ASUS RT-BE96U WiFi 7 Tri-Band Router Review

Join Wendell as he delves into the new ASUS RT-BE96U WiFi 7 Router.
Why does it look like that? Is it good? Those answers and more in this newest Level 1 Techs review video.

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Check us out online at the following places!

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Music: "Earth Bound" by Slynk

Edited by Autumn

[madness]

Finally, a router review that doesn't immediatly start talking about an "app", and actually reviews the product. Cheers Level1.

[anthonyr.]

The power switch is awesome. Dont ever change ASUS

[accrevoke]

@2:45, I use the power switch when i leave the house for weeks... i.e. on business trip. I tend to power off a lot of equipment when i need to leave for extended amount of time...

[dvdavid]

Hope Wendell does a follow up on Asuswrt-Merlin

[twirre]

Loving the intro! Effects as advanced as early Star Trek

[SwirlingDragonMist]

I love the way your reviews are lightyears ahead of the other fluffy immaterial nonsense.

Contextualizing the nat performance around teleconferencing and the 2gb is dare I say… Fantastical!

Much appreciated!

[LeJimster]

Wow. That router is massive. I've experimented in the past building my own routers, I can't remember the name of the software but I ran something linux based around 2006 (I remembered: IPCop) and then a few years later I built a pfsense router. I remember originally needing to do this because off the shelf home routers would often crap out when torrenting.

[ArcadiyIvanov]

The production values are getting mindblowing! :D

[MarkRose]

I still have a pair of WRT54GS with 8 MB of flash and 32 MB of RAM. That model was created specifically for tinkerers, after they shrank the resources of the original WRT54G (newer versions had less RAM and storage).

[FrenziedManbeast]

I slapped a two port 2.5GbE NIC into an HP mini desktop with a 12th gen i3 in 2022 because multi-gig routers were astronomically expensive compared to my $160 solution. Wendell, is there any hope for a "forbidden AP?" Having to spend $700 for a WF7 AP for my house is beyond absurd, but I do live near multiple airports so getting away from 5Ghz would be lovely.

[zushiba]

I have an ASUS RT-AXE7800 and run my DNS through a pihole instance I have running on a used Chromebox CN60 running CasaOS. Works great!

[cldpt]

Fun fact: Asus has been putting USB dongle-based WWAN support for a while now, nearly 2 decdes. I recall buying a router with this feature from them back in the late naughts. The tricky thing was getting a 2-3G dongle that would be supported from your ISP (usually the only place you could get one, because everything was SIMLocked then), as sometimes they wouldn't really play well with the protocol that would configure the SIM card and whatnot

[endykun]

This intro is the best thing I've seen in months....

[Jdmorris]

I use the router power switch when the kids don't listen. They cry, I laugh, and then they listen.

[MrFerisko]

My RT-AC68U that I had for ages now is still going strong. I was considering an upgrade, but seeing how fugly the ASUS router range became in last few years I might pass for another couple years. Or just look elsewhere. And yeah, if you want 4 2.5Gbps ports you got to upgrade to RT-BE98U. Which is even fuglier iteration of this.

[ivancano]

Asus RT-axe7800 experience is absolutely trash tier status. Random drops then will not provide speeds past 80Mbps(wired or wireless) on a Gigabit Fiber network. Reboot corrects issue for about half a day. Have never had this terrible experience with other routers. Asus tech support solution was to hard reset router and setup the wifi network again. Did not resolve the issue. Router is updated with the latest firmware. Unfortunately won't be using Asus routers anymore when there are much better solutions available.

That being said. Your channel and reviews are absolutely top notch!

[amigatommy]

I power cycle routers that are confused sometimes. Bought the "pro" version of this some time ago and will install in as a Mesh #1 next time I trip over it.

[_____alyptic]

Custom firmware as in Merlin-WRT?

Also maybe the Power switch to help do the factory reset? Where you hold WPS or whatever before you flip it on. Could be easier than putting in the cable while holding the button

[PsychoStreak]

Honestly, I'm on Team Power switch. I've been on enough support calls where I've had to talk users through unplugging their router and plugging it back in that a power switch would have been WONDERFUL. Plus it saves wear and tear on the barrel connector for the power brick.
Maybe place that one somewhere less accident prone, but leave it there, ASUS.

Everything needs a power switch that's easy to get to. Just in case.

[TheFrostySaucer]

Okay I’ve watched a few of your videos in the past and liked your stuff but wow that intro really did it for me.🤣🤣🤣🤣 absolutely amazing!