ASUS - ZenWiFi BD5 Outdoor

I started with an Asus RT-AX86U Pro, which is part of their AiMesh Extendable router series. If I need more coverage, the Asus ZenWiFi BD5 Outdoor is my first SPOG choice. I would do this with wired backhaul for better performance. However, for gaming, I'd run a good Ethernet cable back to a LAN port on the router.

Go for a WIFI 7 Mesh system. I Love ASUS, excellent software,frequent firmware updates. Good Luck!

When my Nest wifi was finally on its last life, I purchased a much more expensive Asus mesh router setup that supported wifi 7. For whatever reason the more advanced features of MLO didn't work with my TV. So basically I had to cripple my expensive setup to work with the device I use all the time. I ended up returning that and switched to the Nest Pro and have had no issues. Been about a year now. Solid connectivity and speed. I bought the 2 pack for 250, not on sale.

To echo what plenty of others are saying, but also provide links to specific items to Do-It-Yourself and save money but still get good finished product. Assuming you have roof/attic access above the rooms and can run power to the attic: * buy bulk CAT6 cable, shielded twisted pair, not CCA (CCA stands for copper coated aluminum). [Get good shielded copper wire, like this](https://a.co/d/ijNWYa0). * buy a [crimper toolkit like this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7GRX9DW) * watch a few youtubes on terminating Cat6 cable. * buy a mesh wifi system like Amazon Eero, tp-Link Deco, Asus Zen Wi-Fi, etc. [Here's a good article / review of mesh systems and what to look for](https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-mesh-wifi-routers/) **NOTE:** mesh wifi is the consumer grade solution. If you can afford it, you're better off getting Wifi Access Points (APs) - the business grade solution - Ubiquiti is the best known of the AP options. Connection works similarly, with one key difference -- APs require power over ethernet (POE) instead of an electrical outlet / power supply. There are pros and cons of installing either Mesh or APs. * buy at least one [Unmanaged Ethernet Switch like this](https://a.co/d/88WLwNn) - this one is 8 port (1 connection in, 7 out). * You'll run an ethernet cable from your Comcast box to your wifi mesh router. Then you'll run a **long** ethernet cable down toward your L-corner dead zone. You'll plug that long ethernet cable to the Unmanaged Ethernet Switch. Then you'll run another ethernet cable from the Unmanaged Ethernet Switch to one of your mesh wifi satellites. BAM! Good internet within reach of that mesh satellite. You'll need to estimate/experiment with how many satellites the system needs (get multiple people to watch netflix on iPads, and spread them along rooms close to the mesh satellite -- see how many people / how many rooms you can cover before you need to add another mesh wifi satellite). I did a low-key simplified version of this at my house. Reply here if you have questions / need help. # You can do this yourself.

Works great here and had the best 2.4 ghz performance for my 90 iots. And I tried Eero max 7, Deco BE9000 or whatever the top model and the top Asus zen mesh wifi. Reliability has been great. That being said, the other top models have much better 5/6 ghz performance, but honestly 300 mbps is fine for 99% of times. MLO has been glitchy. Nowadays I care more about reliability, latency rather than raw speeds. Set it and forget.

I've had success with Asus Zen Wifi and Amplifi; but I think Asus is a better product personally. I have Ubiquiti in my home right now and don't particularly like it.

After trying Google Nest and multiple Tp-Link Deco devices, I always fondly look back at one Apple’s two devices - the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule, which continues to work fine at my home. The only devices that appear to work without a hitch are the Asus ones. I’d recommend looking at Asus mesh systems like the RT-AX92U or ZenWiFi series. They work beautifully with wired backhaul, which you can now take full advantage of. What you’ll find good: actual web interface (no more phone-only nonsense), robust VLAN support for segregating IoT devices, proper MAC filtering, and ethernet ports on every node. Given your 2200 sq ft layout with that fireplace, keeping a similar node placement with Asus units should give you solid coverage.

Since you have cable Internet and it runs into the basement, you hopefully have coaxial cables available to you throughout the house, and usually in key locations. Just look at the area where all the coax ends should meet, likely in the basement where your modem/router is at and plugged into. If you do find this bunch of coax, you can use it with MoCA Adapters to build a wired Ethernet network inside your home. If you can achieve that, then getting good WiFi everywhere will be easy, as well as providing wired capabilities for other devices in needed locations. MoCA Adapters can be a bit expensive, but worth the cost. If you can build this MoCA network, then whatever you choose as the router and Access Points will work very well, including a 3 pack of a reputable mesh brand. For mesh, I use and can recommend eero. But ASUS Zen mesh is also praised a lot, and has more configurability. If you want to go higher end, you can get an Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway router, a Ubiquiti PoE switch, and some Ubiquiti Access Points. It's more expensive, but very capable of advanced setups, and is very stable. I use Ubiquiti at another home and in my office location, and I can recommend them personally as well.

I have been using the Asus AI-Mesh system for years. Seems very robust, to me. Devices seemlessly switch between the nodes. It handles 2.4ghz and 5ghz fine. Sonos works without a hitch. I am definitely using wired ethernet backhaul, however, from the remote node. Currently two of the Asus RT-AX55.

Hey OP. I've been living with wireless backhaul mesh for the last few months in our new place and with a few tweaks, it's been fine. I'm using Asus AiMesh with two remote nodes, plus a couple of old OpenWRT routers purely as bridges for wired devices. I'm in the process of running cable just now just to make the most of my FTTP connection but some generic tips that seemed to help me, if you do go down the wireless route. - Choose a system with multiple radios in each node, so you can dedicate a channel to the backhaul. - Look for mesh nodes that allow you to plug devices into them and position them accordingly. The "wired" devices will obviously still be using wireless via the mesh, but keeping their own radios quiet keeps the spectrum free for the mesh nodes and wireless-only devices to talk. The mesh nodes will almost certainly have better antennae and radios than the client devices. - Try to position the nodes so they are all talking with the main router rather than hopping via each other. On consumer gear this can be more of an art than a science but it boils down to finding different locations with the same signal strength to the main router so they link directly. - Although not acting as mesh nodes, I've repurposed a couple of old routers running OpenWRT + Relayd in the office and games room, so my PCs and old consoles without wireless can get internet. - Some mesh systems allow you to lock clients to a particular node. Play around with this - you can steer dumb devices to their nearest node rather than them trying to pick up a faint signal from a further one and shouting over everything else. Smart speakers and displays are particularly bad for this. In my office, about 25 metres and 1.5 floors (it's a L-shaped split level house) away from the main AP, my main PC wired into a mesh node can pull around 400Mbps down on a 990Mbps fibre connection. Previously with the PC and laptop using their own radios, I'd be lucky to see over 150 on either. Good luck!