ZenWiFi ET9

Update - configured this router and the node in wireless backhaul. The router and node are ablut 25 feet apart. Speeds are looking great. Highly recommend!

It’s using the 6ghz band. I couldn’t see an option to use a different band for backhaul. 3 walls between the devices, it’s on the same floor.

I pay for 500mb fiber. Speeds are in that range near both the main router and the node. There is no significant difference in speed between the router and node.

I had the same frustration. I put my 6+s in a drawer and switched to a pair of Asus ET9s which are 6e on prime day. Took about 30 minutes to install. Kept password and ssid the same and all clients connected right up. Can get to almost all settings in app or browser login to router. Extensive log and lots of settings available to review or change. I left mine almost totally as from factory. The ET9s are triple channel and the backbone can either be wired or wireless. Mine are wireless backbone and doing well.

I had an eero6+ mesh system in 2200 sq ft ranch style house. Worked pretty well until a bad firmware update. They blamed interference instead of admitting software issue. Hung in and it took many releases until they fixed it. Fast forward until last September and they had another bad image. I ordered and installed Asus Zenwifi ET9 2 pack for different 2200 square ft house. Had a few issues, but it has logs I can read to find issues. In the 5 months I have had it, they have had one firmware update and it has been pretty stable. I have had a couple of issues, but I have also had a flaky underground power cable into my house which has now been replaced. Several of the issues that I blamed on wireless issue disappeared when I had the house power cable replaced. Granted most people will not have that issue, but if having issues, must open mind up and look at whole situation. One thing that I believe people mis. Is that wireless backhaul is susceptible to the same issues and the wireless signal to devices. I.e. walls, metal, interference, etc. wired backhaul always preferable and I will install wired backhaul in a couple of months.

I've used asus for years. They've always been solid and easy set up. I recently got the zen wifi ET9. Came with two routers, set up for mesh couldn't have been easier.

Hardwired is best. If you have extra phone lines or coax cable you can use that. If not you'll have to Go wireless. Ubiquiti is great. But, it's beyond most homeowners without really doing their homework. Therefore, I would recommend an Asus system. All of their stuff works. Just buy two, three, four of their routers in the AI mesh system will work perfectly.(Buy the exact same router for everywhere). You just need to make sure they are tri-band or quad-band routers (one band will be used exclusively for wireless backhaul). For example, et12, ET 8, et9, bt-10 are all recommended. Check out Dong knows--his website is great.

Backhaul is how the routers talk to each other. It's best to do it wired. But, if you can't they will use one of the channels on the router that becomes a dedicated circuit (band) where they talk to each other. That's why you need at least three bands. If you want Wi-Fi, 7 I would recommend the bt-10 or the expensive BE98 pro. If you just want Wi-Fi 6e, any of the routers I mentioned before would work.. et8, et9,xt9,xt12,et12. Additionally, avoid the BQ 16 and the be96u, the firmware on the routers is buggy and has not been updated. I have personally used the et8, xt9 and the be98 pro. They have all been fantastic.

If you don’t want to pay and arm and a leg for ubiquiti, Asus does pretty damn well in this regard. I’ve been rocking an a86u for years now, and their ET9s 3 pack go for sale for 100 regularly, and have had zero issues. The ET9s support the 6.0 band so be sure to buy a primary router that supports that if you want it. I keep my 2.4 and 5.0 separate snd only really use the 2.4 for IOT.

