This is the lowest price I've seen this for. Seems to be $600+ most everywhere else. $449 + tax and free shipping at Newegg. It says backordered until 10/31, but they did accept my order. I was on the fence between this and the TP-Link Archer BE900 (BE24000) and pulled the trigger on this one due to higher est. total throughput (30gbps vs 24gbps) and currently lower price at Newegg (BE24000 is ~$500 at its lowest that I can find).
WiFi 7 mesh - up to 30000 Mbps with Multi-Link Operation and 4096-QAM.
Up to 4000 square foot coverage
Twelve internal antennas and sixteen front-end modules
USB port ready for 4G LTE and 5G mobile tethering.
AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro, one-tap security scan, comprehensive VPN support, and site-to-site VPN.
https://www.newegg.com/asus-bq16-...6833320596
https://www.asus.com/us/networkin...-bq16-pro/
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Most people would be far better off with multiple APs - say 2 APs on both sides of the house - rather than one AP. That said, there's merit in the one-and-done approach, but just realize that especially Wifi7 speeds (and even 6, honestly) don't go through lots of walls well.
For most people that means they're best off, if they need WF7 for some reason, to get 2 x Ubiquiti XG WAPs ($199/ea) with an ethernet backhaul to their router. That implies they'd have a Ubiquiti controller too, so this isn't feasible for everyone, but that will give better results than this single unit will, if we're focused on WF7 speeds and coverage.
And I'd love for the downvoter to explain why, because the above is absolutely how wifi works.
You only need this product if you are able to use that fastest WiFi standard. If you're internet is a 1Gig or slower plan, you are saving lots of money by going with their respectable XT8 model.
A single device is $180, a 2-pack is $280.
They work extremely well in wireless backhaul mode. If you have Ethernet backhaul, even better. You can even put open source firmware on them, that's officially endorsed by asus (like I did).
https://a.co/d/4qKcDpE
You only need this product if you are able to use that fastest WiFi standard. If you're internet is a 1Gig or slower plan, you are saving lots of money by going with their respectable XT8 model.
A single device is $180, a 2-pack is $280.
They work extremely well in wireless backhaul mode. If you have Ethernet backhaul, even better. You can even put open source firmware on them, that's officially endorsed by asus (like I did).
https://a.co/d/4qKcDpE
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In my personal opinion it is worth it if you are getting it in on sale for like $700 or something AND you want WiFi 7, but $449 a piece is just too much. Ain't no way the manufacturing cost is even close, the margin of profit must be insane.
That said, it's the best device I've ever had LOL
I had a high end (for its time) Netgear Wifi 6 tri band router before and the software on Netgear is insanely inferior when compared to the BQ16 Pro, it's like comparing Windows XP to Windows 10, a 1990 Camry to a Waymo.
That being said, this device is not for faint of heart, it's got too many options to configure and I estimate only half of my friends would be able to get it working flawless to their needs. It was a lot of trial and error for me, and even the smallest mistake could make a big difference.
Example: there's a setting that asks if you want the notes to prioritize 6Hz, 5Ghz, Auto, or Ethernet if plugged in. I thought I was being smart and selected 6Ghz. Wrong, it stops MLO between devices and selects a single band, and I didn't know better until I was messing with the setting again because I noticed a tiny bit stutter 2 times, selected Auto to see to see if preferred 5Ghz on its own, but no, it wasn't just 5Ghz, it started an MLO using both the 6Ghz bands and the 5Ghz. I face palmed hard on that one.
Example2: There's a setting to make your main network MLO compatible and to add all bands in a single SSID. This would be the default setting. Wrong, you have to break it apart otherwise the devices that are not MLO compatible may connect to the MLO network but cause crashes and exhibit weird behavior like saying the password is incorrect (on multiple devices multiple times), even though no password change ever occurred). Had to break it apart into a main non-MLO SSID and an MLO SSID. Zero problems since then.
So what may be intuitive to be left in "Auto" or "default" is really not straightforward. Some things you have to modify and some you don't.
My speeds around the house are insane and 2 devices (main router and node) cover all my floor plan. I left the MLO using both 6ghz and the 2.4Ghz as backup and dedicated the 5Ghz to all my other Wifi 6 devices. This setup is best for me and everything works flawless.
Side note, all the phones in the house including laptops have WiFi 7 enabled, and laptops get 1.5 gigs down and 1 gig down, which is insane because my desktop only gets 800 megs down and 600 up through the gigabit Ethernet port.
I do not see the use of anyone getting this if they don't have WiFi 7 devices or planning to upgrade. Get a high end Wifi 6 tri band with 2x 5Ghz bands at a minimum. Or multiple APs/nodes as suggested by others.
You might want to look into that, as that's very odd.
In my personal opinion it is worth it if you are getting it in on sale for like $700 or something AND you want WiFi 7, but $449 a piece is just too much. Ain't no way the manufacturing cost is even close, the margin of profit must be insane.
