ASUS - ZenWiFi BT6

I just went through the same thing. 5 days in on a two pack of Asus BT6 and I'm extremely happy so far.

Both the BT6 and BT8 are good with the BT8 offering double speed on the 5Ghz and 6Ghz band. So either would work for a 1gig plan and just depends on budget. If you can afford BT8 then push for that else settling with BT6 is also good

Have been researching WiFi 7 Routers now for months in an attempt to replace my Deco W7200 (which is starting to struggle with the number of devices I have running). I have watched 1,000 you tube videos, read 3,000 reviews, studied about 4,000 posts on reddit, etc., etc. and after extensive research this is what I have learned: When it comes to affordable mesh systems the Deco BE63 sucks or is awesome, the Orbi 770 sucks or is awesome, and the Asus BT6/BT8 either sucks or are awesome. Then we have stand alone routers: the TP-Link BE800 and BE805 both suck or are both awesome, the Asus RT-BE92U sucks or is awesome, and the Netgear RS600/RS700 either sucks or is awesome. All of them seem to suck more unless they are awesome, then they seem to suck less. All their firmware sucks or is just fine and all of them have constant drops or they don't. You have to have triband or they will suck, unless you go dual band in which case they will suck. Or it's possible to have awesome triband or awesome dual band, albeit unlikely. There is also Eero 7, pro, or max, or super max, which are all awesome but also all suck because they don't have MAC cloning which is a must with my ISP. Of course they may also suck in generally depending on who you ask. Or I could sell a kidney and stop paying my bills for 3 months and turn my house into some kind of Ubiquity super network which will definitely either suck or be awesome. Starting to think I should just throw a dart in Best Buy or Costco and buy whatever it hits. Or just keep the W7200 and start throwing away IOT devices.

Thanks. Right now I am leaning toward the Asus BT6 or BT8 due to cost, brand reputation, and lifetime security/parent controls without a subscription. I only have 1gbps fiber. I don't see my ISP moving up to 2.5 anytime soon and 5 won't happen for decades. I have had TP-Link Decos for years with average results but recent issues and concerns about their security has me looking elsewhere. I will post about whatever I end up with for sure.

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 hated the WiFi 6 Orbi system I bought. It was lacking so many fairly basic features, such as QoS, firmware updates breaking basic functionality, and a very lackluster app-focused experience.  I replaced it with an ASUS WiFi 7 system comprised of a RoG router with two Zen nodes and it’s been a lot more solid with far more configuration options than I’ve ever seen on a residential router.  Maybe the Orbi WiFi 7 line has solved their earlier issues, but I’ll never buy one again based on my prior experience. 

Not troubleshooting, but there’s a lot of configuration options that might require playing with things if you’re not a pro. Do I want MIMO? Should I configure an IoT network? There’s a lot of things it suggests to do but doesn’t really hold your hand in explaining why you should set them up.  In my case, I’ve done a lot of testing to try to reduce latency to portable gaming devices, but it can still be kind of opaque what’s going on. But generally, the basics work find out of the box. 

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.

Asus with Ethernet back haul. Router + 2 APs. Works great, gigabit access all over the house!

my asus tri-band does really well. i get hardwired speeds on 5G using the dedicated 6G backhaul but the 6G band does not penetrate well, so it's important to not put too much distance or material between the main router and the mesh units

Yeah I like the ASUS approach as well. Mine just works, and it is so easy to add another node anytime I want since their stuff is all interoperable with the AiMesh setup.

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