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!

Got rid of my shitty nest wifi pro and bought a wifi 7 Asus aimesh network setup. Light years ahead and can reliably stream my PC at over 100mbps over wifi. So can do the portal with ease whereas the nest could not

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.

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.

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.