Design
The Asus ZenWiFi AX Mini has been designed by keeping aesthetic home settings in mind. The incredibly compact form factor coupled with the cute Bluetooth speaker-like shape can seamlessly blend into any corner of your house and provide strong WiFi coverage through and through.
As mentioned before, all three units look identical; however, only one of them is the primary router, with the other two being satellites. This means that only the central unit can be hooked up to a WAN connection; the other two nodes are capable of providing a LAN connection. Users need not be worried however since the primary node is clearly marked to avoid confusion.
The set of three nodes comes in charcoal black or plain white, both give off a premium matte feel and elevate the style quotient of the surface on which they reside. They’re designed to be placed on flat surfaces and not hung on a wall, evident from the lack of provisions for the same and rubber padding at the bottom of each node.
Performance
The three-piece setup can cover a jaw-dropping 6,000 square feet. More than enough to cover an average household in the United Arab Emirates. For smaller apartments in cities like Dubai, using the primary router and one satellite unit can also get the job done with ease. During the testing phase, we didn’t encounter any network drops or lag; the coverage throughout the test area was consistent and solved the issues we faced earlier about certain zones where the signal did not reach our previous setup.
Even the highest quality and video streaming was not an issue in these erstwhile dead zones thanks to the Asus ZenWiFi AX 1800 Mini setup. Unfortunately, the trio of three let us down in the security department, considering that there are no proper parental controls but only the option to automatically switch off the router at certain times, instead of the in-depth and filtered controls available with other Asus WiFi devices. However, the inclusion of Asus’ proprietary AiProtection tool was reassuring. It scans your network regularly to detect any malware content or bots. Unfortunately, it too lacks DDOS protection, but at this price point, we really can’t complain.
Ease of Setup
One of the most significant hassles users faces when it comes to WiFi routers and devices is the never-ending and ugly maze of cables as well as the complex setup procedures. This is one department where the Asus ZenWiFi AX Mini shines bright, all it takes to set up the router post unboxing is the WAN cable and power cable, once hooked up, simply connect all the nodes next to each other (this is important only during the first setup, the other two nodes can be placed anywhere in the house after this), and follow along the steps mentioned in the dedicated web portal or app.
Verdict
The Asus ZenWiFi AX 1800 Mini is a refreshing entrant in the home WiFi market. At a price of just AED 1299, it doesn’t get better than this; however, better parental controls and more customization options would have been a cherry on the cake.
