ASUS ZenWiFi AX Hybrid(XC5) AX3000 Mesh System

As a systems engineer with over 25 years of experience in computing and networking, I find myself in the unfortunate position of expressing my deep dissatisfaction with ASUS and their XC5 product line. My recent purchase of four XC5 units, which were launched in the first quarter of last year, has led to significant disappointment, primarily due to the product’s performance and the company’s technical support.

The performance of the XC5 units has been underwhelming. Despite using the recommended cables and equipment, these units have persistently failed, often going offline permanently without a clear path to resolution. My attempts to seek support have been met with inadequate service. The technical support team, rather than effectively addressing the issues, seems to rely on a scripted set of questions, often shirking responsibility for the challenges faced by their products. This is compounded by long wait times and a cumbersome authentication process that requires serial numbers for each interaction, making the process inefficient for those managing multiple devices.

Repeated interactions with the support staff have been frustratingly repetitive, with no tangible progress in resolving the issues. Despite ASUS’s claims of innovation and customer service, as heard through their on-hold messaging system, my experience contradicts these claims. The support team’s lack of firsthand experience with the XC5 units further undermines their ability to provide effective assistance.

While I recognize the impressive design of ASUS’s mobile application and web interface, these aspects are overshadowed by the fundamental shortcomings of the XC5 product line and the lackluster support services. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend the ASUS XC5 routers. Their inability to provide adequate support or resolve significant software issues necessitates a reconsideration of their approach.

In conclusion, I am now compelled to revert my wireless devices to their original configurations and return these units. This experience has been a letdown, especially given my expectations from a brand like ASUS. It’s a disheartening situation that leaves much to be desired in terms of product reliability and customer support.

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I’m reaching out with a heavy heart and a good deal of frustration to share my final thoughts on the numerous issues I’ve faced with the ZenWifi XC5 and ASUS as a whole. Special mention goes to ASUS’s technical support, whose understanding of networking seems limited to a scripted checklist. I purchased four ZenWifi XC5 units from Amazon, hoping they would streamline and secure my network. Unfortunately, they’ve fallen short of my expectations.

I was genuinely excited about ASUS’s acclaimed technical support and advanced Wifi features. Sadly, aside from a user-friendly web and mobile app interface, my experience has been overwhelmingly disappointing.

My primary goal was to establish a seamless, fully meshed Wifi network to replace my existing setup and simplify my home network. These XC5 units were supposed to use my existing Coax (MoCa), Wifi, or Cat6 for backhaul. The idea was to have a single, cohesive network rather than multiple access points. I was especially keen on the promise of seamless connectivity across my home for my array of devices, including Sonos speakers, laptops, smart home devices, and more.

Furthermore, I needed reliable network connectivity for my hardwired devices like Apple TVs and desktop computers.

Here’s a rundown of the issues I’ve encountered:

Connecting wireless devices was initially easy, but hiding the SSID for security caused devices to disconnect and refuse reconnection, forcing me to make the SSID visible again.

Devices often connected to the farthest WAP, leading to poor connectivity. Tying a device to a specific WAP meant it wouldn’t connect to others, even if the preferred one was down.

The Wifi connection would drop intermittently and randomly from all WAPs, disrupting work and daily life, with no clear pattern or solution.

Wired connections also suffered from random drops, impacting our home business operations.

Despite replacing all network cables and verifying Coax frequencies, these random disconnections persisted.

Internet speeds were significantly slower through the ASUS XC5 units, with inconsistent and disappointing results from speed tests.

After switching to ScreenBeam Bonded MoCA 2.5 Network Adapters for my coax backhaul and removing the ASUS devices, my connection quality improved dramatically. Even using the ASUS devices as mere AP units resulted in the previously mentioned erratic performance.

Dealing with ASUS’s technical support added to the frustration. Communication was challenging, and despite promises of escalation and rapid response, I received minimal assistance. Over three weeks and numerous calls, there has been no real progress in resolving these issues.

In conclusion, after investing over 50 hours trying to resolve these challenges, I’ve decided to return these units and will no longer patronize ASUS. I’ll be sharing my experience with others as a cautionary tale. Despite my frustrations, I do hope ASUS improves their support for the benefit of their future customers.

March 29th 2024 – I have a 2 Story, 4 Bedroom 2400 Sq. Foot home with the main cable entry is in the living room on the first floor at one end of the home and a upstairs office at the other end of the house. Want to set up a Moca backed Mesh WiFi system using the good cable wires in the home. With barely any reviews to be found anywhere for this router, I decided to bye a stand alone single as a Router for now with plans to add 2 Nodes to complete the the setup.
I have to say for a little router, this thing is pretty good. The Asus App made setting up very easy to link to my Arris S33 Surfboard Modem. Will write an update review when I have these two Nodes and hopefully the Moca will work as seemless as the WiFi.
Update April 24 2024:
Everything works perfect and I love Asus Phone App and Web UI. They make it so easy to set everything up. The MoCa worked and connected automatically from the main router to the 2 nodes. The laptops and game consoles recognized them as USB Ethernet without having to assign IP Addresses for each device directly connected to the nodes. I suggest using the splitter it comes with since it has the highest frequency range available for MoCa to work. I also changed the outside Splitter to the highest frequency range available. Again to make sure there was no issues with intermittent signal loss.
Laptops and game consoles get way better speeds than through Wifi. For anyone who has a older house with multiple levels with a lot of square feet and no Ethernet in bedrooms who wants a direct connection to the internet for Laptop, Game Consoles or TVs… This is for you. Now only Phones, Tablets and hand held devices use the Wifi while everything that doesn’t move has a direct connection. Life is good!
Again this works and works well if you set everything up right. Get it.. It’s Awesome! 😊😊😊