Need advice: Asus BQ16 vs BT10 vs BT8 ?

[MultiDoc]

Hello everyone,

Just joined specifically for my upcoming network change/upgrade and after researching as best as I could, I’m still perplexed and not sure which would be the best way forward.

The situation is that finally we got full fibre upgrade and ordered the max speed available which is 1.6 Gbps. In preparation for the upgrade (still 2-3 weeks away, waiting for the ONT to be installed and the optical cable to be actually terminated at my house), I have already upgraded my desktop PC with a WiFi 7 PCIe card.
Unfortunately Ethernet is not an option at all (with quite a bit of work I could possibly get Ethernet to the desktop PC, but that would need quite a bit of work and some brickwall drilling, which is far from easy or ideal). Therefore I’m looking at wireless connection for all devices, a dozen or so (including two desktop PCs, 2 laptops, iPads, iPhones, smartTV etc, only thing to be wired would be the NAS).
So the question i need advice and help with, is between the BT8, BT10 and BQ16. Which of these would be best suited (cost aside)? In principle all 3 cover all my needs but remember that I’ll most probably need two nodes (one as router and one as node/mesh) and both nodes would need to be wirelessly connected 100%, no option as I said earlier for wires backhaul etc.
I gather that the BQ16 is getting more frequent firmware updates/maybe more attention and support by Asus, and definitely the BT8 seems to be lagging behind in this area.
Should I just bite the bullet and call it a day and get a two pack BQ16? Or would I be well off with either of its lesser siblings the BT10 or BT8? Cost is a factor but less so if functionality is going to be negatively affected.
Again in terms of specs all 3 cover all I would need both in terms of speeds and characteristics but the reality of actual users might be different. That’s why I’d appreciate any input and help to go ahead and get a set.

As a side note if it’s imperative to get the desktop wires to to the router I could give it a go. To this day I have everything wireless and the desktop which is my main workstation is on wifi6e

In any case thank you in advance for your time and help.

 

[skypx]

None of the above. I have a buddy that just got the following after owning asus routers in the past.

Cloud Gateway Max

U7 Pro Max

I have been to his house a number of times and his network always works with everything we can throw at it.

 

[Tech9]

Cloud Gateway Max

U7 Pro Max

This system doesn't have dedicated wireless uplink (backhaul) radio/band. 5GHz band will be used for shared wireless uplink, up to 4800Mbps between the APs. The new UCG-Ultra/Max are excellent indeed (see my signature), but wireless mesh is a Plan B in UniFi ecosystem.

Otherwise I would also not touch any of the above ZenWiFi.

 

[drcereus]

I have a pair of BQ16s and I could not be happier. I'm on the latest 36801 firmware. I would note the 2.4G isnt amazing but I'm still playing around with it. I get blistering wifi speeds throughout the house. Having come from an XT8 which I was happy with, I'm now delighted I can take full WiFi advantage of my 1GB line.

 

[MultiDoc]

Thanks for the input gents. I took the plunge and ordered a set of two BQ16s. I am still waiting for the engineer to install the ONT, hopefully soon. I'll be asking for advice in regards to setup etc after i get it up and running in the next couple of weeks. Should I in the meantime update the firmware now in advance or just wait ?

 

[Stepalex]

I have a pair of BQ16s and I could not be happier. I'm on the latest 36801 firmware. I would note the 2.4G isnt amazing but I'm still playing around with it. I get blistering wifi speeds throughout the house. Having come from an XT8 which I was happy with, I'm now delighted I can take full WiFi advantage of my 1GB line.

Can you be more specific about your set-up please, are you using: 1/wireless backhaul 2/MLO 3/Apple devices?

 

[stilessm]

None of the above. I have a buddy that just got the following after owning asus routers in the past.

Cloud Gateway Max

U7 Pro Max

I have been to his house a number of times and his network always works with everything we can throw at it.

