Is ZenWifi Pro a hoax?

[digital10]

Asus is selling these 2 mesh units for a crazy $800+ and I am not sure how its different than the lower priced $400 ZenWifi. They boast it covers a wider area but last time I researched I found out that Wifi power is limited in all cases so each wifi antenna should reach about the same areas and installing more AP is the better option. Is there real value here or just marketing mumbo jumbo?

In real life usage, I did have routers with Wifi that will not reach areas and another will be very speedy in the previously dead spots so I am not sure whats gong on here.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Asus is selling these 2 mesh units for a crazy $800+ and I am not sure how its different than the lower priced $400 ZenWifi. They boast it covers a wider area but last time I researched I found out that Wifi power is limited in all cases so each wifi antenna should reach about the same areas and installing more AP is the better option. Is there real value here or just marketing mumbo jumbo?

In real life usage, I did have routers with Wifi that will not reach areas and another will be very speedy in the previously dead spots so I am not sure whats gong on here.

The cost is nuts but much cheaper than divorce.

I wouldn't buy them unless you know what you want and are getting... and I would not expect WiFi nirvana.

OE

 

[eibgrad]

IMO, mesh (regardless of the OEM) is overrated for typical home/office use. It's often more trouble than it's worth. Not unless you do a significant amount of roaming over a large area. If NOT, then distributing traditional APs and/or repeaters is simpler and more reliable. But marketing hype does it magic and convinces ppl they need something new to solve a non-existent problem.

Doesn't help either that we're dealing w/ consumer-grade equipment here. Let's face it, just how much time, effort, and expertise is ASUS going to put into mesh compared to business or prosumer OEMs who have much more at stake.

If and when I ever need mesh, I'm far more likely to upgrade to more serious equipment where both the OEM and I have much greater expectations.

JMTC

 

[digital10]

IMO, mesh (regardless of the OEM) is overrated for typical home/office use. It's often more trouble than it's worth. Not unless you do a significant amount of roaming over a large area. If NOT, then distributing traditional APs and/or repeaters is simpler and more reliable. But marketing hype does it magic and convinces ppl they need something new to solve a non-existent problem.

Doesn't help either that we're dealing w/ consumer-grade equipment here. Let's face it, just how much time, effort, and expertise is ASUS going to put into mesh compared to business or prosumer OEMs who have much more at stake.

If and when I ever need mesh, I'm far more likely to upgrade to more serious equipment where both the OEM and I have much greater expectations.

JMTC

1. Mesh system is distributing APs just wirelessly
2. Mesh system has been great for me and I can reach areas non-reachable before with much higher bandwidth its just the dropping signal
3. I never understood whats in the "pro" APs like Ruckus and Cisco that makes them 10x the price

 

[Micker99]

IMO, mesh (regardless of the OEM) is overrated for typical home/office use. It's often more trouble than it's worth. Not unless you do a significant amount of roaming over a large area. If NOT, then distributing traditional APs and/or repeaters is simpler and more reliable. But marketing hype does it magic and convinces ppl they need something new to solve a non-existent problem.

Doesn't help either that we're dealing w/ consumer-grade equipment here. Let's face it, just how much time, effort, and expertise is ASUS going to put into mesh compared to business or prosumer OEMs who have much more at stake.

If and when I ever need mesh, I'm far more likely to upgrade to more serious equipment where both the OEM and I have much greater expectations.

JMTC

Overrated? The distance a mesh system can cover is massively better. I have a two story home and I can get full speed everywherew with my mesh system. With just on Wifi Router, I get very poor coverage in a lot of areas and that's trying a bunch of the $500+ routers. My Zenwifi, with 3 APs, gives me perfect coverage upstairs and down. You can't cover a big house, without APs.

 

[digital10]

Overrated? The distance a mesh system can cover is massively better. I have a two story home and I can get full speed everywherew with my mesh system. With just on Wifi Router, I get very poor coverage in a lot of areas and that's trying a bunch of the $500+ routers. My Zenwifi, with 3 APs, gives me perfect coverage upstairs and down. You can't cover a big house, without APs.

Do you use wired or wireless backhaul? How is the stability of the network? I am thinking to upgrading to Asus ZenWifi thinking the grass is greener on the other side but not sure.

I also do not like Netgear's customer support, they really show 0 care. I have a netgear repeater that works BETTER as an Orbi satellite than the Orbi satellite itself.

 

[RogerSC]

Do you use wired or wireless backhaul? How is the stability of the network? I am thinking to upgrading to Asus ZenWifi thinking the grass is greener on the other side but not sure.

I also do not like Netgear's customer support, they really show 0 care. I have a netgear repeater that works BETTER as an Orbi satellite than the Orbi satellite itself.

Personally, I find that wireless backhaul works really well with the ZenWiFi AX family. It seems to be optimized for that, wired backhaul got me only a little more, and it was less stable over time with wired backhaul. So if you can use wireless backhaul, I'd recommend it, based on my experience here. Best mesh product I've used with wireless backhaul, very stable and fast. You need to watch the firmware version that you're on, but the latest ZenWiFi firmware versions have been great for me.

On the other hand, I'm also appreciating Asus upping their game with single routers. Both the GT-AX6000 and RT-AX86U (the AX86U with the latest firmware) are serving me well as single routers. The ones that I had before those did not provide the coverage that I needed at my place...the newer ones do.