[Maylyn - Networking] ASUS ZenWiFi XT8

[maylyn]

ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 has landed

Do note that it's not up for retail market as yet and please wait for respective region ASUS office to make the official announcement (availability and pricing) in due time.

Official ASUS Global landing page

@ ~> https://www.asus.com/Mesh-WiFi-System/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

Do bear in mind, I will have to take some time to setup, bench and test so will take a while to update my findings.

So stay tuned.

 

[Robertus]

ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 has landed

Do note that it's not up for retail market as yet and please wait for respective region ASUS office to make the official announcement (availability and pricing) in due time.

Official ASUS Global landing page

@ ~> https://www.asus.com/Mesh-WiFi-System/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

Do bear in mind, I will have to take some time to setup, bench and test so will take a while to update my findings.

So stay tuned.

I have waited for news on this for so long! Currently:

1) waiting to hear from a guy who will quote for cat 6 install

2) buy a ubiquiti alien mesh

3) but the ax above - initially preferred due to having a dedicated backbone

I’ll be so interested to hear about wireless backbone performance and latency

 

[aublumberg]

ASUS ZenWiFi AX Whole-Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8) - 2 Pack, Coverage up to 5,500 sq.ft or 6+Rooms, 6.6Gbps, WiFi, 3 SSIDs, Life-time Free Network Security and Parental Controls, 2.5G Port https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083Q45V1V/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[maylyn]

Some updates - 18/01/2020

Sorry for the delay,

I have to reserve my experiences (in detail) and performance metrics for the time being due to NDA and some internal intensive firmware updates to resolve bugs, performance fixes, improve interoperability and compatibility etc etc.

One word is that I feel is that ease of better coverage and connectivity I supposed over ASUS Lyra and ASUS Lyra Trio?

Here are some of the GUI which I'm allow to reveal publicly, so continue to stay tuned

 

[Robertus]

Can you answer this.....if I wanted fast, stable backbone performance - is this the kit for me? Low latency too. Distance is relatively small.

 

[djjsin]

is the 2.5G port configurable to be used for the LAN? Like could i use it to connect to the 2.5G on the second node and use that 2.5G for the backhaul?

 

[frankhere]

FYI.... AMAZON shows
ASUS ZenWiFi AX available on 1-23-2020


UPDATE - Jan 30th edit)
Amazon - in stock Feb 6th 2020

 

[sanke1]

My view is that this ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 is pure scammy product because deliberate non inclusion of 2.5 GbE ports on LAN side so that main router and node could be connected with a 2.5 Gbps ethernet backhaul. I hope @thiggins calls Asus out over this if he reviews such nonsense piece of incomplete hardware. Look at the promotional material here which is masquerading as a fluffy review. He also lists 3 LAN ports as a positive at the end.
This is clearly a failed opportunity and hopefully AFTER next 5 years, router manufacturers having completely milked 1 GbE cow dry, would have switched to 2.5 Gbps LAN ports.

PS: Either one of the units needs 2 LAN ports which are 2.5 Gbps. 1 connects to other node as ethernet backhaul and the remaining one connects to multi speed 10 GbE switch. This would have been ultimate future proofing.

 

[Arctic Ace]

My view is that this ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 is pure scammy product because deliberate non inclusion of 2.5 GbE ports on LAN side so that main router and node could be connected with a 2.5 Gbps ethernet backhaul.

* I assume that 2,5G port is backward compatible to 1G, is that correct?

"In order to become Wi-Fi 6-certified, devices must meet several requirements, including support for uplink and downlink OFDMA, MU-MIMO streaming, and beamforming, the last of which transmits Wi-Fi signals directly to clients rather than over a broad spectrum. Devices must also be able to handle WPA3 encryption…" (link).

Does Zenwifi XT8 support also WPA3? Asus websites shows only: "WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise , WPA2-Enterprise , WPS support"

 

[GBear]

My view is that this ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 is pure scammy product because deliberate non inclusion of 2.5 GbE ports on LAN side so that main router and node could be connected with a 2.5 Gbps ethernet backhaul. .

"Scammy" seems a little harsh. It certainly would be a nice feature. Do you know of any mesh routers with that feature, especially any under $500 for a pair? I wish I did, because I'm looking to invest in an AX mesh router and none of the candidates (ASUS, Orbi, Linksys) support >1 GbE backhaul.

My guess is that the vendors expect most customers to evolve toward wireless backhaul rather than continue to run network cables. In theory, this does support >1 Gbs. In my case, I want wired backhaul because my desired router locations are 60' apart, but I have a rather difficult task to replace a 20-yr-old Cat5 cable. Although I prefer not to, it might end up being easier and cheaper to add a third mesh unit in the middle and use wireless backhaul.

