ASUSZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 2PK) - Whole Home Coverage up to 5500 sq.ft & 6+ rooms, AiMesh, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Easy Setup, 3 SSID, Parental Control, White

Night and day coming from a Ubiquiti AP in terms of setup and performance. I've only been using this setup for a day, so longer term performance is still TBD, but everything has been excellent so far. Worth noting that my use cases and infrastructure might be simpler than many folks but even then, some of the negative reviews are a bit baffling given my experience.Pros:- Stupid-simple setup. The entire network with both devices was up and running within ~15 minutes of opening the box. I'm probably more technically inclined than others, but a child could figure this out. As simple as connecting the router to your modem, turning it on, and then walking through the in-app setup. The mesh node was about as plug-and-play as it gets, at least when using ethernet backhaul. It was recognized and configured almost immediately as a secondary node in the network.- Mobile app. Used for initial setup and management. Could probably be done through the web-ui but I don't really see a reason to do that on initial setup. Save time and just download/use the app.- Web UI. The router management web UI is more robust and a bit easier to navigate than the mobile app. Will likely use this going forward for more detailed configuration and monitoring.- Performance. Both speed and coverage are incredible. I pay for 1000/20 and consistently got ~930/~25 with the speed test in the Asus app. 5Ghz WiFi speed tests (fast dot com) on newer devices averaged ~750/~25. 2.4Ghz varied but was consistently fast and reliable. Full signal on various devices throughout the house and outside on both bands.- Wired backhaul. Worth mentioning specifically because I saw some reviews that complained about this not working very well or at all when a switch was in between the two units. It worked immediately and works well for me. There's also multiple physical connections between the node, the wall and the switch itself and there still aren't any problems. if you run into problems, its probably worth double-checking your cabling (CAT 5E+), hardware (switch compatibility/1G+ ports), and Asus configCons:- Asus UI/UX. Very minor issues just getting used to and understanding how to navigate the UI both on the mobile app and on the web. It seems simple enough now though after poking around. Not worth docking the rating.- 2.4 Ghz. Noticed in some instances where the speeds were sporadically low on 2.4 Ghz, but I generally don't use that and it isn't consistent enough to dock a star. Most of the connected devices on the network default to or have to use the 2.4 band, so it could just be some basic congestion. As of this writing, I'm getting 150/22 on my laptop while situated near the secondary node, which is more than acceptable. I'll look deeper into the settings and report back if there are problems.- SSID management. Fairly negligible but worth mentioning like others have. The default configuration uses a single SSID for both 5 and 2.4 Ghz bands which I immediately turned off. I assume most folks would want the delineation of the two like me. The other knock here is that it will broadcast the alternate 5 Ghz channel used for wireless backhaul. I don't intend to ever use the wireless backhaul, but, unless I'm missing something, Asus seems to force it to be left on as a fallback in case the wired connection ever drops. I'm fine leaving it on as a fallback but I'll at least see if I can hide the SSID without causing problems with the network, since it should never be used by regular clients.TBD:- Long-term performance. Very satisfied at the moment but I'm sure most would agree that a huge percentage of the value is how these things hold up over time. I'll report back as needed.- Advanced features. I haven't spent enough time with the router management software to really understand the pros and cons here quite yet.- IOT connection stability. Saw some reviews that dinged connection drops for connected devices. No issues to report yet. I used the same SSID and passwords as before. Everything connected seamlessly and appears to be working. I'll keep an eye on this as well.- Wireless backhaul. I have not tested wireless backhaul and I don't really intend to. In fact, I don't really see the utility of using wireless backhaul if you can avoid it. For the XT8, it relies on an alternate channel on the 5Ghz band. This is obviously going to be slower than ethernet from the jump but the 5Ghz band is much more "fragile" and can quickly become very limited by physical distance and obstructions between the two nodes, even if the actual channel is dedicated strictly for backhaul instead of regular traffic.Misc. Notes:Physical setup:- Cable connection from the street comes into the basement, which is where the modem and the main router are situated.- The house is fully wired via ethernet. A 10-port gigabit switch also sits in the basement with the modem and router, which feeds the wall ports in various rooms throughout the home.- Only a handful of the wall ports are actually used consistently. One for the entertainment center, one for a PC and one for an AP on the second floor of the home.