ASUS - ZenWiFi BT10

I've been using Google Nest WiFi Pro (6E) for several weeks now and found it having zero issues. Paid $220 for Open Box deal with three units. A coworker, who has been heavily using Nest WiFi for four years, recommended the system, My house is a two-storey one, with an attached garage and several Ring cameras outside. Once I've installed the three Nest WiFi Pros -- all connectivity issues are gone. My Rings are up and running, with streaming starting right after opening a live view. It takes a couple of seconds to see up-to-date snapshot in Ring app's dashboard -- I've never had that kind of performance with any of below mentioned setups. I'd had TP-Link AX5400 Pro (wifi 6) with three extenders and briefly Asus BE92u (wifi 7) with BE8s as mesh nodes. I'd tried Asus BE8 (wifi 7) mesh (of three) as a sole system too -- second and distant second to the Google's. I'd tried Asus BE10 (wifi 7) mesh (of three) -- complete mess with Verizon's Fios. Unreliable and super-slow upload speeds. No fix. The Nest WiFi Pro is better in every respect, expect it has very basic feature set. Tried Verizon Fios (wifi 6E) router. They do not even offer wireless backhaul for their extenders! As a separate router it is exceptional, with the best coverage area, but won't cover all I need without extenders -- a no-go for me. IMO the best option is Google Nest WiFi Pro (6E). Do not pay more than $250 for three units. Last but not least -- Netflix 4K (and others) streaming is instantaneous, WFH is stellar too.

I bought one with the Amazon sale for 699. Had been rolling with older Ubiquity equipment, but wanted to take advantage of new multi-gig fiber speeds in my area. So frustrated with the AsusZenBT10 I'm returning it already. The IoT and the 2.4 channels dropped constantly all night. The MLO connection for the 2nd node also dropped/reconnected frequently interrupting anything that was connected to that node.

Hi Asus crowd, Been running multiple mesh wifi systems over the years (Apple, then Google Wifi) but I decided recently to upgrade to wifi 7 and got convinced by the marketing and pull the trigger to get 2 packs of 2 BT10s (got a big area to cover over multiple levels in the mountain). I was expecting this to be an easy replacement of my 4 google wifi (1 main + 3 nodes) APs, ohhhh how wrong was I, it's been nightmarish, a week in, and I have essentially made no progress. So I am here to see if somehow I am missing something or if the newly released BT10 is somehow all buggy. 1. Issues connecting to the modem * Opened one pack (pair of BT10), plugged in the "main": 10G Wan to the modem (Hitron CODA56 on Xfinity 2Gbps) and 10G Lan to my 10G switch (NICGIGA 10Gbsp unmanaged switch - 8 ports) * Went through setup (via the iPhone app) and configured "everything" (Main Wifi network and IoT network), but "main" stayed RED (Led status) meaning that it could not get connected to Internet * Tested my modem by plugging back to the still running Google Wifi network - everything work, solid internet connection * Figured something might have gone wrong during setup - perform a hard reset, and setup everything again (like 3 times) - still no dice, RED * I open up the 2nd pack, and setups the "other main" following the same procedure, and here surprisingly LED turned white and the Internet connection was established (a quick SpeedTest via 10G Lan ethernet revealed very good speed: \~2350 Mbps down and \~340 Mbps up) * Ok, I figure it was a defective unit and I would continue to setup everything with 3 APs for now 2. Super unstable wifi * Having a work main, I started adding nodes. Every single one of them through 10G ethernet backhaul (main 10G Lan => 10G switch => \[node 10G Wan\] x 2) * This is when all hell broke loose, wifi became mostly inaccessible, main wifi or IoT would randomly drop out (disappearing SSIDs), iPhone would mostly say cannot join wifi or wrong password, laptops had a bit better luck connecting, but connection horribly faulty (dropped packets, etc) * Tried rebooting, tried resetting (MULTIPLE TIMES) always the same behavior: basically anytime there is a single node connected, wifi would turn to crap 3. Hiccups with firmware upgrades * When the AP started to come online, they would request firmware upgrade, fine, let's go through that * Through some of the upgrades (but not all?!) all settings got wiped from main and I had to re-configure everything (again!) * One of the AP was stubborn that it refused to detect that it required a firmware upgrade, it finally upgraded itself at some point in the future after being connected for a few days (!?!?!) * At some point throughout those firmware upgrades the main lost connection to the modem - back to RED. Had to go back to #1, reset the whole network and pick another AP to become the main that would allow connection to the modem (!?!?) * After multiple attempts, all APs now have the latest firmware: 3.0.0.6.102\_35430 and modem is connected again 4. Impossible to get backhaul to use Ethernet 10G * Throughout the many tests and configuration tweaks I have not been able to see consistency in the backhaul configuration * Without changing the hardware connections (cat 7 eth cables all going to the 10g switch and cabling all APs together) I have seen the links to the nodes go from MLO to Ethernet, but seemingly changing randomly * When going through each node and trying to change the "Backhaul Connection Priority", and I only see the following: Auto / 6Ghz Wifi first / 5GHz Wifi first / 1G Wan first but never did I see a 10G Wan first !?! Where is that option ? * Also going through the options on the app I get more often than not "Setting failed" (or something along those lines) * But ultimately most of the time the link type between the nodes and the main switches to MLP when the node is not randomly blinking blue (LED) Current status: * Basically right now I have the main connected and a single node (which should be backhaul via LAN 10g but will stay in MLO) * I got my Google wifi and all the rest of my network working as a double nat off the main (1G Lan) so I can keep things running while I figure this out * I contacted Asus support over the phone, and basically they said, of you reseted the APs, that's basically how to fix stuff, if it still doesn't work you'll need to send them for physical review and send them back to where you bought them (Amazon) * So right now I am stuck I just can't imagine that all my BT10s hardware is defective... what would be the odd with 4 APs... Any ideas on what is going on ?!

