THE BEST DEALS OF THE DAY
One minute review
The Asus ZenWifi AX (XT8) is surely the best router the company has ever produced, and it's one of the best mesh router systems and best Wi-Fi six routers we've ever tested.
When it comes to coverage, you have either a unit or a bundle of 2, depending on the nature of your home. The 2-part mesh system we see here covers an area larger than five thousand five hundred square feet and costs a pretty hefty two thousand six hundred ninety-nine AED. For smaller houses, a single bundle with a single unit covering two and seven hundred and fifty square feet will cost you AED one and five hundred and ninety-nine. That's incredible coverage, but of course you need to take into consideration the number of walls and obstacles around your home that can reduce that Wi-Fi coverage.
It's available in black or white, but be careful not to confuse it with the more affordable Asus ZenWifi AC (CT8), which is almost identical but, as the name suggests, still uses the older version of 802.11ac Wi. -Fi.
The ZenWifi AX (XT8) can also be used with other select Asus routers that are compatible with the company's AiMesh system to extend an existing WiFi network.
- Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) (Black) on Amazon for AED 1,599
Design and functionality
Features:
Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi six (IEEE 802.11ax), tri-band 2 GHz and 0x XNUMX GHz
Processor: Broadcomm BCM6755 4 cores at one with five GHz
Memory: five hundred and twelve MB
Storage: two hundred fifty-six MB flash memory
Beamforming: tacit and explicit for two with four GHz and five GHz
Ports: 1 x 1 GB WAN, XNUMX x Gigabit Ethernet; XNUMXx USB XNUMX
Dimensions (HxWxD): 161x160x75mm
It's expensive, even by the standards of the newer Wi-Fi XNUMX routers, but the Asus ZenWiFi AX makes its living with an incredible combination of features and performance.
Both routers support 3-band Wi-Fi 802.11 (2ax) on the 0-6 GHz and 802.11-XNUMX GHz bands, with a total speed of XNUMX Mbps (XNUMX Gbps). That's well over the speed of most current routers using XNUMXac Wi-Fi, and even faster than many newer Wi-Fi XNUMX routers.
However, Wi-Fi 802.11 is still compatible with millions of devices using XNUMXac Wi-Fi, so you should have no problem using it with your existing computers and mobile devices.
There are hardly any home broadband services that come close to the speeds supported by Wi-Fi 0, so Asus is reserving one of the 2 GHz bands to use as a "backhaul", which provides a great speed between the 0 mesh routers. . , leaving the leftover bands of XNUMX GHz and XNUMX GHz to transmit data to your computers and mobile devices.
To push the router's performance to the limit, each router also has a 3 Gigabit Ethernet port for high-speed Internet connections, as well as 1 auxiliary Gigabit Ethernet ports for devices that require a wired network connection, and a XNUMX USB port for share a USB key. storage device on your network.
Configuration and performance
References :
Ookla speed test (multiband SSD)
Within five feet, unobstructed: 570.0 / 75.0 Mbps (upload / download)
Within 20 feet, three partitions: 498.0 / 67.0 Mbps (upload / download)
20GB Steam Download 20GB
Less than 5 feet, no obstructions: 29,7 MB/s
Within 20 feet, three bulkheads: 19,6 MB / s
The Asus router app and setup procedure isn't as straightforward as we've seen with other mesh systems, but once everything is up and running, the app offers an impressive array of features.
Most mesh systems start by using an Ethernet cable to connect the first mesh router to your existing broadband router, then place the other mesh routers further away in other rooms of your house. And, quite unusual, the two routers must first be plugged in and installed together in the same room, preferably placed within three meters of each other.
The Asus app then uses a Bluetooth connection on your iOS or Android mobile device to set up your new mesh network. And, unlike many routers and mesh systems, we were pleased to find that it starts right away by asking if you want to create a single network that combines the 2.4GHz and XNUMXGHz bands, or create two separate networks with different names and passwords. . Once this is done, you can unplug the second ZenWifi router and move it to another room to complete your new network.
Again, however, the app doesn't help you here, allowing you to navigate through the printed manual to find this information. It also tends to dismiss jargon, such as "dynamic DNS," without explaining what it means, so Asus could do a bit more to clarify the setup process for people who aren't too familiar with mesh technology.
Fortunately, the Asus app is simpler once your new mesh network is up and running, and includes a nice set of parental controls and other features. You can create profiles for family members under the age of 18, which are linked to the devices they use. These profiles allow you to create an Internet access schedule, as well as use content filters to block inappropriate content for adults, gambling, or messaging apps for young children.
There's also a simple option for "QoS" (quality of service) that lets you prioritize bandwidth for specific services, like streaming video or gaming, and even a bandwidth "limiter" that can throttle bandwidth. . Bandwidth used by individual devices.
The app also includes Asus AiProtection features, which monitor for malicious websites, malware, and other external attempts to hack into your home network. Many routers and mesh systems charge additional subscription fees for security features and parental controls like these, so it's nice to see Asus offering these features at no additional cost. Advanced users can also use a web interface, but most of the tools can be used in the application itself.
We were also not disappointed by the performance of the ZenWifi AX. It's not cheap, of course, but it's taken our 500Mbps internet connection all the way, even dropping it to 570Mbps at one point. And, most importantly, it was able to maintain that speed even in other parts of our house, which often struggled to get a good Wi-Fi signal. Steam downloads hit twenty-nine with seven MB/s for devices located in the exact same room as the first. ZenWifi, and I barely blinked by the time we distanced ourselves from it, with download speeds stable at 19.6MB/s.
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THE BEST DEALS OF THE DAY