This is what my friends at work are pushing me towards. I just had a really frustrating experience trying to upgrade my ax11000/ax86u setup to a be98Pro/be86u. I found the 6ghz band to honestly be a letdown anywhere but close to the router and the be86u failed (loose power supply connection) on day 3. The eye opener was how poor the experience was when I tried to run with just the be98Pro while I shopped for different nodes.

Anyways this has really put me off of "Wifi7" and 6ghz. Seems like I can build a rock solid Unifi setup for about the same money that prioritizes 5ghz. Only one way to find out, I guess.

The BQ16s that you are talking about are really appealing and I'm tempted (the config above that I tried was also about $1k). I'm just worried it's going to be just as flaky as the be98Pro/be86u

 

[Tech9]

Seems like I can build a rock solid Unifi setup for about the same money that prioritizes 5ghz.

See my signature.

 

[Brookie55]

Hello everyone,

Just joined specifically for my upcoming network change/upgrade and after researching as best as I could, I’m still perplexed and not sure which would be the best way forward.

The situation is that finally we got full fibre upgrade and ordered the max speed available which is 1.6 Gbps. In preparation for the upgrade (still 2-3 weeks away, waiting for the ONT to be installed and the optical cable to be actually terminated at my house), I have already upgraded my desktop PC with a WiFi 7 PCIe card.
Unfortunately Ethernet is not an option at all (with quite a bit of work I could possibly get Ethernet to the desktop PC, but that would need quite a bit of work and some brickwall drilling, which is far from easy or ideal). Therefore I’m looking at wireless connection for all devices, a dozen or so (including two desktop PCs, 2 laptops, iPads, iPhones, smartTV etc, only thing to be wired would be the NAS).
So the question i need advice and help with, is between the BT8, BT10 and BQ16. Which of these would be best suited (cost aside)? In principle all 3 cover all my needs but remember that I’ll most probably need two nodes (one as router and one as node/mesh) and both nodes would need to be wirelessly connected 100%, no option as I said earlier for wires backhaul etc.
I gather that the BQ16 is getting more frequent firmware updates/maybe more attention and support by Asus, and definitely the BT8 seems to be lagging behind in this area.
Should I just bite the bullet and call it a day and get a two pack BQ16? Or would I be well off with either of its lesser siblings the BT10 or BT8? Cost is a factor but less so if functionality is going to be negatively affected.
Again in terms of specs all 3 cover all I would need both in terms of speeds and characteristics but the reality of actual users might be different. That’s why I’d appreciate any input and help to go ahead and get a set.

As a side note if it’s imperative to get the desktop wires to to the router I could give it a go. To this day I have everything wireless and the desktop which is my main workstation is on wifi6e

In any case thank you in advance for your time and help.

I am using the BT10 I've had it for about 3 weeks. It's been flawless for me. I initially had some problems setting it up but I think that was more on me than the units. I am a Network Extreme Neophyte coming from a Google Nest Pro mesh system that was essentially Plug and Play. This thing not so much but I have it set up the way I want it and I've gotten 2 firmware updates.

 

[stilessm]

See my signature.

I just bought a Unifi starter (U6 LR and U6 Mesh and the necessary bits) system for significantly less than the $1k I spent on Asus routers a couple of weeks ago (and returned). Will report back.

 

[Tech9]

I just bought a Unifi starter

Not sure what UniFi Starter is, but U6 LR is an older MediaTek based AP with Wi-Fi 6 on the 5GHz band only and no 160MHz channel support. U6 Mesh and U6 Pro are newer and better Qualcomm hardware devices with Wi-Fi 6 on both bands and 160MHz channel support. See my signature also means you can ask questions before you purchase equipment.

 

[stilessm]

Not sure what UniFi Starter is, but U6 LR is an older MediaTek based AP with Wi-Fi 6 on the 5GHz band only and no 160MHz channel support. U6 Mesh and U6 Pro are newer and better Qualcomm hardware devices with Wi-Fi 6 on both bands and 160MHz channel support. See my signature also means you can ask questions before you purchase equipment.

