Asus: New WiFi 7 router comes with hidden antennas

Asus is expanding its lineup of networking products with the ProArt Router PRT-BE5000. It is a high-performance router. With its ProArt products, the manufacturer is aiming more at creators and professional users than at gamers, as it does with ROG products, though in principle there is of course nothing stopping anyone from using a ProArt router for gaming, and vice versa. The ProArt Router PRT-BE5000 is a WiFi 7 router, but it only supports transmission on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, not the 6 GHz band. Asus lists a maximum data rate of 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, while up to 4,320 Mbps should be possible on the 5 GHz band.

The router includes five Ethernet ports in total. Both the WAN port, intended primarily for connecting a modem, and one of the four Ethernet ports support speeds of 2.5 Gbps. The remaining Ethernet ports each support Gigabit speeds. The ProArt Router PRT-BE5000 measures 5.2 x 1.5 x 7.9 inches and is still relatively understated, though not without some design accents. The five built-in antennas are not visible.

Asus also introduced the ASUS ProArt Switch PQG-U1080. It offers eight Ethernet ports with data rates of 2.5 Gbps each, along with two even faster ports. The two SFP+ ports each support data rates of 10 Gbps. These ports could be useful, for example, for connecting high-performance network storage. There is currently no information on pricing or availability.