Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

ASUS offers a proper router with the GT-AC2900, however as the results show the performance definitely is less than the flagship models out there (and that is the basis of comparison). So while it is a good router, it is a bit more normal and mainstream for perf. That's said, we recently moved into a new space the building seems to be much harder on anything Wi-Fi due to coated isolation materials, steel reinforced floors etc. In retrospect, that is a good environment to test in as it is a more worst-case scenario. In your household, the ranges and numbers might be much better, and then if you live in the city with 40 other access point nearby, it might be worse. This is what makes proper Wi-fi testing so incredibly difficult. You can also create a cage of Farraday and test inside it, that's perfect for static measurements, but completely useless relative seen for real-world performance. So I do hope you can see the complications with Wi-Fi testing as the results in your house can be much better, but also worse. The ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 is an advanced product, Asus has one of the best feature sets inside their routers, and while the GUI could use an update, really everything you'll need is there. We can discuss the GeForce NOW recommended certification, but it's a sticker on a box within the modem some dedicated bandwidth assignments for game streaming. I'll leave my comments at that. 

RGB

Honestly ... I was surprised as to how nice I find the router with the RGB stuff going on? That's said if you house your router inside a closet, it's really an effort that is lost. But if you have it in your vicinity it does look pretty cool. Our measurements showed that RGB on/off roughly shows a 2 Watt differential. So that's not too bad. Then again that is 24/7/365. But yeah, it left a positive impression here in my office, and I am an RGB skeptic.

Hardcore cash

ASUS routers are increasingly more expensive whenever there's a ROG logo on there, and yes the router has an ROG price-tag as it will cost you €269,- with a similar number in USD, and that is a lot of money for an AC (and not AX) router. In fact so much that it becomes hard to not recommend your average 150 USD router which will offer you similar performance and features as well. Also if you plan to spend this much cash on that cow, please do realize that the AX WIFI standard is out and released.

Moar

The GT-AC2900 is loaded with features, like priority game packets and a ROG port that priorities game packets with the machine(s) connected to it. You get features like a private network, VPN options, server routing options and very strong diagnostic and monitoring options all are present in this dual CPU core product. It's good in features and aesthetics, really really good even. And albeit perf leaked a bit here and there, every little corner inside my house did get coverage. These advanced routers are getting firmware updates pretty actively, and that's great in these vulnerable times where everything connected is prey that is hunted. Now, I like the admin interface, which does offer extremely advanced network settings. The GUI, by the way, needs an aesthetic overhaul. Nice to see are the USB 3.1 ports for which you can make a UPnP / SAMBA network share with a flash disk or external storage.USB did perform close to 100 MB/sec reads and writes, which is fine.

Overall Performance

Overall wired throughput is good, for LAN to LAN measurements we topped 940 Mbit/sec but that's normal for any gigabit router these days. The power consumption is okay as far as I am concerned, at roughly 10 Watts continuous. With your household devices online 24/7 these days your power bill will increase 20 bucks per year just for that router depending on local rates. If you take into account that you can also use the unit as a bit of a NAS with external storage connected to the router, well that does help out in the equation, of course. The USB 3.1 throughput performance is good enough for that, reads/writes are close to 100 MB/s. In this price range, I would have liked to see an AX compatible WI-Fi radio though.

Concluding

The GT-AC2900 is your normal to a well-performing router for Wi-Fi, not excellent. It's a feast for the eyes with an RGB implementation that this editor actually for a change liked. How relevant you find that as a feature remains a topic of very wide and sometimes heated discussion. The GeForce Now certification is a sticker on the box that makes it sell better. There is a bit of prioritization and bandwidth reservation (90% for streaming based on QoS) going on but really, any decent router is capable enough for game streaming. Features wise ASUS has things totally covered and the router is more than capable with its CPU and memory configuration. The price at 269 bucks is steep though, and for that money, I do feel this product already should have been made AX compatible to make it a bit more future proof. In retrospect, I have to say that if this router was a 100 bucks cheaper, it could be a smash hit from the moment it'll get in stores next month, but at these MSRP prices I do worry a bit with the competition out there that offers pretty much the same minus RGB at a better price. Performance wise, it's an AC (Wi-Fi 5) router that you've seen and known for years. However, as with most things in a more enthusiast segment, your eyes want something to look at as well, and for a router, it probably is one of the best looking designs I've ever seen. Available early June for 269 bucks.

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