2-pk ASUS ZenWiFi Whole-Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6E System (ET8)

srnrsn

Mar 23, 2024 7:42 PM

177 Comments

Joined Feb 2012

srnrsnMar 23, 2024 7:42 PM

177 Comments

This is a great deal, and I am tempted to bite.
My current setup is a pair of ZenWiFi XT8 units with wired backhaul over MoCA in a 4-level house (one on the top floor and one in basement office). I split the 5GHz clients between the two 5GHz channels. It all works pretty well, except the 5GHz-2 channel occasionally drops connection.
Can anyone comment on whether the ET8 would be worth upgrading to?

Mr_Spiffy

Mar 23, 2024 7:59 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Apr 2009

Mr_SpiffyMar 23, 2024 7:59 PM

1.2K Comments

Quote from goixiz

:

Costco tplink is better deal with 3 nodes

Assuming a third node is useful. My house wouldn't need that extra coverage.

1

goixiz

Mar 23, 2024 8:48 PM

970 Comments

Joined May 2007

goixizMar 23, 2024 8:48 PM

970 Comments

Quote from Mr_Spiffy

:

Assuming a third node is useful. My house wouldn't need that extra coverage.

if you do need more coverage its there

1

Hexum944

Mar 23, 2024 8:55 PM

789 Comments

Joined Oct 2009

Hexum944Mar 23, 2024 8:55 PM

789 Comments

These mesh systems are awesome and I've had some before. The main problems with consumer wifi products is occasional to frequent crashes requiring a reboot and limited firmware updates as newer models come out. One of my mesh systems would crash every few months and didn't work well with my Control4 system. I eventually invested in a professional Ruckus wifi system with Araknis router and I am so glad I did. It's absolutely perfect. I've had it for 7 years and not a single issue with it and the Control4 system works perfectly with it. Professional networking is expensive at first but it's worth the investment.

2

RacerXXY

Mar 23, 2024 9:11 PM

621 Comments

Joined Feb 2016

RacerXXYMar 23, 2024 9:11 PM

621 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank

Quote from goixiz

:

Costco tplink is better deal with 3 nodes

Quote from Paperboy09 :

https://a.co/d/8mVfMMO

I went with this one instead. $50 cheaper and great reviews. Haven't set it up yet. Coming from nest WiFi which is crap now that I have teens, lots of devices and cameras on the network.

Personally I wouldn't put a router from a Chinese owned company as the first line of defense between my network and the internet.

Last edited by RacerXXY March 23, 2024 at 02:14 PM.

5

2

3

BlueD

Mar 23, 2024 10:22 PM

36 Comments

Joined Dec 2007

BlueDMar 23, 2024 10:22 PM

36 Comments

These are shit, avoid if you have a large network because they don't have enough processor power to deal with it and they become unstable

2

3

Cleej9

Mar 23, 2024 10:28 PM

340 Comments

Joined Nov 2018

Cleej9Mar 23, 2024 10:28 PM

340 Comments

Quote from BlueD

:

These are shit, avoid if you have a large network because they don't have enough processor power to deal with it and they become unstable

How big is your network? I've got the XT8 with ~105 devices and no issues.

7

1

kenyee

Mar 24, 2024 12:58 AM

343 Comments

Joined Jul 2005

kenyeeMar 24, 2024 12:58 AM

343 Comments

These are best with wired backhaul...I tried these and ended up with the XT8 because I needed wireless backhaul...the XT8 was faster.

The latest official firmware fixed a hole one the AiMesh trendmicro firewall.
The ET8 can also run gnuton Merlin instead of the asuswrt firmware....so it can run ad blockers, suricata for security, etc.

3

BeigeGiraffe529

Mar 24, 2024 2:34 AM

10 Comments

Joined Sep 2023

BeigeGiraffe529Mar 24, 2024 2:34 AM

10 Comments

if I have no problem with current set up, i dont need to get these stuff right?

Last edited by BeigeGiraffe529 March 23, 2024 at 07:42 PM.

desantma

Mar 24, 2024 2:37 AM

261 Comments

Joined Apr 2013

desantmaMar 24, 2024 2:37 AM

261 Comments

Quote from Paperboy09

:

https://a.co/d/8mVfMMO

I went with this one instead. $50 cheaper and great reviews. Haven't set it up yet. Coming from nest WiFi which is crap now that I have teens, lots of devices and cameras on the network.

