ASUS ROG Rapture GT AC2900 Router Review ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router Review

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router Review

It’s always best to find routers coming from a known and trusted brand. You’re guaranteed to have an efficient product that’ll prevent you from worries and issues.

If you’re looking for a good router for your gaming needs, read our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review. It’ll provide you with a lot of essential information about ASUS’ gaming router such as its features, performance, and more.

Networking, when it comes to games, is more than simply raw throughput. You’ll want to have the lowest latency as possible, plus the means to prioritise gaming traffic over the other apps that utilise the network.

For this reason, we’ve seen tons of gaming-focused broadband routers appearing in the gaming market. You’ve got a lot of products to choose from and it can get a bit overwhelming at some point.

Yet one of the most eye-catching and promising routers that arrived is the ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 from ASUS. It’s packed with a ton of excellent features. Plus, its gaming credentials are approved for being recommended for NVIDIA GeForce Now.

If the router has piqued your interest, or you think it’s necessary for optimising your rig, we’ve got your back. Read through our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review to learn more about this router.

First up, let’s check out its packaging and what ASUS included inside the box.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router Packaging

This section of our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review focuses on the product’s packaging and its contents.

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When we received our package, the GT-AC2900 router came in the usual ASUS ROG box.

In front, you’ll find an image of the router on the right. To its left, you’ll find its name and what type of router it is.

Below its name, an image of a PS4 controller can be seen. Inside the controller, there’s a note claiming that the router is compatible to use with the Playstation 4.

The upper left corner of the package displays ROG’s logo, while the lower-left has a couple of features listed. The rear portion of the box gives you more details about the GT-AC2900 that you may find essential before use.

When we opened the box, we found the GT-AC2900 set securely in place. It won’t wobble or move about when the package is in transit. Aside from the router, you’ll also find a setup card, power cable, and ethernet cable inside.

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ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router Review – Design and Functionality

This time, we will discuss the design and functions of the router in our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review.

If you’re familiar with ROG’s products, you’ll most likely spot the GT-AC2900’s resemblance to their RT-AC68U. What’s great about this specific design is that it sports a small footprint. It helps make the router more flexible to position in different areas of your home.

Comparing it to today’s massive routers, the GT-AC2900 is compact and can be placed anywhere. You don’t have to clear up your whole desk to make space for it.

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Taking a closer look at ROG’s theme, the whole centre of the GT-AC2900 lights up nicely with the AURA RGB. This is together with the logo on the left, while the right features a couple of activity LED lights.

Without its LEDs, the GT-AC2900 appears like a simple-looking black box with some contouring and a bit of ridges. It’s to add more style and to break the monotonous monochrome aesthetics.

Though plain, once you power up the GT-AC2900, its AURA LEDs add more colour and vibrance to your area. What we love is that you can even customise these to fit your style and tastes.

Router Buttons

On the right portion of the router are easy to access buttons. One of these is for WPS-protected setup, while the other is for switching off the Wi-Fi. Another button is used to activate/deactivate the LEDs.

The button featuring an ROG logo functions as the boost key. It can be utilised for mapping to one of the four available functions. These include AURA Shuffle, DFs Channel, GeForce Now, and Game Boost.

AURA Shuffle

The AURA Shuffle seamlessly changes the router’s lighting effects. There are 11 effects in total, and some of these include breathing, comet, static, glowing yo-yo, strobing, and more.

Game Boost and GeForce Now

Game Boost analyses network traffic while prioritising data packets while GeForce Now prioritises GeForce Now game devices.

DFS Channel

It informs the router to check then utilise the restricted DFS channels for optimised wireless performance.

Rear

On the rear section of the GT-AC2900, you’ll see two USB ports next to the power socket. The port on the far left is the USB 2.0; the other supports the USB 3.0. There’s also a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port present on the router.

The other side of the router’s logo sports a 4-port Gigabit Ethernet LAN switch. We’re curious as to why only a single USB port supports 3.0. However, you won’t consider it as a huge restriction. Plus, the port’s positioning is pretty standard for a broadband router under this category and price range.

