ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 2PK) - Whole Home Coverage up to 5500 sq.ft & 6+ rooms, AiMesh, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Easy Setup, 3 SSID, Parental Control, White

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 configCons:- 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

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: 3-2-2020My 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: 2-24-2020Went 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 workarounds 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.