I just tried upgrading my older deco units with these and my M2 MacBook air entirely refused to connect to get internet through it, period, zero, no traffic. The minute I connected to a different router or my cell hotspot instant Internet. Back to these and no Internet. I read it's a common issue when trying to fix it. They are repackaged by the door ready to go back to Costco. I was having all kinds of issues with them during the couple hours of troubleshooting it was going through.

dentalsalespro

Mar 24, 2024 11:52 AM

1.4K Comments

Joined Aug 2011

dentalsalesproMar 24, 2024 11:52 AM

1.4K Comments

Novice question here. Where do you all normally set these up if you have three floors? Do you need one right where the router is to plug in and then another on a floor of your choice? I have a super old system where I have three and one plugs into the router on the main floor, one in the basement hardwired to work computer and then one upstairs. All I know is that my mesh system is so old that it is really slowing things down.

Deal-R-Dash

Mar 24, 2024 12:23 PM

1.9K Comments

Joined Oct 2014

Deal-R-DashMar 24, 2024 12:23 PM

1.9K Comments

Quote from Hexum944

:

These mesh systems are awesome and I've had some before. The main problems with consumer wifi products is occasional to frequent crashes requiring a reboot and limited firmware updates as newer models come out. One of my mesh systems would crash every few months and didn't work well with my Control4 system. I eventually invested in a professional Ruckus wifi system with Araknis router and I am so glad I did. It's absolutely perfect. I've had it for 7 years and not a single issue with it and the Control4 system works perfectly with it. Professional networking is expensive at first but it's worth the investment.

^^^THIS! Of course everyone's use-case and budget are different but I did not realize just how painful working with Asus and other consumer brands has been over the past few years. We have a very large house with over 200 wired and wireless networked devices I've had XT8s and the wired backbone was absolutely terrible. I finally had to resort to gnuton firmware just to get some amount of stability. Even then we still had random drop of the wired network where wireless traffic could not talk to wired, etc. I finally got fed up after years of these random issues and beta testing firmware and sold all of my XT8s over the past month. I'm now running a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Special Edition and OMG pinch me I am dreaming. I now have a 10Gbe backbone with 2.5Gbe PoE running to Wifi7 access points throughout the house and a security system that can handle our 1Gbe Internet. The performance is amazing and makes me realize we have probably outgrown a consumer backbone with 4k streaming devices, etc. all running at the same time. The GUI is amazing and can quickly visualize interference to quickly customize the performance of so many aspects of the network. This setup isn't for everyone due to budget but I highly recommend it if nothing else than to look at what a prosumer setup might look like.

1

tropicalb

Mar 24, 2024 4:13 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Aug 2021

tropicalbMar 24, 2024 4:13 PM

1.2K Comments

Quote from Hexum944

:

These mesh systems are awesome and I've had some before. The main problems with consumer wifi products is occasional to frequent crashes requiring a reboot and limited firmware updates as newer models come out. One of my mesh systems would crash every few months and didn't work well with my Control4 system. I eventually invested in a professional Ruckus wifi system with Araknis router and I am so glad I did. It's absolutely perfect. I've had it for 7 years and not a single issue with it and the Control4 system works perfectly with it. Professional networking is expensive at first but it's worth the investment.

I have the prior generation of this product line (Asus XT8 mesh system) and to your point about limited firmware updates, a couple of months ago the XT8 routers hadn't had a firmware update for over a year! Then, within the last 2 months, ASUS released two firmware updates back-to-back to address security vulnerabilities. I am relieved to finally receive some updates, but wondering why we ASUS XT8 owners had to wait over a year for a firmware update... it seems there would surely have been other vulnerabilities over the past year that may have not been patched until recently for ASUS routers.

