ASUS ZenWiFi Whole-Home WiFi 6E Tri-band Mesh (ET8 2PK), Coverage up to 5,500 sq.ft & 6+rooms, 6600Mbps, 2.5G Port, AiMesh, Lifetime Free Internet Security, Parental Control, Easy Setup, Instant Guard

Update: 3-28-2020. Still having issues with the primary router always connecting with the 5 g network, particularly when it is in the ax mode. Supposedly this system is backward compatible with other adapters but by switching it off the ax mode and then back on a few minutes later then it seems work ok. Shouldn't have to do this Asus. Try to fix it, I can't be the only one who has this issue. Devices generally will connect to the node without any issues. Update: 3-8-2020 I'm finding that some of devices will not connect to the 5 G network when the system is in ax mode. Even if I'm but 5 ft. away. Switch the ax mode off and it will connect both the 2.4 and 5 networks. Go figure. Occasionally I have to switch the ax mode back on to get some other device to connect properly. I often take the device into another room some 15ft or more away and it will connect with the 5G without any issues.??? Update: 3-2-2020 My Blue Cave node was inconsistent on wifi but excellent with the ethernet so I tried a RT-AC68A as a node and it works great. Both the ethernet and the wifi provide excellent speeds in the basement some 25 feet away. I don't plan on sending it back since I'm very happy with it so far. Have had to make a few adjustments here and there because not all digital devices are "equal". If you don't mind paying up for a system it is pretty hard to beat for setup and performance. One thing to add: when I set up the node I used an ethernet cable from the main router lan to the AC68A wan. For some reason it would not locate it wirelessly. Update: 2-24-2020 Went into the wireless in the menu and enabled WIFI Agile Multiband for both the 2.4 and 5g networks. (I disabled the smart connect right out of the box.) It will ask you to change the Protected management Frames also. Did so not knowing what the outcome might be but these changes seemed to help with the issue of the mesh switching between the nodes and the primary router. Also, my phones would not hook up to the primary router sitting 5 ft. away but since the afore mentioned changes that issue is gone and the speeds have been excellent. I added a star to my orignal review since the system is working much better. I sure as hell would like a manual to look at rather than just a quick setup document. If someone out there has some ideas or additional adjustments that can be made I'm all ears. FIRST REVIEW: This is an early impression of my experience so far. 2-pak setup was very easy and straight forward. Had to reset once but couldn't find the reset button until I looked on the very bottom of the router. By the way the wps button is there also. I'm paying for 200 mgb and will get 200 to 260 with my desktop 7 ft away. My motorola z3 play generally gets 140 to 170 depending on where I am. I was getting 160 to 200 in the basement 25 ft. away on a desktop. The all those scores are on wifi. I setup an additional Blue Cave node in the basement (which was another story) and connected to two different desktops with ethernet cables. At times they are ripping along at 230 to 260 or may drop off to 80 to 90 for no apparent reason. I disconnected the cables reconnected and the speeds went up again???? (This issue has vanished after making the above mentioned changes). The app will sometimes show the blue cave is offline yet it is working. I have some similar questions as a few others have had about bothersome issues that have arisen. Will address these later. I finally disabled the ax mode for 2.4 and 5g and it seemed to put some of these issues to rest for awhile. I have had ASUS routers for years and love them along with the menu. These two have me considering going back to my older routers because they were more reliable. I'm not a computer guru but I can handle most of the basic computer issues and projects. We don't buy the hardware to continually reboot, reconnect, and try work arounds to make the systems work. Update: 9-22-2020 Additional thoughts on the zenwifi routers. I've found that I need to keep it in the non-AX mode so all of my cameras, wall plugs, etc will remain connected all of the time. ALSO, THE RESET AND WPS BUTTONS ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ROUTER. Nothing in the instructions that I could see regarding their location so if you are looking for them check the bottom. The wifi range is excellent; the speed is excellent; and the app works very well setting the routers up. I'm paying for 200mbs but I get 260+ download with wifi in the same room and 200+ downstairs in the basement. One additional point: Since the recent updates adding my Blue Cave router to the mesh was much easier than when I first started using the zenwifi XT8 mesh system.

