[Review] Asus ZenWiFi AX

[Jayce Ooi]

Author's Note: The original review can be found at my blog - Asus ZenWiFi AX Review @ JayceOoi.com.

500 Mbps wireless performance for the whole double storey semi-D house. Yes, this is what Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) can do. A pair of AX6600 WiFi 6 routers with tri-band support. And it is powered by 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. Comes with 3 Gigabit LAN ports, 2.5G WAN port and USB 3.0 port. 4 X 4 wireless connection for the third band and 2 X 2 for the second one. 6 internal antennas by the way. Having 256MB Flash and 512MB of RAM. How does it perform? Let’s find out…

 

[Piel]

Curious to know what you would get for upload speeds.

 

[Tlex]

With the backhaul configured to use ethernet instead of the second 5ghz wifi 5ghz-2 band, I get consistent 700mbps down / 550mbps up doing speed test from a macbook m1 located a 15ft from the ap (no walls) with about 40-50 other clients connected on each ap.

 

[Piel]

Would you mind sharing details on how you have your nodes set up (i.e. channels, beamforming, etc.)? I get over 500 Mbps down but only 200 up (also using a M1 MacBook)

 

[Tlex]

Would you mind sharing details on how you have your nodes set up (i.e. channels, beamforming, etc.)? I get over 500 Mbps down but only 200 up (also using a M1 MacBook)

As mentionned I'm using ethernet backhaul for my node, other than that, using stock wifi settings. perhaps the speed issue you have comes from somewhere else ? Can you achieve higher speed connecting your M1 macbook using a usb-ethernet adapter to your XT8 main ap and node ?

 

[rjbarker]

Been running mine since 1st week Dec...
- one node as Router
- second node wireless backhaul
Added another Node, so 3rd node also wireless backhaul.

Very large 3 story 4200 sq ft home, by Internet package is 300 mbps down / 15 mbps up.

On my Mac Book the worst I get in parts of my home furthest from any node is around 275 mbps down (5 Ghz) and around 90 mbps down (2.4 Ghz).

Have it set up to "auto re-boot" once per week.

It has been solid, not a single issue. When I purchased the single node I thought I was going to be in for a challenge adding it to my existing XT8 Mesh (based upon some posts here), but it was a breeze, took all of 2 min.
I'm extremely happy with this set-up and finally have great WiFi throughout my large home!!!!

 

[Piel]

As mentionned I'm using ethernet backhaul for my node, other than that, using stock wifi settings. perhaps the speed issue you have comes from somewhere else ? Can you achieve higher speed connecting your M1 macbook using a usb-ethernet adapter to your XT8 main ap and node ?

Anything on a wired connection works as expected (500/500) - but nothing on a wireless connection can do more than 500/250. I'm using wired backhaul. ASUS support has been terrible.

 

[aurizn]

Anything on a wired connection works as expected (500/500) - but nothing on a wireless connection can do more than 500/250. I'm using wired backhaul. ASUS support has been terrible.

The 5Ghz-1 band on the ZenWiFi XT8 is weak. BCM6755 internal 5Ghz radio isn't that good when comparing to the BCM43684.

You can try disabling the dedicated backhaul and exposing it for the fronthaul but I doubt that will help a lot.

There's nothing you can do to except buying another product.

 

[Tlex]

Anything on a wired connection works as expected (500/500) - but nothing on a wireless connection can do more than 500/250. I'm using wired backhaul. ASUS support has been terrible.

What does your system preference report shows ? do you get 1200 as transmission rate (thats the max you can get from the MBP-M1? (Sorry screenshot in french)

 

[Piel]

My Tx is currently 1080 Mbps - speedtest got 507/197

 

[Tlex]

are you in ap mode or router mode ? what your xt8 is connected to ?

 

[Piel]

Router mode. Main XT8 is connected to FiOS ONT and then the three other XT8s are connected via wired backhaul through a Cisco gigabit switch. Wired devices easily get 500/500 throughout the house

 

[Piel]

Found this link:
Asus ZenWiFi Xt8 Upload Speed Problem : HomeNetworking (reddit.com)

I've wasted enough time troubleshooting this that I just bought a 4-port switch to see if this will solve my issue

 

[Tlex]

If you disconnect the other ap, do you get the same results ? How many clients connected ? Did you disabled smart connect and made 3 separed ssid after enabling ethernet backhaul ?
Sorry for the question but are you running the latest fw ?
I would try to reset it leave defauft ap settings (thats what I have here) :
1. Turn the router off.
2. Press and hold the "WPS" button and turn the router on.
3. Power light is on (keep holding the WPS button).
4. Release the WPS button after the power LED light starts flashing.
5. Power light stops flashing and the router will automatically reboot.

 

[Piel]

I have about 50 clients connected to the system (not counting my smart lights/switches) - ~10 of which are wired. While I have reset the system, I have not yet tried disabling all but the main router to test. I have disabled smart connect, but only have two SSIDs (network and networkAX), and yes, I am on the latest firmware.

Side note - on the AX part of the network, while I force it to broadcast AX-only, my old iPhone Xs Max is connected to it

 

[Tlex]

In that case, here are my settings but remember, I'm running it in AP mode not routing... If anything is different than your settings let me know. From what I remember the only thing I've played with was Mimo and OFDMA.
Also, it there a lot of networks on the 5ghz bands in your area ?

Give it a shot !

 

[Kendo]

Thanks for the useful info and review.

 

[Piel]

In that case, here are my settings but remember, I'm running it in AP mode not routing... If anything is different than your settings let me know. From what I remember the only thing I've played with was Mimo and OFDMA.
Also, it there a lot of networks on the 5ghz bands in your area ?

Give it a shot !

View attachment 33501
View attachment 33502

Appreciate all your help and info. Out of curiosity, which router are you using on the front end of your setup?

 

[Tlex]

I'm running a virtualized version of PfSense router with a 10gbps Lan connection attached to a Netgear Prosafe GS110EMX. The wan port is the Bell Fibe 2.5gbps SFP Ont.

 

[Piel]

Found this link:
Asus ZenWiFi Xt8 Upload Speed Problem : HomeNetworking (reddit.com)

I've wasted enough time troubleshooting this that I just bought a 4-port switch to see if this will solve my issue

So I finally got around to trying this out....still getting no more than 250 Mbps up. This is frustrating.