Make no mistake, Asus' new RT-AX89X gaming router looks like a head club. Or maybe it's a high-tech bear trap; Asus' gaming router, like the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 and RT-AC5300, has a funky design. While the design is certainly menacing, it is also built for high-speed networking, with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) wireless connectivity, dual 10G ports, eight Gigabit LAN ports, and a pair of USB 3.1 ports. [The Asus RT-AX89X has all of these features. Perhaps most intriguing from a future-proofing perspective (insofar as such a thing is possible) is the dual 10G ports.

"The RT-AX89X comes with two 10G ports, one Base-T port and one SFP+ port, supporting both fiber and copper 10G connectivity...Capture ISP advertised speeds or use your own 10G LAN network between your PC and NAS. Asus explains, "You can capture the advertised speed of your ISP or use your own 10G LAN network between your PC and NAS.

It is worth noting that some of the best motherboards for Intel's Comet Lake CPUs and AMD's Ryzen processors include 10G ports. We seem to be stuck with 1Gbps LAN connections for far too long.

The RT-AX89X is a dual-band router, offering speeds of up to 4,804 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 1,300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. It also has eight external antennas.

I have not actually used this router, but with similar range and coverage as the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 (also a router with eight external antennas) that I own and use, the only dead spots I would have to worry about would be in vast houses. According to Asus, the RT-AX89X is suitable for "very large homes."

For gamers, Asus touts network prioritization for gaming traffic. Or at least an option within the dashboard. This is essentially a Quality of Service (QoS) feature that identifies gaming packets and puts them at the forefront. In theory, this should result in a lower ping, but your mileage may vary with this sort of thing.

The RT-AX89X looks like a promising router with some desirable features. It is currently available for $450.