Speaking of Asus mesh products, it's been quite an experience with the XT8 system. Initially they worked great, then there was a firmware update that broke the XT8 (and other ASUS routers - was quickly fixed with another release), then other firmware updates that were supposed to improve performance but caused the 2nd mesh node/XT8 unit to disconnect from the mesh router/main unit or produce a "weak signal" that would slow wireless speed down to a crawl until the system was rebooted.... it's a bit exhausting. Generally with these mesh systems by ASUS, when you check for firmware updates it identifies an update needed for all units: The main router and any mesh nodes you have. With the most recent firmware update this week, it only found a firmware update for the main router. Upon refreshing the app and checking again, suddenly the same firmware update was found for the mesh node. So, in this case I had to update each device separately instead of doing both at the same time. Not sure if that was due to the nature of the update or if this is how all of them will be handled from now on, but it was a bit more tedious.

I think ASUS has a great reputation for quality and reliability for their standalone routers, but the mesh systems aren't as reliable in my experience. I am keeping the current setup until I find something better. Maybe pfsense. Of course using something like pfsense is more effort and required more setup, but should produce a more robust system with more features (like separate VLANs).

1

BulldogPunch

Mar 24, 2024 5:56 PM

210 Comments

Joined Mar 2021

BulldogPunchMar 24, 2024 5:56 PM

210 Comments

Quote from Paperboy09

:

https://a.co/d/8mVfMMO I went with this one instead. $50 cheaper and great reviews. Haven't set it up yet. Coming from nest WiFi which is crap now that I have teens, lots of devices and cameras on the network.

I just installed the Deco XE75 last week. Got a 3 pack refurb for $319 at Amazon. Super happy with it. I've tried a bunch of different mesh routers and TP Link has been my favorite by far. No issues with connection drops and the coverage/speeds are fantastic. I'm getting gigabit speeds over wireless which is exactly what I wanted.

Attachment 15194382

Btw y'all should avoid Linksys mesh routers. Never had a bigger headache than the 3 hours I spent attempting to setup their new Velop 7 system. It can only be setup via their trash app and it got stuck in a "you need to factory setup before you can proceed" loop. Then I finally get it setup and the speeds on the far side of my house? 17Mbps. Worse than my Google Wifi mesh running wifi5. Absolute garbage!

Last edited by BulldogPunch March 24, 2024 at 10:59 AM.

1

Cleej9

Mar 24, 2024 5:57 PM

340 Comments

Joined Nov 2018

Cleej9Mar 24, 2024 5:57 PM

340 Comments

Quote from tropicalb

:

I have the prior generation of this product line (Asus XT8 mesh system) and to your point about limited firmware updates, a couple of months ago the XT8 routers hadn't had a firmware update for over a year! Then, within the last 2 months, ASUS released two firmware updates back-to-back to address security vulnerabilities. I am relieved to finally receive some updates, but wondering why we ASUS XT8 owners had to wait over a year for a firmware update... it seems there would surely have been other vulnerabilities over the past year that may have not been patched until recently for ASUS routers.

Speaking of Asus mesh products, it's been quite an experience with the XT8 system. Initially they worked great, then there was a firmware update that broke the XT8 (and other ASUS routers - was quickly fixed with another release), then other firmware updates that were supposed to improve performance but caused the 2nd mesh node/XT8 unit to disconnect from the mesh router/main unit or produce a "weak signal" that would slow wireless speed down to a crawl until the system was rebooted.... it's a bit exhausting. Generally with these mesh systems by ASUS, when you check for firmware updates it identifies an update needed for all units: The main router and any mesh nodes you have. With the most recent firmware update this week, it only found a firmware update for the main router. Upon refreshing the app and checking again, suddenly the same firmware update was found for the mesh node. So, in this case I had to update each device separately instead of doing both at the same time. Not sure if that was due to the nature of the update or if this is how all of them will be handled from now on, but it was a bit more tedious.

I think ASUS has a great reputation for quality and reliability for their standalone routers, but the mesh systems aren't as reliable in my experience. I am keeping the current setup until I find something better. Maybe pfsense. Of course using something like pfsense is more effort and required more setup, but should produce a more robust system with more features (like separate VLANs).

Fwiw, I use pfsense as my router and the XT8 in access point mode. Kind of the best of both worlds if you don't need to do any complex networking for your wifi devices.

Last edited by Cleej9 March 24, 2024 at 12:56 PM.

1

2-pk ASUS ZenWiFi Whole-Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6E System (ET8)

$260

$330

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