ASUS - ZenWifi Pro ET12 AXE11000

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/asus-zenwifi-pro-et12-axe11000-whole-home-mesh-wi-fi-6e-system-90ig05z0-mx1a20-2-pack/16301387 Isn’t a good flair for this, but video gamers need good wifi. This is what I use at home and it’s been amazing for the last year. Excellent deal. I also have a spare unit since I’m only using 3 of 4, if someone local to the lower mainland of BC wants to buy it.

I haven’t seen them for $500. Maybe I’m wrong. I also prefer ASUS for wifi having used tp link in the past and netgear more recently. In any case, despite lacking wifi 7, the ET12 is very robust.

I bought these a year or so ago on a worse deal, around $200-300 off, and they've been amazing. I just have a dead zone that buying another kit completely fixed. ASUS mesh wifi is REALLY good.

It does have a two, per.

It has two 2.5gbps ports and two 1gig, the two 1g also support link aggregation.

I can’t link a pic in this subreddit (unfortunately, u/lbabinz let’s make it happen), but yes, it has a 2.5g WAN, 2.5g LAN, and two more 1g that can be combined to 2g with link aggregation. It’s a pretty great unit.

If you like newer better and don't mind the price the ET12 system is the way to go. But I'm all honesty there's not much more you can do. The ET8 I have is more of a side grade. Not enough of an upgrade to be worth paying from where you are. I still wouldn't go with 7 until more devices use it and the prices go down. Give it a year or so on that.

I've got a couple Shelly wifi relays with an Asus ET12 mesh and they're solid

I can highly recommend ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12. I got two of these covering 240m2/2580ft2. Zero issues on any equipment in the entire house. Each node has extreme coverage compared to many other Mesh systems, so 2 is more than enough for my size house.

I use Asus ET12 which is expensive, I'd have probably been fine with the deco.

We have several Asus Zenwifi ET12’s at our house and are getting great speeds with only a wireless backhaul. Even to our guest house which is 30’ away from our main house with its own ET12 connected in.

I tried ET12 and I was comparable performance to my old TP link route which was also WiFi 6E. My recommendation is to just try both and see which one works best for you. There are so many variables at play with wired back haul, walls etc.

I use the asus ET12 Pro mesh system and have been very happy with it

ET12 have no 5Ghz band 2. I returned mine & got the XT12s, which give me 1Gbps wireless mesh setup from furtherest device east to west. 6Ghz is super crappy for distance.

Not sure, I returned mine and bought an Asus, never been happier

ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12 AXE11000... Two of these get as good of coverage as the tp link did and none of the issues. Also no subscription for features that should be free

Ran the Asus ET12s for a year and then they became insufferably problematic with random slowdowns and the like. I sold them. Won’t go Asus or Netgear again.

I went with the Asus ET12 and like it a lot. I also like Linksys products

Not sure if it’ll fix your issue, but the Asus pro mesh system was reviewed and found to have extremely strong signal from far away. It’ll be an expensive experiment, but maybe you can return them if they don’t work.

My Asus pro system hasn’t had any issues so far. Reviews said it had the best range, and I’m a fan of Asus stuff, so I went for it. $400 “like new” on Amazon. So far so good! If I remember correctly, the decos were reviewed to be solid, and best bang for the buck, but not best performance.

I went with wifi 6e. Asus Pro ET12

I have a few ASUS mesh units, they are great. Easy to get set up. Easy to manage and extend. I just got an ET12 pair and added my older 92U units, covers a large 3 story concrete building just fine.

Hard disagree. I've used them all - various TP Link systems, Eero (various, including 6 Pro), Google, Asus (XD5/XD6/ET12), Netgear Orbi (various) and many miscellaneous smaller brands, and TP link is as good or better than any of them from a performance and stability standpoint and better than most in cost. I've read TP-Link make their own stuff in their own plants vs. contracting it out (like Eero and others do), and it probably results in better QC and manufacturing controls.

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

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.

Nah. Get the Asus Zen WiFi routers, instead. Low-end mesh routers aren't great for high-bandwidth applications.

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.

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

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

Over the past 10 years I have setup and used both types of networks discussed here: -          (1) wired access points, and -          (2) wired mesh system.  Overall, I prefer my mesh system (AiMesh), but this may be due to my setup. In my house, the router sits in my basement where the fiber and the ONT were installed.  I had run 4 cat 5E wires:  2 to the first floor, and 2 to the second floor.  I purchased routers when they were heavily discounted and set them as access points (disabling DHCP).  The network was composed of equipment from Linksys, Netgear, and the free router from the ISP and provided whole house Wi-Fi and also Ethernet ports (100 Mbps) at each access point.  It worked fine.  Because each access point had a Lan ip address, the access points could be managed anywhere in the house.  The only hitch each access point had a different name, and you had to manually switch from one access point to another.  Also, if updated firmware was to be installed on an access point, the access point would have to be reconfigured manually. Afterwards I purchased inexpensive T-Mobile (AC-1900) routers to replace the old access points, which met the 802.11n standard.  These routers were just the Asus RT-AC68U router but had many features disabled in the firmware.  I replaced the T-Mobile firmware with the Asus firmware, and they worked fine as access points having the 802.11ac standard.  Subsequently, Asus then came out with AiMesh system where multiple compatible Asus routers could be connected wired or wirelessly into a mesh.  As long as these routers were supported AiMesh, you could mix and match.  The AC68U supported AiMesh.  Currently, I have 4 converted AC68U routers connected as wired nodes or access points to the main router, Asus RT-AC88U.  Because the system is wired, I have excellent Wi-Fi coverage plus 1 Gb Ethernet ports at each node.  I have run wired speed tests from the main router and the nodes, and the speeds are comparable.  The AiMesh system is easier to manage as updated firmware could be installed on the nodes without having to reconfigure.  The main issue is that the router and nodes have to be Asus, and Asus has done a good job updating older equipment (e.g. RT-AC68U) to use AiMesh.

Orbi is good for coverage and speed but sucks for support and any problems. I went with asus AI mesh and the 3rd party firmware. More control and less issues. I’ll never go back to Orbi but my parents use it for simplicity.

Yeah I’d grab a single asus router then and get one with long range and try that. If you need more I’d aimesh it and build it out yourself then

I’m using ASUS with AiMesh and it’s awesome and very stable. Two meshes: 2.4 and 5 with Ethernet backhaul. On the three channel router models, I did the smart connect setting where it combines the two 5ghz channels into one 5ghz channel. After some settings tweaks it’s really nice and supports the 30+ non-IOT devices in the house.

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