ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) AX6600 WiFi 6 Mesh System
With its tri-band design and Wi-Fi 6 performance, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) comes through with the ability to fill a moderate-sized home with wireless data. It may not be the fastest mesh kit, but the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8)’s two-year warranty and built-in security can give a family network “administrator” the peace of mind that the data will get through.
ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) Feature:
The two-device ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) system consists of two identical nodes that will provide coverage in homes of as high as 5,500 square feet (Asus rates each node as covering 2,750 square feet). Available in black or white, the nodes have a flattened cylinder shape similar to the Netgear Orbi RBK850 nodes, but at 6.3 by 6.2 by 2.9 inches (HWD) they are shorter and slightly thinner than the 8.8-by-6.7- by -3.1- inch Orbi.
There’s a small LED indicator on the front of the enclosure that glows blue during setup, white when the satellite node has a strong wireless signal with the router, yellow when there’s a weak signal, and red when the signal is lost. Grillwork on either side of the enclosure provides airflow for internal components. Around back are three wired Gigabit Ethernet ports, a 2.5 G LAN port, a USB 3.1 port, a power switch, and a power jack. The LAN ports can be used for Ethernet backhaul if you prefer to keep the 5GHz Wi-Fi bands open for client use, or you can dedicate the second 5GHz band for backhaul.
The XT8 is a Wi-Fi 6 system that uses the newest 802.11 ax technology. It supports WPA3 encryption, 1024 QAM, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) data transmissions, 20/40/80/ 160 MHz bandwidth, MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming, and direct to client signal beamforming. ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8)’s a tri-band AX6600 system that can reach max data rates of as high as 574Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 1201Mbps on one of the 5GHz bands, and 4804Mbps on the second 5GHz band. Each node is equipped with six internal antennas, a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU, 512MB of RAM, and 256MB of flash memory.
ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) Spec:
| Model Name | ASUS ZenWiFi AX XT8 (B-2-PK) XT8 (W-1-PK) XT8 (B-1-PK) XT8 (W-2-PK) |
| Network Standard | IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g WiFi 4 (802.11n) WiFi 5 (802.11ac) WiFi 6 (802.11ax) IPv4 IPv6 |
| Product Segment | AX6600 ultimate AX performance：574+1201+4804Mbps |
| Data Rate | 802.11a : up to 54 Mbps 802.11b : up to 11 Mbps 802.11g : up to 54 Mbps WiFi 4 (802.11n) : up to 300 Mbps WiFi 5 (802.11ac) (1024QAM) : up to 4333 Mbps WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (2.4GHz) : up to 574 Mbps WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-1) : up to 1201 Mbps WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-2) : up to 4804 Mbps |
| Antenna | Internal antenna x 6 |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz quad-core processor |
| Transmit/Receive | 2.4GHz 2×2 5GHz-1 2×2 5GHz-2 4×4 |
| Memory | 256 MB Flash 512 MB RAM |
| Ports | RJ45 for 2.5G BaseT for WAN x 1, RJ45 for Gigabits BaseT for LAN x 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 x 1 |
| Package content | ZenWiFi AX RJ-45 Cable Power Adapter Quick Start Guide Warranty Card |
ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) Performance
Throughout most of our testing, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) trailed the larger Orbi RBK852 or the smaller TP-Link Deco X20 in our series of tests using Ixia’s IxChariot benchmark software that simulated a busy network in my 100-year old 3,500 square foot home. It hit a peak throughput of 701Mbps at 15-feet, easily besting Wi-Fi 5 gear but well behind the Orbi RBK852 (883.6 Mbps) at the same distance. It, however, bested the TP-Link Deco X20’s 622.1 Mbps.
At 50-feet, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) (136Mbps) took the lead over the Netgear Orbi RBK852 kit (124.5 Mbps), though the TP-Link Deco X20 (255.4 Mbps) was the midrange champ. At 75-feet, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) (6.3 Mbps) was close to disconnected and lost contact with our host router at 80-feet, 15-feet short of the Deco X20’s range. By contrast, the Orbi RBK852 and Deco X20 pushed upwards of 85.9 Mbps and 112.7 Mbps, respectively.
Along the way, theASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) lacked the ability to send a strong signal through an obstruction, with the mesh kit delivering 421.1 Mbps through a wall 20 feet from the host router. Under the same conditions, the Netgear Orbi RBK852 moved 782.9 Mbps and the Arris SURFboard mAX Pro managed 692.2 Mbps. The ZenWiFi AX (389.3 MBps) was again second to the Netgear Orbi RBK852 (670.1 Mbps) when it came to sending a signal upstairs.
It all came together for the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) kit when we set it up as a mesh network on the same floor. In the final analysis the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) wasn’t strong enough to fill my 3,500 home, but adding a second satellite might have helped.
When the data packets were bouncing back and forth, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) used 15.4 watts of power and never got more than warm to the touch. It all adds up to an estimated $35.10 of extra electricity bills, versus $24.40 for the Netgear Orbi RBK852 set.
It ran without a problem for a week, distributing emails, music, videos and the occasional gaming session. There was no problem with our informal saturation test where I watched high-quality video on an iPad Pro tablet as a Macbook Air played an Internet radio station, a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 displayed videos and an HP Elite Dragonfly notebook moved data onto and off of a network-attached RAID storage system.
Verdict
The Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) is a whole home Wi-Fi 6 mesh system equipped with the latest 802.11 ax hardware. It delivered speedy throughput in our testing and provides tough parental controls, anti-malware software, and a 2.5 G LAN port.
With tri-band Wi-Fi 6, the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) is able to create a high-speed ‘backhaul’ that connects the two mesh routers, while still providing 2.4 GHz and 5.0 Ghz bands for high-speed video gaming, streaming, and music.
