ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 Tri-Band WiFi6 Mesh WiFiSystem (2Pack), 802.11ax, up to 5700 sq ft & 6+ Rooms, AiMesh, Lifetime Free Internet Security, Parental Controls, 2.5G WAN Port, UNII 4, White

We purchased a new, larger house, and I needed to resolve some coverage and speed issues. My AX86U did an admirable job and while I could have just purchased another, we have some Wifi 7 devices so I figured I'd go ahead and futureproof. I read a lot about my options (primarily Wifi 6E and Wifi 7) on several sites, but ultimately, DongKnowsTech is what convinced me to buy this unit over others. My main reason for writing this review is because there are not many reviews yet, and there are a lot of experiences posted elsewhere that were not good. Based on my experience and what I've read, I believe that this is likely related to bad software on release and has been resolved with firmware updates. Perhaps my experience will help you feel more confident about buying this unit if you are strongly considering it. I was nervous about the setup and performance based on experiences some other people had. The only issue that I had during setup was that the node MUST be close to the main unit when setting it up. Even though they can communicate in different areas of the house, it has a difficult time completing setup if they're not close by and will just flash blue. If you experience this and it's in another room, move it in the same room temporarily to complete setup. Once the setup was complete, I updated firmware on both devices, and updated the MAC address on my ATT Fiber modem which was already in Passthrough mode. Once that was complete, I moved the node upstairs and confirmed that it was working. Since I have ethernet in the room that it's in, I plugged in to utilize ethernet backhaul. I also changed a couple of settings in the Asus router app to prioritize ethernet backhaul over wireless backhaul. Once that was done, I confirmed that I still had a connection upstairs, and the app confirmed that it was using wired backhaul. Ran some speed tests on my phone and I was getting 700+mbps on the unit upstairs on 5ghz. Faster than I expected. Wifi downstairs is just as strong. My office and gaming pcs are plugged in ethernet, and I'm capping out at 900-1000mbps whereas I was previously hitting 600-750mbps. NOTE: I switched out all of my ethernet cables to Cat 6A, so this may have had an impact on speeds. Previously, I had Cat 5E and some cables that were not marked and may have been lower grade. One odd thing that I have run into is that my Bravia 7 does not want to connect to any network that has 2.4, 5, and 6ghz available. If I limit it to 2.4 and 5, or one or the other, OR just 6ghz, it will connect fine. But, it will not connect to a network with all 3 active. For now, I have it on it's own network using 6ghz but I'll have to dig into this. I have not had any issues with any other devices connecting. That includes TVs, Hue bridge/bulbs, tablets, game consoles, soundbars, robot vacuum, smartwatches. Everything is working. Overall, I'm very happy with the product. The setup was painless and though I expected good coverage, the speeds are better than expected. It has the same Asus features that I'm familiar with, without extra fees. The only thing that I'm not happy about is the price. I know it will come down and Wifi7 devices will be cheaper in time, but I needed a solution now and didn't want to re-visit again in a couple of years. Since I used Amazon Rewards, in combination with a lower priced Like New unit with Amazon Resale, the price was quite as hard a pill to swallow.

I bought both the XT9 2-pack in Black and XT9 single-pack in white for a total of 3 node AIMesh network. They all set up reasonably quickly and easily, starting with the one in the two-pack which is clearly marked on the front as the one to start with. Then I added the 1-pack white XT9. I'm not using ethernet backhaul, depending instead on 5G wifi for the backhaul. My internet connection is not that great, so I am not able to really test the 2.5Gbps WAN or LAN aggregation features. My clients are a handful of PCs (variously connected via wifi, wired directly, or wired through a switch), a handful of android mobile devices, smartTVs, and a dozen or more IoTs [thermostate, smart bulbs, etc]). WiFi coverage is pretty good, and the system is fairly powerful in terms of features, although the documentation is not that great. It tells you what you can set, but rarely explains why you would want to make one selection over another. I like that you can admin it via a web-browser, which is one reason I did not go with other brands which require a phone app. That being said there are some features which are only available in the app, and others which are only available in the webUI. For example: In the app, you can set some interesting "parental" controls such as ad blocking, malicious content blocking, etc. The way to do this in the webUI is not very clear or perhaps not even possible. In the WebUI, you can "Manage" the different nodes of the mesh and do things like set the USB port for different purposes. As an example, on one node, I have a USB Drive serving uPnP media service. On another node, a different USB HDD is serving files via Samba and (LAN-restricted) FTP. Some features don't seem to work such as the ability to make the WPS button control the LED. And some of my devices (Smart Bulbs especially) don't seem to bind to the nearest mesh node, instead binding to the farthest one, which surprises me. Another thing that baffles me: 2 of the Cat5e-connected devices on my second node show "yellow" in the app (with vague description and confusing "Things to check"). One is a smartTV and the other is a connect AV-Receiver, both purchased this year. The one wired device showing green is a 10 year old Laptop. One thing I really don't like is that you cannot NAME the different nodes for where they are located. Yes, you can label them (as I've done) for Office, Living Room, and Master Bedroom, but when you see them in a list they all say "ZenWiFi XT9". Overall, this is a powerful system, more powerful than the single-node netgear WiFi router I've been using for years. I'm glad I upgraded!

