For years, gamers have sworn by the reliable performance of wired Ethernet connections, making sure that their most important gaming devices have a hardline to their gaming router. But running cables for all your gaming devices isn’t always convenient or even possible. That’s why so many gamers have been on the hunt for next-level tech that delivers the blazing-fast, low-latency networking they expect for both wired and wireless connections. Today, we’re ready to give these gamers what they need. The all-new ROG Strix GS-BE18000 gaming router gives you the best of both worlds, putting a wealth of Ethernet ports and cutting-edge WiFi 7 tech at your disposal to boost the connection of all your devices. What’s more, it sweetens the deal with a lean new look, Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) support, effortless network management tools, advanced security options, and more.
An all-new visual design that’s ready for the spotlight
Gaming routers perform their best when they’re out in the open. Put too many walls between your router and your devices, and you won’t get the most out of its advanced features. But for too many people, the aesthetic design or physical layout of their router keeps them from placing it for optimal networking performance.
To make sure that you won’t even want to hide the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 in a closet, we’re debuting a new design that’s built for easy integration into your gaming den or living room. It starts with a striking vertical form factor that offers a significantly reduced footprint compared to our large-and-in-charge ROG Rapture gaming routers. Second, it pulls the antennas inside for a sleek, modern look. Put together, these elements mean that the GS-BE18000 fits easily on a shelf, and if it’s meant to live on your gaming desk, it won’t crowd out your other gaming gear.
Visually, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 goes back to basics with clean lines and polished surfaces, but it’s not all business. An iridescent ROG Eye logo on the front panel lets you customize the router’s look with Aura RGB lighting. Asymmetric side vents slash across the side panel for visual interest and to improve airflow, allowing the gaming router to maintain low internal temperatures even under intense loads.
WiFi 7 tech kicks your wireless connections into high gear
With WiFi 7 support now quite common in game consoles, smartphones, laptops, and desktop PCs, the new wireless standard has truly gone mainstream. If you’re still using a last-gen gaming router, you’re not getting the most out of your devices.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 gives you the premium WiFi 7 experience with tri-band operation across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. With ultra-wide 320 MHz channels and 4K-QAM modulation, it can deliver up to 18,000 Mbps of aggregate throughput. Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology enables simultaneous data transmission across multiple bands, ensuring stability and responsiveness like never before.
This next-level bandwidth makes the GS-BE18000 a perfect fit for households with multiple gamers or smart homes full of devices competing for signal. It’s also a smart play for power users of all stripes, as abundant bandwidth is crucial for seamless networking on your work-at-home days or for sharing your latest projects with your creative team.
Under the hood, serious hardware makes these advanced networking features effortless. The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 features a beefy 2.0 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of DDR4 RAM, and eight high-gain internal antennas with independent power amplifiers. This tech allows the GS-BE18000 to offer wide-ranging coverage up to 3,300 square feet, and it supports up to 150 connected devices without sacrificing speed or stability. Need even more range? AiMesh support allows you to easily create a whole-home mesh network with other AiMesh-compatible ASUS routers. If the router you’re replacing is such a router, this is a great way to keep getting value out of it instead of sending it to the local electronics recycling facility.
Advanced cooling keeps this hardware performing optimally under pressure, all without the need for a noisy fan. Cooling air enters through specially designed venting on multiple panels and crosses a nanocarbon-coated aluminum heat plate before exhausting efficiently and naturally through vents on the top panel.
Support for Automated Frequency Coordination unleashes the 6GHz band
Good fences make good neighbors. When the 6GHz band was first opened up for consumer use with WiFi 6E, safeguards were put in place to ensure that the new routers wouldn’t create interference for the operators already using the band for vital communications, such as public safety agencies and utility companies. Yet these safeguards aren’t necessary in every location where you might want the speed and throughput of the 6GHz band. To give you the full power of the 6GHz band wherever possible, the ROG Strix GS-BE18000 features a system called Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC). WiFi 7 routers with AFC can operate with more broadcasting power for greatly increased range.
Here’s how it works. AFC is a cloud-based system that queries the FCC’s 6 GHz incumbent database and returns approved channels and power levels to ASUS routers for compliant operation. With approval from the AFC system, the router can switch from Low Power Indoor (LPI) mode to Standard Power (SP) mode, significantly increasing transmission power where permitted. While the 6 GHz band typically offers shorter range than the 5 GHz band, SP mode helps bridge that gap, delivering stronger, more reliable signals across mid-to-long distances and boosting transmission power based on channel bandwidth.
How much more power? The uplift ranges from a 4x increase at 320MHz to a whopping 63x increase at 20MHz. Most client devices currently operate on 6GHz WiFi using bandwidths between 160 MHz and 320 MHz, so you won’t see that full performance increase all the time, but Standard Power mode will always have a big impact.
As an end user, you’ll primarily notice this in terms of range: through AFC, you’ll have a more stable connection over the 6 GHz band even when you roam farther away from your router, with especially noticeable performance increases at mid-to-longer ranges. Since many, but not all, of the speed improvements that come with WiFi 7 involve the 6 GHz band, AFC support allows you to enjoy more of the benefits of WiFi 7 more often.
