What is an Extendable Router?

two ASUS extendable routers with an arrow made of an electric lighting effect

Have you ever searched for a solution to eliminate internet dead zones or extend WiFi coverage? Some people try and fix these problems with a cheap WiFi repeater or WiFi extender. However, these barebones devices often fail to deliver the performance and convenience you expect, requiring you to replace that whole setup with a brand-new router or buy an extra WiFi extender down the road. You might be better off purchasing an extendable router in the first place.

AiMesh

AiMesh is the key tech that makes so many ASUS routers extendable. AiMesh-compatible wireless routers can be connected to create a whole-home mesh WiFi network. When you renovate a basement, build an addition to your home, or move to a newer and larger one, you’ll be ready to extend your network easily with AiMesh. And all along, you’ll enjoy easy management tools, comprehensive security and a rich feature set.

GIVEAWAY

Total Prizes Worth Up to $5,000

  • Join the Contest

    Complete more tasks to earn more entries and increase your chances of winning!

    One ASUS Zenbook OLED 14, one ASUS RT-AX86U Pro WiFi router and one ASUS RT-AX57 WiFi router
    Prize pool
    1st prize

    ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED laptop (1 winner)

    2nd prize

    ASUS RT-AX86U Pro WiFi router (10 winners)

    3rd prize

    ASUS RT-AX57 WiFi routers (20 winners)

    Campaign period

    16 June, 2023 09:00AM (UTC+8) |23 July, 2023 11:59PM (UTC+8)

    • Click to join
    • Terms & Conditions

      This promotion – ASUS Worry-Free WiFi Extendable Router Contest Giveaway (“Promotion”) is hosted by ASUSTek Computer Inc. (“ASUS”).

      1. Detailed information with respect to how to play and win prizes in connection with this specific Promotion, ASUS Terms of Use Notice, and ASUS Privacy Policy, constitutes part of this Campaign Terms and Conditions ("Terms and Conditions"). Participation in this Promotion is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. ASUS may at any time revise the Terms and Conditions and other rules set forth by ASUS. Eligible Entrant (as defined below) shall be bound by any such revisions.
      2. The Promotion commences on 16 June, 2023 09:00AM (UTC+8) and terminates on 23 July, 2023 11:59PM (UTC+8) ("Promotion Period") and hosts worldwide, except in territories or countries where it is prohibited by law to win giveaways (“Promotion Territory”).
      3. Employees of ASUS and its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising representatives and agencies, who are involved in the Promotion, and the immediate families of any of the foregoing persons, are NOT ELIGIBLE for this Promotion.
      4. People who live in Promotion Territory and would like to participate in this Promotion during the Promotion Period acknowledge as follows:
        1. Eligible Entrant (as defined below) shall be at least 18 years old and considered an adult by the laws of the country where you reside in. ASUS reserves the right to check the validity of any entry and the identity of any entrant or winner, and to refuse entry or refuse the giving of any prize in its sole discretion.
        2. How to Claim the Prize. Winners must meet all eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules to qualify for the Prize. For example, a Canadian resident, a Winner may be required to correctly answer a time-limited skill testing question administered by phone without any assistance in order to be eligible to receive a prize. If a Winner is a Canadian resident and the question is answered incorrectly, the prize will be forfeited.
        3. Your ("Eligible Entrant") email address needs to be valid and reachable to be eligible to participate in the Promotion
        4. One email address can only enroll in the entry once. Different entries will offer varying criteria and rewards. Winners are randomly selected among all the qualified participants during the duration of the Campaign.
          Prize Pool:
          ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402) (1 winner)
          ASUS RT-AX86U Pro (10 winners)
          ASUS RT-AX57 (20 winners)
        5. Prize Winners will be announced by 18 August, 2023 09:00 PM (UTC+8) and shall inform ASUS of their contact information within 7 days after the time ASUS sends out the notification via email. Any failure of a Prize Winner to make the contact information available to ASUS will be deemed a waiver of the right for the Prize awarded, and ASUS, in its sole discretion, has the right to conduct a redraw to decide a substitute. All submissions from the special ASUS prize winners will be checked to ensure eligibility.
        6. The Prizes for Prize Winners will be delivered to your indicated address within three months after the confirmation of the prize from winner is received. The delivery date may be changed without prior notices.
        7. ASUS reserves the right to verify any of the information provided by a winner before awarding the prize. ASUS will not be held responsible for any lost or returned prizes where it has made reasonable efforts to ascertain the correct postal address of the winners.
        8. For more detailed information on the Prizes included in the promotion, please refer to the official ASUS Extendable Router website (https://www.asus.com/my/content/extendablerouter/ ). The Prizes given will not be covered by an ASUS warranty. ASUS reserves the right to provide the replaceable Prizes with the equivalent function or valued based on the country or the region of the winner’s resident.
        9. When you submit, upload, transmit, input or provide the information including your images, videos, video links, posts and/or submissions for this Promotion, you grant ASUS, its affiliates and subsidiaries, a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-revocable, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable right to promote and distribute part or all of the information in any media formats with any manner, including without limitation to modify, reproduce, public broadcast, public transmission, adapt, distribute, publish, public release, or otherwise use of the information.
        10. The Promotion is hosted in multiple jurisdictions and territories. In each Promotion territory, the entry, mechanism, review criteria and prizes will be various. The participant shall not enroll multiple programs from other countries. If ASUS investigate any frauds, ASUS has the right to deny and refuse your entry in the future.
        11. You acknowledge that each of your email address will be counted one Entrant for this Promotion during the Promotion Period, and an Eligible Entrant is allowed to win one time.
        12. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. No purchase is necessary to participate in the Promotion. A purchase will not improve Eligible Entrant’s chances of winning.
        13. Canadian residents should comply with the need to correctly answer a skill-testing question before being declared a winner.
      5. For any reviews/ articles/ ratings written about your using experience of ASUS products/ services on 3rd party platforms, you should disclose the cooperation relationship between you and ASUS in your reviews/ articles/ rating on such 3rd party platforms (for example, by stating “sponsored post by ASUS” or “promoted post by ASUS” in your reviews/ articles/ ratings).
      6. If you have any questions regarding the Promotion, please contact us at: WLAN_MKT@asus.com
      7. This Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or any other social networks. You agree to grant Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, or any other social networks a complete release regarding this Promotion. You acknowledge that you are providing your comments and Personal Information to ASUS and not to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or any other social networks; and such information and Personal Information will only be used for this Promotion – ASUS Worry-Free WiFi Extendable Router Contest Giveaway.
      8. Acceptance of Rules: By participating in the ASUS Worry-Free WiFi Extendable Router Contest Giveaway, You have affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of the Official Rules, Terms and Conditions.

