Asus released XD6, another Zenwifi series in a lower network segment than its predecessor Asus Zenwifi xt8 with a price difference 15% cheaper. Probably this product is to compete with the Orbi rbk752 series which is a lower level series than the flagship Orbi rbk852. How can this product compete with Orbi rbk752?
In this article:
Zenwifi XD6
Like Netgear which was very successful with Orbi rbk852 which then later released Orbi rbk752 series to target the market in the middle class network segment, Asus is now releasing asus zenwifi xd6 after its success with xt8. In addition, at the same time, the Asus Zenwifi et8 is also released to the market and will soon be releasing the Zenwifi Pro et12 to compete with other new product from Netgear, the Orbi rbk962.
What is the different this new zenwifi xd6 with its senior one zenwifi xt8?
Zenwifi XD6 vs XT8
With a price difference of around $50 or about 15% cheaper than xt8, is it worth buying this asus zenwifi xd6 or just asus xt8 which is more expensive? Let’s see specs comparison between these two product series, please refer to table 1 below.
Radio band with Aimesh
Pay attention to the table below, asus reduces one radio band on xd6 so that when compared to xt8 there is one radio band with 1200Mbps bandwidth not present on xd6 dual band. Both xd6 and xt8 also support aimesh technology so they can join other aimesh devices to form a whole home network. If you currently have asus zenwifi xt8, then you can add xd6 as aimesh nodes.
With two bands, the XD6 is appropriate with a tri-core processor compared to the XT8 three-band which needs a quad core processor for better performance.
If you don’t have many clients in your home who need to run applications that require high bandwidth intensively, then xd6 will suffice. However, if you want more flexibility with wider bandwidth for higher client density, then you need to choose Asus XT8 to be able to provide better performance. The price difference is only $50.
Multi-gig WAN
However, if you need internet service plan more than 1Gbps, or 2Gbps, you need Asus XT8 because it comes with one multi-gig WAN port (2.5Gbps) compared to XD6 which only has 1Gbps WAN port. Of course, if your existing cable modem also supports multi-gig ports such as Netgear cm2000 or Motorola mb8611.
Take a look at the spec differences between these asus zenwifi xd6 and asus xt8.
Table 1 Asus zenwifi xd6 vs xt8
| Model | Asus zenwifi xd6 | Asus Zenwifi xt8 |
| Product segment | Simultaneous dual band ax5400 | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 |
| Signal rates | Up to 574Mbps @2.4GHz 2×2; Up to 4808Mbps @5GHz 4×4 | Up to 574Mbps @2.4GHz 2×2; Up to 1201 Mbps @5GHz 2×2 band 1; Up to 4804Mbps @5GHz 4×4 band 2 |
| Processor | 1.5GHz tri-core processor with 256 MB Flash and 512 MB RAM / XD6S 128 MB Flash | 1.5GHz quad-core processor with 256 MB Flash and 512 MB RAM |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x 1.0Gbps WAN; 3x 1.0Gbps LAN | 1x 2.5Gbps WAN ; 3x 1.0 Gbps LAN |
| USB ports | N/A | 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Price | $349.99 | $399.99 |
Now we compare which one is more valuable between the Asus Zenwifi XD6 and its competitors from the Netgear Orbi rbk752 which has been available on the market for a long time with a pretty good response from customers so far.
Asus XD6 vs Orbi Rbk752
To be able to compare these two products between Asus xd6 and Orbi rbk752, please refer to table 2 below which provides a comparison table between Asus xd6 and Orbi rbk752 (Orbi rbk752 consists of two units of Orbi rbr750 router and Orbi rbs750 satellite).
These two products are lighter versions of their predecessors, Asus XT8 and Orbi RBK852, which were successful in the premium class’s products.
Wifi design
Unlike the two Orbi series which are both designed with three radio bands, and indeed almost all Orbi series use a three radio band design where one of @5GHz radio bands is used as dedicated backhaul for communication between nodes, the Asus XD6 is a two-band system.
With dedicated backhaul design, only two bands are used for connected clients with a total bandwidth of 1800Mbps. Compare with xd6 which uses a shared bandwidth approach for both connected clients and backhaul link @5ghz, if the assumption is 50% for backhaul link and 50% for connected clients, the total bandwidth for connected clients is 3000Mbps. So asus xd6 provides almost double the total bandwidth for connected clients’ needs compared to Orbi.
Both products offer optional wired Ethernet backhaul you can adopt by utilizing the LAN ports as wired backhaul link between router and satellite nodes.