XT8 purchased: September 17, 2022 (1 item) - 2 units AX Mini purchased: May 22, 2023 (1 item) - 3 units 3,800 sq ft Main modem and router - 2nd floor Main office - basement (beneath 1st floor) Distance: 30 ft between XT8, 10-15 ft between AX Mini's When I first bought the XT8 AX6600 pair, they worked great for the first year. Strong signal, very minimal downtime, good asus interface on both browser and via app. After the first year, started having connection issues. After the first year, there was a small increase in occasional bottle necking, but I attributed it to the possibility of the XT8's and the MX (mini versions) having wifi overlapping. Still would work for weeks, even months, between any noticeable issues. After updating them at the start of May 2024, though, v. 3.0.0.4.388_24621-g9054e31 for the XT8 and v. 3.0.0.4.386_49599-g8352df7 for the AX Mini's, the performance of both units SEVERELY went downhill. The update was security related. Everyday, every hour - sometimes between 4-5 hour spans, but still every day, all nodes would disconnect from the mesh (from each other) and then try to reconnect themselves. Downtime is about 5-10 seconds, but when it happens, it's VERY noticeable, annoying, and f**king stupid. I'd either be working from home, on a call, browsing, streaming, or playing games - especially when in a competitive game - and disconnects would happen randomly at any point in the day and night. If I pay for something that's $300, plus the $200 cost of the mini's, I expect them to last AT LEAST 3 YEARS, preferably 5 years, before any major issues or any need to upgrade. My opinion of ASUS routers and (at least) these routers has gone down the drain and I do not and WOULD NOT recommend them to anyone at this point, despite them being WiFi 6 and fairly powerful routers. ASUS Ai-Mesh is nice... when it works. I tried running the XT8's solo and the AX Mini's solo - same connection issues. Also confirmed that it's not a modem problem, as I ran tests for a couple days via hard-line only from the modem, having it act as the router; no connection issues, couldn't see any problems like with the routers. My daily traffic is about 30 GB. Pic related to when disconnect starts to happen. When it does, it's either you restart and reconnect the whole system, or you wait it out until the issue resolves itself - whatever it is. I've tried: - resetting the whole network from default - swapping main routers between both XT8 and AX Mini - run with AND without Adaptive QoS (prioritization of apps on network) - run with AND without backhauling Same result, still happens. I blame the May 2024 update - these blow now.

Night and day coming from a Ubiquiti AP in terms of setup and performance. I've only been using this setup for a day, so longer term performance is still TBD, but everything has been excellent so far. Worth noting that my use cases and infrastructure might be simpler than many folks but even then, some of the negative reviews are a bit baffling given my experience. Pros: - Stupid-simple setup. The entire network with both devices was up and running within ~15 minutes of opening the box. I'm probably more technically inclined than others, but a child could figure this out. As simple as connecting the router to your modem, turning it on, and then walking through the in-app setup. The mesh node was about as plug-and-play as it gets, at least when using ethernet backhaul. It was recognized and configured almost immediately as a secondary node in the network. - Mobile app. Used for initial setup and management. Could probably be done through the web-ui but I don't really see a reason to do that on initial setup. Save time and just download/use the app. - Web UI. The router management web UI is more robust and a bit easier to navigate than the mobile app. Will likely use this going forward for more detailed configuration and monitoring. - Performance. Both speed and coverage are incredible. I pay for 1000/20 and consistently got ~930/~25 with the speed test in the Asus app. 5Ghz WiFi speed tests (fast dot com) on newer devices averaged ~750/~25. 