ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 2PK) $392.16

b7ed40a4-4ec6-42e7-9b71-f95382

Sep 21, 2021 9:28 PM

1.4K Comments

Joined Apr 2005

b7ed40a4-4ec6-42e7-9b71-f95382Sep 21, 2021 9:28 PM

1.4K Comments

Quote from Doggy99

:

TWO pack ASUS ZenWiFi 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

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...pldnSite=1

or ONE PK $232.00 ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 1PK) - Whole Home Coverage up to 2750 sq.ft & 4+ rooms, AiMesh, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Easy Setup, 3 SSID, Parental Control, White https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...ite=1&th=1

Thank you! I've been waiting for forever for these to go on sale at some place other than MicroCenter in-store. Wish they had black instead, but I just bought two.

Doggy99

Original Poster

Sep 21, 2021 11:10 PM

130 Comments

Joined Jul 2008

Doggy99

Original Poster

Sep 21, 2021 11:10 PM

130 Comments

Quote from iamchris

:

Thank you! I've been waiting for forever for these to go on sale at some place other than MicroCenter in-store. Wish they had black instead, but I just bought two.

You are very welcome!

PeteyTheStriker

Sep 21, 2021 11:20 PM

12.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2010

PeteyTheStrikerSep 21, 2021 11:20 PM

12.7K Comments

I love Asus its not lie, but honestly seeing that the TP-LINK AX5700 for $120 less when on sale runs circles around these guys, I just dont see the point of paying this much for a mesh system. Yes you dont get as much customization and you dont get a fully usable USB port with the TP-LINK.

But you get a multi gig port, you get a fully non DFS 160Mghz channel, which is a complete let down on the Asus, you get speeds almost double the Asus both wired and wireless so you can support up to 2Gig fiber internet speeds. Not to mention the units are pretty beefy so they got some great range.

3

lizard5102

Sep 22, 2021 3:42 AM

989 Comments

Joined Nov 2004

lizard5102Sep 22, 2021 3:42 AM

989 Comments

Hoping for the ET8 to go on a deal some day...!

ListedGuru

Sep 22, 2021 4:02 PM

3.3K Comments

Joined May 2008

ListedGuruSep 22, 2021 4:02 PM

3.3K Comments

Quote from PeteyTheStriker

:

I love Asus its not lie, but honestly seeing that the TP-LINK AX5700 for $120 less when on sale runs circles around these guys, I just dont see the point of paying this much for a mesh system. Yes you dont get as much customization and you dont get a fully usable USB port with the TP-LINK.

But you get a multi gig port, you get a fully non DFS 160Mghz channel, which is a complete let down on the Asus, you get speeds almost double the Asus both wired and wireless so you can support up to 2Gig fiber internet speeds. Not to mention the units are pretty beefy so they got some great range.

What is the advantage of a non DFS 160Mghz channel? What does that do for us?

Thanks,

-Guru

PeteyTheStriker

Sep 22, 2021 5:10 PM

12.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2010

PeteyTheStrikerSep 22, 2021 5:10 PM

12.7K Comments

Quote from ListedGuru

:

What is the advantage of a non DFS 160Mghz channel? What does that do for us?

Thanks,

-Guru

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) checks to make sure radar in the area is not using the same channel as your router and devices, if it does detect a conflict, the router has to change channels and removes that channel from its list for around 30 minutes till it does another check and see if its available again.

This process causes a lot of conflicts on clients and pretty much can lead to a lot of disconnected items and instability on your network.

3

ListedGuru

Sep 22, 2021 6:35 PM

3.3K Comments

Joined May 2008

ListedGuruSep 22, 2021 6:35 PM

3.3K Comments

Quote from PeteyTheStriker

:

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) checks to make sure radar in the area is not using the same channel as your router and devices, if it does detect a conflict, the router has to change channels and removes that channel from its list for around 30 minutes till it does another check and see if its available again.

This process causes a lot of conflicts on clients and pretty much can lead to a lot of disconnected items and instability on your network.