Thanks. Would you recommend replacing the u6-lr with the u6-pro (as my wired, downstairs base unit)? I don’t care about 6ghz. I just want great 5 and 2.4 coverage. The u6-mesh will be wirelessly backhauled at least to begin with, and cover the 2nd floor. I have a -46db Aimesh connection signal right now fwiw.

 

[Tech9]

Wi-Fi needs planning, I have no details about your place. U6 Mesh and U6 Pro are the same hardware APs in different form factor. U6 Mesh has slightly more omnidirectional radiation pattern, has PoE injector included, IPX5 rating. Runs hot, but looks much better for home application and can be used as desktop unit. Wireless uplink ~60dBm between 2x U6 Pro/Mesh will give you about 400-450Mbps to 5GHz radio connected clients at 80MHz wide channel.

 

[stilessm]

Wi-Fi needs planning, I have no details about your place. U6 Mesh and U6 Pro are the same hardware APs in different form factor. U6 Mesh has slightly more omnidirectional radiation pattern, has PoE injector included, IPX5 rating. Runs hot, but looks much better for home application and can be used as desktop unit. Wireless uplink ~60dBm between 2x U6 Pro/Mesh will give you about 400-450Mbps to 5GHz radio connected clients at 80MHz wide channel.

Sorry for kind of hijacking things here. 2700sqft house, bigger first floor. My ax11000 on the first floor paints the first floor and out to the attached garage ok. Gets kind of weak at the end of the house and garage but workable. The 2nd floor unit is just above it and has a strong 5ghz backhaul in the ax11000/ax86u combo I am running.

Basically looking for a beefy downstairs ap that can almost handle the house and then give it a boost upstairs utilizing 6ghz backhaul if I can (or one of the 5ghz channels). Someday may get brave enough to snake some Ethernet up through the floor.

 

[Tech9]

Basically looking for a beefy downstairs ap that can almost handle the house and then give it a boost upstairs utilizing 6ghz backhaul

None of the hardware mentioned above has 6GHz band and this beefy AP idea is a wrong approach. Ubiquiti has a planning tool and it works remarkably well, very close to the real world results if input data was set properly. Buying hardware first is a mistake.

 

[stilessm]

None of the hardware mentioned above has 6GHz band and this beefy AP idea is a wrong approach. Ubiquiti has a planning tool and it works remarkably well, very close to the real world results if input data was set properly. Buying hardware first is a mistake.

Thanks. Lmk if you have recommendations other than “start over”. Seriously, thank you.

 

[Tech9]

You have to understand better how Wi-Fi works. Beefy AP with weak clients behind walls is bringing you close to consumer Wi-Fi experience. Your UniFi system will evaluate the disbalanced connections as Poor, because they are. Your AiMesh was making mostly noise at up to 2000mW per band and your clients were wondering what's going on. I run 4x APs at 100mW 5GHz and 40mW 2.4GHz, getting >800Mbps to Wi-Fi 6 clients almost everywhere in ~6000sqft house at higher than -60dBm signal levels.

 

[Tech9]

There is a related thread/post here:

So Long, Thanks For All The Help

It's why I went with the U7s instead. Working a treat for me by the way. Aren't they buggy though?

www.snbforums.com

 

[stilessm]

There is a related thread/post here:

So Long, Thanks For All The Help

It's why I went with the U7s instead. Working a treat for me by the way. Aren't they buggy though?

www.snbforums.com

Thanks! Will take a look, and I am busy mapping out my floorplan on the Unifi site.
In the meantime, if my constraints were (remember, 2700sq-ft, 2-story, wood-frame) 1AP downstairs and one upstairs with wifi backhaul, what Unifi setup would you recommend (if any?). Oh, 500/30 service.

 

[Tech9]

You'll be fine with UCG-Ultra and 2x U6-Mesh. This is all you need and it's very compact size equipment, almost invisible. The gateway can do Gigabit WAN, the wired AP can do >800Mbps on Wi-Fi, wirelessly uplinked AP can do about 400Mbps, you'll have 3x extra LAN ports for wired devices. I have one exactly this system in another location, but both APs are wired. Uptime - since installed.

Total cost as per Ubiquiti Store US - $487