2.4Ghz varied but was consistently fast and reliable. Full signal on various devices throughout the house and outside on both bands. - Wired backhaul. Worth mentioning specifically because I saw some reviews that complained about this not working very well or at all when a switch was in between the two units. It worked immediately and works well for me. There's also multiple physical connections between the node, the wall and the switch itself and there still aren't any problems. if you run into problems, its probably worth double-checking your cabling (CAT 5E+), hardware (switch compatibility/1G+ ports), and Asus config Cons: - Asus UI/UX. Very minor issues just getting used to and understanding how to navigate the UI both on the mobile app and on the web. It seems simple enough now though after poking around. Not worth docking the rating. - 2.4 Ghz. Noticed in some instances where the speeds were sporadically low on 2.4 Ghz, but I generally don't use that and it isn't consistent enough to dock a star. Most of the connected devices on the network default to or have to use the 2.4 band, so it could just be some basic congestion. As of this writing, I'm getting 150/22 on my laptop while situated near the secondary node, which is more than acceptable. I'll look deeper into the settings and report back if there are problems. - SSID management. Fairly negligible but worth mentioning like others have. The default configuration uses a single SSID for both 5 and 2.4 Ghz bands which I immediately turned off. I assume most folks would want the delineation of the two like me. The other knock here is that it will broadcast the alternate 5 Ghz channel used for wireless backhaul. I don't intend to ever use the wireless backhaul, but, unless I'm missing something, Asus seems to force it to be left on as a fallback in case the wired connection ever drops. I'm fine leaving it on as a fallback but I'll at least see if I can hide the SSID without causing problems with the network, since it should never be used by regular clients. TBD: - Long-term performance. Very satisfied at the moment but I'm sure most would agree that a huge percentage of the value is how these things hold up over time. I'll report back as needed. - Advanced features. I haven't spent enough time with the router management software to really understand the pros and cons here quite yet. - IOT connection stability. Saw some reviews that dinged connection drops for connected devices. No issues to report yet. I used the same SSID and passwords as before. Everything connected seamlessly and appears to be working. I'll keep an eye on this as well. - Wireless backhaul. I have not tested wireless backhaul and I don't really intend to. In fact, I don't really see the utility of using wireless backhaul if you can avoid it. For the XT8, it relies on an alternate channel on the 5Ghz band. This is obviously going to be slower than ethernet from the jump but the 5Ghz band is much more "fragile" and can quickly become very limited by physical distance and obstructions between the two nodes, even if the actual channel is dedicated strictly for backhaul instead of regular traffic. Misc. Notes: Physical setup: - Cable connection from the street comes into the basement, which is where the modem and the main router are situated. - The house is fully wired via ethernet. A 10-port gigabit switch also sits in the basement with the modem and router, which feeds the wall ports in various rooms throughout the home. - Only a handful of the wall ports are actually used consistently. One for the entertainment center, one for a PC and one for an AP on the second floor of the home. - Various connected and personal devices throughout the house. Smart speakers, smart TVs, Nest thermostats, a camera, dog collar, wireless printer. Personal devices include cellphones, laptops, and tablets. Previous hardware: - Netgear Nighthawk 6700 running DD-WRT, located in basement. Older model but the reputation precedes itself. Worked fairly well on stock firmware for a little while. Decided to switch to DD-WRT after cord-cutting and increased bandwidth needs for remote work and more IOT devices. DD-WRT improved things for a little while. I toyed with various setups but ultimately wanted the router to feed all connectivity in the house, so it remained in the basement. - Ubiquiti AP on 2nd floor for better coverage. The house is a recent reno but is originally ~200 years old. Whether the older construction materials of the innards of the house or just physical distance of having the router in the basement, it was difficult to get solid coverage throughout even with relatively modest square footage. The single AP worked well for a little while but UI/UX for Ubiquiti products is clunky at best and annoyingly difficult to configure. Performance degraded slowly over time and required lots of hand-holding just to remain stable. It also seemed impossible to get a true "mesh"-like network without having to purchase a second AP and completely turning off wifi on the main router. This didn't seem appealing given the dissatisfaction with the Ubiquiti ecosystem as a whole. Current hardware: - Main AX6600 router in basement, replacing the Netgear 6700. Modem feeds the WAN port, single LAN port feeds the main switch for ethernet wall ports. - Secondary AX6600 on 2nd floor as secondary AP Mesh Node, replacing Ubiquiti AP. Strictly uses ethernet backhaul via wall port

