20.12.2020

I was planning to follow the reviews here with using the app to pair install but due to wanting a black one for the lounge and a white one for the office they didn't arrive together... worse than that the white one was lost in the Amazon internal shipping process twice. Third time lucky. Hint tick the box to get the parcel wrapped although can't see that on the app. The one coming in from Barcelona to the UK kept getting lost. When it did arrive it's address sticker was on a cellophane wrapper of the box stuck on. It had fell off.Waited two weeks for the second one. Thus set up the first one in the meantime so didn't pair out of the box.The trip point on why the 5 ghz backhaul isn't used is on the Asus page Google asus support FAQ 1012132If you have set up the hub with smart connect set off, you have to set it back on with Smart Connect Dual-Band Smart Connect (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and Band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Save etc. You do the pairing as per the instructions but toggle the Smart Connect to on if you have turned it off in the meantime by separating the bands.That triggers the backhaul on the 5ghz-2 band if you dont do that the backhaul wont be enabled on the 5ghz-2 band, backhaul may use the 2.4ghz band. That's what happened to me, said the signal was weak and was using the 2.4ghz band for backhaul. Didn't make sense to me says it was showing 800+ on the 5ghz band connection speed on the old router on line of site through a thin wall, across the landing and lounge - the two position points. Toggling changed this to "good" on the aimesh network app map shows this (green line). Bit of classic screwy programming telling you the connection was weak when it wasn't connected correctly.You can then change enable smart connect to off thereafter if you want to customise the 2.4Ghz channels. Use 20mhz band with for a upnp renderer so switched this back to off. Kept the SSIDs on the 2.4ghz and 5ghz-1 band as the same. Turned off the broadcast SSID of the 5ghz-2 so it's invisible... but you don't need to do that. It is the backhaul band since it moans if you try to rename it to the same as 2.4ghz / 5 ghz-1 telling you the backhaul band must have a different name.Bit more reading you can also use the backhaul band as well on devices other than backhaul (needs to be enable above as 160mhz when configured above to max out). Reckon best not to use it for devices just keep that for backhaul if you arrnt using wired ethernet to connect the mesh, which is why I hid the SSID. Any wifi 6 devices you could use on that I guess as the lower 5ghz band could get crowed but if you haven't got any, not an issue.I also enabled WiFi agile on the 2.4 GHz band. Asus says it works better on your modern internet devices quickly switching nodes. Internet of things devices. Thought this might be better on the Humax eye camera, boiler heater switch and Airstream upnp renderers. I had been watching via the app whether they had been connecting to the logical closest node. Seems about right now. I didn't tune up the switching parameters on RSSI left those as predefined. Just WiFi agile as described, the smart toggle as described else the backhaul wont connect on the 5ghz-2 channel if you are manually pairing the Mesh routers and using wireless backhaul. I tend to pick my own WiFi channels using InSSIDer rather than use the auto feature. Take up squatter rights on 1, 6 or 11 on the lower bandwidth. Ditto on 5ghz-1. Signal isn't propagated so far so isn't an issue. Left the backhaul band 5ghz-2 on auto select.My 5 ghz tablet I take to bed faithfully changes nodes between the upstairs lounge node and the office hub which serves the bedroom side of the house. The upstairs lounge node serves the downstairs kitchen and dining room. Open balcony affair with a wrap around upstairs lounge, antrim dining room / sun room. Upstairs office hub serves the five bedrooms (Office one) on two floors. Utility room gets the signal from the lounge mostly. So the house divides into two discrete areas. The backhaul 5 ghz top band linking through the office wall across the landing across the lounge to the node. No way you could install Ethernet cable into the office from the lounge without it showing. Had been using power line adaptors for this link and others but too problematic having pinned the issue down to ripples in the power. Get the BT Ethernet internet from the Smarthub2 on the lower floor just below via one BT black disc bought from Amazon into the Asus hub in the office. The BT disc ethernet port at the back is cabled into the Asus hub (both sit on top of a tall Ikea office unit). It was that using a powerline adaptors throu the house wiring that was causing grief with my old Asus tri band 3200 and TP link setup to the office. Basically power line adaptors turned out to be unreliable in the house with frequent glitches, mesh and wireless is better.All is good now. Think this is where people have issues where they can't get the backhaul working correctly since its not enabled when they add an aimesh to an existing configured hub. The Asus FAQ above "[Wireless] How to configure the Smart Connect on ASUSWRT?" is the key. Wonky programming.... best described as a feature. So you got to configure that correctly if you manually add a mesh unit unit rather than the two pair out of the box purchase and set up. Think this is why the reviews split into good and bad. The bad reviews trip on getting the backhaul to work correctly since they have manually configured and not stumbled over the secret that they need to toggle smart connect on during the pairing of the Mesh, as per the FAQ referenced for exact parameters, the unit is listed in that FAQ. The good reviews are either not using wireless backhaul or purchased two units together and used the automatic pairing.Useful tools obviously inSSIDer and Fast.com app.Footnote.On use for a month had one instance where the backhaul was triggered to orange on the app rather than green. The original issue. Needed the node switched on and off cleared it. Software reboot didn't. Two months in all very stable and reliable.Did an over the air firmware update on both nodes in situ, all ok. Did the original one out of the box on both units before pairing. Originally due to the second unit getting lost in the post configured the white unit destined for the office as the hub. Backed that up. Restored that on the black unit and did a factory reset on the white one, then did the pairing.The node has a spare Ethernet port which you can also use, giving one aditional Ethernet ports on the node unit, you can use a network switch to give additional ports, use network switches on both units in the lounge and office for traditional Ethernet cabling of devices. The USB port which can be used as a music server is only available on the hub. The other USB port on the node isn't available for use. Obviously the hub one supports upnp across the mesh.USB port can also be used with a 4g dongle, did test, works like my old Ac3200. Hopefully BT Openreach is reliable enough not to need to use it.All in all impressive mesh solution.