Additional update: 2-3 weeks after returning the dead router I received an email. They do not have a replacement and are asking if I would accept something different. You know as miss matched hardware in a mesh system works great! And given I have the top of the line I would be getting something less. Please learn from me and avoid this like the plague. I had to pay shipping to send the dead unit back so I am $1k in with a totally unstable system, no mesh, no replacement for the dead unit. And you better know networking well to get it up and running and use a clone MAC address for it to work with at least my ISP. Wish I would have kept the box and sent it back while I had the chance. Update. Set up was not seamless at all. Adding additional networks is easy but unstable. Random drop outs across all networks. If you have something that can only do 2.4 you will need a separate network for this if aggregating the main one (which is a main feature). Used for what 3 weeks and one of the routers is dead. No lights, no body home. For over $900 this is absolutely crazy. Paid the cash so I would have a rock solid system. Threw away the box otherwise I would return this and go through the pain of setting up something else. Like most people buying this the pain is real we have a smart home so maybe 40 devices. Old review: Well I figured this would be plug and play as far as getting the router and node up and running. It was not. Spent 2 hours getting both the router and the node to play nice. Wondering if it threw in a firmware update without me knowing. Finally up and running and the performance so far is good. The mesh is more stable than most looks like it uses the WiFi backbone of you have a cat5 in your walls. I have a g tv in my sunroom that would not work with my prior mesh combo on netgear. Older stuff. With this in the same locations it runs fine. Just hoping it will be stable after the messy setup. I do have the iot running, basically a guest network, with about 20 google devices on it. And unlike others this seems to be working fine. I did add a few things to the static address table too. May update the rating if my confidence goes up in its stability.

I'm using this as an AiMesh node with my main BE98 Pro router. ​The initial setup was a pain, but after it was done, it started working great. A quick tip: I'd recommend setting up three WiFi networks at most. Use the main MLO WiFi for your important devices like your phone, tablet, console and PC. Then, put all your IoT devices (surveillance cameras, smart bulbs, smart TV and etc.) on the separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. ​Also, make sure get rid of any old devices that are still on 802.11ac or older (even some devices using 802.11n). They really do bottleneck your router's bandwidth and slow everything down. ​This router has a lot of great features, and it was easy to set up AdGuard Dns and NordVPN. The speed is super steady and rock-solid. ​The only thing I don't like about these new Asus routers is that you have to reboot the router and all the nodes every single time when you add a new IoT devices. If you don't, it just connects and disconnects over and over. ​ The range for 2.4GHz and 5GHz is really great, but the 6GHz range isn't. If you have a big house with a lot of walls, the 6GHz signal won't be very good. Overall, I recommend this routers. It's pricy but worth to buy it.

Got the 2-pack ZenWiFi BQ 16 Pro for a 180 sqm (2,000 sqft) apartment of anti-seismic construction and a number of sturdy structural walls. Shipped overseas, arrived in 1 week. First off - power brick is auto 110V-230V, NEMA 1-15 (ungrounded) so I could get away with just an adaptor - great! Setup can be frustrating, and this is the only reason I am not giving 5 stars. Initial setup was quick and easy, everything was working 15 minutes out of the box. Mistake #1 was using a test SSID and not the final SSID for the main network, assuming an easy config change. Not so, changing this this led to a further 3-hour fight including several reboots and factory resets until the very same out-of-the-box was achieved again, now with the final main SSID. Mistake #2 was not paying attention and letting one of the units upgrade firmware, but not the other (big no-no these want to be on the same version). Be patient, each reboot/reconfig may take minutes; connecting both units through a LAN cable helped that initial setup. The flashing LED (green/blue/white) is your only guide through this, if you can zen your way beyond a number of 10-minute reboots, you should have no issue. After initial setup moved the nodes to their permanent positions, one with the WAN port, the other at a central location. I was able to configure the new units to mimic the existing SSID setup (main, IoT, guest). WiFi7 main network on 2.4, 5 and 6-1 GHz bands, IoT on 2.4, guest network with AP isolation, MLO backhaul on 5, 6-1 and 6-2 GHz. No SNMP? Hm. Works like a charm, no issues with stability so far and internet is blazing fast. Coverage is very good and I have not yet found a single of our old devices unable to connect, to the extent that the old APs have remained unneeded and unpowered. Very happy with the purchase, will keep tweaking and testing the limits. As mentioned earlier, setup can be frustrating but if you can muster enough patience, it is a very good unit.

