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In a way, each router of the 2-pack Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68 AX7800 Tri-Band Business Wi-Fi 6 System is a combination of the EBA63 access point and the EBG15 non-Wi-Fi router. And in that sense, it’s simply a more powerful variant of the EBR63 router.
That’s to say, the new mesh system is very similar to other ExpertWiFi hardware with all the standard settings and features. However, compared with Asus’s previous purpose-built systems for the home, such as the ZenWiFi XT8 and its later XT9 variant, the new business-oriented ExpertWiFi EBM68 is clearly superior while remaining user-friendly.
Here’s the bottom line: If you’re still in the market for Wi-Fi 6 and contented with Gigabit bandwidth, which is more than fast enough for most cases, the new ExpertWiFi EBM68 is a feature-riched system that has lots to offer. While made for businesses, it’ll work well for all homes.
On the other hand, if you want a simple mesh that gets you connected, you’ll find it pricey even at the current discounted $500 street price for a 2-pack, which is noticeably higher than the cost of similarly specced, albeit less robust in features, Wi-Fi 6E mesh systems, such as the TP-Link Deco XE70 Pro.
Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68: A better version of Wi-Fi 6 ZenWiFi
Out of the box, each ExperWiFi EBM68 mesh router shares a similar “single-slot toaster” design as the XT8. However, it now comes with a cleverly designed port cover that works as a wall-mounting piece, making it much more versatile in terms of placement.
Its hardware specs remain similar to those of previous upper mid-tier ZenWiFi hardware. Specifically, it features tri-band AX7800 Wi-Fi and comes with a 2.5Gbps Multi-Gig WAN port and three Gigabit LAN ports. There’s also a USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps) port for all things USB-related.
On the inside, the EBM68 is powered by the new ExpertWiFi firmware that’s built on AsusWRT 5.0. As a result, it has a much more robust set of features while remaining backward compatible with existing AiMesh hardware.
The table below shows the similarities and differences between the ExertWiFi EBM68, the ZenWiFi XT8, and the XT9 variant.
Asus ExpertWiFi EBR63: Hardware specifications
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | ExpertWiFi EBM68 | ZenWiFi XT9 | ZenWiFi XT8 |
| Full Name | Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68 Mesh Router | Asus ZenWiFi XT9 Mesh Router | Asus ZenWiFi XT8 Mesh Router |
| Mesh Technology | Yes (AiMesh) | ||
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 6.57 x 3.03 x 7.32 in (167 x 77 x 186 mm) | 6.29 x 2.95 x 6.35 in (16 x 7.5 x 16.15 cm) | |
| Weight | 1.78 lbs (808g) | 1.63 lbs (740 g) | 1.56 lbs (710 g) |
| Wi-Fi Bandwidth | Tri-band AX7800 | Tri-band AX6600 | |
| 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 2×2 AX Up to 574 Mbps (20/40MHz) | ||
| 5GHz-1 Wi-Fi Specs (channel width) | 2×2 AX Up to 2402Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) | 2×2 AX Up to 1201Mbps (20/40/80MHz) | |
| 5GHz-2 Wi-Fi Specs | 4×4 AX Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) | ||
| UNII-4 Support | Yes (at launch) | Yes (starting with firmware ver. 3.0.0.4.386_49873) | |
| Dedicated Backhaul Band | Yes (5GHz-2) (optional) | ||
| Wired Backhaul | Yes | ||
| Guest Network | 7x Self-Defined Network | 3x per band at the router, 1x per band system-wide | |
| VLAN | Yes | No | |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11ac/n/g/a/b | ||
| Mobile App | Asus Router | ||
| Web User Interface | Yes (Full) | ||
| Operation Mode | Wireless Router Mode AiMesh Node Mode Access Point Mode | ||
| USB Port | 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 | ||
| Gigabit Port | 3 x LAN | ||
| Multi-Gig Port | 1x 2.5 Gpbs/1Gbps WAN | ||
| Link Aggregation | Yes LAN-only | No | |
| Dual-WAN | Yes | ||
| Processing Power | 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 1GBDDR4 RAM | 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 512MB DDR4 RAM | 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 512MB DDR3 RAM |
| Release Date | September 2023 | August 2022 | February 2020 |
| Firmware | AsusWRT 5.0 (3.0.0.6) | AsusWRT 4.0 (3.0.0.4) | |
| Firmware Version (at review) | 3.0.0.6.102_44384 | not tested | 3.0.0.4.386_24926 |
| Power Adapter | AC Input: 110V~240V (50~60Hz) DC Output: 12V 3A | AC Input: 110V~240V (50~60Hz) DC Output: 19V 1.75A | |
| Power Consumption (per 24 hours) | ≈ 200 Wh (measured at the router) | not tested | |
| US Price (at launch) | $599.99 (2-pack) $299.99 (single router) | $499.99 (2-pack) | $449.99 (2-pack) |
Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68: Hardware analysis
As shown in the table, the first noteworthy item on the hardware is that each EBM68 unit has only a single 2.5Gbps port, which only works as the WAN port on the router unit—this port can work as a LAN when the hardware is used as a satellite.