28.8.2020

UPDATE 10 Sept 2020: Running well with no power cycling required. ZenWifi set to autoreboot at 4am every day. Speeds remain good and stable. All IOT devices are connected to 2.4GHz whilst the rest are distributed between the 5GHz-1 and 5GHz-2 (160MHz) channels with a couple wired. No complaints. Coverage is good to all parts of the house. Even "poorer" areas get at least 80-100Mbps of the 1Gig down connection.ORIGINAL REVIEW:Having just upgraded from BT FTTC to Virgin DOCSIS 3.1 1Gig (~1000/50Mbps up) package, I decided to get this Asus ZenWifi AX mesh system with the intention of using a wired backhaul. I have a few Wifi6 devices (Note 10/XPS13/Alienware 17), a few Wifi5,and a bunch of webcams on various legacy standards. Before the ZenWifi arrived, I was getting suprisingly good coverage from the Virgin Hub 4 in our 4 bed Victorian semiD house, with the exception of our kitchen which has been extended where the connection speeds were closer to 20Mbps up/down.With some trial and error, and patience trying various settings over a period of 2 weeks, I settled on using the 2nd router via a wired backhaul. When we renovated, the house was cabled with cat5e with an unmanaged switch which made this much easier and tidier to achieve. So the end setup is as follows: Virgin Hub 4 (modem mode) - ethernet cable - ZenWifi WAN port - ethernet cable - gigabit switch - ethernet cable - 2nd ZenWifi WAN port in AiMesh mode. This provides the best speeds and connection stability. Having said that, even with the 2nd ZenWifi router in wireless backhaul mode, the speeds are already pretty fast, but wired up, I am now getting ~450Mbps down in my kitchen using my AX clients connected through the 2nd ZenWifi router. Next to the 1st ZenWifi router, I'm getting 700-800Mbps with AX clients which is very impressive. More important than speed, however, is stability, and I haven't had any issues over the last month or so of ownership. Roaming from one node to the next appears to be seemless, although I haven't tried doing so whilst on a Zoom meeting, for example.Pros:- Fairly easy and automated initial set up through the mobile app, although it does take a little longer than you expect despite the relative lack of button pressing- Raw speed and range - placement of the 2nd mesh node is crucial, especially when using wireless backhaul- When using wired backhaul, the ability to utilise the160Mhz 5GHz-2 band which supports the highest throughputs (although there are no widely available 4x4 clients at the time of writing). This third band is otherwise used for wireless backhaul.- A myriad of settings available for the prosumer. For most people, however, the Android/iOS app will sufffice, but if you like to tinker like me...- Full complement of 4xgigabit ethernet with a multigigabit WAN port and USB3.0 port on both units. You essentially get two routers you could use separately for the price, which is not necessarily the case with other brands' mesh kits.- Price (it's cheaper than other comparable 'premium' AX mesh kits)Cons:- Optimising the setup for best performance does take some time as the stock firmware already allows for a lot of customisation.- Personally I found the white finish a little cheaper than expected. It's very plasticky. I somehow expected a more metallic finish.- My wired speeds are not as high as when connected directly to the Virgin Hub 4 (750-850Mbps down ZenWifi AX vs 900+Mbps down Virgin Hub 4). I tested using Speedtest.net, Samknows.com, etc. Using Samknows.com RealSpeed, I know that my Virgin Hub 4 connects to the internet at the advertised 1gig down speeds. Upload speeds are not an issue and I consistently get 40-50Mbps which is near enough to the maximum advertised upload speed.- AC plug is poorly designed. The clip-on/interchangeable UK plug does not click on tightly, and the lead comes out the end of the AC adapter instead of the bottom/side.