Interesting as I've had some connection issues especially on my 5ghz network here at home. Currently running a 2ish year old Netgear Nighthawk AC2100 router. I have been reading a lot of good things about the ASUS RT-AX86U. My house is only around 1500 sf but my office and router are in the basement. My netgear had been working fine until recently so not sure what's going on. Do you know anything about the Asus AX86U?

-Guru

1

PawPawDog

Sep 22, 2021 8:02 PM

724 Comments

Joined Aug 2012

PawPawDogSep 22, 2021 8:02 PM

724 Comments

I have this since it came out end of 2019. Like other Asus routers, this one suffers frequent drop out, refuse to connect. It requires reboot from time to time to avoid those problems. I have since use a wired router for routing and use the XT8 as AP that made a big difference. WIFI signal wise, probably due to FCC limit, this is no stronger than others. There is only one channel supports 160MHz and if you use it for backhual, your other devices on the other 5GHz band will not get to use the 160MHz. While you can set the devices to use the backhual SSID, it defeat the purpose of backhual.

I think it is still over priced.

PeteyTheStriker

Sep 22, 2021 8:53 PM

12.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2010

PeteyTheStrikerSep 22, 2021 8:53 PM

12.7K Comments

Quote from ListedGuru

:

Interesting as I've had some connection issues especially on my 5ghz network here at home. Currently running a 2ish year old Netgear Nighthawk AC2100 router. I have been reading a lot of good things about the ASUS RT-AX86U. My house is only around 1500 sf but my office and router are in the basement. My netgear had been working fine until recently so not sure what's going on. Do you know anything about the Asus AX86U?

-Guru

The AX86U is an excellent router, my only beef with it is, that its dual band and around $250..... The AX86U has great range, and if you have proper clients can easily transfer over 1Gbps ISP speeds through even wifi so it gets great performance.

Thats why I was saying earlier for $280 if still on sale at costco the TP-LINK AX5700 which is a mesh triband 2pack and even faster makes it a much more excellent deal if you dont need the customization of a full feature router and built in VPN.

PeteyTheStriker

Sep 22, 2021 9:03 PM

12.7K Comments

Joined Nov 2010

PeteyTheStrikerSep 22, 2021 9:03 PM

12.7K Comments

Quote from PawPawDog

:

I have this since it came out end of 2019. Like other Asus routers, this one suffers frequent drop out, refuse to connect. It requires reboot from time to time to avoid those problems. I have since use a wired router for routing and use the XT8 as AP that made a big difference. WIFI signal wise, probably due to FCC limit, this is no stronger than others. There is only one channel supports 160MHz and if you use it for backhual, your other devices on the other 5GHz band will not get to use the 160MHz. While you can set the devices to use the backhual SSID, it defeat the purpose of backhual.

I think it is still over priced.

Try turning off smart connect and roaming assistant and only enable Wifi Agile Multiband (WAM) that should help a lot with your disconnects.

geezeefosheezee

Sep 23, 2021 12:16 AM

1.3K Comments

Joined Jun 2016

geezeefosheezeeSep 23, 2021 12:16 AM

1.3K Comments

Quote from ListedGuru

:

Interesting as I've had some connection issues especially on my 5ghz network here at home. Currently running a 2ish year old Netgear Nighthawk AC2100 router. I have been reading a lot of good things about the ASUS RT-AX86U. My house is only around 1500 sf but my office and router are in the basement. My netgear had been working fine until recently so not sure what's going on. Do you know anything about the Asus AX86U?

-Guru

I got the RT-AX86u a month ago and *love* it. Thought I might need mesh, but it covers my 2200sf very well.

Big pros for me:
-2.5gb port for future expandability
-blazing VPN performance thanks to cpu with AES support
-Confidence that Asus will release regular updates long term
-Merlin firmware support to add some great features (VPN director and QoS)
-Price (Best Buy recycle program gets you 15% off with trade in of older modem or router)

pdinc

Sep 23, 2021 5:00 AM

2.6K Comments

Joined Nov 2006

pdincSep 23, 2021 5:00 AM

2.6K Comments

I have these for a multifloor setup. Works fantastic. Only finicky thing is that it doesnt seem to like giving my fire tablet a DHCP lease consistently, so I cant use show mode on that - but I think this is more a fire tablet issue rather than a router issue.