On top of all that, AFC will potentially let you get more out of one of WiFi 7’s most exciting new features: Multi-Link Operation (MLO). Through MLO, WiFi 7 routers and devices can communicate over multiple bands simultaneously for increased stability and bandwidth. When your AFC router is able to run in its higher-power mode, there’s a much larger area where connected devices can access both the 6GHz and 5GHz bands, meaning that there’s a larger area where MLO can come into play.
Plentiful ports give you wide-ranging network options
So far, we’ve been looking at the ROG Strix GS-BE18000’s wireless options. But this gaming router’s wired connectivity suite doesn’t take the backseat. We equipped this router with a whopping eight 2.5G Ethernet ports, one WAN and seven LAN.
This extensive selection of ports gives your network plenty of room to grow. Whether you’re connecting lots of PCs for a LAN party, hooking up multiple access points for a whole-home mesh WiFi network, or giving all your devices easy access to a vast storage archive with your NAS, you’re likely to have all the ports you need without installing a switch.
Multi-gigabit internet plans are becoming quite common. For long-term value, you’re best off buying a router that breaks the gigabit barrier. The ROG Strix GS-BE18000’s 2.5G WAN port lets you take advantage of a next-level internet connection. It even goes above and beyond to give you a backup internet option through its USB 5Gbps port with support for mobile tethering. If your main connection drops, you can hook up your smartphone with a USB cable and use its 5G connection to get back in the action.
Easy options to put gaming first
It used to take an advanced networking degree to take full advantage of your gaming router’s full feature set. But with a modern ASUS or ROG router, every gamer can fine-tune their networking experience.
Worried about network congestion slowing down your connection right when you need it the most? Don’t be. The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 gives you easy tools to put your gaming traffic at the front of the line. It starts with two dedicated gaming ports. The router will automatically prioritize any device that you plug into these ports, no setup necessary.
How about your wireless gaming devices? Those can get the VIP treatment, too, with the ROG Exclusive Gaming Network. After a quick setup process in the ASUS Router app or web GUI, you’ll have a dedicated SSID that accelerates the gaming traffic of any connected gaming device. If you need to fine-tune things even further, head to the app’s built-in gaming dashboard. It gives you instant one-click network prioritization options, whether you’re gaming on mobile, console, or PC.
Too often, console gamers run into problems with port forwarding when playing multiplayer titles. If you run into the “Strict NAT” message when you play online, you’ll love the ROG Strix GS-BE18000’s support for OpenNAT. The process couldn’t be easier, and it’ll unlock faster connection speeds, shorter lobby waits, and smoother gameplay with a variety of game consoles and handhelds
Take control with advanced network management features
The ROG Strix GS BE-18000 goes above and beyond to make sure that you’re fully equipped for every networking challenge. For starters, it features Smart Home Master, which allows you to quickly create separate SSIDs tailored for your different types of devices. If you haven’t worked with network segmentation before, click here for a full rundown. Briefly, it gives you the option to use one router to manage several SSIDs (that’s a Service Set Identifier, which is the name you see when you connect to a wireless network), each with their own rules.
For example, Smart Home Master lets you establish one SSID just for your kids’ devices. You can configure it with advanced parental controls including an automatic network shutoff at bedtime, and these functions will work for any device that you connect to this SSID, no individual device setup necessary. You could also make an IoT network just for your smart home devices, limiting their access to the 2.4GHz band so that an updating smart refrigerator never slows down your online gaming. You can even set up an SSID just for VPN connections, making it easy to route the traffic of one device through a VPN without affecting anything else on your network.
Protect your data devices with subscription-free security
Too many of our competitors in the networking space treat security as a premium extra. They give you a basic suite of options out of the box, but you’ll have to pay an ongoing subscription to secure some real peace of mind.
With the ROG Strix GS-BE18000, on the other hand, you’ll get commercial-grade AiProtection Pro. Powered by Trend Micro™, it offers real-time network scanning, safe browsing features, and enterprise-grade threat protection. Some competitors charge hidden fees for access to advanced security features, and that adds up to significant cost savings for you over the long term. Two years of advanced security and parental controls from some of our competitors can cost you hundreds of dollars, making the GS-BE18000 the much smarter investment over the long term.
VPN services are an increasingly important part of how today’s gamers stay secure and connected. The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 offers comprehensive VPN support, including advanced site-to-site VPN. VPN Fusion lets you run multiple VPN profiles simultaneously without slowing down the rest of your network.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 gaming router brings WiFi 7 to audiences everywhere
ROG routers were among the first pioneers in the WiFi 7 space, catering to PC enthusiasts chasing bleeding-edge network tech. But now that WiFi 7 support has proliferated across gaming devices of all kinds, including consoles, handhelds, desktop PCs, and smartphones, it’s time for mainstream audiences to get in on the action, too.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 brings together cutting-edge technology, sophisticated thermal design, and effortless management tools, giving gamers a next-level networking experience for both their wired and wireless devices. Wielding a wide array of 2.5G Ethernet ports alongside advanced WiFi 7 tech, including support for the 6GHz band and AFC, this router offers incredible value for gaming setups everywhere.
The ROG Strix GS-BE18000 gaming router is available for U.S. shoppers right now over at Best Buy. Follow the link below to secure one of your own. For information on pricing and availability in other regions, please contact your local ASUS representative.
| ROG Strix GS-BE18000 | |
|---|---|
| US | Best Buy |