ASUS - ASUS ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro

Asus BQ16 definitely has much better app but some reviews mentioned having setup issues and then IOT device issues with it. I am sure they will figure out the bugs with future updates. If you have the option to test both and let us know what you went with in the end

The ASUS BQ16 is fantastic, I've found, and yes, if you need an extra node in a remote location, you can use one of your current ones. Obviously it won't have bands it doesn't have now, but there are probably places where that's perfectly fine. I reused one of my XT12 nodes in the bedroom - I have no need for 6 ghz there, 5 is perfectly fast and fine.

Yep just not gonna happen 1000ft you will be lucky to get 2.4ghz left alone a anything in the fast 6ghz bands wifi7 is know for. If you want the best one get an Asus BQ16 Pro 3 unit quadband wifi7 mesh system or an ubiquiti E7 Audience wifi7 AP.

Two floor large layout Asus BQ16Pro

Ubiquiti is good.. But wouldn't call them the best mesh...the Asus BQ16 would likely outperform any ubiquiti system that has a wireless backhaul. I'd even bet that cheaper Asus mesh would also do better

I have WiFi 7 mesh (Asus bq16 pro) and it was quite messy getting it to work perfectly. My pc is WiFi (MLO of 6ghz and 2 5ghz bands) and client is 5ghz and works very well. If you have something that works, stick with it. The key thing is 5ghz gives you the best blend between latency, WiFi bandwidth and range. Ensuring you have a 5ghz band with as much bandwidth as possible will probably be the best approach.

I’m really impressed with the EE WiFi 7 router. I’m someone who always buys the latest and greatest 3rd party router and after having tested the Orbi 970, TP Link deco BE85 and ASUS BQ16 there is no difference in speed between the EE router and the others. Infact the Qualacomm chipset used in the EE hub is the same used in the third party routers with the exception of the BQ16. Mind blowing performance considering this is an ISP router

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

Went Asus BQ16 Pricey as fuck But absolutely getting the best Plex performance I could ask for across 2500 square feet on 80mbp/s+ files

I did same and I was torn between Asus BQ16 and Unifi UDR7 but ended up buying an Asus BQ16 2-pack and it’s been great so far. I chose these cause I don’t have the option to wire them and I have them on wireless backhaul and still get my close to my 1 gig bandwidth on my iPhone 15 pro max and all my WiFi 6E or 7 devices. https://www.speedtest.net/result/i/6735896909 There are lots of great mesh or routers and each seems to have their pros and cons. So I’ll say you pick based on your use case.

I still use an Asus. Upgraded to An Asus Mesh (Zenwifi BQ16) with wireless backhaul and the gaming consoles in my house are receiving the full 1gb bandwidth connected directly to the node with no issues having all on and playing online. Gaming routers are just a scam name to charge higher for the same device.

First went with an Asus Zenwifi BQ16 (2 packs) which provided excellent performance and coverage but later replaced it with ubiquiti UDR7 + UX7 as AP because my home lab required more network features such as local DNS which I didn't want to run on a docker server or use DNS services such as cloudflare. Both would be an overkill for your bandwidth so you can look at WiFi 6 mesh unless you're going to upgrade your bandwidth in the future which you currently don't need. You can look at Asus Pro ET12 or BT8 unless you need more then welcome to the Unifi ecosystem

Might have to do with your architecture. How do you have your router set up? I completely replaced my EE router with an Asus BQ16 Mesh and I get better latency and performance compared to keeping the EE router and connecting my mesh on bridge mode. https://preview.redd.it/dvaelh7ppjnf1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15282143c587881f48b0e8a77ee315d344d57411 This is a simple test from my phone to my router over wireless and I’m sure my devices connected via lan would be better. I’m on EE Full Fibre 900mb plan which sometimes gives me 1gb+

All the CPU and ram specs seems really cool but only play more roles when you're building your router and also dependent on what you want the router to do for you. I moved from an Asus Zenwifi BQ16 to a Unifi UDR7 + UX7 just for the features I needed in my home lab. Asus are personally the best commercial routers out there but the Unifi system has more features. So pick based on what features are important to you noting you can add features to your network using a different machine set as your DNS server.

I’m currently using Asus Zenwifi BQ16 but your requirement would mainly depend on your broadband package. Below 1gb and you’ll be fine with a WiFi 6E mesh but above that you’ll really require WiFi 7. If you plan to stick with Ubiquity then you can consider getting the UCG Fibre and possibly any U7 or UX7 for mesh nodes which can be wired to extend your range. UX7 can also act as a wireless mesh if you’re using the UDR7 as your main.

The BQ16 have been flawless. Though I wish most of the LAN were 2.5gb instead of 1gb. I still get my full fibre speed from any of my nodes over wireless using 6ghz band but the speed drops by 10-15% over 5ghz. My cameras over 2.4ghz get decent speed and I’m able to stream 2k live.

