Asus Zenwifi xt8 is this a bad product with unrealistic expecations?

[davekstl]

I have a 6,000 sq ft house with 1 acre of property and I have been reading until I am at the saturation point. Reviews on 802.11ax products are over the place.
I have a Linksys WRT1900AC early version used in my previous 1,500 sq ft house and as expected it cannot reach the far end of my new world. I have range extenders in place and then I read they suck up bandwidth. My ISP delivers 200mbps, which can be raised to 400mbps for another 20 a month. I also have power adapters in place, but as the signal winds it's way through the electrical panel, they work but not ideal.
I have cameras on the far side of the house away from the router sending video to the Ring server. The rear of all of the properties here are the prime entry point to do evil.
Given the age of my router, I thought it was time to strike and was looking at the Asus Zenwifi xt8 as well as other products. The Asus marketing information suggests it is the right choice, but after reading information on your site, I am not so sure.
I do not have cable pulled, but I am one that if there is value and I get a strong bump for the expense, I am all in.
So is the Asus Zenwifi a bad choice? Is the mesh system a bad choice?
I can muddle my way through making a system work, my failures are in the design of a system.
So can you offer suggestions and opinions?
Dave

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have a 6,000 sq ft house with 1 acre of property and I have been reading until I am at the saturation point. Reviews on 802.11ax products are over the place.
I have a Linksys WRT1900AC early version used in my previous 1,500 sq ft house and as expected it cannot reach the far end of my new world. I have range extenders in place and then I read they suck up bandwidth. My ISP delivers 200mbps, which can be raised to 400mbps for another 20 a month. I also have power adapters in place, but as the signal winds it's way through the electrical panel, they work but not ideal.
I have cameras on the far side of the house away from the router sending video to the Ring server. The rear of all of the properties here are the prime entry point to do evil.
Given the age of my router, I thought it was time to strike and was looking at the Asus Zenwifi xt8 as well as other products. The Asus marketing information suggests it is the right choice, but after reading information on your site, I am not so sure.
I do not have cable pulled, but I am one that if there is value and I get a strong bump for the expense, I am all in.
So is the Asus Zenwifi a bad choice? Is the mesh system a bad choice?
I can muddle my way through making a system work, my failures are in the design of a system.
So can you offer suggestions and opinions?
Dave

Me, I tend to ignore a product named ZenWiFi unless something reputable highly recommends it.

OE

 

[davekstl]

Me, I tend to ignore a product named ZenWiFi unless something reputable highly recommends it.

OE

Good point!
But then do you have a recommendation for my network?
Dave

 

[OzarkEdge]

Good point!
But then do you have a recommendation for my network?
Dave

There are many solutions... I only know one, so I hate to be pushing it, especially without knowing how many levels, construction type, your skills, the budget, your expectations, your ISP service and location, existing Ethernet, etc.

For me, I like the Asus AiMesh concept... incrementally build and update your own solution using regular performance routers... I'd stick with AC routers like the 86U for now.

My AiMesh experience is in my notes.

OE

 

[davekstl]

I do not take anyone's suggestion as pushing, I look at all of it as experience.
Dave

 

[mteicher]

Where do you read "range extenders in place and then I read they suck up bandwidth"? I utilize one and have had zero issues. And for its purpose in life it does good. Of course there are pros and cons but in the end it/they do their thing.

 

[Gouldin]

Esh networking in general is fine via WiFi when ethernet isn't an option. if doing it, Tri band mesh is the way to go as you will end up with dedicated wireless backhaul.

Where a lot of speed issues occur are when users run it on a dual band network and are surprised to see a general drop in performance. (Neither option is perfect, but I'd rather have the delicates backhaul)

 

[davekstl]

I have a Asus AC1300, so is it a possible fix for my dilemma to put it in service replacing my WRT1900AC...and adding a wired bridge on the other side of the house?

 

[Bandito]

Your situation, to me, sounds like the ZenWiFi XT8 would be a perfect fit. The AX systems tend to cover about twice as much area as the AC systems do, so you’d get better coverage even with only one node. With the mesh system and two nodes you’ll get pretty good coverage, though your house is very large. If the coverage you get isn’t adequate, then you’ll simply add additional nodes to the system to cover the weak areas.

If you’re concerned about it, just make sure you buy from somewhere that has a decent return policy so that if things don’t work out to your satisfaction, you can simply return the system.

 

[Grisu]

stay off ZenWiFi, there are too less recommendations but lot of problems found in the forum.

 

[davekstl]

I appreciate the exchange...
So today after the dialog I looked at the Asus RT-AX88U AX6000. I have no problem with build it yourself. So I liked the idea of, get the router and then expand where necessary.
So if I wire this router, do I get the same benefit as if I did a wireless backhaul on the Zen?
I do have ax devices, although most are not. I am trying to not buy an AC then turn around and buy an AX in a year.
I do appreciate the input.
Dave

 

[Gouldin]

If going for a wired backhaul, then dual band is happy days, best of both worlds. Lower cost for the devices and a solid link between the nodes

 

[Grisu]

And you could use much cheaper AX56 or AX58 with Merlin support for the next 2-3 years till you get wifi6e routers with many more bands in 5 and 6GHz, that will be a real benefit in clouded neighbourhood.