Worry-Free Extendable Network

Extendable routers provide one single, seamless WiFi network for the whole home. When it’s time to extend your network, you can simply add another unit to the mix. This system doesn’t require you to switch networks as you move about. The routers in your network will work in tandem to determine which one delivers the best signal to each connected device, and they will seamlessly transfer the connection to each other without any direct input or interaction on your part.

A regular router and a WiFi extender are much less convenient. You may need to switch your WiFi off and on every time you move around your house just to stay connected. In some scenarios, even when you are closer to the main router, your device could still be connected to the WiFi extender, which may be sending a weaker signal because it’s in another room.

  • a happy user enjoys the seamless roaming experience in the entire home with extendable routers
    ASUS TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS with extendable design

    Extendable Router Network

  • an unhappy user needs to switch WiFi off and on every time when moving around your home
    ASUS TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS with traditional design

    Traditional Router with A WiFi Extender

Take Control Your Home Network

  • SECURITY FOR
    EVERY DEVICE

Easy Setup and Centralized Management

If you’re worried about setting up an extendable router network, don’t be. The highly rated ASUS Router mobile app makes it easy. Setup is a breeze, and it gives you easy tools to manage your network and monitor all connected devices. You can effortlessly optimize your home network, such as finding the best location to put your node by checking the network topology. A WiFi extender might have a standalone app—if it has one at all—so it can be more difficult to set up and to determine the optimal device placement.

ASUS router app icon

Download ASUS router app

ASUS router app and AiMesh topology user interfaces
user interfaces of ASUS network security features

Commercial-grade Protection Anywhere

ASUS AiProtection leverages updates from Trend Micro™ to automatically shield your home network by blocking malicious sites and detecting and isolating infected devices, while Instant Guard gives you a one-tap secure VPN server, adding rock-solid security to any public WiFi wherever you are. Most competing WiFi extenders come with basic WPA2 or WPA3 security without any advanced features. And most importantly, they lack the ability to be centrally controlled.

Rich, Advanced Features in Your
Entire Home Network

The value of an ASUS extendable router even goes beyond WiFi extensions. You get comprehensive commercial-grade security and network features in your entire network — without paying a subscription fee.

*Features vary by model. Please refer to specification pages for full details.
Child uses a smartphone while parent monitors with ASUS parental controls user interface

Advanced Parental Controls

For parents, advanced controls let you effortlessly monitor your kids’ online activities, set reasonable limitations on their screen time and even customize settings for each connected device all on one app.

A gamer is playing mobile game with the ASUS Mobile Game Mode user interface

Lag-free Mobile Gaming

If there’s a smartphone gamer in your household, they’ll appreciate the seamless roaming experience when roaming around the home, plus one-click Mobile Game Mode. For competitive online gamers, ASUS gaming routers optimize game traffic every step of the way for many types of gaming.

