In the equatorial region, the influence of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) extends into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region. This work presents the characteristics of this response to the QBO in terms of the semiannual oscillations (SAOs) around the stratopause and the mesopause, and the tides, using the long-term global reanalysis for the whole neutral atmosphere over 19 years of 2004–23. The results indicate that the response is observed at a wide height region of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, with dominance in two separate height regions, at altitudes around 80 and 100 km. The lower one is observed as a vertical shift of the easterly shear during equinoxes, which can be explained by the difference in the QBO phase-dependent filtering of waves in the stratosphere. The upper one is observed as a stronger easterly during the QBO westerly phase at 10 hPa, in all seasons, associated with larger amplitude and the forcing due to the migrating diurnal tide (DW1). The DW1 propagation latitude region, i.e., the region where the sum of relative and planetary vorticity is equal to or smaller than the frequency of DW1, is relatively wider in the middle mesosphere during the QBO westerly phase. These results suggest that there is a two-step mechanism: first, direct modulation of the upper-mesospheric zonal wind by the QBO through selective wave transmission, and second, the variation in the lower thermospheric zonal wind through selective DW1 transmission due to modulated vorticity.