At the top, you’ll see three SMA connections for all the antennas.

Key Features of the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router

This portion of our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review will focus on the product’s key features.

ROG First for Victory

ROG First is ROG GameFirst V network acceleration software’s new feature. It’s designed for ROG laptops, desktops, and motherboards to operate seamlessly with ROG routers.

As a result, you’ll experience smoother online gaming performance. Not only that, but this feature also shortens ping time and reduces lag.

Triple-Level Game Acceleration

The ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 features game acceleration that improves game traffic from your device to the game server. This feature reduces latency and lowers ping times for a more enjoyable gaming experience.

The first component of Game Acceleration is the dedicated ROG gaming port or the LAN port numbered 1. The device plugged into this port has priority over the rest of the connected devices to the router. With GameFirst V, its speed can be boosted even further.

Game Boost, the second component, is an adaptive QoS technology that prioritises gaming data packets actively.

The third and last component is WTFast, which also reduces ping times and latency.

Frontline Network Security with AiProtection Pro

The GT-AC2900 comes with AiProtection Pro, which is powered by Trend Micro. It keeps your network protected from external threats and attacks by neutralising them before they reach your devices.

AiProtection Pro protects devices that cannot install anti-virus software like smartphones, gaming consoles, and IoT devices. You can also set the router’s lighting to notify you when attacks arise.

Additionally, AiProtection Pro prevents cyber threats from stealing your data. It also protects your connected devices from inappropriate content.

Mesh Wi-Fi in Your Entire Home

ROG GT-AC2900 can be connected with other ASUS routers that are compatible with AiMesh. With that, you can form a mesh Wi-Fi system for seamless coverage in every corner of your home. This lets you enjoy gaming in all of your home’s areas without Wi-Fi dropouts.

AiMesh is a scalable and versatile solution for ASUS routers. It removes the need for replacing your existing hardware when it’s time to upgrade your network. If you need more coverage or functionality, just connect another AiMesh compatible router any time.

Stronger Parental Controls

The ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 comes with advanced controls for easier management of children’s internet usage to keep them safe online. You can set a schedule to restrict internet access and block specific websites and apps.

With its flexible controls, you can set rules for each family member and apply them to each connected device.

3-Step Port Forwarding

The GT-AC2900’s easy Open NAT only takes three steps, so you won’t have to go through a complicated process. It lets you chat with people, join and host multiplayer games with players who don’t have a NAT type network.

Specifications

This part of our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review discusses the different specifications of the ASUS router.

The router is an 802.11ac (Wi-Fi5) dual-band router. It supports data transfer rates reaching up to 750Mbps on 2.4GHz network. For its 5Ghz network, it reaches 2,167Mbps which is a lot for most current-generation client devices.

What we love most about it is that it even supports DFS.

The router’s flash memory is 256MB, while its RAM is 512MB. When it comes to operating frequency, the router has 2.4GHz/5GHz.

Operating systems supported include Windows 10, 8, and 7. For Mac OS X, it supports versions 10.6 or higher. In addition, the router can also work with the Linux operating system.

When it comes to its dimensions, the GT-AC2900 router measures 221 x 169 x 111mm and weighs 780g.

Hands on with the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router

This time on our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review, we’ll check out the GT-AC2900’s performance. We’ll start with the interface before focusing on how efficient it was.

ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Web Interface

Checking the router’s IP address for the first time via web browser leads you to the setup wizard. You can set the passwords and SSIDs for the 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio. Plus, you’re allowed to set the Boost Key function as well.

You can set the admin username and password to get prompted for an upgrade to their latest firmware. That is, if you have a working internet connection available.

Lastly, you can log in to the administration back-end.

As we expected from ASUS routers, its administration interface is packed with a plethora of features. Its overall look appears more exciting than the standard ASUS routers. That’s all thanks to the general use of colourful imagery.

The initial administration screen features the status information. Scrolling down, you can utilise the Game Radar function to search the ping status for different global game servers. In addition, you can control the setup of your router’s AURA RGB lights, then change the Boost button’s functions.