One thing that does concern me about this ASUS router vs. the other two is the reduced hardware specs (CPU & memory). I'll be interested to see the performance test results to see if that apparent cost/price-cutting decision by ASUS has a significant impact.

 

[frankhere]

"Scammy" seems a little harsh. It certainly would be a nice feature. Do you know of any mesh routers with that feature, especially any under $500 for a pair? I wish I did, because I'm looking to invest in an AX mesh router and none of the candidates (ASUS, Orbi, Linksys) support >1 GbE backhaul.

My guess is that the vendors expect most customers to evolve toward wireless backhaul rather than continue to run network cables. In theory, this does support >1 Gbs. In my case, I want wired backhaul because my desired router locations are 60' apart, but I have a rather difficult task to replace a 20-yr-old Cat5 cable. Although I prefer not to, it might end up being easier and cheaper to add a third mesh unit in the middle and use wireless backhaul.

One thing that does concern me about this ASUS router vs. the other two is the reduced hardware specs (CPU & memory). I'll be interested to see the performance test results to see if that apparent cost/price-cutting decision by ASUS has a significant impact.

I myself prefer wireless backhaul just due to my home configuration and ease of placement ( of the node).
And yes, I think ( as you call out) CPU and memory seem a bit ~ entry level~.
I would have liked to see 2.2 GHz 64-Bit Quad-Core CPU and 2 GB or DDR Ram ... Yet that said, I am NOT a network engineer. Perhaps Asus found that they wanted to avoid driving up the price ( for me, I'd pay the pricepoint myself).

 

[slud]

This is the link to the quick start guide for the XT8 if anyone is interested:
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/ZenWiFi_XT8/ENG150200225801MAS_R02.pdf

 

[GBear]

Anxiously awaiting a review of the XT8! A few of my concerns/questions I hope to see answered:

1) Will the performance numbers hold up to competing but more expensive mesh products (e.g. Orbi 6) with higher-end hardware (CPU, memory, # antennas)?

2) Maximum usable distance for wireless backhaul in case my goal to upgrade in-house Cat 5 proves impractical. (I'm doubtful that I can stretch wirelessly 60' from basement to second floor where I need the ethernet ports, might need a third node which doesn't seem to be available yet (nor for Orbi 6).)

3) The "Dong Knows" CT8 review states that SmartConnect is dual-band only; if you use a wired backhaul then it frees up 5GHz-2 for a separate network only. Will this be the case for the XT8, no tri-band SmartConnect?

4) The "Dong Knows" CT8 review also states that there is a long-standing bug that the guest network doesn't work on satellite nodes, only the primary node, unclear when this might be resolved. Presumably this would also be an issue with the XT8?

 

[Robertus]

Hey,

there is a YouTube review up now. It gives a decent view of backhaul speed - which seems very good. No idea how far apart the nodes were though.

 

[sanke1]

Hey,

there is a YouTube review up now. It gives a decent view of backhaul speed - which seems very good. No idea how far apart the nodes were though.

Kinda pointless when his internet speed is just 100 Mbps. Makes me wonder if I wasted my money in getting 2 of RT-AX88Us as even my interent is just 100 Mbps. However I am expecting a major bump in speeds as soon my ISP is done with Voluntary Retirement Scheme and Restructuring.

 

[Robertus]

Kinda pointless when his internet speed is just 100 Mbps. Makes me wonder if I wasted my money in getting 2 of RT-AX88Us as even my interent is just 100 Mbps. However I am expecting a major bump in speeds as soon my ISP is done with Voluntary Retirement Scheme and Restructuring.

to me you have this the wrong way - the blazing WiFi backhaul is impressive.

 

[Adamm]

Kinda pointless when his internet speed is just 100 Mbps. Makes me wonder if I wasted my money in getting 2 of RT-AX88Us as even my interent is just 100 Mbps.

Higher bandwidth isn't just for WAN speeds, LAN devices like a NAS or client-to-client communications can take advantage of this.

 

[GBear]

The DongKnows review is up and he likes it, with pretty much expected caveats. The performance numbers look pretty good.
https://dongknows.com/asus-zenwifi-ax-xt8-review/

 

[Robertus]

One query - anyone know if the 160mhz band is available in the UK?

 

[slud]

One query - anyone know if the 160mhz band is available in the UK?

You may have a chance if you used wired backhaul, it's definitely not available as a wireless mesh.