Ah ! Same ! I haven’t reverted back the firmware yet… was trying to find a stable point. Spend hours with Asus on chat and phone today - the only thing they can suggest is send the unit for repairs… so frustrating !! Really tired of being a Guinea pig here….

Not really… still experiencing issues.. opened up a thread on snbforum to see if I can finally sort things out..

I also can confirm several issues, running on the latest software: [3.0.0.6.102\_35462](http://www.asusrouter.com/Advanced_FirmwareUpgrade_Content.asp) 1. The ui is very unstable, even the user manual have different screenshots. 2. no ability to changes security type, wpa2 for example. only wpa3. 3. under 'professional' mode, in 6 ghz (or any other band) - there's no 4kQAM, only 1024 (mcs11) or mcs 9 - its clearly advertised to support this! - the consequence - getting approx - 4.3gb on 6ghz -320w channel (at max 4kQAM@320MHZ = 5750mbit) 4. under pro' mode, clicking enable and disable radio - only then it shows "enable scheduler" 5. enable disbale radio from web gui doesnt reflect on mobile gui 6. just like number 5, but vise-versa (changing in app doesnt reflect in ui) 7. wifi issues! closing 2,4, and 5 bands, the 6 ghz band cannot connect! 8 long reboot times!

latest version [3.0.0.6.102\_36758](http://www.asusrouter.com/Advanced_FirmwareUpgrade_Content.asp) did solve me lots of issues . now i can turn on/off the bands independently, and the switch is really fast (few seconds) - as its should. still cannot do remote connection though.

I recently installed (2) BT10 in my house. It has been reliable so far, and I get good 5ghz coverage through out my 2800 sq/ft split level home. It looks like I can get 720-900mbps wireless download speed from anywhere in the house. 6ghz coverage is less of course, but if Asus updates the firmware on the BT10's to enable AFC, the 6ghz coverage should extend to almost the distance of 5ghz (so they say). If I really decide that I need 6ghz full coverage (and get 1+ gbps, I may have to buy 1 more BT10). 3 will cover my 2800 sq/ft setup pretty easily, but I don't need 1+ gbps yet. Maybe in a few years...

I have been 100% happy with the BT10’s. I have a 2 pack and the coverage, speed, and stability have been excellent. I’m pleasantly surprised.

I have a single BT10 - and its perfectly stable with the latest firmware you noted - all 3 bands. Using without MLO

The latest Nov 6 FW update has complete stability for all bands for me. Including IoT devices on the 2.4 GHz.

Asus BQ16 Pro is a beastly mesh system. The BT10 is a close second.

I bought these when the sale hit on Amazon. I set them up tonight. So far they've been working flawlessly. It applied the most current firmware update immediately. I'm not really well versed on networks, but there's a lot of settings in here that I've been playing around with. One weird thing is the node that's in my family room. Every device that connects to it gets great speeds except I have a Google tablet. For whatever reason it's super slow when it's connected to this node. There is a setting, I think it's called AP Binding and I connected it to the basement main router and the speeds took off. I have no idea why this tablet won't work properly with this node but there's a solution for it so I guess it's okay. Okay, long-winded aside, speeds are fantastic. Keeping my fingers crossed that this thing stays stable considering I've read so many horror stories about this. So I have a lot of settings to play around with and learn about on this device.

old reply here but the Asus ZenWifi BT10 was and still is a buggy mess. Horrible system

Take a look at the Asus RT-BE88u (https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-be88u/) and the Asus ZenWifi BT10 (https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-bt10/). Both are better than the eero and TP-Link routers, and are in your budget. Better firmware updates and security too.