Jsz0301

Sep 23, 2021 7:45 AM

993 Comments

Joined Jul 2018

Jsz0301Sep 23, 2021 7:45 AM

993 Comments

Quote from PeteyTheStriker

:

I love Asus its not lie, but honestly seeing that the TP-LINK AX5700 for $120 less when on sale runs circles around these guys, I just dont see the point of paying this much for a mesh system. Yes you dont get as much customization and you dont get a fully usable USB port with the TP-LINK.

But you get a multi gig port, you get a fully non DFS 160Mghz channel, which is a complete let down on the Asus, you get speeds almost double the Asus both wired and wireless so you can support up to 2Gig fiber internet speeds. Not to mention the units are pretty beefy so they got some great range.

According to FCC, it uses the UNII-2A 52-64 block (DFS) Stick Out Tongue

Not that it matters.. 25-30FT between mesh points should bump you down to 80mhz QAM rates.

Quote from PawPawDog

:

I have this since it came out end of 2019. Like other Asus routers, this one suffers frequent drop out, refuse to connect. It requires reboot from time to time to avoid those problems. I have since use a wired router for routing and use the XT8 as AP that made a big difference. WIFI signal wise, probably due to FCC limit, this is no stronger than others. There is only one channel supports 160MHz and if you use it for backhual, your other devices on the other 5GHz band will not get to use the 160MHz. While you can set the devices to use the backhual SSID, it defeat the purpose of backhual.

I think it is still over priced.

Good thing 160mhz is useless on 5G for any practical application due to limited spectrum (DFS/low power required) and actual distance between router/points/clients. Also contributes to worse SNR between devices at range.

You're not losing anything.

Edit: Mesh Routers tend to drop out...Especially with gaming or anything that requires consistent bandwidth. Just the nature of such device, especially with interference.

If you're looking for consistency, get a high end 12 stream qualcomm router with teamed 4x4 + 4x4 radios on 5G (8x8). It will only run "80mhz" (unless you disable one of the radios for 160mhz), but it will be the best alternative to "mesh" in regards to distance/performance over range.

Netgear claims their variant is good for 3500 sqft, but I think they're overcompensating.

Last edited by Jsz0301 September 23, 2021 at 08:39 PM.

DanielDeal-Lewis

Sep 23, 2021 2:14 PM

8 Comments

Joined Nov 2014

DanielDeal-LewisSep 23, 2021 2:14 PM

8 Comments

I bought this at BestBuy 3 days ago using price match.

I work remotely, and this is a big improvement over my older Linksys WRT32X in terms of coverage and simultaneous device streaming.

A word of warning - I updated to the latest firmware after my initial install and hit some really bad latency to the point where my remote desktop connection to a work computer was unusable. I Googled around and found that the latest firmware (version 3.0.0.4.386.43181 [asus.com]) seemingly caused this. As instructed on multiple websites, including in this Asus Zentalk forum post [asus.com], I downgraded to version (3.0.0.4.386.42095 [asus.com]) and things are rock solid. I'm still within my return window, so I'm waiting for a couple of weeks to see if I should keep it or not given the multitude of reports about instability.

Here's a link to the firmware [asus.com] for those of you who don't want to use the direct download links above.

dragoNav

Sep 26, 2021 2:07 AM

650 Comments

Joined Aug 2015

dragoNavSep 26, 2021 2:07 AM

650 Comments

I got this when it was on sale @ microcenter back in May/June. It's been working great.
I set up the router & the mesh node together. I used the same SSID i had on the old router so I wouldn't have to connect all the devices again. Everything went well as planned. However, my sonos speakers wouldn't connect to the network. Upgraded the firmware & still no luck. A factory reset helped with the newer speakers. But the old play 1's wouldn't connect. In one of the forums they suggested to set up the main router first & then add the mesh node. I did the same & the sonos speakers connected without any issues. Hope this helps anyone running into similar issues

1

ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 2PK) $392.16

$392

$450

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