The school year is starting soon, and it will be a challenging time for families worldwide. Higher prices and inflation are big issues, and people will likely be more mindful of how they’re spending their money. Even under these circumstances, families must buy school supplies, clothes, and all kinds of tech for the new school year. If you want your home to have good Wi-Fi, that can handle online learning, working from home, online gaming, and binge-watching your favorite TV series on Netflix, here are some recommendations from ASUS for extendable Wi-Fi 6 routers and mesh systems:

ASUS wireless routers with Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi 6 is a mature wireless networking standard offering better speed than previous standards, good Wi-Fi coverage, and, most of all, newer routers with updated hardware that can easily handle a modern family’s needs. From the plethora of available models, ASUS recommends the following routers for the “Back to School 2023” season:

ASUS RT-AX1800U or ASUS RT-AX53U: Affordably-priced Wi-Fi 6

Depending on the shop and the country you’re in, you may come across the ASUS RT-AX1800U or ASUS RT-AX53U. They’re the same dual-band wireless router with the same hardware and features. This router has a dual-core MediaTek MT7621A processor running at 880 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 128 MB of storage for the firmware, and it can handle a Wi-Fi network with a moderate number of devices. Its hardware makes it a good choice for small families wanting to enjoy the Wi-Fi 6 ecosystem at a low price, who live in a two-bedroom apartment or a similar living space.

ASUS RT-AX1800U - An affordable Wi-Fi 6 router

With this router, you can enjoy online gaming experiences, seamless Full HD video conferencing, or streaming Full HD movies on your Smart TV. One cool aspect about this affordable router is that it’s also extendable due to ASUS AiMesh. With this feature, when you move to a larger space, you can buy another ASUS router and build a mesh Wi-Fi system that covers the entire living space. You can find it on Amazon, here.

ASUS RT-AX57: For homes with more devices

This router is a mid-range model that’s more powerful than the previous one in this list. Equipped with a quad-core Broadcom BCM6756 processor, running at 1.7 GHz, and 256 MB of RAM, it can handle more devices and more bandwidth-intensive data transfers, like 4K movie streaming on your Smart TV.

ASUS RT-AX57 - A good mid-range choice

The ASUS RT-AX57 is a solid choice for medium-sized apartments and families with children, who may need advanced parental controls or network-wide antivirus protection. You’ll find it on Amazon for a great price, here.

ASUS AX58U V2: A popular model, improved!

The ASUS RT-AX58U V2 is an updated version of the ASUS RT-AX58U, one of my favorites in the world of Wi-Fi 6 routers. The new version introduces a more powerful quad-core processor than the V1. This change should allow the router to cover a wider area and handle more devices connected to the Wi-Fi simultaneously.

ASUS RT-AX58U V2 is more powerful than V1

The router also has a fast USB 3.0 port, allowing you to connect an external hard drive and set it up as your family’s NAS for streaming movies, pictures, and other types of content to your home network. Or you can set it up as a backup solution for your entire network. The choice is yours; all it takes is a visit to Amazon, here.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX3000 V2

ASUS TUF Gaming AX3000 V2 is another popular choice and for good reason: at a mid-range price, it offers powerful hardware that can handle any mid-to-large-sized apartment, with plenty of devices connected to the Wi-Fi simultaneously. To make things even more interesting, this router can also use newer 2.5 Gbps internet connections. It also offers Link aggregation on two separate LAN ports, meaning that you can set it to work with two internet connections simultaneously, connect a NAS to it, and have it take full advantage of a fast 2.5 Gbps internet connection.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX3000 V2 is a popular Wi-Fi 6 router

If you’re curious about the hardware inside this router, you’ll be happy to know that it has a quad-core Broadcom BCM6756 processor running at 1.7 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, and 256 of storage for the firmware. Finding another similarly-priced Wi-Fi 6 router that can deliver this powerful hardware, support for 2.5 Gbps internet connections, and as many advanced features is difficult. If you want this model, you can purchase it from Amazon.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX4200

ASUS TUF Gaming AX4200 inherits all its predecessor’s qualities, enhancing them with its even more powerful quad-core processor running at 2 GHz. It’s a MediaTek MT7986A, with 512 MB of RAM and 256 MB of storage for the firmware. This router’s technical specifications make it a good choice for large apartments with many devices and fast 1 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps internet connections.

ASUS TUF Gaming AX4200 comes with powerful hardware

The gamers in your family will appreciate its many gaming-oriented features, including Mobile Game Mode or VPN Fusion. If you’re interested in buying it, you can find it here.

IMPORTANT: No matter which router you choose, remember that they are all extendable ASUS routers. They make it easy to enhance your network’s coverage area anytime you want (now or later) by purchasing another ASUS router or using an older one you already have.

ASUS ZenWiFi mesh systems with Wi-Fi 6

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are great for people living in large apartments or multi-story houses. They’re easy to install and provide reliable Wi-Fi coverage over larger areas than a router. ASUS has some interesting models with Wi-Fi 6 at reasonable prices, which are worth considering. Here’s what they recommend.

ASUS ZenWiFi Mini XD4

This is one of ASUS’s most affordable mesh Wi-Fi solutions with Wi-Fi 6. ASUS ZenWiFi Mini XD4 comes in kits with one, two, or three stations, depending on how large your living space is. For larger apartments or multi-floor homes, you should buy at least the two-node kit or the one with three stations. ZenWiFi Mini XD4 offers the traditional firmware created by ASUS for all its networking products, coupled with a quad-core Broadcom BCM6755 processor running at 1.5 GHz, 512MB of RAM, and 256 MB of storage. That’s enough power to handle a network with many connected devices.

ASUS ZenWiFi Mini XD4 is small and powerful

The only limitation you need to be aware of is that each node has only one LAN port on its back, alongside the WAN port. This beautiful little kit can be found on Amazon, here.

ASUS ZenWiFi Mini XD5

ASUS ZenWiFi XD5 looks and works similarly to the previous model. It’s just as tiny, light, and good-looking. It is also easy to hide if that’s what you want. It has mostly the same features as XD4, yet it packs a more powerful quad-core processor (BCM6756) running 1.7 GHz and 512 MB of RAM. The processor, alongside the 160 MHz channel bandwidth for the Wi-Fi, makes XD5 even better for home networks with many simultaneously connected devices.

ASUS ZenWiFi XD5 looks great

I like their design and feature set a lot, and if you don’t need a mesh Wi-Fi system with more than one LAN port for each node, ASUS ZenWiFi XD5 might be the perfect choice for having excellent Wi-Fi connectivity in larger apartments or homes. I found it at an excellent price on Amazon, here.

What’s your favorite Back To School model for 2023?

These are the recommended extendable ASUS routers and mesh Wi-Fi systems for the Back To School season. Check the included links, see their prices, and what others had to say about them. Then, don’t hesitate to comment and mention the one(s) you prefer. Are you interested in a reasonably priced Wi-Fi 6 router like the ASUS RT-AX53U? Or maybe a mesh system like the ASUS ZenWiFi Mini XD4? Or you’re a gamer, and you like what ASUS TUF Gaming AX4200 has to offer? Comment below, and let’s discuss the models you like best.