28.2.2021

I am an experienced IT pro, so I expected to do a fair bit of customization on this unit. More on that later.The basics:Initial setup is pretty easy. The app finds the devices and the node attaches to the master pretty easily as part of the setup. As we are all advised, I updated the firmware during initial install, to get off on the right foot. This went well, except the node had a bit of a meltdown and needed to be manually powered off and restarted, after which everything went well.One problem I did run into related to power. These things are really hard to find right now. I bought mine from the Amazon UK store, but they were shipped from the EU with EU-style 2-prong plugs. So,I went back to Amazon and bought a pair of EU->UK adapters. Problem solved.Next came placement. You want to strike the balance between the devices being widely enough separated to cover the whole space, but close enough that they maintain good communication with each other. I am in a 250 year-old set of cottages with 18-inch thick solid stone walls, so this is not a trivial challenge.Initially, I tried to live with just the Wifi backhaul between the nodes. This was OK but the layout of the property really compromised the signal. (If you click on AIMesh in the control interface - app or web admin page - It will classify the connection OK/Good/Great, so it's pretty easy).So, next I tried a hard-wired backhaul using NetGear PowerLine adapters to pipe Gigabit over the house electrical wiring. This improved the backhaul connection considerably. However, the connection is not always really stable and this caused a number of remote mesh node dropouts, with consequent internet disconnection for any clients attached to that node. It also sometimes caused the remote node to lose its mind a bit and need rebooting.So, eventually, I caved, bought a really long Cat6 ethernet cable and wired them together. The ASUS picked up the connection instantly and connectivity between master/node is excellent. Since I have had this arrangement in place, everything has been super stable and performance excellent. As a bonus, I have been able to mess around with placement, since Cat 6 cables can be really long, and I have been able to find unobtrusive locations for master and node but still get excellent signal coverage.Now, configuration:To set the context, here are the things I needed to set up:1. Custom LAN subnet and DHCP configuration, including many static leases2. Virtual server port forwarding to Kubernetes and OpenVPN server3. QoS to keep my son's gaming habit from overwhelming everybody4. DoS protection5. Custom SSL certificate and CA for device management6. Multiple guest networks7. Dynamic DNSI quickly found that I didn't like the app for managing all of the above. Others with simpler configurations may like it just fine. Or perhaps it's just that I am too used to the more traditional management UIs using an embedded web server. Anyway, I abandoned the fancy app and HTTP'd directly to the master node (immediately reconfiguring it to HTTPS only) from where I found myself in the excellent, familiar, but subtly expanded web admin interface. Everything an experienced ASUS user would expect to find is exactly where it should be. (I don't understand why some vendors think it's a good idea to continually rearrange an established UI.). You will also find new areas to manage things like the mesh. (The Traffic Analyzer is particularly nice - good job ASUS.)So, in summary, an excellent, capable, powerful mesh router, but you probably want to find a way to leverage the hardwired ethernet backhaul to get all of its potential.

