Our lives are incomplete without the Internet; online classes and assignments at school and university, office work, receptionists, online businesses, and all other fields are necessitous of the Internet. And with lockdown during Corona, our lives are limited to our homes. To be able to survive during these harsh times, we need proper Wifi connections at homes as well. Mesh Wifi is a whole home Wifi system built to eliminate dead zones and to provide uninterrupted Wifi throughout all corners of the home. Moreover, it has multiple access points, unlike traditional ones with a single access point.
With new brands releasing advanced products in markets has inevitably grown competition. Xiaomi is not the only company that has launched a Wifi-6 router but has strived hard to provide easy setup and affordable wifi routers with satisfactory hardware. To fish out the best option, one has to review the details of features to clear out the confusion.
Before proceeding to the details of the Xiaomi router, I would like to give a brief introduction to Wifi-6 routers. Wifi-6 is a next-generation standard that is getting quite an attention for the past few months. It is also known as “AX WiFi” or “802.11ax WiFi”, builds and improves on the current 802.11ac WiFi standard. If you have a large number of devices in your household and experience trouble in connection, then use WiFi-6. WiFi-6 provides greater speed, enough capacity to connect more devices, more stability, more data storage, less consumed power, and better execution of MU-MIMO.
Xiaomi AX3000 is a new router, including a mesh system, under budget, and a lot more compelling attributes. After my thorough research and self-performed tests, I have noted down all the details for you. The ball will always be in your court.
Without further ado, let’s start checking out the features.
Unboxing
Box of Xiaomi AX3000
Every one craves to see what’s inside the box. It is the most satisfying part. As shown in the advertisement, the content of the box is the same and has two modules included in it. Both the modules are active routers that provide access to them and can make both modules work independently by configuration. If you take a quick look, you will notice it’s plastic designed and is cube-shaped perfect for heat disposal. The extra-large metal heat sink inside it prevents overheating situations. Moreover, the shape will remind you of a Bluetooth speaker than of a router, which helps you to locate them distinctly out of noticeable sight. Xiaomi AX3000 has four antennas well concealed in its body.
Specifications
This router has a WAN port, three gigabit LAN ports, status LEDs, and a mesh or power button. Xiaomi router comes with a little pinhole for the reset as well.
Top-view of Xiaomi AX3000
You will also find technical specifications in it; processor of Qualcomm dual-core 1Ghz CPU, network processing unit of single-core 1Ghz NPU, a 256MB flash, pair of antennas for the 2.4 and 5ghz bands, all the ports are auto-negotiating 1GB ports, Wi-Fi 6, MIMO support, MESH ready, and easy management through the Mi Home smartphone app.
Set up
A proper guide to setting up a certain device is must. Fortunately, the setup of this router is easy and sublime. All you need to do is connect the router to power, and link the cable. If you are willing for more advanced features, try out the MI Home App, which is quite beneficial. It will detect your ISP’s input on its own. However, if you are fortunate enough to have wired input from DHCP, then you don’t have to configure anything on the device. To help you understand the setup of the router quickly and easily, I will note down the process in points;
- First of all, choose set up as a new router.
- Pick the name and password for your home’s wifi.
- Follow the guide until the end and the router restarts. It will apply the settings you have chosen.
The supervision can be done either from MI home or from a web browser when you point to the router’s IP address. For the login, use the password you entered during the setup.
Features
There are many likable features inaugurated in this device; the Status area shows the WiFi networks, amount of clients connected, ability to see each of the clients, leave them connected, and choose a limit to their internet access. Another amiable feature is the Topology info page; if you decide to add more units to mesh, you can still control all of them from this page. The popular AX9000, one of Xiaomi’s releases, has most features similar to AX3000 but also offers a dedicated super lowkey-latency network most usable for gamers and teleconferences and has four large antennas. Additionally, it has high-performance computing power, a 2.5 WAN port, four gigabit LAN ports, and a captivating LED setup. You can count this router among the list of best gaming wireless routers, with maximal capacity and hardware characteristics, antennas, and a phenomenal range.
AX3000 Features
Speed and Performance
After all the promising features the concern of speed and performance being affected does not fade away it remains intact until checked properly. The super-low latency will leave no negative impact on the router’s performance. I have done a few speed tests of my home network, and the outcomes were pretty much identical regardless of the rooms. The speed at home is somewhere between 250 and 300mbits, which is surprisingly well supported by my smartphone and helps me transfer files in a short time.
In the settings tab starting with the WiFi setup, the router may use just one SSID for both 2.4 and 5G connections. The network settings allow you to configure your ISP’s settings, the link speed, and switch modes and even lets you put a custom MAC address. Security tab is available for the access of Wireless controls and admin password settings. By default, the Router has the 192.168.31.1 network, and you have the freedom to use any private subnet that you want.
The status tab is the last one, and this is where you can update the firmware, download some logs or configure the time zone settings.
Unfortunately, I found no section where you can download the config file. Not even from the advanced settings section. Speaking of VPN, the router can do it for you, PPTP or L2TP – both are good options, however, an OpenVPN integration is missing. There also is integration about IPTV – in case your ISP supports.
Drawbacks
I have enlisted all the drawbacks to let you know of all the pros and cons.
- Only three LAN ports are provided which after connecting MESH devices via LAN becomes two.
- No way to stop and control the LEDs
- Lacks WPS push button
- Absence of option for opening VPN
Final Verdict
After using this, you will not feel usual delays during online meetings and calls. Gamers can eliminate latency caused by their home router to enhance their gameplay. If you are not a gamer, then you will feel no difference between using the AX9000 or AX3000 is the absolute best thing you can find at the budget and the possibility for easily getting remote status and control is adding a great value to troubleshooting and knowing whether your home devices are online or not.
Where to Buy?
You can buy it from here and if you want to watch a review you can watch it here. Furthermore, if you want to check other tech-related reviews, you can check them here.