The lack of a second Multi-Gig port generally limits the hardware a great deal. That’s because there’s no way to have a real 2.5Gbps wired connection out of it. Additionally, if you intend to use a network cable to link the two units, the wired backhaul will be limited to Gigabit.
Generally, as a Tri-band Wi-Fi 6 system, the EBM68 is meant for environments where wiring is not possible. That brings us to the second noteworthy item: like the case of the ZenWiFi XT8 and XT9, the EBM68 supports UNII-4.
Featuring the 5.9GHz portion of the frequency band means the hardware can reliably use Wi-Fi 6’s venerable 160MHz channel on its 5GHz-2 band regardless of the environment. That’s a boon for a wireless mesh setup where a solid and reliable backhaul link is almost a guarantee.
Other than that, here are a couple of things to note about the EBM68 when working as a mesh system:
- The system automatically uses the best band for its wireless backhaul link, which is 5GHz-2 by default. However, if you place the units too far apart, it might use 2.4GHz for this job.
- If you use the 5GHz-2 band as the dedicated backhaul, which it practically is with UNII-4 since there’s currently no supported client, on the fronthaul side, the system only has the 5GHz-1 band to serve the clients. This band has the mid-tier 2×2 specs and caps at 2.4Gbps of theoretical ceiling speed.
- You can use the 5GHz-2 band for both backhaul and fronthaul. In this case, it has only half of its 4×4 bandwidth from either end.
- If you use wired backhauling, as mentioned, the bandwidth of the satellite will be capped at Gigabit.
Tested Wi-Fi broadcasters with UNII-4:
- Asus ExtepertWiFi EBM68 (Tri-band)
- Asus ROG Rapture GT6 (Tri-band)
- Asus GT-AX11000 Pro (Tri-band)
- Asus ZenWiFi Pro XT12 (Tri-band)
- Asus ZenWifi XT9 (Tri-band)
- Asus ZenWiFi XT8 (Tri-band)
- Synology RT6600ax (Tri-band)
- Synology WRX560 (Dual-band)
A familiar (ExpertWiFi) AiMesh system
As the first ExpertWiFi canned mesh system, the EBM68 has everything available in any of the series’ routers—as detailed in the primer post of the series—plus some family mesh notions available in Asus’s ZenWiFi lineup. Specifically, you can expect the following:
- Pre-synced hardware: If you get a 2- or 3-pack, all you need to do is pick one to work as the primary router. The rest of the hardware units will automatically become part of the system when plugged in.
- AiMesh compatibility: The EBM68 router will work with any existing AiMesh router to form a mesh system. In this case, note, however, that mixing hardware of different Wi-Fi standards and firmware releases can be problematic.
- Standard web user interface: You can access the router via its default IP, 192.168.50.1, and set it up like any standard router.
- All the standard Wi-Fi and network settings: The router supports all possible WAN configurations, including VLAN tagging (a.k.a IPTV or 802.1Q), and comes with a standard set of network settings and features, including Dynamic DNS, port forwarding, IP reservation, and so on.
- Built-in self-defined networks (SDNs) for easy Wi-Fi configuration for different needs.
- There are many free and useful features, including Parental Control, QoS, AiProtection, advanced VPN, VLAN, and AiMesh.
- Optional ExpertWiFi mobile app: In addition to the web user interface, you can use the mobile app for setup and management.
The gist is that the ExpertWiFi EBM68 has everything you’d look for in a mesh system and possibly more. It is for advanced home and business users. As business-oriented hardware, it doesn’t have built-in gaming features, but you can use its QoS engine to curtail the bandwidth for any application.
Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68: Excellent performance for the specs
I tested a 2-pack ExpertWiFi EBM68 for over a month and was happy with it. The hardware was a bit buggy with the initial firmware, but with the latest version, it proved to be a solid performer.
It passed a few three-day stress tests without disconnection and delivered excellent range, especially when I used a UNII-4 connection as backhaul. Generally, it’s hard to put the coverage in numbers, but the EBM68 had about the same range as the GT6, with each unit handling some 2000 ft2 (186 m2) when placed at the center. Still, note that your mileage will vary.
