Review :Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000
Introduction :
I was fortunate enough to be chosen to review ( and keep ) a 2-pack of Xiaomi’s Mesh System , the AX3000.
My house is filled with various gadgets ,a large number requiring a WiFi connection.
I was therefore very exited to try out this WiFi 6 mesh system in my house.
Test Equipment used :
- TP Link AX3000 WiFi6 router ( Archer AX55)
- 2x Xiaomi AX3000 units
- 1x Samsung S22 Ultra ( to do the speed & signal tests )
- Xiaomi Home App
- MyBroadband Speedtest App
- “Net Signal Pro” app by Phuongpn
- Fibre Line - Vumatel
- ISP - Cool Ideas
- Line Speed - 500/200 Mbps
- Test area size(my home & erf): 1100 m2
Unboxing, Package Contents & Design :
Opening the box ( 28cm x 21 cm x 11cm) revealed the following contents :
-2x Xiaomi AX3000 units ( 9,7cm x 9,7cm x 22,2cm )
- 2× 2pin power adaptors (12V - 1A)
- 1x network cable
- 1x small user manual
I really like the vertical rectangular shape of the units - it’s makes a bold ,modern looking statement and should look “cool” in most households.
The grooves on top and at the sides of the units give it a sleek and aggressive appearance.
The units are rather light and made from black plastic.
On one side of the units there are 3x Gigabit LAN ports , 1x Gigabit WAN port, pairing(mesh) button ,power port and a reset pinhole.
The opposite side of the units reveals two indicator lights, showing network status and power .
Main Specifications ( as per official website):
- Processor :Qualcomm IPQ 5000
- Memory(RAM) : 256MB
- Dual band ( allowing for theoretical speeds of up to 2420 Mbps @ 160 MHz )
- Protocols: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab
- WiFi Encryption : WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAF
- OFDMA - basically reducing network congestion
Setup :
Setting up the two units were extremely easy and took me about 10-12 minutes.
Setup can be done with or without using the Xiaomi App.
I did not use the app and simply used the WAN port of the unit and connected it to my Archer AX55 router using the supplied network cable.
It took about 2 minutes for both LED lights to turn white indicating the unit is ready to use.
I then placed the 2nd unit in the same room as the 1st unit and pressed the pairing/mesh button on the 2nd unit.
Again, both the LED's took about 2 minutes to turn white.
The 2nd unit was then moved to my kitchen in order to create a larger Mesh Area.
After the initial setup I checked for updates using the app and concluded a 8 minute update.
Main Features :
- WiFi 6
- Connection for up to 254 devices
- 371m2 coverage - as claimed by Xiaomi
- Mesh System - the mesh can “repair” itself if a unit goes down by redirecting traffic to the remaining working units. A total of 10 units can be connected .
- Combined wireless speed of up to 2976Mbps ( using both the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands)
- 160MHz High Bandwidth System - only applicable on the 5GHz band
- WPA3 encryption
- Beamforming - directional signal for better coverage
- Mu-MIMO - allowing the units to communicate with multiple devices at once.
Tests : Signal & Speed:
I placed one unit in my study and the other about 12m away in the kitchen.
The unit in the kitchen is more or less in the middle of my erf.
I used the MyBroadband Speedtest App to do speed tests at various points .
To test signal strength I used an app called “Net Signal Pro” that provides easy to understand feedback.
Both the signal and speed tests were done at the same locations.
TEST 1 - was done sitting next to the unit in the study
TEST 2 - outside the house about 28m away from the closest unit ( 1 wall in-between)
TEST 3 - outside the house, as far away from unit as possible - about 25m away from the closest unit ( 3 walls in-between)
The AX3000 boast some improvements including faster connectivity, and lower latency - great for gamers.
The units each have 4 hidden antennas.
I was able to stream 4K movies without any issues via my Nvidia Shield Pro.
Where to buy/cheapest :
The following places sell units ( 1 pack, 2 pack or 3 pack)
Takealot, Incredible Connection, Makro, Matrix Warehouse, HiFi Corp, DreamwareTech, Romtech, EveryShop and Geewiz ( and others).
The cheapest 1 pack I could find was for R1329 at Romtech, cheapest 2 pack was for R2379 at Matrix Warehouse and
cheapest 3 pack was for R4399 at HiFi Corp.
Pro’s & Con’s :
Pro’s
- Great Pricing
- Ease of setup & use
- Great WiFi range
- Good Speeds
- Modern looking
- A unit can act as a router ( no need for another modem/router)
- Energy saving - goes into "sleep" mode until a signal is received.
Con’s
- Feels a bit “plasticky”
- No parental control
- No USB port
Conclusion :
I thoroughly enjoyed using these units for the past week and decided that I’m going to exclusively use the 2x units in my home.
I’m going to pack away my Archer AX 55 - the main reason being that I want to have one big Mesh system.
During the review period I was able to walk freely in and outside my house without ever losing signal. This is a HUGE plus for me , especially in a home with about 20+ devices connected to WiFi alone.
The Xiaomi App is visually appealing and allows for numerous setting changes such as : port forwarding , block specific devices , setting speed limits for devices, creating a guest network, enabling dynamic DNS virtual WPS button and more.
Do I recommend the Xiaomi AX3000 : A BIG YES !
Official Website : https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-mesh-system-ax3000/
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