6.6.2020

I have a fairly large 5 bedroom house and have always struggled to get decent wifi in some areas. I had been using a Netgear tri- band router with powerline extensions, but coverage was still not ideal. following the COVID 19 situation, I found myself competing for bandwidth with my wife and 2 children. With all the MS teams, Zoom meetings, streaming and gaming going on, my broadband was struggling.My initial plan was to get an Asus GT-AX11000 as the main router with the ZenWiifi XT8 as nodes in a mesh system. I was however unable to get hold of that router (at a decent price anyway). so I thought I would give the XT8 a go on their own.Set up using the mobile app was simple,basically it guides you through setting up one unit (doesn't matter which) as the router and then set up the other as a node nearby. Then move the node to another location. To my surprise the first unit alone was sending out a strong enough single to cover over 80% of the house. I put the node upstairs and got a good strong connection to the router. Coverage now spread to the rest of the house and also was able to get decent speeds outside in the garden and in front of the house. I was able to wire in a few devices by ethernet cable into the node. There was no difference in speed to the than anything wired into the node vs the router.This is a tri-band router, with a 2.4ghz and two 5ghz bands, the units connect to each other wirelessly via the 2nd 5ghz band which is dedicated for that purpose, unfortunately I didn't have the ability to connect them by ethernet which would free that band up. However you can combine the 2 bands into a single one using a feature known as smart connect. Coverage and speed are both great and Iwas also able to move around the whole house and garden without losing connection. There are lots of features, many are of course in common with other Asus routers.ProsGreat coverageStable, have not lost any coverage or connection to the node so farAesthetically pleasing, ie doesn't look like an alien spiderGreat parental control features, can turn off any device connected and can even limit what can be done ie stop streaming/ gaming, but allow surfing etcDual Wan, was able to plug in a 4G USB dongle with a data sim. If the primary connection goes down, The router can be set to automatically switch to a 4G network, tried this by unplugging my modem and it works very wellHas other built in feature like Aiprotection and AicloudApp is easy to useStraightforward setupExpandable, you can add further nodes/ Asus routersFuture proof, has wifi 6 and can be used with other newer Asus Routers later on as nodes in a meshConsExpensive, you may be better off considering the wifi 5 version, CT8 which is similar in features but significantly cheaperComplex, although the app is simple, web configuration is more complex and the is a bewildering array of optionsFirmware issues, I have not had problems, but many have, sometimes a firmware release may cause problems, but it is possible to rollback to previous, I would advise waiting a little while before updating to the latest firmware

