You can use each as a standalone router for a relatively large home or add the second one to form a system to extend the Wi-Fi coverage for a sprawling one, either wirelessly or via a network cable. One 5 GHz band with a total maximum bandwidth of 4804 Mbps. It can work using either Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6. Likely” because I wanted to tread lightly here. The new mesh might work out well without wires if you can place the hardware units close to each other or have a line of sight between them. However, even then, it’s not faster than many cheaper traditional Tri-band systems.

ZenWiFi Pro XT12 vs ZenWiFi Pro ET12: You must turn them on and look at the front lights to know which is which.The worse your current Wi-Fi situation is, the bigger the difference this kit will make. With Wi-Fi 6E and all the trimmings, you're definitely well protected for the future, as more and more gadgets evolve to support the standard and ever-faster Wi-Fi speeds. Connect a computer to the router, either via a network cable to one of its LAN ports, or the default open Wi-Fi network, generally named “Asus xx”.

The standard set of network settings and features: These include IP reservation, Port-forwarding, VPN server, and some Alexa Skills.

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It’s the second Asus home router I’ve tested with two Multi-Gig ports. (The RT-AX89X has one SFP+ port.) And that’s great! As noted, there were some issues early on in my testing period with the Wi-Fi 6E connection on my Android 12-powered Zenfone 8. While a Windows 11 PC was able to connect, I had to jump through a couple of hoops to get it working as expected. This would be very frustrating if you had just spent quite a lot of money on this mesh system.

This same configuration works without a hitch on my RT-AX86u, which I was, again, planning on using as a node on AiMesh. Be noted: This is an early stage beta, there might be bugs. This version can be downgraded via web GUI only.You can buy either or none no matter your situation and the world will keep spinning for the foreseeable future. The new Pro ET12 has four streams on each band – currently the highest among Wi-Fi 6E. Consequently, it’s top-tier among this new type of Tri-band router. The Adaptive QoS is a common feature available in all Asus routers and is one of the most easy-to-use QoS features among all home routers.

Network Protection is designed to keep the entire local network safe. In many ways, it’s somewhat like a strip-down version of an add-on firewall, like the Firewalla or the subscription-based Armor from Netgear. Thanks to the web interface, all the ZenWiFi Pro ET12 share the same standard setup process as I detailed in this post on building a home network from scratch.

On the downside, considering the router’s large physical size, I wish it had more network ports — most routers have five ports. There’s no USB port, either, which will make fans of router-based mini NAS servers disappointed. Everything you can expect from an Asus AiMesh router, with pre-synced hardware The ZenWiFi Pro ET12 is a new Tri-band router— all of its bands are needed to host 2.4GHz, 5Ghz, and 6GHz clients.