General Options

In this section, you’ll find AiProtection, Game Acceleration, Open NAT, Game Radar, Traffic Analyzer, and Wi-Fi Radar. Aside from these, you’ll also find the VPN section. With this router, you’ll get ASUS’ complete VPN support.

Through the VPN section, you can set the router to act as a VPN server via PPTP, IPSec, or OpenVPN. The VPN Fusion option allows for connecting to multiple VPN servers simultaneously.

Advanced Options

For the advanced settings, you’ll find network map, wireless options, guest network, as well as LAN and WAN sections.

Under LAN, you can set up the router’s IP and DHCP server range. This section is where you can switch control options like Link Aggregation for LAN 1 & 2 ports and Jumbo Frame. Plus, there’s an option allowing you to provide specialised support for an IPTV STB over one or both LAN ports.

The WAN section is where you set up the configuration of your broadband connection. Also, you can set up Dual WAN, a DDNS through various services, and enable port forwarding or port triggering. Moreover, you can nominate a DMZ and NAT passthrough for VPN connections.

Other advanced options include USB Application, AiCloud 2.0, Alexa & IFTTT, Firewall, IPv6, Administration, System Log, and Network Tools.

The USB Application section provides a wide range of options for the usage of USB ports. These include AiDisk network storage, 3G or 4G USB mobile data dongle, as well as FTP and UPnP media servers.

Other options include networking printing and Apple’s Time Machine backup. There is also a download interface that allows for leaving the router to directly manage P2P downloads without a PC.

The ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 supports AiCloud 2.0 from ASUS. With that, you can access the files in your PC servers and local router-attached storage using a remote link. Also, AiCloud 2.0 allows for synchronising USB storage to ASUS’ online web storage.

It supports IFTTT and Alexa, which lets you utilise voice commands set up like Alexa skills. You can also set conditions through IFTTT’s service to trigger the router’s behaviour.

Furthermore, you can enable support for various IPv6 connections. You can also configure the built-in firewall with keyword, network services, and URL filters. The suggested network services include WWW, FTP, and Telnet.

Lastly, the administration section allows you to select between AP, router, repeater, AiMesh, and media bridge node modes.

You can set up a variety of system settings or upgrade firmware. In addition, it’s also possible to save, restore, or upload the router settings. Its logging system includes Wireless, General, IPv6, DHCP, routing table, connections, and port forwarding sections.

For the network tools, these include traceroute, ping, netstat, as well as wake on LAN options. Plus, it can configure Smart Connect Rules which is great.

The ASUS Router App is free and readily available for Android and iOS devices. Compared to other similar applications, this one from ASUS comes with more features and doesn’t feel like a downgraded version of the router’s web management interface.

Utilising the ASUS Router App allows you to manage the parental control settings, create guest networks, and adjust wireless settings. It can also let you see all connected devices, adjust bandwidth limits, as well as configure port forwarding.

Do note that a few of its features require a different stand-alone application. If you plan to enable cloud storage functions, you’ll need a separate app called the AiCloud.

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Overall, it performed brilliantly and we weren’t disappointed with the ASUS ROG GT-AC2900 in the slightest. It is a fantastic router for gaming and everyday use.

ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 Router Review Summary

The ASUS ROG GT-AC2900 is a capable router with a wide range of gaming features and configuration options. Some impressive features include the game-oriented port forwarding and prioritisation, as well as the new titles being released continuously.

For its 802.11ac Wi-Fi performance, it was excellent and consistent, plus it ranges up to 10m. It’s a great router to use with the newer 5GHz Wi-Fi standard.

Also, it delivers impressive performance out of USB-attached storage. Aside from that, you can opt for other options like cloud storage synchronisation or printer sharing.

With its excellent features, the ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 is an inexpensive router. If you already own a range of ASUS ROG hardware, this router is a great addition to your kit. It’s one of the best hardware options for upgrading your online gaming experience

In conclusion to our ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AC2900 router review, this router is worth buying and we highly recommend it. If you want to purchase this product, check out the store locator for authorised dealers.