The Asus ZenWiFi AX XT8 is a POS, right?

[BobN]

I sorta don't get it. I've been really disappointed with the reliability of the ZenWifi XT8... and then as I read these forums it feels like the problems I see are pretty common. For me, it's node reboots and a regular loss of connectivity over the wireless backhaul. I had a google wifi setup before, then the Orbi setup they sell in costco... and both were considerably better than this system in terms of reliability.

Why isn't there a big-old warning everywhere telling people to avoid this crappy system, where users regularly try to *prevent* firmware updates because they make the system worse?

Has anyone actually gotten through to Asus and had these problems acknowledged? I never hear back from my "feedback" submissions where I tell them it's not working properly. :/

 

[neilybealy]

I sorta don't get it. I've been really disappointed with the reliability of the ZenWifi XT8... and then as I read these forums it feels like the problems I see are pretty common. For me, it's node reboots and a regular loss of connectivity over the wireless backhaul. I had a google wifi setup before, then the Orbi setup they sell in costco... and both were considerably better than this system in terms of reliability.

Why isn't there a big-old warning everywhere telling people to avoid this crappy system, where users regularly try to *prevent* firmware updates because they make the system worse?

Has anyone actually gotten through to Asus and had these problems acknowledged? I never hear back from my "feedback" submissions where I tell them it's not working properly. :/

I felt the same and was getting node reboots and device issues so I'd requested a return from Amazon but then came across this forum and post after post saying the latest firmware was the issue. Since I downgraded to the 42095 firmware mine have been rock soli

Are you still on the latest firmware?

 

[Eric67ct]

I am on 42095 and had a node reboot the other night (my Roku is hard-wired into the node) which dropped our TV stream. The one thing I didn't do was a reset. I have a lot of customizations with all of the devices (as well as groupings by person) and QoS. Is this really necessary for stability?

 

[BobN]

I'm on 3.0.0.4.386_43181-g6099e58 now. I'd tried 42095 and it didn't fix the problems I was seeing where the unwired "node" would either restart or lose its wireless backhaul connection. It was never clear to me if I'd done the "super-hard factory super reset" properly, as advised here, after the 42095 installation because there are at least three versions of those instructions floating around... so I'm not sure that I had the same experience as others with that build. (I did the "hold the WPS button while powering on" thing, but don't know if I held the button long enough, etc).

My point is that these devices are kinda terrible, and I really regret buying the XT8 setup, and I wish I had known how hard people are working to fix their setups... harder than Asus seems to be trying.

 

[Deihmos]

I bought one recently and returned it. My Orbi RB50 does a much better job. I was really disappointed.

 

[Thirteen]

Has anyone actually gotten through to Asus and had these problems acknowledged? I never hear back from my "feedback" submissions where I tell them it's not working properly. :/

Responding to every bug report takes time away from fixing said bugs.

 

[jpthsd]

if you are still in returning window , return it then, why being stressed out for something doesn't work well as expected, planned

Buy AX86U and AC86U, use AX86U as Aimesh router (keep it simple as possible), and configure AC86U as node. (make sure the dual bandwidth for 2.4Ghz set to either single 20Mhz or 40Mhz otherwise it would cause 2.4Ghz on the node strangled and become inoperational) ...my 2500 foot has full coverage by those 2! (I just recently changed to single bandwidth in 2.4Ghz Wireless setting after having multiple disconnection/drop issue on 2.4Ghz of node interface,,,it seems to improve alot of stability on the AC86U)

Good luck!

 

[Tech9]

Buy AX86U and AC86U, use AX86U as Aimesh router (keep it simple as possible), and configure AC86U as node.

Why he should buy different Wi-Fi generation routers to run AiMesh?

 

[jpthsd]

Why he should buy different Wi-Fi generation routers to run AiMesh?

Cost wise AX86U $249 at least, AC86U is $149 , vs 2 AX86U more expensive!

 

[Tech9]

Better pay the extra $100 and get all AX network. What is $100 in 2021? Nothing.

 

[jpthsd]

Better pay the extra $100 and get all AX network. What is $100 in 2021? Nothing.

I live in California and $100's still meant quiet a lot to me !

3 times fill my Prius Plug-in (420 miles/tanks/8 gallons, $4.09/gallon yes that's right we pay $4.09 87 gasoline here in CA, cash price though), or 4 packs of marinated korean bbq beef ribs ($25/pack/10 pieces) or 35 x In&Out Cheese Burger (no sale taxes for to go, avg $2.81/cheese burger) or 20 x Vietnamese BBQ Pork baguette breads ($5 each) ....

Do you live in New York City or San Francisco? yes, $100 does little if living in those areas - However, California living cost is still very expensive!

 

[Tech9]

You're not saving $100, but buying potential trouble:

Router temperatures

yes, and even the slightest bit helps. I had wired a 120mm 12v fan to a usb plug and taped it on my 86U and got 66C temperatures. This last time, I just set it standing on its edge about 4 to 5 inches away, not "pointed" at the chip, just towards the router, and that got me the same 66C temps...

www.snbforums.com

 

[RogerSC]

No, the ZenWiFi AX is not a "POS", at least as far as I'm concerned. I've found it to be an excellent mesh product. While I don't use it as a NAS, have Sonos speakers, or home automation devices on it, just the usual computers, mobile devices, streaming boxes, solar panel monitor, etc. and it has worked well for me. Yes, Asus has put out buggy firmware, but there's also firmware out there that really lets the power of this hardware show through. It's the fastest wifi-6 mesh with wireless backhaul in it's price class, as far as I'm aware. And there are stable releases out there. Personally, I'm giving the latest firmware another shot, myself, and so far it's behaving itself well.

