The Asus ZenWiFi XT9 is a Wi-Fi 6 mesh system made up of several routers, or nodes, intended to deliver lightning-fast Wi-Fi—more than 1 gigabit per second—throughout your house. With its simple setup process, intuitive features, and close-quarters gigabit speeds, Asus’s ZenWiFi XT9 is an excellent choice. Big residences will have to dig deep, though, because additional nodes are pricey. Get more in Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system review.
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system review on YouTube video
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800
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Pros & Cons
Pros
- Multi-gig WAN/LAN
- 6GHz-capable
- Built-in VPN and parental controls
- Supports 2.5 Gigabit broadband connections
- Free parental controls
Cons
- Not Wi-Fi 6E
- Non-adjustable antennas
- 6GHz range is limited
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 Specs
- Dimensions: 160 x 750 x 161.5 mm
- Weight: 740g
- 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) tri-band AX7800 (2.4GHz up to 574 Mbps, 5GHz up to 2402 Mbps, backhaul 5GHz up to 4804 Mbps)
- MU-MIMO & OFDMA
- 1 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet WAN port
- 3 x gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
- Type-A USB 3.2
- Remote control and management via Asus Router app (iOS, Android)
- Guest Wi-Fi
- Parental controls
- Wi-Fi management
- IPv4, IPv6
- WPA/WPA2 hybrid
- WPA3
Price
As of this writing, a single Asus ZenWiFi XT9 unit costs £234.99 / US$239.99, while a 2-pack costs approximately £459.99 / US$449.99.
Compare Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system
| ASUS ZenWiFi XT9 | ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $329.99 | $299.99 |
| Wireless Communication Standard | IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ax | IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ax |
| I/O ports | ．2.5G WAN x 1 ． RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps LAN x 3 ． USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 | ．2.5G WAN x 1 ． RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps LAN x 3 ． USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 |
| Frequency Band Class | Tri-Band | Tri-Band |
| Antenna | Internal antenna x6 | Internal antenna x6 |
| Memory | ．256 MB Flash ．512 MB RAM | ．256 MB Flash ．512 MB RAM |
| Control Method | ． ASUS Web GUI ． App | ． ASUS Web GUI ． App |
| Size | 16 x 7.5 x 16.15 cm | 16 x 7.5 x 16.15 cm |
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Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system review
Design
Because both XT9 mesh routers and the previous XT8 share a thin, upright form, each router can accommodate six internal antennae to increase Wi-Fi signal propagation.The Asus ZenWiFi XT9s are slightly larger than the Eero 6 Pro or D-Link M15 hardware, but slightly smaller than the Netgear Orbi RBK760 and Linksys Atlas 6. Their measurements are 160 x 750 x 161.5 mm.
Ports
The XT9 features three Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired connections in addition to a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet (WAN) port for high-speed broadband connections to maximize that performance. You can even attach a hard drive or other storage device to the USB-A 3.2 port so that it can be shared with other network users.
Consoles, set-top boxes, and smart TVs can all benefit from faster connections thanks to the three gigabit Ethernet LAN ports—one of which will be used if you use Ethernet backhaul—and the USB port, which can be used to connect a NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive if you want to allow users on your network to share access to an external hard drive.
Tri-band
Because this is a fast tri-band system, your phones, tablets, and laptops can connect to the Internet on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, while the Asus ZenWiFi XT9 units can only interact on a separate 5GHz band.
Coverage
You can easily purchase a single XT9 device and use it as a stand-alone Wi-Fi 6 router. Up to 2850 square feet, or 264.77 square meters, of coverage are guaranteed by each device.
WiFi chip
A 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB of flash memory, and 512MB of DDR4 RAM are used by the RT-AXE7800. All of the most recent 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) features are supported, including as 160MHz channel bandwidth, WPA3 encryption, MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming, OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) transmissions, and direct-to-client beamforming.
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 app
A QR code that links the two XT9 routers together, verifies your Internet connection, and links your iOS or Android device to the new network is one, while another allows you to download the Asus Router app for iOS and Android.
Your new Wi-Fi network does require a name (SSID) and password creation. Standard features offered by the app include a guest network and the capacity to prioritize certain apps for optimal performance, such gaming or streaming videos.
Its strong parental controls, which include content filters that can block inappropriate content, also made us happy. In contrast to several competing routers that charge a monthly subscription fee for parental controls, these filters are also free of cost.
Trend Micro-powered AiProtection offers real-time network monitoring along with security advice for your home network. From simple fixes like changing your password if it’s not strong enough to more complex fixes like turning off UPnP if you really don’t need it, AiProtection has you covered.
You can establish age-based user profiles with filter settings like Preschooler, School-Aged Child, Teen, and Adult when you click the Family option. You can set up access schedules and personalize content filters here to prevent access to websites that promote violence, gambling, video streaming, instant messaging, and other offensive content.
There is also some integration with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants, the most useful commands are the ones where you can ask Alexa or Google to enable Guest Wi-Fi or powercycle the devices.
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system performance review
The theoretical top speed possible on the 5GHz band is 2402Mbps, with the maximum speed you can expect to see on the 2.4GHz band being 574Mbps. The second 5GHz band’s top speed is 4804Mbps – but unless you have Ethernet backhaul set up, that radio will be used for the ZenWiFi XT9 nodes to communicate with each other.
Once again, even on the slower 2.4GHz band, we are able to achieve smooth, consistent rates of 150Mbps and 19Mb/s for Ookla and Steam with one Asus ZenWifi XT9 connected to our router and the second halfway along that corridor.
The RT-AXE7800 achieved a close-proximity test score of 921Mbps while using the 6GHz band. That tied the TP-Link Archer AXE75 and outperformed the MSI Radix AXE6600 (858Mbps), but it was just barely inferior to the Linksys Hydra Pro 6E (927Mbps). The RT-AXE7800 transmitted at a distance of 30 feet at 175Mbps. The TP-Link Archer AXE75 and Linksys Hydra Pro 6E scored 397Mbps and 379Mbps, respectively, while the MSI Radix AXE6600 scored 146Mbps.
Asus ZenWiFi XT9 AX7800 tri-band WiFi6 mesh WiFi system Consumer reviews
This mesh router system lives up to the hype
Dare I say that this mesh system lives up to the hype? Yes, it does! I’ve been playing around with home networking for 20 years. In the last 5 years or so, I’ve tried a number of different mesh systems. Some were dual band and a few tri band. I’ve always run into a problems, however. Sometimes the setup was so simple, but the system just didn’t deliver whether it was throughput or range. Some systems were just downright crap to set up and failed to stay connected or had devices just randomly drop off. I YouTube’d a lot of mesh wifi systems and the Asus XT9 would come up often and almost every review as positive. I couldn’t tell what was accurate or truthful and so I decided to buy it myself and test it out. I have to say that the real world use is the best mesh wifi router I’ve ever set up. The only issue I had was upon the initial setup where the main router found new firmware and updated but the second node did not update to the newest firmware and the node disconnected. I had to reset the node and then it finally connected. The range is very good and I can get a decent signal almost 100 feet away from the main router outside my house. When inside my 2800 square foot house, I’m getting very close to my 300/300 speeds on wifi. The network hasn’t disconnected and I have close to 50 devices connected. The app is very good and the web interface is great. So many ways to view all of the options this system has.
By Techman101 at Best Buy
