Review on 🎮 ASUS ROG Rapture WiFi Gaming Router (GT-AC5300): Tri Band Gigabit Wireless, Quad-Core CPU, WTFast Game Accelerator & Lifetime Internet Security by Bart Elbrink

Before I begin, Wi-Fi performance may vary depending on the wall material of your home and the level of interference. I've read some great reviews and some good reviews about the GT-AC5300. Some reviews say it's too much money and others say it's great in every way. After all, the only way to find out what you like is to BUY it and TRY it for a few days. I chose the GT-AC5300 for several good reasons; the hardware specs, the tools and the amazing web interface that I liked the most. First I'll talk about what I liked, and then what I didn't like so much, which didn't violate the agreement at all. If you don't need 8 ports and game functions with different web interface, RT-AC5300 is more than enough to support your network. With the RT version you can also get the Merlin firmware (the alternative firmware from Asus which is a more minimalistic approach which I really like. I also spent a good amount of time on a small networking website and their forums to see how the GT-AC5300 firmware has improved in the past). Hardware – This router has some pretty crazy specs: 1.8GHz CPU with 1GB RAM. This thing is like a gaming computer, pretty crazy. Loading is slightly faster than the RT-AC5300. 8 ports is one of the reasons I liked this feature, including link aggregation. By the way, if you don't use this feature, you need to disable it so you can use port 5+6 with different devices, otherwise they won't connect! I tested the network under heavy load where my smart TV is doing Netflix 4k and at the same time my laptop is streaming files to my NAS at over 75MB/s over WiFi and the wife is easily watching her YouTube videos on her phone. GT-AC5300 and RT-86U have newer Wi-Fi chips, so nice. connectivity. The standout feature is the first two gaming ports that I use for my two gaming stations. I've noticed that they get a nice little boost in performance. Things just react faster online, online and in games. Great feature. I also like the dashboard web interface showing network ping and ping rejection. Another feature that I have yet to test but is really awesome is VPN Merge, which allows you to assign specific clients on your network to use the VPN. I've attached the speed tests I ran at Speedtest from ookla and dslreports.com. DSL reports can vary as their servers aren't exactly the best, but they show that the QOS I've configured is working well so I have no complaints. Note that these tests may change from time to time depending on server load. Sometimes you may have a little lower speed, which does not mean that you have any problems on your end. Before I set up these two routers I actually had spectrum to improve my cable's signal as the signal was too strong (I only have one cable modem that I use in my apartment building so they usually send out stronger signals as the most homes have more than one device). I was also getting more error logs on my Netgear CM600 cable modem before the fix and after the fix I was only getting 1 T3 error in 3 weeks instead of multiple daily. The Wi-Fi range and speed is incredible, amazing. Gaming/Performance – I really like the gaming features of this router. If you combine WTfast in-game networking with game-specific game acceleration, like I tested Destiny 2 on PS4, you can get a hell of a low ping of around 10. I also like the in-game radar that shows you servers that are near you in the region. There is only one free device on the WTfast network, which is totally normal as I mainly play online games on PS4. I used to play a lot of World of Warcraft on my PC but gave up a while ago. Overall, compared to the RT-AC5300, I do like these little features that the GT version comes with. Anything that helps me is good in my book! Here are some other things I've noticed that may not be the best things about the GT-AC5300 that I can improve over time. WiFi radar. When I first tried this feature, it just didn't work. I've found that you actually have to click the "Start Data Collection" button to start scanning the WiFi around you and getting information. The information you can gather is pretty nice and can be helpful. 5GHz-1 and 5GHz-2 Wi-Fi performance. The two Wi-Fi bands actually have different performance. 2. 5GHz has better signal and performance than 1. I tested this using a WiFi analyzer app on my phone and a WiFi radar app on my router. I disabled 2.4GHz and left the 1.5GHz for visitors/friends while using the 2nd faster Wi-Fi band. I am using the latest firmware from 09/19/2018 which says "Fixed Wi-Fi stability issue". It's not that I'm having Wi-Fi issues or stability issues, but it's interesting. I was kind of hoping that maybe in the future Merlin would support this router and make firmware for it, but that's definitely not going to happen as the hardware is completely different. That's all. Overall I would highly recommend the GT-AC5300 if you really want to take advantage of its amazing features, want 8 LAN ports and better hardware specs. I love this router and its amazing features.