Believe me: I hemmed and hawed for months about buying this mesh system. "Too pricey," I told myself. And I was right about that. But I tried everything short of spending on this: experimenting with newer, more central router locations. Buying a new, conventional, modestly priced (and decent) ASUS router. Subsequently tried to pair that new conventional ASUS router with an old one (what a exhausting failure that was!). I thought about drilling holes for an ethernet cable to connect a main router with one or two satellite access points. Complained to my spouse about what I was dealing with. Patiently (usually) absorbed spousal complaints about dropped wifi connections. My sanity-- and my spouse-- told me to SPEND THE MONEY. I had already read multiple technical reviews of this product (and it's newer, more expensive 6E cousin). Pored through comparative reviews of mesh systems. I was tempted to bite when Amazon announced that new and recent Echo devices would act as Eero mesh nodes. But then I read the ASUS mesh reviews again. They all agreed that this product was the best of the field. One review saved me about $100 and foregoing the 6e product for reasons I will explain below.* I am satisfied-- no, relieved-- that I bought and installed this mesh system. But as with many things in life, you only get the best results if you put in the work. So read on if you want to know what that entails. Read the tips below. If you are overwhelmed by them and you live in an urban environment: don't buy something this sophisticated. The automatic features may not cope well with congestion and if you don't feel comfortable with the tips, this mesh system won't yield everything it's capable of. If you live in a rural environment with a low likelihood of contending wifi signals from neighbors, then the automatic features may be sufficient. (But I still recommend assigning IP addresses as in my tip below. You might get away without doing it. And you certainly could postpone doing it unless/until you determine you need more trouble-free wifi connections.) POSITIVES: - Smooth initial setup: possibly the smoothest I have experienced in 20 years of home networking experience. You plop down one unit (either one) and let the app do the initial setup. When the app asks for the satellite node, you plug it in on the same table and let the app take it from there. Within minutes, they are paired. - Very powerful signal for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands - Better choice than the (shinier and more expensive) 6e model at the moment in late 2022 (for more see below*) - 3 ethernet LAN ports on the SATELLIT unit- so you can bypass wifi for some devices in a remote area of the house (of course the satellite is using wifi.) Very few mesh systems have this generous feature. - OPTION to use a wired ethernet backhaul instead of wireless for even more reliable interaction between base unit and satellite. NEGATIVES: - Only 3 ethernet LAN ports on the main unit. Most conventional routers have 4. If you don't need more ports, you don't need to buy an ethernet switch and you won't care. (This is not a major drawback; you can always buy a modestly priced ethernet switch to add more ports to your network.) - system is most reliable if you "do the work." Assign IP addresses to routinely used wireless devices (smart home devices, etc.) - your results may vary but I am finding that occasionally Google Assistant and Alexa voice commands and routines get a somewhat more laggy response than with my previous routers. Not dramatically so. (I'd rather have this minor inconvenience than the poor coverage I experienced with previous systems.) TIPS: - DO USE the mobile app for INITIAL SETUP. It's pretty smooth. But don't assume your work is done when the setup phase completes on the app. - use the web interface for the detailed configuration tasks after the setup phase. The tips below depend on using the web interface. (And if you have ever owned an ASUS router, you'll be using the same familiar web interface.) - Unless you live in a rural area with very little potential for conflicts with neighbors' systems, you very well might want to turn off automatic channel assignments and choose an unused channel (preferable) or less popular channel (if they're all taken) for both bands. - in the web interface: assign IP addresses for as many of your wireless devices as you have the patience and information for. (Most devices will have their MAC address right on the device. Often with the tiniest font size. If necessary use your phone camera to capture a picture of the MAC address for devices and then zoom in the picture for legibility.) Don't leave it to the router to keep assigning ad hoc IP addresses (DHCP). Don't get me wrong; this system will consistently assign unique IP addresses. I realize most people just want everything to automatically