In terms of throughput, the mesh system did quite well for one that has only a single 2.5Gbps port. I tested it using a double NAT setup so I could use its WAN port to host the test data, and it did better than most of its peers, both as a router and a wireless mesh satellite. In fact, it was behind only the higher-end ZenWiFi XT12.
Still, compared to newer Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 hardware, the EBM68’s performance, expectedly, remained below multi-Gigabit. At best, it can deliver Gig+ sustained speed. But that’s plenty fast.
Tip
Gig+, or Gig Plus, conveys a speed grade faster than 1Gbps but slower than 2 Gbps. So, it’s 1.5 Gbps, give or take a couple hundred megabits per second, and it’s not speedy enough to qualify as Multi-Gig Ethernet or multi-Gigabit. Intel coined the term to call its Wi-Fi 6E client chips—the AX210 and AX211—to describe their real-world speeds.
Gig+ applies mainly to the sustained speeds of Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7—via a 2×2 at 160MHz connection—or broadband Internet speed.
I also tested the router unit’s USB port’s network storage feature, and the performance proved to be that of a Gigabit wired connection. As mentioned, since the 2.5Gbps port only works as a WAN, there’s no way to test this feature via a Multi-Gig connection.
Other than that, the EBM68 was completely silent—it has no internal fan—and remained relatively cool to the touch even during extended operation. There was no heat or noise-related issue.
Asus ExpertWiFi EBM68's Rating
Pros
Excellent and reliable Wi-Fi 6 performance; 2.5Gbps WAN port and UNII-4 support
All Wi-Fi and network settings for any advanced network; tons of advanced features, including VLAN, AiMesh, VPN, and more
Robust web user interface, well-designed ExpertWiFi mobile app
Practical wall-mount-ready design
Cons
Only one Multi-Gig port: no 6GHz band
Comparatively expensive
Conclusion
Like the rest of the initial hardware in Asus’s new ExpertWiFi family, the EBM68 is not a must-have mesh system. However, among all Wi-Fi 6 counterparts, it’s easily one of the best. If you’re looking for a robust system that can do everything, including advanced VLANs and serious VPN, give it a try, and you’ll likely find it well worth the seemingly high $500-ish street price for a 2-pack.
Or just keep it in mind and wait for similar hardware from the same ExpertWiFi lineup to be released in the future.
Hey Dong, I really appreciate your in-depth reviews. I’ve been with google wifi pucks for about 5-6 years and they were ok until recently when I’ve been getting networks drops/loss of internet (while neighbors are still fine); I do have lots of 2.4GHz Wyze cameras and several iPads, mobile phones, laptops and Alexa devices on the home network; Also, I’m only signed up of about 300 mbps internet service; would you still recommend the EMB68 for my situation and as someone who likes the advanced features in the web interface to tinker with?
Those cameras are likely the culprit, Tim. More in this post.
You only have 300Mbps bandwidth budget (likely less on the upload pipe), do a bit of math and you’ll know how those camera can kill your broadband connection. In that case, no new Wi-Fi hardware can help. Additionally, even the best Wi-Fi hardare has limited 2.4GHz bandwidth. So in your case, it’s a double whammy—you should have no more than a few cloud-recording 2.4GHz cameras per broadcaster for things to work well on the Wi-Fi front alone.
Other than that, the EMB68 is much etter than the Google Wifi.
Hi Dong,
Did you tried a mesh setup using EBM68 as the main router and XT8/XT9s as additional nodes? Will it give a reliable wireless mesh setup or should i get another EBM68 as additional nodes?
No and likely no, Melih. More here.
After researching and a couple careful readings of Ngo’s great review, I bought and installed this mesh system a few months ago. My main problem as been that the Asus fail-over to secondary WAN is buggy and often thinks the secondary WAN is down, when it’s actually up. I’ve found that turning off the secondary WAN in the ASUS UI and unplugging, then replugging often fixes the problem for a while, as does rebooting the router, which I don’t like to do regularly.
is there any reason this would perform better than the xt9 – I have one dell server running 30-40 virtual machines. In addition to a small number of the typical home devices. incuding TV streaming via wifi. The EM68 is higher in price, is it worth it?
I could have a mesh xt9 for the same price as the EM 68 single.
I am in an apartment building so there’s lots of wifi around me. Would I be better off using the em68 and adding a second later?
I don’t see myself using the business features, I’m just curious if one router is better with the virtual machines than the other. I can see the em68 has more ram.
Read the reviews in their entirety, Ezra.