However, even if you deploy Ethernet backhaul, it doesn’t mean the system frees wifi backhaul for connected clients, this wifi backhaul is still reserved to be operational when there is disruption with the wired backhaul. So it’s a kind of failover wifi backhaul when the wired Ethernet backhaul connection is interrupted so that the backhaul communication between nodes continues to run.
Regarding the wifi system, Asus xd6 is still better in providing total bandwidth for connected devices than Orbi rbk752.
Operation mode
For those of you who are currently using a wireless gateway (such as Netgear cax80 or new released of Motorola mg8725) that combines a wifi router and cable modem, then you cannot use either xd6 or Orbi to work as a mesh wifi router, however you can change the function of the wifi router (default mode) to wireless AP mode.
For that you have to change the default mode as a wifi router so that it can work as a wireless access point by connecting the router’s wan port with one of the LAN ports of your gateway device. Other mesh configuration is still the same either you configure with wifi backhaul or wired Ethernet backhaul.
With Asus zenwifi xd6 you need to go to navigation panel menu, go to Advanced Setting > Administration > Operation mode. You can find five radio buttons and default is ‘Wireless router mode / Aimesh router” radio button is selected. You need to select AP mode. Or if you already have other Asus Zenwifi products such as Zenwifi ET8 or XT8 already installed in place, you need to select ‘Aimesh node’ radio button.
With Orbi you can do the same as Asus, you need to launch web browser and run the Orbilogin.com and select the Advanced > Advanced > Router / AP Mode. You need to select wireless AP mode radio button, the default is wireless router mode radio button is selected.
Take a look at the following spec comparison table between Asus zenwifi xd6 and Orbi rbk752.
Table 2 Asus XD6 vs Orbi Rbk752
| Model | Asus zenwifi xd6 | Orbi rbk752 |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax5400 with Aimesh technology (router / node) with 6 streams | Simultaneous Tri-band AX4200 with MU-MIMO with 8 streams |
| Signal rates | Up to 574Mbps @2.4GHz 2×2; Up to 4808Mbps @5GHz 4×4 | 2.4GHz @600Mbps 2 x 2 5GHz @1200Mbps 2 x 2 5GHz @2400Mbps 4 x 4 for dedicated backhaul |
| Antennas | 6x internal antennas | Six (6) high performance internal antennas with high-powered amplifiers |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x 1.0Gbps WAN; 3x 1.0 Gbps LAN | Router: 1x Gigabit WAN + 3x Gigabit LAN Satellite: 2x Gigabit LAN |
| USB ports | N/A | N/A |
| Backhaul | Wifi backhaul and optional wired Ethernet backhaul | Dedicated backhaul link 5GHz @ 2400Mbps; optional wired Ethernet backhaul |
| Coverage | 5,400 sq ft / 2-pack | 5,000 sq ft / 2-pack |
| Processor | 1.5GHz tri-core processor with 256 MB Flash and 512 MB RAM / XD6S 128 MB Flash | Quad core 1.4GHz CPU with 512MB NAND Flash and 1GB RAM |
| Security | WPA/ WPA2/ WPA3-Personal, WPA/WPA2-Enterprise Guest network rule up to 9 Free lifetime AiProtection Pro | WPA2 / WPA3 Netgear Armor powered by Bitdefender Total Security service plan |
| Operation mode | Wireless router mode Range extender mode Access point mode Media bridge mode Aimesh node | Wireless router mode Wireless AP mode |
| Dimension and weight | 4.97 in x 2.32 in x 5.1 in / 126.4 mm x 59.05 mm x 129.7 mm | 9.1 in x 7.2 in x 2.8 in (231 mm x 182.8 mm x 71.1 mm) |
| Weight | 435 g (0.95 lb) | 1.9lb (0.86 kg) |
| Price (Jan 2022) | $349.99 | $327.99 |
Both asus zenwifi xd6 and orbi rbk752 are tagged with the same price, slightly different price for sure. However, for certain events you may find best deals from Amazon (#ads) to save the money.
- Click here to read more details Asus XD6 in Amazon (#ad)
- Or Click here to read more details Orbi Rbk752 in Amazon (#ad)
Note that if you purchase the products from the above links, I will get small bucks from Amazon, not from your money.
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See also new products offered by Linksys – the Linksys Hydra Pro wifi 6e router vs Netgear raxe500, the enhancement technology of wifi 6 with addition of 6GHz radio band.