You don't have to block or "prevent" new firmware releases, you can voluntarily install new releases or not, and you can easily revert back to older releases if you feel that you need to do that. I think that I'd feel differently if updating to new firmware releases was forced by Asus, and if you try to revert they would force you back on the latest firmware release. Netgear did that with the Orbi (RBK50), and it was a disaster...there was no way to deal with buggy firmware other than wait for the next release, while using the buggy firmware as well as you could. Terrible. Don't know if Netgear is still doing that, I'm not looking back to find out *smile*.

Do remember that the users that post here are generally the ones having problems. There are a lot of people that don't post that are doing fine with their ZenWiFi AX.

 

[Piel]

I'm not going to go as far as call it a POS, but I definitely am not happy with my investment in this system. From day 1, I have not been able to get wireless upload speeds to match the download speeds. Not even close...and ASUS support has been abysmal.

 

[Paliv]

On any forum for a device you are going to find the people discussing issues and problems. You won’t find the majority of the people who have no problems and don’t need to go poking around the forums for answers. That doesn’t mean this specific device (XT8) isn’t issue prone, but just because a forum is full of issues doesn’t say much for the general quality of a product necessarily. Just go look at car forums. You’d think EVERY car is a ticking time bomb of issues, yet you see thousands of them on the road driving right along.

 

[KingBravery]

No, the ZenWiFi AX is not a "POS", at least as far as I'm concerned. I've found it to be an excellent mesh product. While I don't use it as a NAS, have Sonos speakers, or home automation devices on it, just the usual computers, mobile devices, streaming boxes, solar panel monitor, etc. and it has worked well for me. Yes, Asus has put out buggy firmware, but there's also firmware out there that really lets the power of this hardware show through. It's the fastest wifi-6 mesh with wireless backhaul in it's price class, as far as I'm aware. And there are stable releases out there. Personally, I'm giving the latest firmware another shot, myself, and so far it's behaving itself well.

You don't have to block or "prevent" new firmware releases, you can voluntarily install new releases or not, and you can easily revert back to older releases if you feel that you need to do that. I think that I'd feel differently if updating to new firmware releases was forced by Asus, and if you try to revert they would force you back on the latest firmware release. Netgear did that with the Orbi (RBK50), and it was a disaster...there was no way to deal with buggy firmware other than wait for the next release, while using the buggy firmware as well as you could. Terrible. Don't know if Netgear is still doing that, I'm not looking back to find out *smile*.

Do remember that the users that post here are generally the ones having problems. There are a lot of people that don't post that are doing fine with their ZenWiFi AX.

Agreed. I'm currently using XT8 happily. The only cons of Aimesh from dual band router(AX86U) (MAIN) is cant adjust second band channel (5Ghz-1) unless I change the main router to XT8 or AX11000. Hope Asus can add more setting to Aimesh section.

Below is the proof that my XT8 node dont disconnect more than 24hrs on 160MHz channel 100

 

[digits n bits]

I owned an XT8 system from the get go when they were first released. Had it for about six months and grew tired of being a beta tester for it. Buggy firmware one after another, frequent disconnects, wifi speeds were all over the place. Gave up and bought a RT-AX86U. Havent had to touch it except for firmware updates. I can see from the postings not much has changed on the XT8.

 

[boxsystem]

Been a user for a year myself. There was an issue regarding with 1 FW released and causing haywire to my wifi. Downgraded the firmware and I have been a happy camper since. Just upgraded my firmware to the latest version now. Works great so far.

 

[neilybealy]

The latest 43181 firmware for me was awful and I’ve had no issues on 42095

 

[in2ndo]

No, the ZenWiFi AX is not a "POS", at least as far as I'm concerned. I've found it to be an excellent mesh product. While I don't use it as a NAS, have Sonos speakers, or home automation devices on it, just the usual computers, mobile devices, streaming boxes, solar panel monitor, etc. and it has worked well for me. Yes, Asus has put out buggy firmware, but there's also firmware out there that really lets the power of this hardware show through. It's the fastest wifi-6 mesh with wireless backhaul in it's price class, as far as I'm aware. And there are stable releases out there. Personally, I'm giving the latest firmware another shot, myself, and so far it's behaving itself well.

You don't have to block or "prevent" new firmware releases, you can voluntarily install new releases or not, and you can easily revert back to older releases if you feel that you need to do that. I think that I'd feel differently if updating to new firmware releases was forced by Asus, and if you try to revert they would force you back on the latest firmware release. Netgear did that with the Orbi (RBK50), and it was a disaster...there was no way to deal with buggy firmware other than wait for the next release, while using the buggy firmware as well as you could. Terrible. Don't know if Netgear is still doing that, I'm not looking back to find out *smile*.

Do remember that the users that post here are generally the ones having problems. There are a lot of people that don't post that are doing fine with their ZenWiFi AX.

Where did you find the setting to turn off auto update? I don't see it anywhere. not on the iOS app and not on the web interface. the manual has nothing on it.. and neither does google on this specific model.