fall into place. But if you read customer reviews complaining, you're seeing the results of avoiding the work that precludes problems down the line. Do you have to assign absolutely everything? No. But I would strongly urge you to do so for all smart home devices and streaming devices, smart TVs and the like. (But you certainly can let the guest network take care of itself.) For best results with Smarthome items, set up the 2.4Ghz band to use the narrower channel. This reduces potential overlap with nearby neighborhood routers. - I do not like the default setting on most of today's routers that assigns the same SSID (wifi network name) to all bands. If you have smart home devices this becomes more significant. Many/most smart home devices like smart plugs, wifi bulbs, smart wall switches, etc. ONLY work on the 2.4Ghz band. You are asking for setup hell and possible future disconnections if these devices get confused when searching for that single, shared SSID name and can't find the 2.4Ghz band. So unless you have a really good reason: use separate names for each band. (The 2.4Ghz band gets a name like "priscilla" and the 5Ghz band is named "priscilla5".) Of course you can enter both SSIDs on your phone. And you can even use the same password for both bands. - BONUS TIP FOR ANDROID mobile users: on your device(s), look at the "View More" or "Advanced" link(s) for the wifi SSID. Instead of DHCP, select STATIC and specify the same IP address you assigned to that very same device on the router. (As recommended in the previous tip.) This might be overkill, but in our case our rather new Samsung phones were very stubborn about logging in to the 2.4G band without doing this. Even if this doesn't happen to you, having static addresses on both ends, dramatically reduces finicky connection problems. *Why not buy the 6e version of the ASUS mesh system? They are designed to use the 6Ghz band for communicating between base station and satellites (backhaul). But a bit of physics here: the higher the frequency, the shorter the transmission distance. So you'd have to place the satellite(s) closer to the base unit than you would for a 5Ghz-based system like the XT8 I'm reviewing. In some cases this might force you to buy one more satellite. But it gets worse: if you have marginal-to-poor communication on that backhaul channel, the devices step down and start using the 5Ghz channel-- which otherwise would be dedicated solely to your video streaming, etc. One reviewer pointed out that the result is you'd have bought a (more expensive) 3-band system and ended up with a more congested 2-band system. And because 6 Ghz has an even shorter transmission distance than 5Ghz it's probable that even your 6e-capable phones, tablets, etc. won't be close enough in the far reaches so they will also tend to depend on 5Ghz anyway. I hope I've given you a solid foundation for your purchase decision and possibly your wifi future.

Update: I bought an AX92U to see if I can get some speed upgrade to the slower spots of the house, especially the office which hides behind 2 corners. It went from 80 mbps to 120mbps. I tried wired backhaul, but not helping much, until I turn 5GHz-2 as dedicated backhaul off and unhide the SSID with name and password. Whah! The office is now over 400mbps both up/down and everywhere inside the house! More update: Found it not compatible with different AiMesh router. Tried to use the ethernet to connect the AX92U to free up the 5Ghz-2 band. But as soon as I plugged the network cable into the 92U, it lost connection, unplugged the 92U, and the internet was very slow. Checked the app, it said the uplink type is 2.4GHz! Reboot, reset all routers, turn on/off dedicated backhaul, nothing helped. So basically the two 5Ghz bands disappeared! Luckily, my backordered AX11000 showed up, so my internet is up and running while I return the ZenWifi. I am WFH, so a good internet is very important and not going to bother to figure out what went wrong. However, I do suspect the hardware may had problem since they were bought from the warehouse as like new. Note that I have a very sophisticated smart home setup with over 50 devices connected from doorbell to fountain pump, and many smart TVs, I so I am happy to get 400mb out of 1Gb internet on any PC or iPad with no streaming going, or 120mb with 1 or 2 streaming video on. But I am still researching on possible improment using 12 stream AX router. I had Eero for about a year or so, although it had been working fine, but I had to use 5 of them to cover a two story home with yards, it doesn’t go through walls well enough. Also being a gadget guy all my life, I think it is time to upgrade to an AX mesh network to validate if it really can cover more grounds with higher speed. Been on Amazon since day one writing/reading