With the shape of gaming becoming more digitally and online focussed, gaming routers are becoming more and more prevalent in the set-up of any avid gamer, the ASUS ROG Rapture GX-AX6000 is the latest mid-high-end of the Republic of Gamers' arsenal and promises a dedicated onboard Quad Core 2.0Ghz 64-bit CPU to accelerate your network throughput and supercharge your networking staples such as data transfers and gaming!

In the box, you get yourself the router, a DC adaptor, a region plug for both UK and European sockets, a high-quality LAN cable, and four antennae ready to be bolted into the corners of the router itself. Beyond the rock-solid cardboard casing, I would grumble the amount of plastic sheathing is a little over the top, with each component individually sealed up within an inch of its life and not feeling particularly eco-friendly.

The matte black plastic of the router's main body is understatedly stylish and modern looking, and along with the four antennae, they look like components ripped straight off of a Thunder-Jaw by Aloy in her latest quest; they're burley, modular, and strikingly styled to look aggressive from every angle. I really like it. The overall footprint is just 33.5 cm x 19 cm x 5 cm which seems small on paper, but once those antennae are connected this thing looks like a futuristic beartrap. It's rather large when stored in conjunction with your standard router, so you will need to have a nice dedicated space to display it and keep it free from anything blocking it.

Setting up the router is simple. By simply screwing on each of the 4 antennae, thumb tight, connecting the power up, and finally slamming a cable between your existing router and the Rapture's WAN socket, you're all set to enjoy WiFi 6 connectivity throughout your humble abode. Connecting to the router via your smartphone, you initially make a connection to it, report to the trusty ASUS Router app that is available on the App Store or Play Store, and establish some SSIDs and passwords for the admin login and both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels. With this in play, you are now free to explore the settings and modes available to you in the app that can fine-tune your experience to a tee. And don't forget to perform a firmware upgrade to get the most out of your hardware from day one!

The ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 is a dual-Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router featuring two 2.5G ports, USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 sockets, CPU enhanced hardware, WAN aggregation, VPN Fusion, Triple-Level Game Acceleration, free network security, and AiMesh support. To the uninitiated, this simply means that you have a selection of sockets on the rear capable of connecting anything and everything you could possibly need to, individually configured, and it includes the ability to connect USB devices such as printers, and drives for FTP and Samba sharing of files!

The WAN/LAN aggregation means that you can effectively combine two connections together, such as the 2.5 Gbps port and a 1 Gbps port, to unlock up to 3.5 Gbps of WAN bandwidth to then share across any of the WiFi 6 connected devices, or even the second 2.5 Gbps port to wired connections. These ports can also balance loads to ensure smooth throughput and give wide bandwidth to each device, which is perfect for even the highest speed ISP's internet connections.

If you already subscribe to a VPN, or multiple VPNs, you can set up your existing details per device, and per service thanks to the VPN fusion feature. I don't think I have ever seen a feature like this, but it means that you can unequivocally set everything to your exacting needs, per device, to sweeten your laptop browsing privacy or spoof your location on a console, at the same time.

It's worth bearing in mind that a router like this is not a modem router and as such will not replace your existing hardware, instead it simply daisy-chains into it and provides an alternative method of connectivity, rather than the built-in wired and wireless connections, which is finessed by the supporting hardware and baked-in services. WiFi 6 is inherently an upgrade over any that came before it and as such is purely meant for enhancing through-put in high-density scenarios, which in itself is no magic bullet in gaining faster connectivity or lower ping results from your ISP. It's just more stable and more reliable than ever before for internet and incredibly fast for local connections, with speeds up to 6000 Mbps locally, machine to machine for tasks such as mass file-sharing for example.

The companion applications allow you to do things like prioritising devices on the network for gaming, meaning other non prioritised devices get a lower standing in order to keep the gamer's connections fastest and most stable over the other devices. The inclusion of VPN, AiProtect, Instant guard, parental controls, virtual assistant and diagnostics are also fantastic pro points here. ASUS has the ability to deliver every feature you could want at the click of a button and every configuration already tweaked for you at the tap of a toggle. Even the LAN sockets are named for you to know which is the gaming one and therefore which is prioritised over the others. The simplicity and the thought that has gone into this product is incredibly useful to help you navigate what would otherwise be a lot of jargon and trial and error. It's all been done for you, and if it still isn't working a piece of smart software steps in to analyse it for you and make it work for you, with very little input.

Open NAT settings are also available for you to create port forwarding rules for online or console games to facilitate the optimal experience when gaming online regardless of the platform. Handily many games are already configured per console so you don't have to, including Wii, Switch, X360, Xbox One/SS/SX, PC, Steam, and PS3/4/5!

Of course, you can also change the AURA RGB on this router, making it look super awesome via a pulsating rainbow or being more conservative and turning it off altogether. There are other features that change the lighting depending on network strain or speed, which is a nice touch but rather eclectic at times. I much preferred the smooth-rolling colours to the static or overly flashy ones.

Testing the router on my mobile for gaming and streaming movies I was pleasantly surprised with the stability of the speeds overall. Once I moved further away from the router, into more secluded rooms of my home, even with "Range boost" helping out, I noticed a minor speed decrease across speed tests and streaming became a little laggier, though you can alter the channel width MHz to help combat this. For bigger properties, you might need a mesh system such as the ASUS ZenWiFi AX Hybrid mesh system to ensure WiFi 6 connectivity throughout your entire property. This is such a simple task to do thanks to AiMesh, and adding the router to the Mesh system takes no more than a click or two in the app, but it's worth remembering that the more nodes you add to the network the slower your overall set up between them will inevitably be.

With such a device like this comes the question: "do I need it in my set-up?". The answer is resounding: "it's entirely up to you". The pricing starts at £340, so this is not for the fainthearted, and WiFi 6 routers can be purchased for under £200. WiFi 6E, having just been released at the beginning of the year, is not supported, so the 6 Ghz spectrum is off the cards with this device. It's a shame, however this device is meant to sit underneath its GT-AXE11000 (and GT-AX11000) models, but who knows; we may see a GT-AXE6000 variant soon.

Though you certainly get an incredible piece of technology for this hefty price tag, the bottom line is that this is for the most particular of users with the most exacting standards throughout their network. If you're a novice streamer, gaming and communicating on a low-end internet connection then this is clearly not for you. But if you're anything more than that, need reliably fast connectivity to ensure the minimalisation of lag and interruptions, and want unparalleled control over all features with incredible ease of use, then the Rapture GT-AX6000 is a killer piece of smart tech that can only enhance your set-up and exceed your expectations.