Wi-Fi is one of the most well-known ciphers in the technology world: we've all heard of it, but we've never seen it, and we don't even know how it works. [because Wi-Fi 7 started buzzing right after the Wi-Fi 6E standard was introduced (opens in new tab) and the first routers were released before the platform was certified (opens in new tab). At this year's CES, the final nail in the coffin of Wi-Fi 6, more 7 routers were announced, including Asus' beastly-looking model (opens in new tab).

The first is the gaming router I've seen so far. For a moment, I thought it was the scary shadow ship from Babylon 5, because the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 completes the image with a black finish, complete with eight spider-leg antennas. And this one is lavishly adorned with ROG's angry eyes. It looks as if it is ready to slay monsters and take headshots all night long.

The Rapture GT-BE98 supports two 5GHz bands at 5,762 Mbps and a 6GHz band at up to 11,525 Mbps for more serious Internet business. A 2.4 GHz band of 1,376 Mbps is also available (the 2.4 GHz band beats the higher frequencies in terms of range). This would give the quad-band router up to 25,00 Mbps of bandwidth, which would accommodate any gamer.

If you are looking for something a bit more toned down, we recommend the tri-band Asus RT-BE96U. It is quite similar to its hardcore counterpart, but ditches the angry eye decal in favor of more black in the Circuit Wi-Fi 7 design. Similarly, this router can get the same speeds as its predecessor in the 6GHz, 5GHz, and 2.4GHz bands, but lacks the extra bands obviously provided by the angry eyes. This gives this 3-band router a total bandwidth of up to 19,000 Mbps.

Otherwise, both of these routers offer similar specs and likely feature the same quad-core 2.6GHz processor; the GT-BE98 has one more 10GB LAN port than the RT-BE96U and aims to provide a better connection for gaming It has a game acceleration feature designed to provide better connectivity for gaming. If you are looking for a hard-core router for gaming, the GT-BE98 is probably your best bet. That is, however, if its price does not offend our eyes. The release date and price are still unknown, but it should be available by the end of this year.