- Various connected and personal devices throughout the house. Smart speakers, smart TVs, Nest thermostats, a camera, dog collar, wireless printer. Personal devices include cellphones, laptops, and tablets.Previous hardware:- Netgear Nighthawk 6700 running DD-WRT, located in basement. Older model but the reputation precedes itself. Worked fairly well on stock firmware for a little while. Decided to switch to DD-WRT after cord-cutting and increased bandwidth needs for remote work and more IOT devices. DD-WRT improved things for a little while. I toyed with various setups but ultimately wanted the router to feed all connectivity in the house, so it remained in the basement.- Ubiquiti AP on 2nd floor for better coverage. The house is a recent reno but is originally ~200 years old. Whether the older construction materials of the innards of the house or just physical distance of having the router in the basement, it was difficult to get solid coverage throughout even with relatively modest square footage. The single AP worked well for a little while but UI/UX for Ubiquiti products is clunky at best and annoyingly difficult to configure. Performance degraded slowly over time and required lots of hand-holding just to remain stable. It also seemed impossible to get a true "mesh"-like network without having to purchase a second AP and completely turning off wifi on the main router. This didn't seem appealing given the dissatisfaction with the Ubiquiti ecosystem as a whole.Current hardware:- Main AX6600 router in basement, replacing the Netgear 6700. Modem feeds the WAN port, single LAN port feeds the main switch for ethernet wall ports.- Secondary AX6600 on 2nd floor as secondary AP Mesh Node, replacing Ubiquiti AP. Strictly uses ethernet backhaul via wall port

Update:I bought an AX92U to see if I can get some speed upgrade to the slower spots of the house, especially the office which hides behind 2 corners. It went from 80 mbps to 120mbps. I tried wired backhaul, but not helping much, until I turn 5GHz-2 as dedicated backhaul off and unhide the SSID with name and password. Whah! The office is now over 400mbps both up/down and everywhere inside the house!More update:Found it not compatible with different AiMesh router. Tried to use the ethernet to connect the AX92U to free up the 5Ghz-2 band. But as soon as I plugged the network cable into the 92U, it lost connection, unplugged the 92U, and the internet was very slow. Checked the app, it said the uplink type is 2.4GHz! Reboot, reset all routers, turn on/off dedicated backhaul, nothing helped. So basically the two 5Ghz bands disappeared! Luckily, my backordered AX11000 showed up, so my internet is up and running while I return the ZenWifi. I am WFH, so a good internet is very important and not going to bother to figure out what went wrong. However, I do suspect the hardware may had problem since they were bought from the warehouse as like new.Note that I have a very sophisticated smart home setup with over 50 devices connected from doorbell to fountain pump, and many smart TVs, I so I am happy to get 400mb out of 1Gb internet on any PC or iPad with no streaming going, or 120mb with 1 or 2 streaming video on. But I am still researching on possible improment using 12 stream AX router.I had Eero for about a year or so, although it had been working fine, but I had to use 5 of them to cover a two story home with yards, it doesn’t go through walls well enough. Also being a gadget guy all my life, I think it is time to upgrade to an AX mesh network to validate if it really can cover more grounds with higher speed.Been on Amazon since day one writing/reading reviews, I can say there is no perfect product in the world, so I rarely buy stuffs based on reviews, instead, buy them for the looks or functions they provide. In this case the Asus XT8 got me for its speed and price, not for the bulky look.Setup - easy enough, just need an IOS or Android phone or pad with bluetooth, download the app and follow the instruction. Make sure the two routers are fully linked before running the app, or you will see 2 mesh devices and setup will fail. Once setup is completed, move the node router to where you think it should cover the other half of the area. This involves a little guesswork, but surprisingly easy for me, since the signal is strong even where I left the node at the farthest corner downstairs. You can tell if the link between the two routers are strong if the led is solid white. If yellow or red, then move it around.Connection speed - For my 1gb internet connection, ipad was getting 200/250 up/down on the Eero, now it is 350/400. Even in the backyard, I could get 170/200, with just 2 routers.Coverage - I had not found a dead spot yet. Inside or outside. Although speed may vary, the lowest one been the office at the very corner of the house, on the PC that is 13 years old.Compatibility - with same SSID setting and let the router handle the bandwidth, all smart home devices are working. About the only device not working was the 13 year-old PC the no longer has a updated NIC driver, I solved it using an USB 11ac dongle with updated driver.I still need to figure out how to hang the main router upstairs on the wall, but other than that, I am happy withe the ASUS XT8, the simple setup and management using phone app, and strong signal for internet with just 2 nodes. It is something worth looking at for WFH now and the future.