Asus ZenWiFi Pro (ET12, XT12) sneak peek

[L&LD]

I am not a Luddite. I just don't buy the concept that 'new' is necessarily 'better', just because someone says so. I use my own judgment every day, it is a highly honed skill I have.

 

[JagoUK]

Has the UK approved the use of the 6 GHz channels yet? That might be why. I know the EU did a few months ago, but now that UK wants to do its own thang...

Here in Canada, those channels were only allowed for use a couple of weeks ago, which is why there hasn't been any Wifi 6e router available in Canada so far.

I had read an ofcom document that it was approved last year (Q4 2020). But given the UK market is closely tied to the EU market it might not have been worth their while to release.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0036/198927/6ghz-statement.pdf

I hope asus will release some kind of non wireless gateway/router and more simplified APs/Powerline adaptors.
I saw powerline adaptors were mentioned in AI2.0

 

[RMerlin]

I hope asus will release some kind of non wireless gateway/router

Doubtful. Not really any profit for Asus to make in that segment which is largely dominated by the prosummer brands like Ubiquity or Microtik, or the DIY based on X86 and pfsense.

 

[JagoUK]

Doubtful. Not really any profit for Asus to make in that segment which is largely dominated by the prosummer brands like Ubiquity or Microtik, or the DIY based on X86 and pfsense.

Indeed. But one can hope.
Only reason why I'd want one is because I um and ah between investing in ubiquiti and asus for me kit.
If asus had a cheaper solution by going the ubiquiti route with zenwifi Pro, I'd 100% go in that direction.

To me ubiquiti is neither cutting edge nor cheap.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Here we go, the final products are the ET12 and XT12.
At least there's some good news.

To make sure that the bandwidth potential of the ZenWiFi Pro ET12 and XT12 isn’t bottlenecked by the connection to your modem, we equipped both routers with dual 2.5G Ethernet ports.

ZenWiFi Pro ET12 and XT12 wireless routers mesh with the best - Edge Up

Today’s highest-performing wireless networks need to serve more and more devices with more bandwidth than ever before. ZenWiFi Pro mesh wireless routers offer the most MU-MIMO capacity of any ASUS mesh system for the most demanding environments. The ZenWiFi Pro ET12 harnesses WiFi 6E to offer...

edgeup.asus.com

 

[L&LD]

I knew that first post pic was too good to be true. These are as ugly as ugly can be.

Different, just to be different, with no aesthetic appeal, at all.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I knew that first post pic was too good to be true. These are as ugly as ugly can be.

Different, just to be different, with no aesthetic appeal, at all.

Hehe, well, at least it's unusual and it doesn't have a bunch of antennas sticking out of it...
I'm sure it'll appeal to people that wants a more "discrete" router.
At least we finally have a consumer router with dual 2.5Gbps ports, it's about time.
I'm guessing this be a good $300-400 at a minimum though, maybe even more.

 

[L&LD]

I'm guessing it will be more. The 'design' department needs to get paid too. Even if they didn't do a very good job (at all).

 

[TheLostSwede]

I'm guessing it will be more. The 'design' department needs to get paid too. Even if they didn't do a very good job (at all).

Well, most of their current AX11000 models seem to be in excess of $400, so it might get a stupid price.

 

[JagoUK]

Here we go, the final products are the ET12 and XT12.
At least there's some good news.

ZenWiFi Pro ET12 and XT12 wireless routers mesh with the best - Edge Up

Today’s highest-performing wireless networks need to serve more and more devices with more bandwidth than ever before. ZenWiFi Pro mesh wireless routers offer the most MU-MIMO capacity of any ASUS mesh system for the most demanding environments. The ZenWiFi Pro ET12 harnesses WiFi 6E to offer...

edgeup.asus.com

Thanks for that. Was annoyed that they didn't show it on the stream.

Looks like only USA is getting 6ghz again despite 5ghz 160mhz being useless in many regions...

Very annoying.