Hi u/carrootscaps - I’m a different person than who you replied to but I think I can answer the questions. “True mesh” and “marrying” means a system built from the ground up to be a mesh system, with client handoff between mesh nodes. “Handoff” ensures if you are using a device that moves around the house (like a mobile phone) when it wanders out of range from one node and into another node’s strong coverage area, the phone will jump from the weak node to the strong node, and your connectivity will be fairly seamless. I haven’t noticed issues with handoff, works great most of the time. An example of this is the ASUS XT8 mesh system, which I have been using for almost 5 years. It is WiFi 6 (so not the latest standard, WiFi 7) but still works well. It is a bit over $200 from Amazon. PC Mag called it one of the best mesh systems: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-wi-fi-mesh-network-systems Mesh will not give you the fastest speeds in most cases, Ethernet is always better. But if you want a quick solution that is easy to set up (just plug them in and install the software) mesh is hard to beat. Since you didn’t state you need the fastest speeds, but enough bandwidth to open a web browser, discord etc then I think mesh could work for you. It all depends on building materials. If you live in a house with concrete walls then mesh won’t work very well, you’ll definitely need to consider Ethernet. If $200 is too much ASUS is selling their ET9 (WiFi 6E) mesh system for $99 right now on their website. It uses 6ghz for the wireless backhaul by default, which doesn’t have as much range but might work well for you, depends on the house and building materials, as well as distance between nodes. I recently bought a set of ET9s and was shocked that placing them a floor apart, I still get -60 dbm signal strength with wireless mesh backhaul. Translation: Don’t need to use wired backhaul (Ethernet) with 6ghz/WiFi 6E mesh nodes in my house as the wireless connectivity between mesh nodes is strong. It might work for you too. If you want to try the ASUS $99 mesh system, the link is below. ASUS offers a return policy if they don’t work out, though they charge a restocking fee if you return it. But for $99 it might be worth a try. Good luck. https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-et9/

Correct, ASUS mesh does not require an account. And you can use either the ASUS mobile app or a web browser to login to the router for full customization of all the ASUS router features. FYI u/surveypoodle ASUS routers could be worthwhile for you to consider. Unlike TP-Link, Eero and Netgear (which charge you each month for a subscription if you want all security features/parental controls), ASUS includes all features for free when you buy the router/mesh system. And ASUS does not require an account. All you do is set up a local account to manage the router/mesh system on your own network. Since you will be using ethernet backhaul you could get something like the ASUS RT-AX1800S. $69 each, 3 of them for about $207. They support AiMesh (ASUS's mesh technology, allows you to easily roam between mesh nodes) so you just link them together with ethernet and then set up the mesh. These are WiFi 6, and about the same range/speed (AX1800) as the Deco X20 system you bought previously. Link: [https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-AX1800-Router-RT-AX1800S-Subscription-Free/dp/B09M9477NS/](https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-AX1800-Router-RT-AX1800S-Subscription-Free/dp/B09M9477NS/) If you are patient/can wait a week or so, ASUS has been running a sale on the ET9 2-pack ($99); out of stock now but I think it could be back in stock soon. You said you need 3 units so you could get two 2 packs for $198. ET9 is a WiFI 6E system, so gives you the 6ghz band as well as 2.4ghz and 5ghz. Even if you don't need 6ghz now you have it for use later. The only issue is it's out of stock now, but ASUS has been running this sale since December 2025 and they usually come back in stock within a week. So that is another option. These units also look nice (appearance is subjective but I like the design). Link if you want to learn more: [https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-et9/](https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-et9/) I have the previous generation ASUS mesh myself (XT8, WiFi 6). I've been using it almost 5 years and it's a great system, but getting a 3-pack is expensive ($407). But XT8 is only an advantage if you need wireless backhaul as XT8 is tri-band (2.4ghz/5ghz-1/5ghz-2) and has a dedicated 5ghz band just for wireless mesh backhaul. But since you can use ethernet backhaul the XT8 is overpriced and not the greatest option for you in my opinion. Anyway you can always check this out on Amazon too if you are curious: [https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenWiFi-AX6600-Tri-Band-System/dp/B08LPSXNMS/](https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ZenWiFi-AX6600-Tri-Band-System/dp/B08LPSXNMS/) Side note, I did buy a 2-pack of the ASUS ET9 for $99 last week from ASUS to test out WiFi 6E in my house. It is working well in AiMesh with wireless backhaul (via 6ghz) after about 4 days. Still early in the testing, so I would need to have it working well for at least a month before I could say it is a reliable wireless mesh system. But so far it is looking promising. ASUS offers a lot more customization than TP-Link mesh, which gives you barebones configurability. And if you want even more configurability, have a look at Ubiquti equipment. I see some recommendations have been provided already so definitely have a look at Ubiquiti too if you are interested in exploring other options. Good luck!

