Hoping for opinions on the best router for a 1gbps wired backhaul, 3-piece setup. Budget about $650. I’ve looked through the thread and it seems the consensus is for wired AP (why does everyone dislike the word ‘mesh’!)

Not very tech savvy and have gone the AP route before with little success. Prefer a setup that allocates the closest node to my devices without much finnicky configuration. Currently looking at ASUS ZenWifi XT8 since it is good for gigabit connections, but have also read that it’s not great for a wired backhaul setup.

Would appreciate any inputs & suggestions for mesh models to buy. Thanks!