Zyxel WiFi 6 AX1800 Wireless Access Point | Mesh, MU-MIMO | WPA3-PSK Security | Cloud, App or Direct Management | PoE+ or AC Powered, Adapter Included | TAA Compliant [NWA50AX]

Great firmware, great range, amazing configurability (I'm using standalone mode, I don't want cloud management), actual text configuration files you can read in a text editor, and configuration download and upload. It also has a command line prompt that works, with an extensive manual, SSH access, and FTP access (though I just use the web interface, I think it's great that it does that). I also read that it works well with OpenWRT too, which I might eventually try out if they ever end of life this device and stop producing firmware updates. As it is, Zyxel seems to be promptly providing firmware updates. It seems to expose just about every single option in the underlying hardware, which I absolutely love. It does have a simple configuration mode that works well that you can use in standalone mode if you want something simple and don't want extreme configurability (I want extreme configurability). Some people seem not to like the menu structure in standalone mode - my suggestion is to just use the simple mode instead, as the simple mode is basic user friendly, or maybe cloud management. You opted in to the not-simple expert friendly mode, so don't complain when it gives you all the options. An interface that exposes that much configurability and reusability is going to have a lot of moving parts and is not going to be simple. Given the inherent complexity of what it is doing, I think they did a good job on the not-simple interface and it is quite expert friendly. It's extremely cheap for how good it is. And most importantly, all that extreme configurability works flawlessly, which I can't say about some of their competitors.

This access point has treated me very well over a year now. It has been more reliable than my old router in AP mode and looks a lot more clean on the wall too. It is a bit smaller than many other APs I have seen around the same class, but the range has been great and speeds have been consistently good. I am now running it with a PoE injector and am please that the unit works well in all areas of my 1500 sq ft home.

To get full the full potential you need the NCC. Which obviously if you read and search before you buy, you know what I'm talking about. Setup is one of the easiest that I had ever done in my life. Get account with NCC, read the QR code on the AP, connect it to LAN, configure SSIDs and things in NCC, and that's it. It was way easier than setting up some consumer WIFI routers or WIFI routers in AP mode because those consumer grade one's has awful GUIs. I remade all my soho setup with zyxel series, with USG FLEX, switch, and this AP. For who ever that says they can't set it up, IT is not for you, pay someone else to do it. Oh, and I dont do subscription or what ever with this. I just use the basic, buy the device and thats it. If you want more, pay or make your own router etc.

One star off for setup. The wizzard says the default password is on the label but it's actually "1234". Also, by default it tried to take me down the road of using their management software which I didn't want or need. The cleanest install involves plugging it into your LAN and getting the IP by logging into your router, which could be a bit advanced for some users. Now that it is set up it seems to be working great.

Didn't try the original firmware. Works great under openwrt.

This is my third Zyxel AP and I've already purchased a 4th as well. This is a good value AP; offers lots of features but costs much less than competitors for the feature set. I use these in my home so it ticks all the boxes of what i'm looking for. It takes more in depth knowledge of networking to set up and use, but has enough nerd knobs to tweak to get exactly what you want. I've got the 6e (nwa210ax) as the main ap, and I use this one in my basement as a secondary. Both are connected to a 2.5gb ethernet switch. They cover my whole property in strong wifi. The trickiest thing now is getting the roaming working right. I've had a good experience using Zyxel devices. I only use them at home though, and haven't used them in a business setting.

I ordered two of these for a customer. Since they were for a customer, I did not want to use them from an app on my personal phone, so I made sure that these could be setup from a browser in a stand alone mode, which they say you can. The documentation says nothing about how to do that, so I just had to stick one of them on the network, look for the Mac address to show up in my router, then type in that IP address. Not easy, but that would work. The setup let me choose the stand alone mode, then required I change the password to login. Documentation, or software says nothing about password requirements, so I had to use Chat GPT for that answer. I tried 20 times to change the password, used two different browsers, could never get it to accept any password. Put it back in the box and returned it. A couple of instructions and functioning firmware might be an improvement.

I got this to put openWRT on. Out of the box the install was easy. It has been running over my 2.5gbe POE connection and it will push well over a gig a second (google speed test).