Where is “the other room”? Is it right next door or a floor below etc? If the room is fairly close to the fiber router in your office, so maybe 1 or 2 rooms away, or perhaps directly upstairs or downstairs, you may be able to use wireless mesh and have it work OK. But if the other office you want to have mesh installed in is too far away, you will want to look at using ethernet-connected access points. What is your internet service speed? You want your wife to get 300mbps but you didn’t specify how fast your internet service is. Why is that info helpful? If you pay for 1gbps but are OK with only 300mbps for her PC then that means you are not expecting 100% speed in her office. But if you pay for 300mbps and want 300mbps that may not be easy to achieve when you factor in signal loss from WiFi, obstructions that impact WiFi, etc. Assuming a wireless mesh setup, and if you are OK with WiFi 6, the ASUS XT8 mesh system is excellent. PC Magazine rated it the best WiFi 6 mesh system. I’ve used it for 4.5 years and it’s been reliable for me. I have one mesh node two floors away from the router and it still gives me solid 400mbps speeds. As long as you don’t live in a concrete bunker it should work OK for you too. I don’t have recommendations for WiFi 6E/WiFi 7 as I have no experience with products for those WiFi standards. But you can search on Google for “pcmag best mesh system” for other recommendations.

No worries. In that case I’d try a tri-band mesh system (like ASUS XT8, as I suggested). It has two 5ghz bands (one for clients, one for wireless mesh comms) so clients get full bandwidth on 2.4ghz and 5ghz. Since the rooms are right next to each other and there’s probably only one wall in the way, you should get very good speeds in the next room. I think a 2-pack of the ASUS XT8 is around $200 on Amazon right now. If you get a WiFi 6 dual-band system (one 2.4ghz/one 5ghz band) then 5ghz will be shared between clients/mesh communications and client speeds will suffer. So tri-band system is the best option. Avoid dual-band unless you don’t care about speed loss. If you are a gambling person and want to try to score a deal, ASUS is offering a 2 pack of the ET9 WiFi 6E mesh system for $99.99 in the US, on their website: https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-et9/ The issue with the ET9 (WiFi 6E) system is it is tri band but only one of each band (2.4/5/6ghz). So one way to set it up is reserve 6ghz for wireless backhaul and your clients get full bandwidth on 2.4/5ghz bands. But then you are relying on 6ghz band for wireless backhaul, and when 6ghz hits an obstruction (wall, etc.) the speed goes down. 6ghz doesn’t have as much range as 5ghz. But since you are only going one room over, the ET9 system might work well for you. I’m a gambler so if I were in your position I would try the ET9 system first. If it doesn’t work out, it’s only $99.99 and you could still keep them and turn them into wireless access points (connect to your network with ethernet cables). Then you could easily add WiFi 6E to your network. But if you don’t have a way to use them then it’s up to you if ASUS doesn’t have a good return policy (verify first, of course) whether you want to try them or not. I’ve used the XT8 and am pretty sure they would work well for you. Regarding the ET9 one other person on Reddit mentioned they worked well for them wirelessly and they were using them more than one room away. So ET9 may work, but of course for either it depends on your home layout, building materials etc. and the only way to really know how any system will work is to try it and see. Perhaps other folks have additional recommendations for WiFi 6E/WiFi 7, but as I mentioned I don’t have experience with them. Good luck and please let us know how it works out!

If you want an easy setup, nice user interface and ability to tweak options/configurations down the road, ASUS ZenWiFi is a good option. Another bonus with ASUS is you can use a mobile phone app \*or\* a web interface on a laptop/computer to manage the system. Many other mesh systems from TP-Link, Netgear, Eero only let you manage them with a mobile phone app. That is fine if you have basic needs but if you want to get more control over settings, often not an option. For example TP-Link may not let you select WiFi channels for its wireless networks. With ASUS you have control over a multitude of settings. Or just leave it on the defaults and if you ever wish to dive into the config, it will be ready and waiting for you. I asked Google Gemini for some thoughts too (another poster used Ai so I gave it a try too). I see ASUS ZenWiFi is in the list along with others. Since your needs don't seem very complex any of these should work pretty well. Unfamiliar with Eero, but you stated they are "difficult" to move into AP mode, no idea why but if you know that to be true then I suppose you could remove Eero from your consideration list. Have fun! Click below image to make it larger... https://preview.redd.it/q9mu50skxxrf1.png?width=925&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fb6721ce7d5fb1ded5fee09f45ed12ce365b752

I've used orbi 5ghz 4 nodes in 7500sqf home for years and worked great. I was able to use MOCA since the house got coaxial wired to all rooms. I've downsized and recently bought Asus axe7800 3-pack at bestbuy. Just grab 2 sets and you got a router and 5 nodes to mess around with.