EERO is popular because of cost - that is it. I tested them out and they are HORRIBLE in a highly dense area (ie Lots of neighbors with Wifi). UniFi is the best mesh- its what businesses use, but more complex to setup and maintain; not friendly for the consumer market. Depends on your requirements Out of the others I have tested: Orbi - easy to get started; great mesh; CON: Subscription for parental or added security; Not the best speeds (but generally good). Netgear - Same as orbi ASUS ZEN - Fantastic speed; Unbelievable configurability/features; No subscriptions for parental or added security; CON: Milage varies because of quality. Asus notoriously has issues with their firmware and new products. ASUS ROG - Same as ZEN; has more Gimmicks I ended up with the ASUS ZenWiFi BT10 - replaced the Orby Mesh. Very happy . I needed parental and added security; Needed VPN; Needed 10gig / 2.5gig WAN

EERO is popular because of cost - that is it. I tested them out and they are HORRIBLE in a highly dense area (ie Lots of neighbors with Wifi). UniFi is the best mesh- its what businesses use, but more complex to setup and maintain; not friendly for the consumer market. Depends on your requirements Out of the others I have tested: Orbi - easy to get started; great mesh; CON: Subscription for parental or added security; Not the best speeds (but generally good). Netgear - Same as orbi ASUS ZEN - Fantastic speed; Unbelievable configurability/features; No subscriptions for parental or added security; CON: Milage varies because of quality. Asus notoriously has issues with their firmware and new products. ASUS ROG - Same as ZEN; has more Gimmicks I ended up with the ASUS ZenWiFi BT10 - replaced the Orby Mesh. Very happy . I needed parental and added security; Needed VPN; Needed 10gig / 2.5gig WAN

Very similar experience. I've had the dedicated 2.4GHz IoT network drop constantly that I ended up having to use the main SSID for everything for now. Also the 10GB WAN port on the satellite doesn't show up as an option to do the ethernet backhaul which is infuriating. Plugging it in does all sorts of weird things like yellow lights and partially offline node. Here's hoping there's a new FW update soon that sorts out these first world problems!

Wish me luck https://preview.redd.it/483uohqczqod1.png?width=2434&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c12fb27ef7db087f04b49dcc03b53f07d012871

Another day, another firmware update. Good luck everyone!

Update: well looks like the 10G backhaul issue is sorted

I'll let you know when I get my first WiFi 7 device on the 20th :)

The speeds were great on the new iPhone (which has WiFi 7) but I had to turn off MLO for now because that cripples any legacy devices trying to connect. Separating to legacy SSID should work in theory if the whole multiple SSID thing wasn't broken

Help!!! I can’t even get the damn routers to connect to my modem. Tried both routers and I keep getting no internet connection. (BT10). Tried rebooting modem/ routers and updating software on both models.

I’ve tried at this for 2 hours resetting and restarting modem. Can confirm that Ethernet to Apple TV works just fine but both routers don’t seem to pick up connection…. Anything else I can try?

3 hours of “troubleshooting” mostly factory resetting each router and unplugging multiple times. Finally just unplugged both routers and the modem. Set a timer to stick the 5 minutes….and voila….it worked. Easily the worst electronic set up I’ve had but I’m hoping it’s smooth sailing from here. Thank you again!!!

Get a good mesh system. For a 2500 square foot house you don’t want a single router, unless it is maybe a completely open floor plan. Even then, probably not. I have a 2 pack of the Asus BT10 and it is superb. I have a wired back haul which is the best way to go with a mesh system. I ran some cat 6 Ethernet throughout my home. If you do this it doesn’t affect latency. I would highly recommend you check out https://dongknows.com This guy breaks down everything and I trust him a lot. (FYI latency for a mesh router increases when you don’t have a wired backhaul and or it is not setup properly. It is best practice to always do a wired backhaul. It is a great investment for your home.)

Similar issues with mine. It mostly works ok, but I have seen the main router partially or fully crash more than once, and the satellite loves to disconnect from the main router all the time which is annoying. It says my backhaul signal is “great” and my 5ghz and 6ghz signals are typically 50 and 60 respectively, yet it will just randomly drop. I just turned MLO off for the backhaul to see if that helps. Hopefully more firmware is coming too. Not great for a $900 router, but Asus does at least have a track record for working these issues out.

Looks like last night's firmware (35462) was a disaster, at least for me. Put both my BT10's into a reboot loop of death instantly as of a few minutes after they updated at 4am. Woke up and opened a browser, no internet. Opened router control panel and was greeted by the initial setup wizard but it would reboot before I could complete it or get into the real control panel. Had to manually load the previous 35440 firmware onto both to restore function. Disabled all the auto-update functionality as well.

As of today it looks like they pulled the new firmware cause my routers running 35440 are showing as current.

