible, you can add compatible wireless nodes from the AiMesh menu. At the same time, AiProtection offers a comprehensive suite of free security tools from Trend Micro. You'll find features like malicious site blocking, intrusion prevention, and device isolation for infected network devices.
There are comprehensive parental controls that can be implemented on a per-MAC basis, Game Boost (prioritized network traffic, mobile gaming acceleration, Open NAT for port forwarding), Adaptive QoS, Amazon Alexa integration, and much more. Asus even goes above and beyond with how it allows you to utilize the USB port.
Not only can you use it for network storage, but you can set up a network printer server by connecting your USB printer directly to the port, add internet connectivity to your network via a USB cellular modem or smartphone, and even create a Time Machine backup server for Macs.
Like most modern routers, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 also features an integrated Speed Test utility. Using a MacBook Air connected via the 6 GHz band, I witnessed 1,600 Mbps down and 1,300 Mbps up from my 2 Gbps fiber connection.
Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000 Performance
We tested the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 with our long-serving Wi-Fi client testing rig, which consists of an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home. As always, our testing server was a Windows 11 Home machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to one of the 2.5 GbE ports on the ROG Strix GS-BE18000.
Our iPerf3 throughput tests are conducted at six-foot and 25-foot distances, with and without network traffic. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos across multiple wireless bands.
I’ll preface the performance results by mentioning that the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 was running the latest public firmware (we do not test beta firmware on routers). With that said, overall performance was good, albeit a step or two behind the pricier RT-BE96U in 6 GHz and 2.4 GHz performance.
Testing iPerf3 on the 6 GHz band at short range (6 feet), the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 just barely squeaked past the 2 Gbps mark, although that was roughly a third less than the RT-BE96U (3,040 Mbps) and the TP-Link Archer GE800 (2,830). When moving out to our long-range test (25 feet), the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 lost about a quarter of its performance, falling to 1,467 Mbps compared to 1,980 Mbps for the RT-BE96U. The Archer GE800 barely gave up any ground at 25 feet, registering a still-impressive 2,730 Mbps.
The 5 GHz test was interesting, as we saw much higher performance with the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 than with the RT-BE96U. The former hit 1,273 Mbps at short range and 497 Mbps at long range. The latter was well off the pace at 720 Mbps and 565 Mbps, respectively. The Archer GE800, on the other hand, topped 1,800 Mbps at short range and nearly hit 1,400 Mbps at long range.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 vastly underperformed on the 2.4 GHz iPerf3 test, with 122 Mbps at short range and just 39 Mbps at long range. For comparison, the Archer GE800 managed 187 Mbps and 131 Mbps, respectively.
Our ROG Strix GS-BE18000 review unit showed minimal performance degradation with congested traffic. The gap between the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 and the more performance competition shrunk dramatically, with the router achieving 1,823 Mbps at short range and 1,400 Mbps at long range on the 6 GHz band. For comparison, the RT-BE96U put up numbers of 2,493 Mbps and 2,003 Mbps, respectively.
It again leapfrogged the RT-BE96U in the 5 GHz test, maintaining 1,200 Mbps at short range and 425 Mbps at long range. The RT-BE96U was well behind, at 388 Mbps and 208 Mbps, respectively. The overachieving Archer GE800 smoked both Asus routers, however, with 1,290 Mbps at short range and 1,005 Mbps at long range.
When switching to our final 2.4 GHz congest iPerf3 test, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 continued to underperform with 96 Mbps at short range and 37 Mbps at long range.
When it comes to wireless testing, your mileage will definitely vary. The results I obtained in my home environment may not mirror those you see in your apartment, home, or office. Home construction, wall thickness, the choice of flooring materials, and even the number of walls between the router and clients can affect performance. However, the numbers presented should give you a ballpark estimate of how the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 should perform and are comparable to our previous tests, as our testing locations and methodology remain the same.
Bottom Line
On paper, the Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000 looks great. It’s a tri-band router offering a combined 18 Gbps of throughput across its 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. It features a compact design, RGB effects to appeal to gamers, gaming-centric hardware and software features, excellent configurability, and a whopping seven 2.5 Gbps ports. If you’re a specs chaser, it’s hard not to be impressed.
When it comes to performance, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 generally fared well. While its 6 GHz performance couldn’t quite catch the RT-BE96U, it crushed it on the 5 GHz band. The only places where the ROG Strix GS-BE18000's performance really fell flat compared to its peers were in long-range 2.4 GHz tests. This could be an issue if you have IoT devices, particularly exterior security cameras, that might be placed farther from your router.
But in the end, the TP-Link Archer GE800 outpaces the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 in performance across the board, and it also throws in a couple of 10 Gbps ports (which you won’t find on the ROG Strix GS-BE18000). Unless you need the additional 2.5 GbE ports that the Asus offers, the Archer GE800 is a more solid choice.