12.6.2020

TL;DRIf you have a lot of WiFi devices and need speed, stability and range - just get it, you won't regret.I've had a lot of routers and mesh networks, pretty much from every brand, and this is by the the most stable, fastest and seamless network.I'll cut to the chase now - in order to get most of it you need you tweak settings a bit. It'll work plug & play, but it really shines once it is fully setup.1) For initial setup, it needs to be close together, connected via wireless backhaul - easiest to do with the mobile app. Once done, I would recommend wired backhaul between nodes, however 4x4 160MHz 4800Mbps backhaul is fast enough, even at a distance.2) Setup 2.4GHz,5GHz-1 and 5GHz-2 networks as 3 separate SSID and don't use smart connect.Use 2.4GHz for all IoT smart devices, 5GHz-1 for TVs and non-WiFi 6 gear, and 5GHz-2 for WiFi 6 gear only (set network as AX only)3) From then on, I recommend using web browser console, you have more settings there and it's easier to use.4) For those working from home on VPN and having issues with MS Teams calls and Outlook desktop client - use your broadband provided kit as router with wi-fi off, and switch ZenWifi to AP mode.5) Turn off smart connect, don't turn on any QoS or AI protect stuff6) Tweak roaming mode to your own needs. I've included sample settings for 5GHz-2 network which gives full 1.2Gbps, I also get 1.2Gbps on 5GHz-1, this maxes out our 910Mbps fibre optic broadband anyway.With all above, our 2 x Galaxy S20s and laptops with Killer 1650 M.2 Wifi 6 AX are a lot more responsive - not to mention much faster max speeds - that's thanks to improved latency on WiFi 6, regardless whether it's 5GHz-1 or 5GHz-2, but separation gives better overall performance kids with their TVs and tablets are not impacting our work.Note 1 - currently it is not possible to use 5GHz-2 network in 4x4 mode, so max you can get is 1.2Gbps rather than 4.8Gbps, but this is irrelevant since you would need multi WAN internet connection to go over 1Gbps anyway, and gigabit is plenty fast.Note 2- NAS functions (whether FTP or Samba) maxes out at ~67MBps (536Mbps) even with Samsung T5 which gives me over 500MBps (4Gbps) when connected directly to PC - that's not great, but fast enough for a NAS.Note 3 - I'm currently on firmware 25524, it is stable, no issues, everything gets signal across 3 floors and in both front and back garden - and I have rather large network:2 x XT8 in AP mode3 x network switches4 x 4K smart TVs (2 wired, 2 wireless)5 PCs (2 wired, 1 on VPN all the time)5 tablets4 x TV streaming devices (1 wired)4 x phones7 x Ring devices14 smart plugs9 smart speakers13 other smart wifi devicesTo finish off I'm going to add that the actual hardware is a lot smaller and lighter than I thought it is, less obstructive, looks very good in any room, it shows quality and it's very well designed and built.Highly recommended, especially considering it is actually cheaper than WiFi 6 mesh from other brands.UPDATE:Attached 2 more screenshots with speedtest over wire and wireless. Can't get much better than that!

14.3.2021

I got fed up of my family blaming me for poor wifi, and fed up of me being on 24 hour call out to fix wifi issues that are impossible to fix anyway, and just a few mins later everything goes back to normal in any case, and then I get blamed for messing around with it! So to improve my wellbeing I thought I’d buy a mesh wifi system. We live in a converted barn, big but not huge at around 3,500 sq feet across two floors. It’s long, if you imagine a barn, and the broadband enters at one end of the barn, so wifi is variable at best at the other end. I’ve tried all manner of repeaters but they’re temperamental and patchy.I installed this yesterday as so far it’s excellent.

12.7.2020

I have used a few routers in my time....BT home hub, Sky, and I am now on the Virgin Media 1Gbps with their super hub 4.That is a very good router but failed to deliver signal - I live in a large Victorian House with extension and loft conversion and including a Garden Room leading to the medium sized garden....I could not get WiFi in the 2nd reception room....or the loft or the Garden... I used power lines (due to our electrics would only connect downstairs and not to the upstairs sockets)Boosters always needed restarting and were unstable.... then I found Mesh networks and ASUS ZENWiFI ....it just works !I have put the VM router into modem mode.... using a primary ASUS node as the router,

31.5.2021

Purchased to replace a basic (cheap!) dual-band mesh system I’ve been running with for a couple of years which was starting to throw up some issues, particularly regarding slow device handover and Apple HomeKit disconnections and automation failures.Installation of the ZenWifi with my existing modem/router should have been easy once I connected the supplied ethernet cable to my existing modem/router. However after almost 4 hours of multiple resets, retries with iPhone app, connecting with laptop, trying different setup configurations, the ZenWifi units would just not connect to the internet. At this point I had the packaging all ready for a return when I thought ‘one more try’ but, this time,