I read the reviews of each, as well as the ET8. Between the Xt9, the ET9 and the EMB68. I am still confused. I won’t be in a situation where I can set up a wired backhaul. And for now, I’m actually just in an apartment building. Based on what you said about the ET9 using the 6GHZ band it seems that the range is terrible when going through walls. I am only considering these mesh systems because I can add a unit later. Or, perhaps the processing power of the RT-BE88U is the way to go, and I will just have to figure out a way to wall mount it. It isn’t clear how to evaluate processing power and the importance of RAM. It seems if I want a 10g WAN and 2.5GB LAN then I have to go with one of ASus’s stand alone routers. But I need to be able to wall mount them. That is why I was looking at the Xt9, EMB68 or even the ET9. Can you comment on the evaluation of processing power and where it would make a difference in my use case? For example, my server I run from home, not for business, typically runs 20-40 VM’s. Does the router handle each of those as it’s own device? It seems you said that wireless routers can handle 255 clients. I know you don’t like to do specific recommendations. Just any kind of nudge in a direction would be much appreciated.
Then you shouldn’t get any of the Wi-Fi 6E options. It seems you didn’t read anything properly since I mentioned that Wi-Fi 6E shouldbn’t be use in a wireless setup in all of of the reviews. For your case, get the ZenWiFi XT12 or one of those mentioned in the alternative list (make sure you read!).
Hi Dong,
Love your reviews. Have read more than 20 of them so far.
Question: Given the hardware similarity between the XT9 and EBM68, except for the 1GB RAM vs 512MB, would you expect similar AX 5Ghz and AC 5Ghz for XT9? I’ve read your reviews on the Asus ET8 and XT8, but frankly their AX 5Ghz and AC 5Ghz performance are not very impressive compared to similarly priced TP-Link Decos.
It’s hard to judge a router using legacy clients, Jimmy. So, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t get too hung up on the performance numbers in general. More here.
Ok, thanks.
Another question: How did you do the 5Ghz-2 test? Did you turn off 5Ghz-1 radio first (so 5Ghz-2 can occupy lower or upper channels), or just left it on and connect the client to 5Ghz-2?
Assuming you’ve read *this* review and the post I linked in the previous post (you haven’t it seemed), Jimmy, no, there’s no point in turning one off since they occupy to different areas in the spectrum. More on band spliting in this post. Make sure you actually read beore asking more questions, please.
Hi Dong,
would the 2 set can works as multigig APs with when used with Opnsense router on multigig network?
That depends on how you set them up, Yanai. Make sure you read, don’t just ask random questions. You can start with this post.
Hi Dong,
I read your articles, very informative and helpful information, thank you for that.
I just ordered the EBM68 set, in my country it was cheaper than xt9 in about 150USD and I didn’t succeed to find good deal online for the xt9.
The main reason I want asus xt9/ebm68 is because they are allot cheaper than any equivalent true APs with Ax7800 in my country, and the most cost effective option.
I’m going to to use them as APs with an opnsense Intel N100 4×2.5gbs machine that I orderd, I had Cat6 cables running through my house.
Well let’s cross fingers everything will works properly.
Best regards.
👍
Hey Dong! Great work!
Between this and an XT12, what would you recomend? For a 120sqm house, with lots os walls and no possibility to run wires.
They are similar, as mentioned here, so it’s up to you, David. The review s will help. I already have all of them.
Hi Dong,
I am trying to understand which ExpertWiFi product(s) are what I need. I get 1Gbps (up & down) from my ISP. I currently only have 2 WiFi 6E clients (Several 6, 5, and 4) and I am wanting to be able to setup VLANs in my 1200 sq ft apartment. The ExpertWiFi line seems to have everything I need, but I am unclear If I am better to use 1 EBM68 or the EBR63. I would also consider and likely prefer using the EBG15 and placing an EBA63 more centrally.
I’m just trying to maximize what I have. Any advice would be appreciated.
I’d go with a single unit of the EBM68 simply because it’s the only one in the family (for now) that has a 2.5Gbps WAN port which will allow you to get the Gigabit broadband in full (though it will be hard for you to test that behind the router since it only has Gigabit ports). As for VLANs, that works in my testing and is fairly straightforward. Good luck!
Does the EMB68 support a true Dual Wan setup using one of the LAN ports as a second WAN port? From what I’ve read, the EMB68 supports a WAN failover to the USB port for a cell phone, but that’s not my use case. Perhaps I have to insert a EBG15 in front, since that definitely supports all the shared/failover scenarios for Dual WAN, and use the EMB68s as mesh Access Points?
Yes, that’s the case of all Asus routers with Dual-WAN, Bennet. I generally would check and mention the exceptions.