That said, it's the best device I've ever had LOL
I had a high end (for its time) Netgear Wifi 6 tri band router before and the software on Netgear is insanely inferior when compared to the BQ16 Pro, it's like comparing Windows XP to Windows 10, a 1990 Camry to a Waymo.
That being said, this device is not for faint of heart, it's got too many options to configure and I estimate only half of my friends would be able to get it working flawless to their needs. It was a lot of trial and error for me, and even the smallest mistake could make a big difference.
Example: there's a setting that asks if you want the notes to prioritize 6Hz, 5Ghz, Auto, or Ethernet if plugged in. I thought I was being smart and selected 6Ghz. Wrong, it stops MLO between devices and selects a single band, and I didn't know better until I was messing with the setting again because I noticed a tiny bit stutter 2 times, selected Auto to see to see if preferred 5Ghz on its own, but no, it wasn't just 5Ghz, it started an MLO using both the 6Ghz bands and the 5Ghz. I face palmed hard on that one.
Example2: There's a setting to make your main network MLO compatible and to add all bands in a single SSID. This would be the default setting. Wrong, you have to break it apart otherwise the devices that are not MLO compatible may connect to the MLO network but cause crashes and exhibit weird behavior like saying the password is incorrect (on multiple devices multiple times), even though no password change ever occurred). Had to break it apart into a main non-MLO SSID and an MLO SSID. Zero problems since then.
So what may be intuitive to be left in "Auto" or "default" is really not straightforward. Some things you have to modify and some you don't.
My speeds around the house are insane and 2 devices (main router and node) cover all my floor plan. I left the MLO using both 6ghz and the 2.4Ghz as backup and dedicated the 5Ghz to all my other Wifi 6 devices. This setup is best for me and everything works flawless.
Side note, all the phones in the house including laptops have WiFi 7 enabled, and laptops get 1.5 gigs down and 1 gig down, which is insane because my desktop only gets 800 megs down and 600 up through the gigabit Ethernet port.
I do not see the use of anyone getting this if they don't have WiFi 7 devices or planning to upgrade. Get a high end Wifi 6 tri band with 2x 5Ghz bands at a minimum. Or multiple APs/nodes as suggested by others.
You might want to look into that, as that's very odd.
Most people would be far better off with multiple APs - say 2 APs on both sides of the house - rather than one AP. That said, there's merit in the one-and-done approach, but just realize that especially Wifi7 speeds (and even 6, honestly) don't go through lots of walls well.
For most people that means they're best off, if they need WF7 for some reason, to get 2 x Ubiquiti XG WAPs ($199/ea) with an ethernet backhaul to their router. That implies they'd have a Ubiquiti controller too, so this isn't feasible for everyone, but that will give better results than this single unit will, if we're focused on WF7 speeds and coverage.
And I'd love for the downvoter to explain why, because the above is absolutely how wifi works.
So while it's true Wi-Fi 7 doesn't show as much improvement at 2.4Ghz (despite denser encoding), it shouldn't be worse. Although I admit with many current Wi-Fi 7 routers they do seem to service Wi-fi 5 and 6 a bit worse.
At 6Ghz the improvements are dramatic. People with 1 gig or higher internet service may finally see this speed over Wi-Fi with Wifi 7. Of course, most people don't need a gig internet or would be hard pressed to notice the difference other than downloading massive files (installing large games is probably what people would notice most).
Also, in my opinion, if you can get good covergage with a single router in the middle of your home, it's better than two wired APs (and definitely better than mesh), especially as hand-off is inconsistent between devices. Many (especially iphone) will stick with the first AP they assoociate with, even after they start dropping packets. Ubiquity has some magic to improve the smoothness of reassociations, but handoffs (being a client decision) are an ongoing weakness in Wi-Fi. If you can avoid them, it's better.
I do agree that this is not good value money for most people. But if you want Wi-Fi 7, maybe not.
So while it's true Wi-Fi 7 doesn't show as much improvement at 2.4Ghz (despite denser encoding), it shouldn't be worse. Although I admit with many current Wi-Fi 7 routers they do seem to service Wi-fi 5 and 6 a bit worse.
At 6Ghz the improvements are dramatic. People with 1 gig or higher internet service may finally see this speed over Wi-Fi with Wifi 7. Of course, most people don't need a gig internet or would be hard pressed to notice the difference other than downloading massive files (installing large games is probably what people would notice most).
Also, in my opinion, if you can get good covergage with a single router in the middle of your home, it's better than two wired APs (and definitely better than mesh), especially as hand-off is inconsistent between devices. Many (especially iphone) will stick with the first AP they assoociate with, even after they start dropping packets. Ubiquity has some magic to improve the smoothness of reassociations, but handoffs (being a client decision) are an ongoing weakness in Wi-Fi. If you can avoid them, it's better.
I do agree that this is not good value money for most people. But if you want Wi-Fi 7, maybe not.
I should've also talked about Wifi 7's increased ability to handle more devices, but I don't think most consumers will run into that currently.
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