16.9.2020

Well where do i start? Bought these from Very as got £30 discount and £50 for BNPL (buy now pay later). I was initially very hesitant buying these as much more expensive than the BT Whole Home and TP Link M9 (even though latter is quite expensive).have Virgin Media 3.0 Hub which is awful to say the least. The wifi signal barely reaches the kitchen from the lounge, let alone the bedrooms. The aerial put inside one of these is approx 1" which is why they are awful.After reading up on the comments for all 3, saw that the setup on these are quite simple and not as lengthy as the other 2. Also the wifi radius seemed to be further with higher speeds. So decided to bite the bullet and bought these last week.Setup was very easy,

12.5.2020

As one of the many who is now exclusively working from home, I've pushed the limits of what my existing wifi setup could provide. I have a Virgin modem in my attic and had a TP Link wifi extender on the second floor which allowed devices on the ground floor to connect to the network. I was also using a powerline adapter to connect an ITX box in my kitchen.The setup was generally stable but not very fast and working from home exposed the weakness of the setup - I was having more and more issues with the wifi.I had been thinking of replacing the setup before the covid thing kicked off but now I had no excuse. After some research I decided to go for the ZenWiFi AC CT8.

16.1.2021

This is a fantastic bit of kit and worth the extra money.We have a three storey victorian house with lots of thick walls, chimney breasts and recesses (which are also the only places we can put the nodes in). My previous setup of a combination of wired (cable and powerline) and wireless access points worked to a degree but didn't give me full coverage with multiple blackspots and very low connection speeds beyond the living room or basement.I have a temporary setup in place until I can cable in a wired backbaul and send another cable back down from where the first node is to a switch in the basement where the virgin router is.

27.4.2020

I have VM Hub 3 on the 350mb fibre and had read stories on the VM forums about issues with some 3rd party routers and Hub 3. From memory i followed this order1) Login to Hub 3 and set to to modem mode2) Unbox the 2 units and set about 2 meters apart3) Plug in AC power (do not switch on)4) Plug ethernet cable from port 1 in your Hub 3 into the WAN (blue port) on one of the routers5) Switch on the 2 routers6) Download the ASUS router app and follow the instructions on screen (takes about 5 min)7) Login to your router (probably 192.168.50.1) you will see both unitsThis is where you need to wait, as originally i had no internet access (no external IP showing).

17.11.2020

I decided to buy 2x XT8 (WiFi 6 version) to replace 5 Plume pods for my home mesh. Always had great experience with Plume, so the XT8 really had to perform well for me to be happy with the move, and it couldn't have gone any better.Was a simple installation and setup process, took max 10 minutes. It's easier if you have a bit more technical knowledge, but can be done as a complete novice. Once you've used the mobile app to get the nodes paired, definitely go to the web app as it's 1000x better and you've got a lot more options and gubbins that you can change to enhance performance.Started out using the 5ghz band 2 as the backhaul link between satellites, and it worked for the most part,

10.3.2020

After contemplating whether I should upgrade my Almond+ securifi router, i decided to go ahead and purchase the XT8 twin pack. I am glad I made the upgrade, I live in a Semi Detached property with roughly 60 meters or more from the front of the house(where the router sits) to the bottom of the garden. My almond router was amazing but I was not getting my full 500mbps from the Virgin package. Although the almond has smart features and was working great until recently i struggled to have all my devices remain connected. This was a breeze to setup roughly 2-3 mins and it was done, ilI currently have dedicated ethernet backhaul rather than wireless and after testing the speeds I can confirm i get full 500mbps in all my rooms including the kitchen (furthest away).

23.9.2020

I had my doubts about some of the reviews on here, but I went for the plunge. I wasn't sure if I need 1 or 2 devices, we have an old house with very thick walls and have a few dead wifi rooms upstairs and in the garden.Before installing this router I thought I explain my current setup. I have Virgin broadband to fix my black spots, I had connected a long cable from the router to another old SKY router upstairs. This router provided WIFI upstairs. For the back of the house and the garden I used another RJ45 slot on the back of the router to a powerline adapter. In the back of the house I had the powerline adapter this time connected to an old BT router. My son room need faster internet connection to play online,

Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) - Reviews

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