ASUS AX6100 WiFi 6 Gaming Router (RT-AX92U) - Tri-Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router, Gaming & Streaming, AiMesh Compatible, Lifetime Internet Security, Adaptive QoS

This replaced an old Apple Airport. I'm not a network expert...and I was a little concerned about whether this configuration would turn into a "learning opportunity" which I'd just as soon avoid. I chose to go to wifi6 and hoped that this new Asus setup would survive as long as my 10-year-old Apple router.The firmware updates evidently have solved a lot of problems...I had read earlier reviews. To net it out, the mesh network, VPN with exception management, Internet failover, and parental controls all work well. I had expected one or two of those features to be good and the others to be bad and require other point solutions.I did the initial set up in October for the first RT-AX92U and it was not hard...it took a little time to get it where I wanted it but initial setup and config was easy. Immediately, I was better off from an access point perspective than the old Apple router but, honestly, that was expected since this bit of kit is 10 years newer. I then got a second b/c the basement has horrible network access (tile floor, double layer brick, plaster walls, etc). Second mesh unit setup with drop-dead easy.I then wanted to add the security of a whole house VPN but with exceptions to those VPN connections in the devices (so that Apple TV and other devices stayed "at the home IP address" and others went through the VPN) so I got the GT-AX11000 which connects to the modem and the smaller RT-AX92Us mesh routers are "downstream". It wasn't cheap but it did exactly what I wanted it to do...so fair enough. NordVPN was an easy setup and integrated nicely with the Asus firmware. The Asus partner team must do good work because there were good videos to help me get the configuration done. I also set up a failover network which works as well but unfortunately not with the VPN setup (so it's a manual swap based on how I've set it up but not too bad) and I think the problem lies in the fact that NordVPN prevents the "ping" that identifies whether the network is functioning from going through. Would be nice if the firmware on the router allowed for the Ping to go around the VPN...and then again, maybe that is possible and I didn't figure it out...again...not a network expert. Parental controls as well are better here than anything else I've tried. I have one RT-AX92U in the basement and one upstairs and was impressed by the difference having one upstairs makes reaching security cameras and the front yard. With 2 kids and 2 parents "working from home" we've got 1,000 problems but wifi, VPN security, and parental controls are not among them.To finish out the review, we're planning to get yet one more of the smaller mesh RT-AX92Us for a detached garage office. It's 200 feet away from the main router and through a few tons of plaster and brick. That will all run of the same GT-AX11000 main unit and allow someone to walk from one end of the house to another without missing a beat. I was sad to see Apple exit the router business and while their UI would have surely been different, I don't think they could have done much better what Asus has done.Update: have added additional router to the garage office, a 20-port gigabit switch, wired backbone for all the mesh routers and ethernet connections to the biggest bandwidth hogs in the house. The wiring to the bandwidth hogs was not really needed but it did slightly lower the ping for video games. We also got fiber to our neighborhood and added an uninterruptible power supply. The result is that for devices that don’t have VPN connections they are very close to gigabit speeds. For devices that run through the wi-fi they consistently hit 500-600mbps anywhere in the house or yard. Definitely a good product and foundational for really good service.

Though I've only been using it for about 3 weeks, it has so far exceeded my expectations. I do not yet use it for the mesh networking, though I do have an older Asus router plugged in via ethernet running as an AP. One of the reasons I got this one was that I wasn't sure if the signal from one would be good enough downstairs, so I wanted one that could be expanded with a second one meshed or via ethernet. I was expecting the signal strength on this to be the same as the AC router I had been previously running in the same location. The usable Wifi 6 signal from this one is about 30% greater in distance than Wifi 5 of my old one. Also, my old one always had issues running both 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz at the same time and so far this new one has no issues maintaining excellent performance even while 3 devices on my network are only able to use the 2.4 radios. I find the options and UI of this router to be excellent though I am a techie so you may feel like it's too much - but out of the box settings are good as long as you both change the admin password and download the firmware update from Asus and upload it to the router from your computer right away. I spent a lot of time looking at and reading reviews of other routers in this class and was pretty surprised at how many miserable products are out there - even ones that get good reviews from tech blogs/websites. This router is only reviewed on one of those (at the moment). I am grateful I spent the money to get this one. I'm very happy with it and would definitely get it again as well as recommend it to anyone else. Finally, though it's a small, specific detail, I love that I can tell it to use the wps button on the side to instead turn off the led lights on the front - something the family appreciates since this router is visible on top of the fridge in the kitchen and being able turn off the blinkies is great.

This is a great little three channel AiMesh router. I'm using it as an outdoor AiMesh node, I left the antennas folded up and put it in a small sealed plastic enclosure that's screwed in to the side of my house. This provides a better wireless signal to several wifi enabled devices that I have around my yard.The only issue I ran in to with it when setting it up as an AiMesh node is that initially when it connected via AiMesh it would only connect using the 2.4ghz as the backhaul which made it basically unusable as a node. However, I was able to trigger a firmware update on it from the main router in the update firmware section after connecting it as an AiMesh node and after that firmware update was complete it then reconnected to AiMesh over 5ghz and has been working fine ever since.If you plan to use this as an AiMesh node you'll likely need to go through the same process of connecting it as an AiMesh node and then triggering a firmware update on it from the update firmware interface on your main router. There seems to be some sort of bug in the stock firmware that prevents it from using 5ghz as the backhaul connection, but an update of the firmware fixes that.