ASUS - ZenWiFi AXE7800

If you can wire the mesh units together with ethernet, the ASUS ET9 mesh system (WiFi 6E) would work well and is only $99 for a two pack right now: https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/whole-home-mesh-wifi-system/zenwifi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-et9/ ASUS claims a coverage area of up to 5700 square feet. If you can’t wire the mesh units together it is a crap shoot whether you will get good speeds via mesh from the remote mesh nodes. It may work (give great speeds) or may not (too much distance between wireless nodes, slow speeds). Another system you could try if you must do wireless mesh is the ASUS XT8 (WiFi 6). A 2-pack from Amazon is about $199. Those have very strong antennas and work quite well in a wireless mesh (I have been using them for almost 5 years). PC Magazine called the XT8 the best WiFi 6 mesh system. The suggestions I see from others about using WAPs/APs (access points) is excellent advice and will give you the best outcome (high speed and good WiFi thoughout the home). If you use wireless mesh it is a bit of a gamble. It could work, or maybe not. If I were in your position with a $300 budget and I could wire the mesh nodes together (ethernet) I would definitely try the ASUS ET9. Even if I had to use them wirelessly, for $99 it’s a very low cost to try out; even if using 6ghz for backhaul (not very much range) if the nodes are close together it might work out. And if not, you could try to return the ET9 (check ASUS’s return policy before buying) or keep them to use them in the network later as WiFi 6E acces points. If that didn’t work I would try the XT8, and if that didn’t work I’d consider using MoCA (if coax is in the home) or wiring ethernet to ensure strong WiFi throughout the residence. Good luck!

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 have an asus AXE7800 that works well. In the like 16 months I've had it, I've rebooted it once, but i suspect it wasn't even the thing that needed rebooting, it was more of a "might as well, I'm rebooting everything else". It replaced a netgear nighthawk that was nearly ten years old and still in GWO, but i wanted that 6G. I am generally a fan of Netgear as well. Both companies are capable of shanking an individual product tho, so just do a little due diligence looking at reviews and googling before you pull the trigger. You'll be working on substantially better odds. So long as it's the typical nitpicking of configuration interface, it's performance attaching a drive to it for NAS, etc? You'll be good, that's a sign that they're looking at normal things and got past basic operations. For VR we don't need much in the way of features, we just need it to be stable, reliable, and fast. If it's a product that's been out for a year, give or take, and googling it doesn't give you a bunch of hits about it being garbage, having actual systemic problems etc, you're good. Just know that you can get the most flawless amazing and user friendly router and someone's gonna have a hell of a time setting it up, configuring something, or just not understanding that maybe they got a defective unit and need to use their warranty lol But yeah in general I find Netgear and Asus networking products to be worth their extra cost

I am running AXE7800 now, but 6ghz never runs as smooth as 5ghz for me (since Q3 launched), even on other routers, only rarely after some meta updates. Moved the AX3000 to serve as main household router and basically forgot it exists. They are awesome for the price, the axe7800 basically didn't improve anything for me.

Asus Axe7800 or Asus tuf ax3000v2 runs great. 500-800mbits h264 wasnt a problem (depends more on quest firmware version). Just some of my observations, it doesn't matter if you run 6ghz, 2400mbps, 2.5gig or 5ghz, 1200mbls, 1gig. It runs the same it's a stream. On the contrary 6ghz usually runs little bit worse.

Asus ax56u - 1gig bit, 80mhz, 2x2 5ghz router runs perfectly smooth VR. It has 1200mbit connection and your not getting close to that with VR streaming (VD maxes out at 500). Asus axe3000v2 also ran perfect, and axe7800 the same. The 6ghz is beneficial if you have full 5ghz channels at home, otherwise it brings nothing, it was even worse in quests due to buggy software for a long time. I ran all of the routers at 500 - 900 mbps with Link. Do not buy the cheap Tenda 6ghz it sucked ass terribly.

I had some expensive triband RAX router and it uterrely sucked st VR . I had good experience with Asus - ax56u, ax3000v2, axe7800..

Its some software problem, the pcvr connection is often broken with updates (i have some quest for 3 years) after some of the updates the 6ghz suddenly ran smooth just to revert with the next one. But 99% of the last 14months 5ghz 160mhz DFS ran better(but not always perfect). 6Ghz is usable but has a lot of microstutters/lost frames for me while 5ghz runs perfect like a cable lately (knocks on wood). I tried the ASUS 6E router, Acer predator W6, Tenda 6E router. All the same, with the exception of tenda, it sucked over 200mbits. I also had several Q3 as I was trying to get one with no mura, Quest Pro ran identically on 5 or 6Ghz. Maybe its something specific to my place, but there are no other 6Ghz networks and it was working perfect at several occasions. Like dont stretch your budget getting the 6E if youre tight on money, it might not by worth.

Asus XT9 (AX 6e) should do the trick. Wired backhaul or dedicated 5ghz channel for backhaul should work very well for your situation, and more than adequate for 1 GB connection. I personally have an ASUS AXE7800 as my main router with two XD6 as nodes in an 1800 square foot house (two-story with basement – basement square footage not included in the number). Also, the XT9 has a 2.5 GB port to connect to your service provider modem, and you can do link aggregation on two of the 1GB ports going to the other router. You can actually easily do two Asus routers together via mesh because it's essentially baked into their firmware. You don't need to get a mesh system, you can either go for prepackaged mesh or just pick up two routers and set it up as mesh. This opens up options if you look for two cheap Asus Wi-Fi 7 routers, although 66e should work just fine in your situation.

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.

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.

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

I got pretty good service from the Spectrum-provided routers for a long time, but I finally broke down and bought an Asus 6E router last Fall. It was so good that, a couple of months ago, I bought a second Asus router and made a mesh network. I spent a good bit of money, but I'm now happy with my WLAN. I'm on 1 GB asymmetrical service.

I would pick a WIFI 6E router from ASUS. Great company, great software support,frequent firmware updates,excellent products.

The signal strength on the dream 7 is eh. Personally if you aren't going to use the other things ubiquiti offers don't use them. You have the flex so it could be worthwhile but you're making do without it. The Asus 6 and 6e routers/mesh routers are very stable and work fantastically and have stronger signal strength. If you love to tinker or want the other features ubiquiti offers like multiple AP, cameras etc then use them. But purely for router the dream 7 isn't really worth it.