[Maylyn - Networking] ASUS ZenWiFi XT8

[Dominick Morrone]

Been out for a while now, any long term impressions? Interested in picking up a pair but it looks like the firmware is still a work in progress?

Had issues with dropouts but went back to the 2nd firmware update and now works perfectly.

 

[Everbrave]

ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 has landed

Do note that it's not up for retail market as yet and please wait for respective region ASUS office to make the official announcement (availability and pricing) in due time.

Official ASUS Global landing page

@ ~> https://www.asus.com/Mesh-WiFi-System/ZenWiFi-AX-XT8/

Do bear in mind, I will have to take some time to setup, bench and test so will take a while to update my findings.

So stay tuned.

Hi, do you, or anybody else, know the meaning of the solid green stars LED? It used to be white! Otherwise, everything seems to work normally!
Thanks

 

[slud]

I've had a lot of drop outs on the node with the latest firmware. Quite frustrating really, should be getting better not worse.
The support from Asus is also embarassingly poor - their response was to return it!

 

[Boffinboy]

I am having issues with connected devices not having internet access - anyone have similar? I posted a specific thread

 

[raven-au]

I am having issues with connected devices not having internet access - anyone have similar? I posted a specific thread

When I was using the AX11000 as the main router I started having lots of problems like that.
At times it would take me up to an hour or more to get it working again.

I got the impression it was a switch problem possibly in combination with client vpn use, I may have had two clients and that might have contributed to the problem.

Perhaps a full factory reset would have sorted it out but I got an AX88U, put Merlin on it, and made the AX11000 an AiMesh node placed in the center of the house and it's working well for now.

 

[3BDesign]

I’ve got an odd situation here.
I’m living next door to my parents and since any proper internet connection here costs 65€ (with digital TV 85€ even), I’ve installed a WiFi bridge between the 2 houses using 2 RT-AC87U’s. This works most of the time, but only on the 2,4 band, the 5GHz looses connection after a while. The link speed shown on the webpage of the receiver is showing a link speed of, 52 Mbps, which isn’t much considering the internet connection has a downloadspeed of 300Mbps.

I’ve just ordered and received a pair of XT8’s to replace the WiFi bridge with an AiMesh. Will this be possible?
The AP unit would be in my parents house in the room closest to my house, the node would be in my house again in the room closest the my parents house. Total distance to cover is +/-30m with one brick wall on each side, the rest is just a lawn in between and a fence...

What are your thoughts, will this work? I refuse to dig a trench and put a UTP cable in between, since there’s a height difference between the 2 properties...

 

[OzarkEdge]

I’ve just ordered and received a pair of XT8’s to replace the WiFi bridge with an AiMesh. Will this be possible?

Let us know!

I have a 77' wireless AiMesh backhaul between two AC86Us, -72 dBm, 500-800 Mbps Tx/Rx... spanning two brick walls. These 86Us probably have better range than your 87Us.

OE

 

[3BDesign]

Let us know!

I have a 77' wireless AiMesh backhaul between two AC86Us, -72 dBm, 500-800 Mbps Tx/Rx... spanning two brick walls. These 86Us probably have better range than your 87Us.

OE

The 87U’s have been installed for several years, so it did kind of work good, only at terrible speeds.
I’m hoping the set of XT8’s will perform better...

 

[3BDesign]

Installed the XT8’s and the signal strength is showing weak, -85dBm. I’m not able to see the Tx/Rx speeds. So I’m not able to tell what is qualified as weak...
Where can you find this?

 

[Bandito]

Here is a table that addresses WiFi signal strengths:

Signal Strength. Expected Quality
-60 dBm Good, reliable signal strength.
-67 dBm Reliable signal strength.
-70 dBm Not a strong signal.
-80 dBm Unreliable signal strength, will not suffice for most services.

30 meters with two brick walls is asking an awful lot out of a WiFi system/signal.

 

[det721]

I’ve got an odd situation here.
I’m living next door to my parents and since any proper internet connection here costs 65€ (with digital TV 85€ even), I’ve installed a WiFi bridge between the 2 houses using 2 RT-AC87U’s. This works most of the time, but only on the 2,4 band, the 5GHz looses connection after a while. The link speed shown on the webpage of the receiver is showing a link speed of, 52 Mbps, which isn’t much considering the internet connection has a downloadspeed of 300Mbps.

I’ve just ordered and received a pair of XT8’s to replace the WiFi bridge with an AiMesh. Will this be possible?
The AP unit would be in my parents house in the room closest to my house, the node would be in my house again in the room closest the my parents house. Total distance to cover is +/-30m with one brick wall on each side, the rest is just a lawn in between and a fence...

What are your thoughts, will this work? I refuse to dig a trench and put a UTP cable in between, since there’s a height difference between the 2 properties...

Probably not, not to mention it's illegal.

 

[3BDesign]

Probably not, not to mention it's illegal.

Why iwould this be illegal?
I'm doing this for years already...

 

[det721]

Why iwould this be illegal?
I'm doing this for years already...