The ZenWiFi Pro ET12 will launch exclusively in the United States, while the ZenWiFi Pro XT12 will be available in other regions.

 

[ddarko]

From Asus:

You shouldn’t have to choose between fast WiFi and eye-catching aesthetics. With their sophisticated design, the ZenWiFi Pro ET12 and XT12 will complement the style of your home. Their professional finish, parallel lines, and vertical orientation calls to mind the practical elegance of modern skyscrapers. Transparent material on the top gives an inside look at the omnidirectional antennas beneath. These routers don’t hide what they are. Their unique design uses the right balance of engineering and elegance to announce that these are no ordinary mesh WiFi routers.

I am pretty sure the terms of service for the router require you to set up a shrine around it and pray to it three times a day.

 

[JagoUK]

From Asus:


I am pretty sure the terms of service for the router require you to set up a shrine around it and pray to it three times a day.

Yet if you live outside the USA you have no choice...

 

[jsmiddleton4]

"with dual 2.5G Ethernet ports"

Ha......

What cost? So far all of these products have been more expensive than the cost of building the already mentioned PC with pfsense.

 

[leerees]

somebody with a facebook account should comment as best guess: 'a bug free firmware? '

 

[heaven]

Being a "happy" owner of ET8 I can say firmware is the key, and for now, what I've got with ET8 makes this thing a disposable toy. And their support is just a waste of time, don't even try to debug anything and submit any logs or your observations. I don't know if other brands such as Netgear do a better job here but ASUS is total rubbish.

 

[leerees]

On Facebook? Why?

Can't we get announcements via normal (non 'social') methods anymore?

There is clearly a need for a "network" that isn't social. Information should be distributed as raw data and rendered on a device how the user sees fit. Kind of like how RSS feeds work. I hope the world wide web evolves into something like this.

I think Facebook is a sinister platform that's been specifically designed to induce anxiety, stress and addiction amongst users.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Being a "happy" owner of ET8 I can say firmware is the key, and for now, what I've got with ET8 makes this thing a disposable toy. And their support is just a waste of time, don't even try to debug anything and submit any logs or your observations. I don't know if other brands such as Netgear do a better job here but ASUS is total rubbish.

Nah, most of these companies don't give a rats butt about their consumer customers.
That comes from someone who used to work at a router company that did care about its customers, but sadly the owner lost faith in the business and things fizzled out...

I have also worked for one of the big NAS makers, same attitude. Had someone from a North American government agency get in touch (I was in charge of the forums among other things) as he didn't get any response from the support team. He had some very serious security concerns, I walked over to the support area, was told the support manager was in Europe for CES, so nothing they could do... In fact the person left in charge refused to get back to the customer.

I wish it wasn't like this, but most of these companies are only making products for one reason and one reason alone, making money.

 

[TheLostSwede]

There is clearly a need for a "network" that isn't social. Information should be distributed as raw data and rendered on a device how the user sees fit. Kind of like how RSS feeds work. I hope the world wide web evolves into something like this.

I think Facebook is a sinister platform that's been specifically designed to induce anxiety, stress and addiction amongst users.

Asus has a "blog" where they post things that anyone can freely read without using any kind of social media.
Doesn't mean things will be posted there first, but they do tend to post about most new products there.

Home - Edge Up

edgeup.asus.com

 

[TheLostSwede]

It looks like Asus has finally revealed pricing and it's not cheap at US$850 for a pair of two ET12.

https://shop.asus.com/us/90ig05z0-ma1a2v-asus-zenwifi-pro-et12.html

 

[leerees]

It looks like Asus has finally revealed pricing and it's not cheap at US$850 for a pair of two ET12.

https://shop.asus.com/us/90ig05z0-ma1a2v-asus-zenwifi-pro-et12.html

If it's that expensive, I can't understand who it's target market actually is. A 12 stream device is miles beyond what any consumer or power user would ever need.

It would be like buying a 14" screen that's 8K.