reviews, I can say there is no perfect product in the world, so I rarely buy stuffs based on reviews, instead, buy them for the looks or functions they provide. In this case the Asus XT8 got me for its speed and price, not for the bulky look. Setup - easy enough, just need an IOS or Android phone or pad with bluetooth, download the app and follow the instruction. Make sure the two routers are fully linked before running the app, or you will see 2 mesh devices and setup will fail. Once setup is completed, move the node router to where you think it should cover the other half of the area. This involves a little guesswork, but surprisingly easy for me, since the signal is strong even where I left the node at the farthest corner downstairs. You can tell if the link between the two routers are strong if the led is solid white. If yellow or red, then move it around. Connection speed - For my 1gb internet connection, ipad was getting 200/250 up/down on the Eero, now it is 350/400. Even in the backyard, I could get 170/200, with just 2 routers. Coverage - I had not found a dead spot yet. Inside or outside. Although speed may vary, the lowest one been the office at the very corner of the house, on the PC that is 13 years old. Compatibility - with same SSID setting and let the router handle the bandwidth, all smart home devices are working. About the only device not working was the 13 year-old PC the no longer has a updated NIC driver, I solved it using an USB 11ac dongle with updated driver. I still need to figure out how to hang the main router upstairs on the wall, but other than that, I am happy withe the ASUS XT8, the simple setup and management using phone app, and strong signal for internet with just 2 nodes. It is something worth looking at for WFH now and the future.

Awesome little mesh system. I didn’t expect any less from ASUS. I live in a 2,000 square foot home and this system covers my whole home perfectly. I paired them through a wireless backhaul and I haven’t lost any connection. I initially paired them through Ethernet cable just for the setup then I placed the node in its final location where it paired with the main router wirelessly. This takes advantage of my full internet speed provided by my internet provider. So happy I went with this mesh system and I highly recommend. Was easy to set up through ASUS App and I set mine up by splitting up the 3 networks, 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz. I have about 30 devices connected to them and running simultaneously. Combination of wireless security cameras, iPads, media streaming devices computers and PlayStations. Right now that all the kids are out on summer break this system is getting put to the test. So far no negative speed impacts or connectivity issues. Will update my review as I have it longer and if any issues arise. UPDATE: 6ghz transmitting to my devices couldn’t not be achieved from the nodes only from the main router after I did the software update on the mesh system. After much research from older threads this is what I found. Fix from MKFlyers2K from zentalk.asus.xxx “ASUS' firmware is poop. Any deviation will make 6GHZ not work! 1. Download firmware 3.0.0.4.388_23759 for your version, install that firmware on ALL the ROUTERS! 2. On node unit, turn off via switch. 3. On MAIN Unit, Factory reset via WPS method. Turn off unit. Push and HOLD WPS button with unit off then click on unit, one light will come on then another. Once that light goes off turn off unit and let your finger off the WPS button. Turn the unit back on. 4. On NODE Unit(s), do the same. But first do step(5) 5. Setup main router. Whatever you do, do NOT use/enable SMART CONNECT. Do NOT use anything else other then WPA2 for your 2.4 and 5ghz signals. I dont know why, but these settings have to be as I described. You can mess with pretty much any other setting, but I dont know if that will kill your 6ghz signal at your node. Trail and erro come into play. Also the firmware is VERY finicky. So if 6ghz stops working you may have to repeat the steps above. Again, I dont know why, but that was my experience. ONCE YOU DO ALL OF THAT DISABLE AUTO FIRMWARE UPDATE! 6. Ready for some fun now? Because ASUS' firmware is literal CRAP, do whatever you have to do to get your node to link up to the main router. Once you do the node will be in the spot where you want it or you can place it where you want it. Keep in mind, if you are using a WIRELESS backhaul the 6ghz might not work because it MIGHT be used has your backhaul. Other than that ENJOY your 6ghz on the node now!” Following this fixed all my issues too. Probably reason for some of the bad reviews for these units. Benefited me because I was able to buy some really good used like new units from Amazon. Hopefully this helps some of you.