Not sure were your located. But in the states sharing a internet connection between residents is against TOS. Thats all carry on.

 

[3BDesign]

I've been testing back and forth today between the U87's and the XT8's.
The link between the U87's is showing a dBm of -65 and indicates this is good. The maximum download speed I could get running a speedtest on the ISP's website was 33Mbps.
The XT8'S are showing a weak signal of -85dBm but running the same speedtest shows a maximum download speed of 95Mbps.
So even though the signal is weaker, the speed has trippled!
I also noticed that my domotica server now comes on instantly when I'm at my parents before I had to retry 3-4 times before I could get a connection, if I got one at all.

So for now I'm happy with the set-up. If it is still proving to be insufficient, I can always try to set up a point-to-point wireless bridge, like the mikrotik wireless wire to improve it... (There is a direct line of sight, but now we don't have a white box mounted on the exterior walls)

 

[OzarkEdge]

I've been testing back and forth today between the U87's and the XT8's.
The link between the U87's is showing a dBm of -65 and indicates this is good. The maximum download speed I could get running a speedtest on the ISP's website was 33Mbps.
The XT8'S are showing a weak signal of -85dBm but running the same speedtest shows a maximum download speed of 95Mbps.
So even though the signal is weaker, the speed has trippled!
I also noticed that my domotica server now comes on instantly when I'm at my parents before I had to retry 3-4 times before I could get a connection, if I got one at all.

So for now I'm happy with the set-up. If it is still proving to be insufficient, I can always try to set up a point-to-point wireless bridge, like the mikrotik wireless wire to improve it... (There is a direct line of sight, but now we don't have a white box mounted on the exterior walls)

This echoes my wireless AiMesh experience using two like routers in that although the signal appears not so powerful, the Tx/Rx rates are good. In your case, the AX may be helping... -85 dBm is not too good.

Regarding your results, I'm inclined to suspect that different/beefier AX routers with external antennas may improve signal power and hence, Tx/Rx rates and overall stability in the presence of other radio interference.

So, if necessary, you could try next generation AX routers with external antennas instead of moving to dedicate bridge hardware.

OE

 

[3BDesign]

This echoes my wireless AiMesh experience using two like routers in that although the signal appears not so powerful, the Tx/Rx rates are good. In your case, the AX may be helping... -85 dBm is not too good.

Regarding your results, I'm inclined to suspect that different/beefier AX routers with external antennas may improve signal power and hence, Tx/Rx rates and overall stability in the presence of other radio interference.

So, if necessary, you could try next generation AX routers with external antennas instead of moving to dedicate bridge hardware.

OE

Any suggestions as to which to choose without braking the bank?
2 AX11000 would work I’d guess, but that’s quite a big investment! Then It’s cheaper to add the wireless wire to this setup...

 

[OzarkEdge]

Any suggestions as to which to choose without braking the bank?
2 AX11000 would work I’d guess, but that’s quite a big investment! Then It’s cheaper to add the wireless wire to this setup...

No, experimenting with AX can be expensive now... for me anyways.

OE

 

[3BDesign]

Sorry for abusing this topic further, but I keep looking for a solution for my situation and am afraid to pull the trigger.
Since the signal isn’t strong enough, I was thinking of adding an outdoor access point/mesh/bridge. Since asus doesn’t offer any outdoor gear, I started looking around and soon came out at Ubiquiti.
I was thinking of putting a dream machine at my parents house. I need a couple of Ethernet connections at that location and a WiFi access point and my parents are allergic to wires..
At my house I have a cable duct running from my switch in the basement to the exterior wall facing my parents house. I was thinking of putting a UAP-AC-M-PRO against the wall there facing my parents house. This would create a distance of close to 40m but would eliminate my external wall which is 40cm of aerated concrete. Leaving only one window in a direct line between the dream machine and the outdoor access point. I could then use one of the old AC87’s as an additional AP in my house to get WiFi indoors. In time replacing it with a ubiquiti flex HD, but don’t want to spend the extra money now. But from what I can tell once everything is from ubiquiti, I can use one app again to control everything...

What do you guys think, will this work?

 

[3BDesign]

Not sure were your located. But in the states sharing a internet connection between residents is against TOS. Thats all carry on.

I checked if it would be illegal, but a public radio station (government owned) here in Belgium had an article online quoting my ISP that it isn’t illegal to share an internet connection as long as you don’t charge money for it...

 

[RMerlin]

I checked if it would be illegal, but a public radio station (government owned) here in Belgium had an article online quoting my ISP that it isn’t illegal to share an internet connection as long as you don’t charge money for it...

I'd say it's typically not a matter of whether it's legal, but of what's in your ISP's ToS. Some ISP might explicitly forbid sharing, some might just forbid reselling.

One thing to keep in mind however is, as the owner of the account, if one of your tenant uses the connection for illegal purposes, and it gets traced back to the IP address of your connection, you might become legally liable for his actions. Something to keep in mind before sharing an Internet connection with other people.