I have been an ASUS for years and have always been quite satisfied, so I thought I would upgrade to their wifi 7 system. What a mistake. It would not hold a connection and will not restore the connection after an outage. The only change I made was to the router, no other changes, so nothing else was causing the problem. I returned it, and went with this newer Asus wifi 6 (AX7800), it matches the speed of the wifi 7 and has worked flawlessly since I installed it nearly a month ago. I highly recommend this router.

Review Asus ZENWiFi XT9 This is a review of the 2 unit Mesh system: a router and a node. Asus has done an excellent job of making a very sophisticated system easy to use for the novice. But if you are not a WiFi expert you can get into trouble quick. Fortunately, I do have a good deal of knowledge about these things, but I am far from the “know-it-all” status. I consider Asus the Lexus of computers and WiFi systems. In my opinion it is premium quality equipment. If you are buying a product like this there are some things, you should know. The 5 GHz band, from 5.1 through 5.9 it is a wild and crazy world, it is not completely regulated and there are no real solid rules and regulations to live by. Each company making a mesh system has some flexibility on how they can implement their system in this very undefined area, the 5 GHz band. I selected this system because it seems to be the best WiFi 6 and complete Mesh system out there. I did not feel the WiFi 6e, 7, or 8 is ready for me, maybe 6 or more years down the road. Things you need to know: 1. Model and serial numbers. The Model and serial numbers are on the outside of the box for the two pack – router and node. Those box numbers are used for warranty and registration. 2. Use the Asus Router App on your phone to set it up, you can use the Web Gui later for regular maintenance and adjustments after your system is up and running. 3. Intel WiFi Driver fact sheet “Advanced WiFi Helper Tip” – pay attention to it. It may be very important to you, so do not overlook it. There is no mention of it in the instructions or on the Asus web site, that I know of. I recommend using the Intel WiFi Driver check-up from the Intel download center even if your WiFi card is not listed. That automatic checking by Intel seems to work perfectly and it may improve your laptops. First Set-Up out of the box: This mesh system will establish a WiFi backhaul first. That is accomplished with the second 5-GHz Band, it has the 4x4 antenna and it is 100% rock solid and fast. If you can, I suggest you run it that way at least a couple of days before going to ethernet backhaul. I will venture to say most users will continue in that manner; after all it is an exceptionally strong WiFi backhaul, with only one caveat that I am aware of. As I understand it, the first 5-GHz Bank only has a 2x2 antenna (the caveat). I wanted the absolute maximum speed for all WiFi clients that needed it, so I went with Ethernet backhaul. Now WiFi clients that need the fastest speed, have it with the second 5-GHz band. There are way too many “pros” to list for this product, most of them you will see in the sales literature. Some biggies are: Trend Micro built in. 4 ethernet ports on router and node. USB ports on both units, back up media, or print servers, and many more. A GUI interface that is Top Drawer. Cons: No detailed and complete instruction manual, thus nothing is cataloged or indexed. The Asus web site only provides about half what you may search for. I get better results by doing an internet search, which will often take me to Asus for details on the product. It is odd that Asus does not provide that directly. However, the WEB Gui Links for specific support topics will usually answer about 80% of your questions in a detailed manner. It would be nice if both 5-GHz Bands had the 4x4 antenna. I think you can get that in their products that cost a lot more. DFS, this is part of the non-structured, partially regulated, and unregulated, mess of the 5-GHz world. It appears that Asus has done a very good job to work around the madness. So far, I have had only “one” occurrence when the second 5-GHz band went off-line. It could have been a radar (of any source), it could have been a neighbor next door, or it could have been a result of my “fine” tunning. As of now, it appears that the Asus “auto” mode of channel selection has found a way to bypass the radar issues, only time will tell if that is a true statement. I used a defined SSID for each of the three bands, that is I did not use “Smart Connect” after going to ethernet backhaul. This allowed me to “target” my three bands. For your heavy-duty WiFi Laptops using the 4x4 mode this could make a big difference in the speed. YMMV. I strongly recommend this product.

Tons of connection issues, especially with IoT 2.4ghz devices and older wifi standard devices. I'm coming from an older ASUS zenwifi product that had 2 nodes, so I was already used to using the app and setting up my network. Everything went smoothly until I noticed that my cameras and garage opener would randomly disconnect throughout the day. Rebooting the routers (I have 2 nodes again) would resolve the issue for a few hours, but it would never complete solve it. I created a separate IoT network and disabled the 5ghz band on it, and manually linked each device to the node that was physically closer to it. No measurable difference. I feel bad about giving it a bad review, since my phone and PC get about 90% of my rated bandwidth from my ISP everywhere in my house and even outside of it, but the hassle with all the IoT devices that I had no issues with on my older routers is a complete killer for me. Hopefully ASUS will fix the issue in am update soon. Looks like this issue is pretty widespread, and I'm not the only one who's complaining about it.