Got the 3 pack yesterday (on sales for £700) to replace my xt8 3 pack. So far: 1. The UI is still buggy, when I navigate to "Wireless", sometime it will go to a “hidden” page of "Smart connect". 2. As you said , "IOT network" isn't working well. It is a new guest network feature. I tried single SSID for main network (2.4+5+6 GHZ with MLO Fronthaul enabled) and a guest 2.4GHz IOT network SSID for IP Cam & EV charger. But the IOT network is highly unstable. In order to make it more stable , I have to remove the IOT network and split the main network into 2 SSID. 3. Even after the Roaming assistant is disabled in 2.4GHz and devices was binded to specified node, aimesh still decide to route some devices to other node with weaker signal. I just don't understand why. 4. Without AFC, the signal strength of 6GHz is noticably weaker than 5Ghz. So if your main reason for upgrading is 6Ghz, you should probably wait. (And it seems that only US and Canada could benefit from it due to the current law? I am not sure about that) I will say it is not unusable, but there is still many bugs in the latest firmware. I will give it a try for 1-2 week and decide to keep it or not.

You must have gotten a dud. Deco BE95 system. Simply amazing. Had it for 12 weeks now. Zero drops. 5800 sq ft home. ISP 6 Gig up and Down. Wired backhaul. 121 connected devices. Wired devices that can handle multi gig speeds - 6 GIG WiFi 7 - 2.5-4.3 GIG WiFi 6E - 1.8-2.4 GIG WiFi 6 - 1.1-1.6 GIG WiFi 5 - 600 mbps - 900 mbps WiFi 2.4 - 200-500 mbps The consistency, reliability and speed blow every simple competitor out of the water in my experience! Amazing system and have tried them all! Eero Max 7, Orbi 970s, Asus ZenWifi

I had a lot of issues with the google nest wifi- for the past year or so I have used an Asus ZenWifi which works better for me, and I do have usable network access from my shed which is about 100 Ft away from the house. My biggest issue is getting a signal past the walls/siding in our house- there is 'double' siding because the house originally had asbestos siding, and a former owner put vynil over it. I get by this with a small enclosure holding one node just out side the walls of the house.

I'd avoid TP-Link out of security concerns, Asus ZenWifi or Alta Labs AP's with the Route10 is the way I'd go.

I don't think any of the products out there have an upper bound limit you would run into. The only one I saw was ASUS ZenWiFi with a limit of 9+router, and that's still plenty for your setup. What made you think there were low maximum node limits?

Bingo. So many of us are essentially engineers either by profession or by hobby, so a general list on popularity or even satisfaction is going to be worthless. I love my ZenWifi, but I also chose my particular model based on the availability and features of open source firmware (Merlin). I considered Eero with the thought that I'll give up the tinkering, but found the feature set too limiting.

Asus Zen wifi is trash. I've tried everything and can't get the node to maintain a connection. I'm not the only one, plenty of people report the same issue.

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.

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.

Upgraded our RT-AC68U router to a Wifi 6 capable RT-AX86U Pro.  Ran an ethernet cable for wired backhaul, put the AC68U as a mesh node.  The Asus mesh system works really well. 

I've been using AiMesh since the beginning, and it was rocky at first, but now I'm currently quite happy with it. One solid main router and two APs outside. What unifi did you get to replace your setup and do you think it was worth the cost?

Older ASUS AiMesh user here, and similar story. Portal plays shockingly well, and my PS5 isn't even hardwired.

Most mesh systems will support as many nodes as you wish. But not all nodes are created equal. You’ll obviously need fewer nodes with a high powered node vs a cheap node with little range. I would HIGHLY suggest wired backhaul if possible, no matter the hw you ultimately decide upon. Ubiquity has a good solution for your use case at attractive price points. Asus’ AIMesh setup also works well, allowing you to easily tailor the hw for your home’s needs

Asus AiMesh can be configured without an app and uses local credentials for management.

100%. Just make sure you reboot the doorbell once your mesh is set up. It will then hop on to the WiFi node with the strongest signal. You should be able to configure your mesh so that the doorbell remains connected to that node, probably by assigning its MAC address to that node. I have two regular ASUS routers that have their own proprietary mesh called AiMesh. I’ve connected them to each other via an Ethernet cable that runs up through the attic (single story home). It also supports a dedicated WiFi connection between nodes, but hard wired is the way to go if at all possible.

I went from DD-WRT for years to ASUS AiMesh and have been on Unifi equipment for a good four years now. I never have any issues with roaming (3600+ home) and I can fine tune whenever necessary (rare). I love the Unifi and don't plan on moving away any time soon. If you want peace of mind, I definitely also recommend Unifi.

Avoid tp-link and any other CCP networking equipment. Don't intentionally put stuff with backdoors in them just to save a few bucks. Unifi is great but it's expensive and you really should use it wired. If you're just looking for plug and play mesh Asus has good offerings. Their AI mesh system works well