forum threadphoinix | Staff posted Apr 27, 2026 07:06 AM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
forum threadphoinix | Staff posted Apr 27, 2026 07:06 AM
$189.99 | ASUS ZenWiFi BT8 Tri-Band WiFi 7 Mesh, 14 Gbps, 3000 sq.ft. at Amazon
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The listing here says "mesh" but the $189 price is for only a single unit. For a mesh you need at least two units. Amazon sells 2-BT8 for $399.99, a 31% savings (compared to a single BT8 for $189.99, a 32% savings). The best performing mesh system will either have a dedicated wireless band for mesh traffic (so clients don't have to share bandwidth on that band), OR could use a wired backhaul. According to the tech specs (https://www.asus.com/us/networkin.../techspec/) this has a single one of each band: 2.4ghz, 5ghz, 6ghz. So no matter which band you choose for wireless backhaul (or maybe you use MLO, which "bonds" multiple bands for backhaul, perhaps improving speed), that wireless mesh backhaul communication will be shared with clients. That will negatively impact client speeds. Maybe not a lot to notice.. it depends on how many clients are connected and how much traffic they need to send across the network.
You could use wired backhaul, which would utilize the single 2.5GB LAN port on the router and the 2.5GB WAN port on the 2nd mesh node. Then you can still use the 2.5GB LAN port and the other two 1GB LAN ports on the mesh node for wired connections to clients. Directions: https://www.asus.com/us/support/faq/1035140/ But if you didn't have a 2.5GB switch, you would then only have 1GB LAN connections remaining on the router. So it would be best to use a switch on the router (so you have multiple 2.5GB LAN ports).
ASUS sells a WiFi 7 (BQ16 Pro) quad-band mesh system (so it has a dedicated 6ghz band for wireless backhaul), but 6gz band doesn't have very long range (5ghz has more range), and the BQ10 Pro is very expensive (about $1K for two mesh units). Definitely NOT a Slick Deal.
Not sure if WiFi 7 mesh is worth buying right now. If anyone knows of any well priced, high performing WiFi 7 mesh units, feel free to post.
You could try to create your own network "mesh" by using ASUS AiMesh routers (make sure they are all AiMesh compatible) then connect them via wired backhaul. That way you don't need to worry about sharing a network band (5ghz or 6ghz) between mesh and client traffic. However you won't save much money doing this, and you increase the complexity. If you need WiFi 7 tri-band (2.4/5/ghz), get two of the ASUS RT-BE90U ($189.99 each) from Amazon (there is a link on SlickDeals to that deal). That's $379.98, about $20 cheaper than the two pack of the BT8. The RT-BE90U have all 2.5GB ports (2.5GB WAN, three 2.5GB LAN). So if you bought the BT8 and needed to add the 2.5GB switch, that's at least another $35, so the savings by going with two BE90Us jumps to ~$55. Is it worth all that work? Probably not, and the BT8 units look prettier.
To save more money you could step down to WiFi 6, but it's two standards behind. Or consider WiFi 6E. That gives you tri-band (2.4ghz/5ghz/6ghz) and may cost less if you get a good deal on the routers and add the 2nd/additional routers in a wireless access point config (connected via wired backhaul). For some more ideas on this review this link: https://www.wiisfi.com/#recommendation
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