I have an Asus BQ16 Pro setup with two nodes in addition to the router (3 total), and it covers my 2100 square foot house extremely well, even without a wired backhaul.

20 devices is nothing; I have 80+ devices running effortlessly on my Asus wifi 7 mesh

I bought an Asus zenwifi system but eventually hardwired the satellites to a switch plugged into the main unit. Works great.

asus zen wifi. with a house you should have it wired for ethernet anyway. the zen wifi can handle both and 2.5gb in the wifi 7 model.

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

Hello! I have an asus zen WiFi mesh net with two of the three nodes set up. I have Ethernet over coax and have the downstairs node connected via Ethernet. I should (based on the range of these routers) have excellent coverage in the house. I have noticed however my devices sometimes get confused which node it should connect to, resulting in sub par speeds. The nodes are very far apart. When I did add the third node I felt I was getting crazy interference. Any suggestions?

Yeah, extenders don't work in big houses. For 3500 sq ft, get a mesh system like TP-Link Deco or ASUS ZenWiFi.Covers everything, no dead zones, no 5G or 2.4GHz.

Was doing research on deco mesh systems and one thing i noticed is that there’s a lot of complaints about hardware revisions and firmware. I was interested in the ability to select preferred connection between decos and device preferred connection. That way i could set the mesh topology as i wanted while steering non mobile devices to specific decos where signals are strong from multiple decos to the correct one. Simple right? Nope. The updated firmware for this feature only applied to specific versions of hw. So a v1 xe75 got it but not a v2 at the time. Then an xe200 didnt have it at all and it some older popular models never got it at all. It just seemed like a mess and the model i ordered didnt have it but amazon lost the pkg so i got an asus instead that feature is just naturally in their firmware… Their wifi7 models all support it but it’s like they just stop supporting previous popular hardware and move on so quickly

If the internal walls in your apartment are concrete and you don't have line of sight to the router it can be hard to get reliable wifi in multiple rooms even in a small apartment. The issue is made worse by the fact that there are a lot of competing signals in most places in Hong Kong. WiFi 7 does deal with these issues better than previous technology, but is expensive. I use as Asus WiFi 7 router and it is a distinct improvement on the one that it replaced. With a 2.5G connection I am seeing download speeds in a 700sq ft apartment of 500mbps at worst and about 1100mbps as best.

If the internal walls in your apartment are concrete and you don't have line of sight to the router it can be hard to get reliable wifi in multiple rooms even in a small apartment. The issue is made worse by the fact that there are a lot of competing signals in most places in Hong Kong. WiFi 7 does deal with these issues better than previous technology, but is expensive. I use as Asus WiFi 7 router and it is a distinct improvement on the one that it replaced. With a 2.5G connection I am seeing download speeds in a 700sq ft apartment of 500mbps at worst and about 1100mbps as best.

Asus zenwifi is worth considering. Just got 2 nodes of the 6E one from 2023 for $200 @ microcenter. After some issues with a new fully updated asus wifi7 router constantly rebooting & some similar claims across a few of their wifi7 devices i fear they've got a bug. The 6E has been running fantastic for ~4days now

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

I've had zero problems with M1 for many years. Only went down once, and that was for scheduled maintenance in the middle of the night. Also, it's not just your internet plan that could be the cause of any issues. If your router isn't good enough, or is in a terrible position, or is overheating, or the bomb shelter is between your laptop and the router, you are gonna have issues no matter what plan you have. I have a standard 1Gbps plan but an Asus gaming router with ethernet cables going to the 3 heaviest users in the home – PS5, living TV and bedroom TV. I also set up a second router using Asus AImesh to provide wifi signal to one of the further corners of the house.

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?

Asus AiMesh - Yea TP-Link Deco - Yes TP-Link Easy Mesh - Not sure

ASUS aimesh is the best option besides true ap based systems.

I've been using Asus Aimesh for years. 3 nodes and seamless switching when walking around. There does seem to be a client limit at about 75-80 wifi devices whiche forced me to move iot devices to a separate wifi network. Asus is great to start with but unifi likely my next system

I use Asus routers in my Ai mesh network and it gives me complete control over everything and I've loved it. I use that coupled with family link from Google and I feel like I've done my job as a parent blocking as much bullshit as I can for my kids.  But don't worry, their friends who's parents don't care about a single thing they consume will come along and ruin your hard work. Or your kids will be kids and find loop holes, which they always do. But you still tried. 

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

For gaming use cable, for wifi coverage of this size, you can do well with asus aimesh, you can pick two routers of your choice, cheaper than ismesh system and many settings available.

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.

As has been said, plug in everything you can. For a basic option, the Asus routers with AiMesh are a pretty simple solution. Start with one on the second floor centrally located and see if you need more. Use inSSIDer to see how your signal strength is as what kind of interference you have and set settings accordingly. If you’re not reaching all corners, add another compatible Asus and put them on floors 1 and 3 (both wired connection to WAN jack)

ASUS AIMESH Stable and cheap.