ASUS ZenWiFi AX Hybrid (XP4) Mesh router review - Performance Wireless

Performance Wireless 802.11ax (WIFI6)

For our tests, we emulate what you would get performance-wise inside a house with a multi-level concrete ground and 1st floor as well as a 5-meter test separated by walls. We test Single-band 2.4 GHz and single band 5 GHz. The router (host) is positioned at ground level and we test with a client (laptop) in several stages.

Initially, our 5GHz connection was rather poor, the router defaulted to channel 100. We manually configured it to channel 56 after which the 5G band became blazingly fast.  

Performance Wireless 802.11ax WIFI

Most enthusiast-class motherboards these days have integrated Wi-Fi, and there are so many standards. One of the more interesting ones is Wireless AC AKA 802.11ac (WIFI5) and as of recent 802.11ax (WIFI6). Motherboards that have such a unit will now be tested here at Guru3D.com. Wireless AX draft 802.11ax technology was developed to optimize video streaming experiences. Providing Gigabit Wi-Fi speeds allows content to download faster and large video or music files to sync more quickly. An increasing number of Wi-Fi devices in the home leads to greater internet consumption.

Wi-Fi 6E is an extension of the Wi-Fi 6 standard or 802.11ax that is now supported on most motherboards also. The E stands for Extended and the main feat of the expansion is the addition of support for the 6GHz band, which runs from 5925MHz to 7125MHz. Compatibility with older Wi-Fi standards will remain and Wi-Fi 6E will thus have three bands: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz. Below the AX 2.4 and 5 GHz, single-link connection.

Above 2400 MHz, the performance was pretty average really.

Above the 5000MHz band, the performance was pretty spectacular. Initially, the router defaulted (auto setting) to channel 100, which resulted in average results, After manually configuring it towards channel 56 perf immediately jumped up, and with an average of 772 Mbps, honestly, you're good to go. 

Our source router is with 802.11a, 802.11ac, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ax. The router is located one floor below the office. We can precisely map and measure throughput by measuring multiple times per second during a test run of 30 seconds in a host/client setup, what you see above is true sustained throughput. In the above example, the WIFI throughput is over a single 5 GHz connection at 5 meters, which averages out at 322 Mbit/s. 

For example, if you have your router on the ground floor, and you want to watch Netflix in Ultra HD in your attic where you built your home-cinema setup or gaming crib. For Netflix, that signal would require at least roughly 25 Mbit/s. Netflix Ultra HD, in fact, uses just over 15 Mbit/s, but you need a little in reserve for caching and error correction. So 25 Mbit/s at the worst location would be the absolute total minimum goal to reach. It would also be an acceptable figure for a bit of web browsing of course. Now before you look at the results, let me state this, results will vary anywhere and everywhere on this globe. There are so many variables that have an effect on WIFI it's staggering. Also, you can have a great WIFI router (HOST) but if your laptop (CLIENT) has poor WIFI, you're not going to achieve great numbers. The same can be said about the building you are in, reinforced concrete/steel walls? You'll get lower performance. Are there more factors involving WIFI performance? Yes, the number of WIFI routers in your neighborhood and even equipment like your refrigerator turning off/on and, hey now... do you know what frequency a microwave uses? Yep, 2400 Mhz and, as such, that can have an effect on performance. That makes WIFI a rather subjective and difficult to replicate thing to test.

The ASUS router manages to give me proper results throughout the house thanks to the mesh. 

Performance WAN-LAN

I always throw in a quick test of WAN (Internet) side performance as well. Our office is using cable Internet based on a 600 Mbit/s downstream and 40 Mbit/s upstream.

As you can see, the WAN throughput was excellent.