ASUS ZenWiFi BT8 (3-Pack) Tri-Band WiFi 7 Mesh, 14 Gbps, 8850 sq.ft, Dual 2.5G Ports, Security and Parental Controls Included, Smart Home Master SSIDs, 4G & 5G Mobile Tethering

I replaced my aging Google Mesh WiFi system with the ASUS ZenWiFi BT8, 3 pack. I have a 2 GB internet speed for my home internet and this ASUS system is more than capable of supporting those speeds. For wired connections or wireless connections, this product achieves those speeds, so you can actually use the speed you're paying for. The setup was fairly simple and I was pleased to discover that I could set up a legacy WiFi network for older devices that aren't compatible with 5 or 6 GHz WiFi networks.

Used to run asus routers, loved them then jumped to another brand for mesh as asus's offerings weren't strong yet. That router went end of life so back to alot of researching. My gripe with how the router market has developed is that they have either dumbed down all the admin features so you don't have many choices (or only make available in their business models for another $1,000), or make you pay subscription for basic firewall capability, or are made by a Chinese company where you may get some features you don't want (backdoors).Well, after researching Asus's offerings for mesh have matured a lot, and their philosophy to let you admin stuff the way you want hasn't (good thing) while not charging you for firewall and security protection built in. Yeah, it may be a more expensive product than others but do the match on that subscription or having to buy a firewall to put in front of it and its a deal.Anyhow, setup was super smooth. Performance is delightful. Speed is super fast and very stable. Note, I have two levels, basement, storage, and 2 foot thick brick walls that my last mesh router hlcould barely give me a signal through (getting 200 maps in my "bad spots now). The freedom only admin controls also means I can create segments, manually prioritize, create white lists, and not only have an iot network but choose which satellite and band they connect to (others force this and created so many headaches and security issues).I stretched my budget on this but given i rely on this and generally keep my routers until end of life, this wifi 7 router is pretty cheap after I do the math per year compared to competing models with a cheaper up front cost but more expensive size in long run that limit function. Anyhow, super happy. Happy to be back at Asus.

Poor connection between units. Signal drops between units all the time. Devices on wifi randomly slow to a crawl. No joke, I have better more reliable coverage with my Orbi RBK20 setup from 2018! I need a mesh system with 2.5g ports minimum and USB C for a media server so I was super excited for this but it is either not ready software wise or the hardware has faults that they can't program around. You can see people with the same struggles on forums so it's not a case of me just getting a lemon.Asus used to be one of the best in the business but over the past five or so years their quality has taken a noticeable turn for the worse. I've build custom PCs for two decades now and Asus was my go to motherboard and router brand but now it looks like I have to find a brand to replace them with.TL;DR bad hardware and software - don't buy. Also, way too expensive for what you get - 1 gigabit ports shouldn't exist at this price point.

Replacing an Archer AX50 that wasn't terrible, hoping to fill in a dead spot in my 2nd floor. My first try was a GT-BE98, a huge spider like monstrosity with humongous antennas. Unfortunately, despite the huge antennas, the reception on it was barely better than my old Archer, so that monstrosity went back.Was hoping the mesh system of the BT8 would be better. Unfortunately it was quite a bit worse.1) Antenna reception was awful resulting in many issues such as first floor coverage was very bad. I room away with a half bathroom in between I was getting -70dbm where my old Archer would be at -60-65dbm. So now I would have to consider more mesh nodes for my first floor.2) Again because the antenna reception was poor I had a hard time finding a place to put the mesh nodes. I put them centrally, one in the basement and one on the 2nd floor, but they constantly disconnected from the main unit. The Asus router website said one mesh was at -52dbm with a "great" signal, meanwhile my handheld gauge showed it at -65dbm, and it would constantly disconnect. Running wires for a wired backhaul is one option, although due to the next issue this was not a solution.3) Devices would not switch mesh nodes, even when signal was awful, they would persist with a unit that had poor coverage and result in things such as slow speeds, wifi calls dropping, etc.4) Asus website is awful, you can't sign in because it won't accept your password. When you force a password reset it won't accept your password even though you are following their protocol. Seems like a known issue doing a search. Couldn't even get online for tech support or registration.Overall not a good choice, I'm better off keeping my Archer AX50 and getting an access point, although the reason I didn't do that was I wanted seamless roaming. Back to the drawing board.

Excellent system. I have been running this system for about 2 weeks and haven't experienced any software/firmware issues that apparently plagued asus bt series routers when they were first released a year and a half ago or so.This system has eliminated all dead spots in the house and the speeds are incredibly fast using wireless backhaul.I highly recommend.