ASUSZenWiFi AX6600 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8 1PK) - Whole Home Coverage up to 2750 sq.ft & 4+ rooms, AiMesh, Included Lifetime Internet Security, Easy Setup, 3 SSID, Parental Control, Charcoal

I wanted to replace my old Linksys ( WRT1900AC ) with a faster ( AX ) router. So I bought the Linksys MR9600 and it performed so poorly ( hard to set up and very weak signals ) that I gave up on Linksys. Then bought the Asus XT8.Couldn't be happier. Easy to install the router and set up using the web browser interface. And it gave stronger signals housewide than any of my previous routers. Also very easy to add additional AiMesh routers as nodes.But. I had bought the combo XT8, with three routers. What to do? Turned out I didn't need the AiMesh system for improved signal strength, but I discovered a feature that I absolutely love. Namely, you can set up a Aimesh system with multiple routers and then use either wireless or wired connections for computers at the router and/or at any node. In this way I was able to have a wireless network with some of my computers connected via ethernet cable in various rooms without the nodes being connected with cables. The throughput is FAST. And when hard-wired with the proper CAT6 or better cable, it is faster than my computer's AC network adapter.Please note that this system has three channels, 1 at 2.4 GHz and 2 at 5 GHz. You can set up separate networks or a smart network ( or both, using guest networks ( with or without passwords )). But when you use AiMesh to connect the router to nodes, it uses the second 5 GHz channel for backhauling. If you are using a "smart" network and log on from a wireless computer, the "system" will determine the channel and ( if using AiMesh ) the node. With separate networks you can force a given connection to either 2.4 o5 5 GHz.You can also block internet access by device. For example I have several NAS drives connected to the router that I don't want to have internet access.Lots of other features I have not explored.Five stars. Even with several couple of quirks ( minor flaws ).First is that while you can add a USB drive to any router or node, the firmware will only allow you to configure and dismount a USB drive connected to the router, not one connected to a node. If the drive is connected to a node, you have to power off the node before safely removing the USB drive. The USB drive works fine connected to a node, with these limitations. I can live with that.Second, the router sometimes forgets the names of computers connected to the network. Doesn't have any operational impact. Just keep track of the IP addresses and enter the name of the computer yourself, or wait until the "mystery" device is powered on again or the system reboots ? Or don't worry about it.Bottom line is ... I like it so much I am going to buy a fourth XT8 as a third node to place upstairs for my daughter when she visits. Not for the improved signal strength ( which is significant ), but so she can plug in her computer and get faster data transfers.

Got this to replace a 5 year old d-link wifi5 (wireless ac) triband 3600 router with an awful Netgear extender (never found a single Netgear networking item that works after 20+ years of giving them chances, so even if you don't go with Asus, do NOT go with Netgear. They truly make some of the worst wireless solutions out there). The D-link router was great (and on its own had a noticeably better range than one of these), but I needed a better whole-house solution, so I went with this.Overall, I am happy with it. It provides solid speeds throughout the areas it covers, remains stable without requiring frequent reboots (the Netgear extender required reboots every few days, so this is a huge plus), has a really nice interface in the android app to easily control everything you would need to control, and supports a very robust smart home network (I have 40+ devices connected, so the older wireless ac router + extender would start dropping devices over 20 or so then crash and require reboots, another huge plus to this upgrade).The only things I have to complain about are two things that are specifically advertised as perks of a mesh network, and this device in particular, that don't really come through, even with latest firmware updates:1. Devices in a mesh network are supposed to seamlessly move from node to node. I always hated having to manually switch my phone from the router to the extender and back as I moved through the house. Unfortunately, that has not changed. This network does NOT move my phone from one node to another automatically. I get "no internet" errors (even though it shows a strong wifi connection tray icon, yet the app shows an awful signal strength but still doesn't switch to a closer node), and have to disable and re-enable wifi on the phone to get it to switch nodes (the asus app has a reconnect option, but this just causes it to reconnect to the same crappy signal node). My phone is a fully wifi6 compatible galaxy s10+, so I am inclined to think it is the network, and not the phone, but I cannot say for sure without other test devices.2. The advertised coverage of 5000 sq feet for 2 units is laugable. Its a lie. I know companies use wordage like "up to" or "under ideal conditions" but it is still a flat out lie unless maybe you are using this outside in an open field, and not inside of your home. I had to get 3 units to cover 4300 sq feet and still have a spot at the edge of the house where I lose signal. I live in the woods with no neighbors or interference whatsoever in a regular modern wood construction home, so I should be getting close to maximum advertised coverage, but it doesn't even come close. I do have 3 floors, so maybe that's it. I needed one unit per floor centrally located to cover almost the whole house and a little bit of the yard outside. The bright side is that you can add however many nodes you need to expand your coverage, but I just don't like such horribly overexaggerated numbers to get you to buy the product then sink more money into expanding it. It is, however, excellent for anything that is within range, and worth the cost of expansion, so that is what you will likely find yourself doing instead of returning it if your coverage is underwhelming. I just get irked by inaccurate or misleading advertising is all, and I know many others do as well, which is why I am making a note of it here.So in the end, I DO fully recommend this system, as it performs extremely well in most ways, and honestly the competition probably has even more small issues (its just the nature of ALL wireless tech). I get my full 300 mbps internet speed, and far higher internal network speeds that are often only limited by the speeds of my hard drives (well, except the m2 nvme, but I do have 2 of the nodes and 2 media/file storing/sharing PCs hardwired to allow full speeds to the wireless devices accessing them). It is excellent for a smart home full of echo devices (or your ecosystem of choice), smart switches, smart outlets, multiple phones, desktops, laptops, smart bulbs, etc. Again, 40+ devices without a hiccup and never having to reboot with full speeds everywhere is about as good as it gets with wireless tech even if there are those couple of small gripes above.Also worth noting is that all of my Asus products have lasted forever in the sense that I only ever have to retire them for new tech. I have never had a single asus product fail in 20+ years of building computers and playing with tech (which is more than I can say about some other companies - looking at you Netgear, Seagate, Western Digital, Epson, Lexmark, HTC, and Optima) so that is also a huge selling point for me as a loyal Asus customer year after year.December 2023 UPDATE - This mesh system is still going strong. I am now up to 120 devices on the network without a hitch and my newer upgraded Verizon gigabit internet that has been solid (Verizon plugs right into this from the box in the basement without a need for one of their routers for internet-only service). I still have issues with my phone properly jumping from node to node causing me to miss WiFi calls sometimes, but other than that, it remains excellent. I have only had to reboot the main router twice in the past 2 years to restore functionality to a couple of dropped devices that couldn't re-negotiate a connection to the network. This is by far the single most stable wireless network I have ever experienced since WiFi began oh so many years ago and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a headache-free wireless networking solution.