Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-mesh-system-ax3000/
I’ve always had the “luck” to find myself in a room with significant layers of partitions to dampen my WiFi network access. Some of my devices will pickup a signal and work fine, albeit not optimally, while others struggle to even find the network in a scan. I recently relocated to a new place and experienced the same “joy” of having to find the sweet WiFi spot in my room and trying to even find the WiFi network on some devices. The opportunity to review the Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 thus came at an opportune time. Promising Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 network coverage of up to 4,000 sq.ft and support for connecting up to 254 devices, would it fix my WiFi woes?
Before spoiling the answer, let’s take a closer look at the equipment. The model under review is the Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 (2-Pack) with a recommended retail price of EUR 149. The company also says that it will sell single pack options to extend the number of nodes should you need to. The standard 2-pack model comes with the following:
- Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 (x2 modules)
- Instruction Manual
- Power cord
- Network cable
More specs details can be found below or via the official specs page:
Each module, measuring 97mm × 97mm × 222mm, packs a sleek, rectangular design with a matte black finish and no protruding antennas. While it will fit right next to the Xbox Series X, I am not particularly fond of the generic tower aesthetic. However, I do find that this design choice enables the units to easily fit on shelves and can even blend with your furniture. But I would personally still prefer a more original take on the mesh units design than the bland one it currently packs.
The individual units are also quite light, enabling them to easily rest on shelves and tabletops without worrying about adding extra weight.
Setting up the Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 is fairly easy and doesn’t require any technical knowledge; but it does involve some steps that you need to follow via the instruction manual. You first have to power one of the mesh units and connect its WAN port to your main broadband modem’s LAN port with the included network cable.
Once connected and the module’s indicator light turns white, you will have to use an internet-connected device to configure the unit. Following this quick and easy process, you can start the mesh networking. This does not involve any additional wires but only a second mesh module (included) plugged to a power source. The instruction manual has several methods to go about with this, with the quickest being using the Mi Home app. However, I had issues finding the network devices with the app.
So I resorted to the second, manual method which included pushing some buttons. It was a fiddly process but it eventually worked and I could place the second mesh module in my room.
And voila, my room finally had proper WiFi coverage. The Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 delivers strong and stable WiFi and I’ve had no issues connecting my devices to it, even those that would struggle before. It’s a noticeable difference that can be more appreciated with the latter devices.
To quantify the results, I paired my devices to the main modem and the mesh system and ran benchmarks on Speedtest.net. While connected to the modem, my gaming laptop would hit 53.59 Mbps of download speed at the sweet spot in my room and 20.39 Mbps at its weakest spot (that’s where some devices won’t even find the network). On the same connection, my Black Shark 4 phone would manage 44.24 Mbps and 18.61 Mbps, at the strong and weak spots of my room respectively.
While connected to the Xiaomi mesh system, the download speed would go up to 74.28 Mbps on my gaming laptop and 73.58 Mbps on my phone. And it provides a rather uniform speed across the room.
Of course, your values might vary depending on the partitioning between your room and the main modem, but it is safe to say that the Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 indeed extends coverage to the weakest spots in your house/room. Xiaomi says that each unit covers up to 2000 sq. ft for a total of 4,000 sq. ft of coverage when combining the two. While I could not test such extremes, my room’s situation provided a fairly dire user scenario that others might relate to. My room and the main modem are about 3 meters apart and are separated by 3 walls and a staircase and the AX3000 mesh system greatly helped improve my network coverage with a stable and reliable one on any number of devices I had paired to it at a time.
On the downside, the Xiaomi Mesh System AX3000 comes with only two units while others within the same price range as the RockSpace Home Wi-Fi Mesh System that we previously reviewed, come with 3 modules. Depending on the size of your house and WiFi coverage needs, you might need to buy additional modules; and it would be handy to have one more in the box as one will already be tied to your modem.
Additionally, my experience with the Xiaomi app was not very favorable and the initial setup was fiddly. But once the mesh network had been configured, there was no need to go back through this process and I could safely rely on the sturdy connection that the system provided. Moreover, given its “next-gen” features like WiFi-6 support, WPA3 encryption protocol and dual-band wireless speed, it is quite easy to recommend at that price point.
Verdict
- Delivers strong, reliable WiFi coverage
- No technical knowledge required to set up
- “Next-gen” features
- Connection issues with Xiaomi Home app
- Fiddly initial setup
- Uninspired design