A woman is using VPN on a laptop with the ASUS VPN user interface

Comprehensive VPN Features

ASUS routers support PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, OpenVPN and the latest WireGuard security protocol to enable a variety of VPN scenarios. With a built-in VPN server and VPN client, you can enjoy your favorite streaming services or games from anywhere.

Adapt to Future-proof WiFi Technology

ASUS developed the first extendable router and AiMesh technology in 2017. Since then, most ASUS routers have been extendable and AiMesh compatible, including the upcoming world’s first WiFi 7 router. You can rest assured that these routers are compatible across WiFi generations. When upgrading to future-proof WiFi technology, you can repurpose your older extendable router a network node to strengthen your home WiFi signal — which reduces e-waste, too.

The milestone of ASUS extendable routers
  • 2017 ASUS’ 1st Extendable Router

    ASUS RT-AC68U

  • 2018 World’s 1st WiFi 6 Router

    ASUS RT-AX88U

  • 2021 World’s 1st WiFi 6E Router

    ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000

  • 2023 World’s 1st WiFi 7 Router

    ASUS RT-BE96U

Extendable Router Regular Router +
WiFi Extender
Roaming Seamless, time-saving experience Inconvenient and time-consuming
Setup and management Hassle-free, one app for all Multiple time-consuming
apps required
Network security Centrally controlled commercial-grade protection at no extra cost Basic security and no central control capabilities
Parental Controls Advanced features for every
connected device
Not included
Gaming features Seamless mobile gaming experiences, advanced game boost features Not included
VPN features Built-in comprehensive VPN features Not included
*Features vary by model. Please refer to specification pages for full details.

Choose The Best Extendable Router for You

PCMag award logo

A traditional router or a WiFi extender might meet your needs today, but an extendable router will make sure that you can get the WiFi connection you need down the road. Whether you‘re shopping for a gaming-first router, an all-purpose performance router or a budget-friendly option that’ll get you started, ASUS has the best what you’re looking for.

  • GAMING ROUTER
  • ROG GAMING ROUTER
  • ASUS RT-AX3000

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX3000; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 2x2
    • AiProtection Pro, Advanced Parental Controls, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • USB Port
  • ASUS RT-AX57

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX3000, 2.4GHz / 5GHz
    • AiProtection Classic, Parental control
    • AI Mesh supported
  • ASUS RT-AX1800HP

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX1800; 2.4GHz / 5GHz
    • AiProtection Classic, Parental Control
    • AI Mesh supported
  • ASUS RT-AX53U

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX1800; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 2x2
    • AiProtection Classic, Parental Controls, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • USB Port
  • ASUS RT-AX55

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX1800; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 2x2
    • AiProtection Classic, Parental Controls, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • USB Port
  • ASUS RT-AX1800U

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX1800; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 2x2
    • AiProtection Classic, Parental Controls, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • USB Port
  • ASUS RT-AX86U Pro

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX5700; 2.4 GHz 3x3, 5 GHz 4x4
    • Mobile Game Mode, Gaming port, Open NAT, Gear accelerator
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • 2.5 Gb Port, Dual USB Ports
  • ASUS RT-AX82U

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX5400; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 4x4
    • Mobile Game Mode, Gaming port, Open NAT, Gear accelerator
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • USB Port
  • TUF Gaming AX6000

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX6000; 2.4 GHz 4x4, 5 GHz 4x4
    • Mobile Game Mode, Gaming port, Open NAT, Gear accelerator
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • Dual 2.5 Gb Ports, USB Port
  • TUF Gaming AX4200

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX4200; 2.4 GHz 2x2, 5 GHz 3x3
    • Mobile Game Mode, Gaming port, Open NAT, Gear accelerator
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard, VPNs
    • 2.5 Gb Port, USB Port
  • ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000

    • WiFi 6E
    • Quad-band AXE16000; 2.4 GHz 4x4,
      5 GHz-1 4x4, 5 GHz-2 4x4, 6 GHz 4x4
    • Triple-level Game Accelerator, VPN Fusion
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard
    • Dual 10 Gb Ports, 2.5 Gb Port
  • ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro

    • WiFi 6
    • Tri-band AX11000; 2.4 GHz 4x4, 5 GHz-1 4x4, 5 GHz-2 4x4
    • Triple-level Game Accelerator, VPN Fusion
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard
    • 10 Gb Port, 2.5 Gb Port
  • ROG Rapture GT-AX11000

    • WiFi 6E
    • Tri-band AXE11000; 2.4 GHz 4x4, 5 GHz 4x4, 6 GHz 4x4
    • Triple-level Game Accelerator, VPN Fusion
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard
    • 2.5 Gb Port
  • ROG Rapture GT-AX6000

    • WiFi 6
    • Dual band AX6000; 2.4 GHz 4x4, 5 GHz 4x4
    • Triple-level Game Accelerator, VPN Fusion
    • AiProtection Pro, Instant Guard
    • Dual 2.5 Gb Ports