Got a fancy new laptop or smartphone with Wi-Fi 7? Looking to upgrade your home Wi-Fi to support them? ASUS has Wi-Fi 7 covered with several great options, such as the tri-band RT-BE92U Wi-Fi 7 router in this review. Even if you don’t have Wi-Fi 7 devices now, the RT-BE92U will futureproof your home.
The ASUS RT-BE92U is one of the newest Wi-Fi routers, and it comes with a promise of ultra-fast speeds for both Wi-Fi as well as wired Ethernet devices. Its tri-band Wi-Fi supports 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, as well as the newer 6 GHz frequency bands. Note that 6 GHz is not a required feature of Wi-Fi 7, and not all Wi-Fi 7 routers support 6 GHz. The RT-BE92U’s support for 6 GHz ensures you get the least congestion with Wi-Fi 7 devices that support 6 GHz.
Additionally, with support for 320 MHz channels in the 6 GHz band and 4096 -QAM, the ASUS RT-BE92U increases Wi-Fi throughput with speeds up to 9700 MHz: 1032 Mbps at 2.4 GHz, 2882 Mbps at 5 GHz, and 5764 Mbps at 6 GHz. Furthermore, with Multi-Link Operation (MLO), the frequency bands can be aggregated so that supported Wi-Fi devices can use more than a single band at the same time.
For wired connection, the ASUS RT-BE92U has 5x RJ45 Ethernet ports: 1 that supports 10 Gbps, and the other 4 supporting 2.5 Gbps. The 10 Gbps port and the 1st 2.5 Gbps port can be assigned either as the WAN or LAN interface. The setup experience even automates the broadband WAN connection detection for you.
There is also a USB 3.0 port that can be used with a 4G or 5G cellular model to provide a backup Internet link in case your wired broadband connection is down.
Other notable features include built-in VPN support, subscription-free network security powered by Trend Micro, AiMesh extendable network, and capabilities to support a Smart Home.
AiMesh is a particularly cool technology developed by ASUS. It allows you to create a mesh Wi-Fi network using a variety of compatible ASUS routers. You don’t need to buy a dedicated mesh system, and even old ASUS routers support AiMesh. AiMesh also works with ASUS’ dedicated line of mesh Wi-Fi systems like the Lyra. This is a really easy way to start out with one router, even one that is not a dedicated mesh system, then turn it into a mesh system and progressively add more routers later, with the subsequent routers just serving as a mesh node.
ASUS routers are packed with many features that is easy for novice users to feel overwhelmed. Yet, the setup to get started is surprisingly simple and straight-forward. The best option is to use the Android or iOS ASUS Router app.
Once the network setup is done, it may find new firmware to upgrade to, and otherwise, it would reboot with everything all setup nicely and ready to flood your home with Wi-Fi 7 coverage. For many home users, that’s all you need to do, and the default network provisioning will just work.
Network-savvy users should find the mobile app very easy to use. Novice users may find themselves overwhelmed by the plethora of settings and technical jargon, but in this day and age, I’m sure there will be someone in the extended family who can help out with more advanced features if they are ever needed.
With all the features and capabilities of the ASUS RT-BE92U, it’s certainly targeted at more tech-savvy users. The RT-BE92U can do anything you would expect a Wi-Fi router to do: port-forwarding, QoS, firewall, extra Wi-Fi SSIDs for guests/IoT, parental controls, etc.
A nice thing the ASUS RT-BE92U can do for families with young children is to set profiles for their devices. You are able to set content blocking policies, as well as network access schedules. You can create multiple profiles and assign multiple devices into each profile. For example, you can have the most restrictive content controls and time schedules for younger children, while relaxing them for teens, and having no controls for adults. Didn’t our government just recommend screen time controls for children 12 and under? This enables you to complement that with Internet surfing time controls!
If you have wired devices at home, the ASUS RT-BE92U can offer them speeding 2.5 Gbps connections (or 10 Gbps, if your WAN uses the 2.5 Gbps port). This is good for desktop or mini PCs, where it makes sense to wire them up, even if they have Wi-Fi built-in, because a wired Ethernet connection will always be more reliable. You also can avoid having these devices contend with mobile devices for Wi-Fi bandwidth.
The Wi-Fi performance is excellent. In fact, signal strength from this one ASUS RT-BE92U covered more areas than most other routers I’ve used or tested. Having external antennas, while ugly (in my opinion), certainly helps boost signal strength.
If you’re wondering if the ASUS RT-BE92U can run in bridge mode, the answer is yes. I am unable to find this setting through the mobile app, but you can find it in the web UI. The web UI appears to have several more advanced settings available that are not found in the mobile app. If you are a power user, you will probably prefer using the web UI.
The ASUS RT-BE92U supports IPv6. The setting is only in the web UI. On StarHub broadband, the connection type is set to Native, and DHCP-PD (DHCP prefix delegation) is enabled. This enables LAN (and Wi-Fi) devices to be assigned public IPv6 addresses.
If you plan on upgrading to 10 Gbps broadband, seeing how affordable they’ve become in recent months, you will need a router like this RT-BE92U that has a 10 Gbps port. The RT-BE92U’s 10 Gbps is a standard RJ45 port which, for most users, is easiest to work with. If you are looking for a SFP+ connection, unfortunately, you will have to look at something else, like the RT-AX89X.
Since the WAN connection can also be on the 2.5 Gbps port, you can alternatively use the 10 Gbps port for connecting to a NAS server or other home server, or perhaps another switch to provide more wired connectivity to other users. Considering the dual WAN capability and WAN backup features, this ASUS RT-BE92U can be a good affordable option for small businesses who need performance and robustness in their Wi-Fi system.
Included in the ASUS RT-BE92U retail box, you’ll find a power adapter with various international plug adapters, a RJ45 LAN cable, and a mounting bracket for mounting the router on a wall.
The ASUS RT-BE92U retails at $399. I’ve seen street prices under $350. This makes the RT-BE92U a particularly good value, considering the RT-BE86U, which is only dual-band and has lower Wi-Fi throughput, costs more.
After note: The RT-BE86U does have higher throughput at 5 GHz than the RT-BE92U reviewed here, which means the former may be more suited for devices without 6 GHz support, while the latter is more futureproof for 6 GHz band.