Per the headline, I simply cannot recommend this product. When it works, it works great. However, I have found it to be buggy and a poor performer overall. It frequently loses connection for seemingly no reason and then it cannot reconnect to the central router. I started with the mesh system with a central router and a single node. That worked fine for 5 months when suddenly and inexplicably, the node was unable to connect to the router. Despite all my efforts, I was unable reconnect. I moved the node closer to the router connection. I did a firmware check/update (it says I'm up to date: Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24668). I reset the node (reset button). I did a factory reset (power on while holding down the WPS button) on the node. I removed the node from the app and then attempted to re-add. Absolutely nothing worked. Despite the LED working and the device seemingly functioning, I assumed that somehow the hardware had just failed, so I ordered another node. I couldn't connect the new node to the mesh network. I went through the same steps I tried with the original node and nothing worked. Incredibly frustrating. In an act of desperation, I killed the entire network and removed everything from the app. I then started from scratch. This time, I used a device that was previously a node and configured it as the router. I was able to connect to that device and amazingly, I was able to add a node! Eureka! On a whim, I also then attempted to add the node that I thought had gone bad. I was able to connect that. Fabulous! I now had a mesh system with a central router and two nodes. A bit of overkill for our house but we had a little security. Or so I thought. Flash forward to today. Again, the node in my home office disconnects for some inexplicable reason. I check the app and the other node has also lost connection. I take the node close to the router and attempt to reconnect. No luck. I check the firmware version and the app tells me all is up to date. I reset the node using the reset button and attempt to reconnect. Again, no luck. I remove the node from the app and perform a factory reset of the hardware and then attempt to re-add. Once again, no luck. All that said, I simply cannot recommend this product. I cannot continually reset my nodes, remove and re-add my nodes or kill my entire home network every time a connection is lost. Unless you are a Cisco Certified Network Administrator or similar, I would avoid this product.

I have had several different types and brands of WiFi routers over the past several years. Each time I bought a new one, it was intended to fix one problem or another that I had been experiencing with dead spots or speed issues. Before purchasing this ASUS Ax6600 - XT8, I was using a Ubiquiti Amplifi mesh system. It was a big step up from my Apple AirPort Extreme, but I was still having trouble with dead spots and huge speed issues. I was resetting my router multiple times each day and even had my ISP out to my home. After banging my head against the wall for months, I broke down and spent the money for this 2-unit kit, on my son’s recommendation. I’m so glad I did. While this unit is far from inexpensive, when compared to other WiFi 6 capable units, it is a couple hundred dollars cheaper, but it also rivals those competing units in performance, based upon laboratory tests. And, more importantly, it solved both of my problems. I no longer have any dead spots. I’m now able to get coverage in all areas of my home, including the perimeter of my home, where I have several connected security cameras. I also have no speed issues. I’m getting in excess of 300Mbps in all areas of my home. The only negative experience I have had with this unit was a self-inflicted problem. I was advised to hide my SSID to make my network more secure. That is accomplished through the ASUS WiFi app. However, doing so caused several connected devices in my home to have problems automatically reconnecting to the network. I attempted to reverse the action and unhide my SSID, but kept getting error messages. I attempted to get help through ASUS user support. The call took about 30 minutes, including hold time - do not bad there, by comparison to other companies’ customer support services. They requested a lot of technical information, which took me about 30 minutes to gather and send. Then after two days passed, I received an email from a different technical support tech, which was completely unrelated to my issue. I responded, again explaining my very simple issue. The next day, I received yet another email, from yet another support tech, again completely unrelated to my issue. I ultimately got help from a family member, who has more advanced networking experience than I have. To say that ASUS’ technical support service is terrible, would be a huge understatement. It was a complete fail in my book. But, setting up this router is very straightforward and easy if you follow the simple instructions. And, this router is fantastic. So, don’t let the horrible technical support stop you from buying this router. I highly recommend this product.