ASUSZenWiFi BD5 Dual-Band WiFi 7 Mesh, 5000 Mbps, 2500 sq.ft (1pk), Dual 2.5G Ports, Security and Parental Controls Included, Smart Home Master SSIDs

I have had several routers, mesh, AP wifi this and that throughout my upgrading of our home. If you get an ASUS group or decide to put your own firmware on these it should be ok. Either I am the luckiest person alive with ASUS or a have a high threshold for tolerance learning levels. 1. You have to set the network to fit your needs and this was a great addition to our Mesh network2. Split your network and or decide if you want to run point to point, hard wire, Access points etc. ( We have an IOT or internet of things sub network for stuff that need to talk in the house and not out of the house)3. Data and information security (Asus combined with 2 firewalls and VPNs etc has done well with this addition)4. How noisy is your area you are putting this addition in. More doesn't always mean better. If you get jitter, lag and or issues. You need to look at packet priority (web surfing, work from home, gaming, streaming etc). 5. If you dont know how to adjust for these settings and looking for a plug and play situation - call your cable company and let them set you up with their stuff so you can call them for tech questions. ASUS makes a decent set for tech regarding configuration and adaptability. 6. Chances are you can Google the tweaks you need, ask some AI chat bot or call ASUS region based office for support. Don't call fred down the street in his mothers basement who doesnt have a job and games all day showing up at your door with a Coke and Cheeto dust on his face to fix something you can look up yourself on your cell phone.7. Last piece of advise is try to keep your nodes with visible distance of the other units - Some ASUS units do better thru or around walls but really you should have a hard wired AP at that area in my opinion. Tweak something after you have looked it up. Most smart home items don't get the firmware they need or the old configs cleaned out before changing the heart of your connections. Plan, review and test after you watch some videos, read the information you can (dont be the guy at the end of the project holding bolts after assembling the bike - maybe there are extra parts hell I dont know). Look with those two eyes, listen to podcasts and video advice and speak ill of this if you will after you have done due diligence. I made the mistake of bashing one ZenWifi model and it was because I had picked up the plug from the old unit and it was not getting the right voltage for the new unit. Plugged in the right cord, firmware updates and did the steps and got full bands by finding the channel that fit my neighborhood and home. Best of luck, I love the stuff ASUS puts out.Stability:Stability - Use AP and Mesh comboSpeed:Speed - Tweak the packet priority and beamforming to beacon more for noisy networks

Terrible product overall. These were easy to setup and the WiFi coverage was sufficient but that is where my positive experience stopped. Speed was extremely variable compared to my aging Orbi system that I was trying to replace. After a reboot speed was great, then after 10-15 minutes it would slow tremendously. Nodes were constantly disconnecting/going offline. The whole system needed to be rebooted 3-4 times a day to remain usable. I’m very disappointed in the functionality and performance of Asus mesh networks after trying both this system and a higher end version. Not to mention the ongoing compatability issues with many of my products. I returned the system and for now I’m sticking with my much older Orbi system as it has bullet proof reliability, good speed, and zero compatibility issues. Hopefully asus can work out their issues in future versions since on paper this product should have been awesome.

It's a low-cost WiFi7 router with the familiar Asus management tools. Works great and I don't have any issues with it. The one thing keeping it from a 5-star review is the low number of Ethernet ports, but you get what you pay for and a cheap network switch easily fixed that issue.

Last Update 3/17/25 - BIG THANKS to the Amazon group helping work thru effort to replace this 2nd Asus router. Had Spectrum help confirm the wireless portion of this one was failing. Initially SEVERAL DAYS to get this functioning almost correctly, (read below) I've replaced it with a TP-Link unit AND IT ONLY TOOK 1 HR TO SET UP THE TP-LINK ROUTER.Update 2/5/25: IF you have older cameras or equip that only used WPA2 - DO NOT allow the router to select WPA3. Select WPA2 at initial setup and the older equip like Blink cameras can connect. (I had Blink on the phone for 1 hr and they couldn't figure it out.)For Windows 11 /10: Click in upper left corner on your profile Pic. Select NEW Profile, sign in. That's it. Use the new web page to go to the ASUS 192.168.50.1 (I had the ASUS rep I had for 30 min and they didn't know this either.) Then go back to your usual profile anytime.__________Earlier frustrated review below__________Asus rep agreed to return & assigned case #. Had Rep on phone for 30 min. Even after factory HARD reset. Can't get into Admin using Windows 11/10. There's a flash of 'sign in screen' but then cuts off after 1/4 sec. Tried 192.168.50.1, and asusrouter.com and asusrouter.com:8443 and router.asus.com. Can only connect to Admin thru android tablet and phone app. Signal strength seems weaker than old router that died. Need extender in office.New ASUS didn't like my Blink camera module. Blink Rep took 30 min just to get Sync module to connect. Still trying to get outdoor cameras on-line but still won't connect thru this unit.

Difficult to set up and manage once installed. I do have 42 years of IT experience. I know what I am doing with networks. This router took a ton of time to set up. It is not easy. And then, I reboot the router monthly as a way of making sure everything is updated, cleared and OK. On the fourth month, I could not get the router to come back up. Everything I tried failed. I tried a factory reset but the method for doing that is not simple and you never know if it worked. So, I bought a Netgear Nighthawk. It was set up in less than 1/2 hour. I now have a BD5 shelf ornament. Ease of set-up and management is key for success. Asus isn't there..... and it isn't because I have not owned Asus routers. My previous four routers at two locations were Asus.