Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 - where is the WiFi 7?

[MonkY]

Hi everyone!

I was really happy to finally upgrade from my trusty old Asus GT-AX11000 to a new Asus GT-BE98. You can't believe how hard it was for me to not upgrade all these years from the WiFi 6 to WiFi 6E, and waited until I get the full WiFi 7 experience. But now, that is finally here, it doesn't look good at all. 

First of all, no matter what device I've used (I have tried 3 different notebooks with WiFi 7, 2 desktop PC's recently upgraded to WiFi 7 and a ton of smartphones and tablets), I have never managed to connect at anything beyond 2.8Gbps. Even with the router at 1-2m distance, and no obstacles. This means that the new GT-BE98 is actually the same speed as my old 4-5 years router (where I used to connect at 2.4Gbps). 

But then it gets worse. Not only that the WiFi 7 band is useless (and you can't even see the 320Mhz band in Windows 10, you need Windows 11), but even devices with WiFi 6E or WiFi 6, are actually slower than the previous router. For example, on my iPhone 15 Pro Max (that only has WiFi 6E) I get on the old one speeds like 900Mbps DL and 500Mbps UL (I have a maximum 1Gbps DL and 500Mbps UL speed from my ISP), but on the new one, the DL speed goes down to 6-700Mbps DL (and strange, the same 500Mbps UL).

Even worse than that: my main computer I have tested (an i9-13900K with a BE200 card) works so bad with the new router, that only does like 70Mbps DL instead of 900Mbps I had before. But that's only on the 6Ghz - 320Mhz band, the one for WiFi 7. If I connect to 5Ghz - 1, I get the same 700Mbps or so (still worse than before).

I have tried resetting the router to factory defaults. I have tried all the 4 available firmwares, with no success. 
I don't know what else to try... and I am about to breeak the return window. Yes, for the way it works now, and for how expensive this router is (the most expensive router I ever had), I wasn't expected to see issues like this.

So, please... if you have any ideas, please let me know.
Thanks in advance!

[Saltgrass]

Could you be having a country of origin situation?

Did that desktop come with the BE200?  Driver being used?  23.20.1.1  And yes, Windows 11 is required for WiFi 6e.

ASUS Z590 Maximus  XIII Hero using a PCIe card..

 

[MonkY]

I've read something about some countries not yet accepted the 6Ghz 320Mhz band, but I thought if I can connect it on Windows 11, that's not the issue. Let me check in the router: they timezone is set on GMT+2 (Vilnius, Bucharest, Sofia). Shall I try to use another timezone? How could that help?

About my main desktop. No, it didn't came with the BE200. It's using a Asus ProArt Z790-CREATOR WiFi motherboard, that has WiFi 6E onboard. So I have disabled that and installed a WiFi 7 card (with Intel BE200 chipset). 

Drivers, I have tested a ton of versions with no luck. The one installed now is "Intel Wireless v23.20.1.1 WHQL".

[Saltgrass]

The BE98 seems to be available in other countries.  The Pro version is for sale in the U.S. and shows it is not under a EU SKU.

There are sites that show what is available where.  But you should be able to get normal internet and it appears you are not.

There are several folks in this forum right now with that model, so maybe one of them will have an idea.  As long as you connected the antennas, it should be close to normal.  Just make sure the antenna are not behind a metal case, from the router.  I am currently using the antenna that came with the motherboard so it is on top of my system.

I have another system, two rooms from the router, which is getting transfer rates in the 3800 Mbps range. 

[Silent_Scone]

Let me know what devices you are using. Can cross reference.

[MonkY]

I could list all the devices I have tried (although some of them would not help, as they are custom PC's), but, does it really matter?
I mean, all those devices work flawlessly on the old AX11000 but work really bad on the new BE98.
The only thing I miss on my old router is the WiFi 7 band (6Ghz - 320Mhz), which is not working or working really bad on the new one. So, where is the actual upgrade? This router costs almost 900 euros in here... and for what? OK, I have some 10G connections extras, but the WiFi is worse on all areas.

[Silent_Scone]

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@MonkY wrote:

I could list all the devices I have tried (although some of them would not help, as they are custom PC's), but, does it really matter?

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I don't know if it does, that's why I've asked in the first place so I can test it myself.

[jzchen]

 QoS is off?  If not please turn it off.

EU has released the lower 6 GHz half for use, not the upper 6 GHz half, hence ASUS does not sell the Pro version there.

There are so many settings to set it is difficult to know what is the cause.

I notice in Access Point mode (BE98 Pro) my son’s MacBook Pro (6E) would not connect to 6 GHz, but strangely in router mode it would….

[MonkY]

QoS is off. 
I have upgraded my main PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 (specially for this router). And, no matter what I try, I can't connect beyond 2402Mbps. Here are some screenshots with all my WiFi settings. Maybe something is wrong over there (some of them I don't even know what they do).

[Saltgrass]

You seem to have settings in your first attachment which differ from mine.  Maybe we can find a reason, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

You seem to have a network band setting I do not show.