小米AIoT路由器 AX3600

[xiaofan]

And the 229 price of one Asus can buy 2x 120 xiaomi and can do a mesh mode which unless you are wired or is sitting very close most of the time to the Asus router the average sustain wired mesh usage and speed will be higher than 1 good speedy expensive router

We were just comparing the local version with local waranty.

Local version Xiaomi AX3600 -- S$199
Local version Asus RT-AX58U or TUF-AX3000 -- S$229.

Basically local version of Xiaomi AX3600 is not worth the money.

China version of Xiaomi AX3600 -- about S$120, this is of course recommended if you are okay with no local waranty.

But in that case, I will throw in another option, China version of TUF AX3000 (no local waranty), at about RMB 599 from Taobao, and you can easily hack it into 4T4R similar to RT-AX82U.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-4/asus-tuf-ax3000-assassin-mode-6422415.html

One more option for local version of Linksys E8450 AX3200 at only S$158 from Hachi.Tech, 3 years local waranty. Take note Hachi.Tech description is wrong, it is not capable of Easy Mesh.
https://www.hachi.tech/biz-solution...i-6-dual-band-router-easy-mesh--0745883809646

 

[xiaofan]

BTW, Xiaomi Taobao/Tmall Flagship shop has promotions for AX3600 at RMB499 (RMB599 -100 = RMB499).

https://m.tb.cn/h.4h4aCHo?sm=4f3109
【【急速发货】小米 AIoT路由器AX3600家用千兆端口5G双频3000M无线速率wifi6大户型穿墙王】

 

[porky_88]

my recommendation goes to either China imported TUF-AX3000 or AX3600. Both cost about the same ~S$100-S$120. No point buying local for both of these.

Buy TUF-AX3000 if
1) you need 160MHz ax 4X4 (BUT mu-mino doesn't work in any form with current firmware even ac clients! tested personally)

Buy AX3600 if
1) you only have apple devices which only supports 80MHz ax bands. support 80MHz 4x4 concurrently with 160MHz 2x2
2) mu-mimo works as intended

Throughput is about the same for both. AX3600 has higher tx power (30dbm vs 26dbm) but both seems to work equally well even through multi walls.

Overall all I prefer AX3600
1) much easier to tweak. (will write ling post on this when free)
2) 80MHz 4x4 ax mu-mimo is all I need currently. 160MHz looks good on paper, to use it effectively is a different matter

The above recommendation is only for using as a wireless AP. I have no interest in these devices as edge gateways, QOS (why are people even using this on 1Gbps pipes??!!) or VPN endpoints.

 

[SPEED]

Latest firmware for AX3600 router is out on 24/12

http://www1.miwifi.com/miwifi_download.html
Changelog
小米AIoT路由器AX3600稳定版日志 1.0.79（2020年12月24日更新）

1、支持小米畅快连功能，米家智能设备一键入网，畅享智能生活；

2、支持小米/Redmi手机专属游戏加速，专属VIP数据通道，游戏更畅快；

3、修复部分已知问题，运行更稳定；

 

[ericsoon72]

Any updates for global firmware? Is the update automatic or have to update manually?

 

[HeeroYuy84]

so can mesh already????

https://www.mi.com/global/mi-aiot-router-ax3600/

 

[xiaofan]

Xiaomi AX6000 is coming. Not so sure if it is really Wifi 6E, probably not, just saying it is faster than the current AX3600.
https://www.igeekphone.com/xiaomi-ax6000-high-end-router-will-release-as-first-wifi-6-enhancement/

 

[xiaofan]

my recommendation goes to either China imported TUF-AX3000 or AX3600. Both cost about the same ~S$100-S$120. No point buying local for both of these.

Buy TUF-AX3000 if
1) you need 160MHz ax 4X4 (BUT mu-mino doesn't work in any form with current firmware even ac clients! tested personally)

Buy AX3600 if
1) you only have apple devices which only supports 80MHz ax bands. support 80MHz 4x4 concurrently with 160MHz 2x2
2) mu-mimo works as intended

Throughput is about the same for both. AX3600 has higher tx power (30dbm vs 26dbm) but both seems to work equally well even through multi walls.

Overall all I prefer AX3600
1) much easier to tweak. (will write ling post on this when free)
2) 80MHz 4x4 ax mu-mimo is all I need currently. 160MHz looks good on paper, to use it effectively is a different matter

The above recommendation is only for using as a wireless AP. I have no interest in these devices as edge gateways, QOS (why are people even using this on 1Gbps pipes??!!) or VPN endpoints.

Looks like AX3600 can be an interesting AP because of 4x4 AX/AC 80MHz. And indeed 160MHz has limited usage. Looking forward to your sharing of tweaking the AX3600.

On the other hand, if acting as a router, then Asus TUF AX3000 will win because of the rich firmware features, the USB port can be usefual as well.

I agree QoS is kind of useless for the gigabit plan. The router can not handle it at such high speed. My RT-AX82U speed will drop below 400Mbps once enabled QoS. VPN can be useful though.

 

[xiaofan]

so can mesh already????

https://www.mi.com/global/mi-aiot-router-ax3600/

If you use the China version AX3600 firmware, mesh was supported for quite some time since June 2020.

If you use global AX3600 firmware, mesh should also be supported now. It is said that you need to use the same country code, eg, using Singapore, for both routers.
Ref: https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/ax-3600-mesh-not-detected.58886/

If you want to mesh between global firmware and China FW, I am not sure if that is supported or not.

 

[HeeroYuy84]

is the router capable of mesh ?

 

[xiaofan]

is the router capable of mesh ?

Of course.

If you use China version FW, AX3600 can mesh with itself, AX1800, Redmi AX6 and Redmi AX5.

 

[porky_88]

Xiaomi AX6000 is coming. Not so sure if it is really Wifi 6E, probably not, just saying it is faster than the current AX3600.
https://www.igeekphone.com/xiaomi-ax6000-high-end-router-will-release-as-first-wifi-6-enhancement/

My bet is on a similar qualcomm designed like asus RT-AX89X
so in essense:
1) IPQ8074A
2) 2 X QCN5054 5GHz (8x8 80MHz or 4x4 160MHz) - 8streams
3) 1 X QCN5024 4x4 2.4GHz - 4steams
4) potential for multiple 10Gbe ethernet phy.

so compared to ax3600
1) faster cpu 2.4GHz vs 1GHz(1.4GHz overclocked)
2) 8x8 vs 4x4 on 80MHz, 4x4 vs 2x2 on 160MHz
3) full on 4x4 (2 additional FEs) on 2.4GHz vs 2x2 (IPQ8071A only supports 6 streams total)

Downside:
1) heat will be a major challenge (may use fan, no no for me or use a massive heat sink)

Personally, if as a standalone AP, don't think it offers any real benefits. 8x8?? may as well by 2 units of 4x4. Also mu-mimo and OFDMA is still flaky and support is inconsistent on client devices.
However as a part of a mesh system with ax3600 wireless mesh nodes and ax6000 as the mesh router, it will be an interesting solution. Qualcomm has much better mesh implementation than Broadcom per say.And if Ax6000 is priced under 800rmb, asus should be shitting in their pants... lol

 

[porky_88]

Of course.

If you use China version FW, AX3600 can mesh with itself, AX1800, Redmi AX6 and Redmi AX5.

mesh works (two units of ax3600) for international firmware as well on conditions of
1) country code in bdata (mtd9 partition) is the same
2) region selected during setup must be the same

I played around with the mesh a bit to see if it offers any real benefits in my living environment. Short answer: with 30dbm tx power, mesh is not needed in my location.

 

[xiaofan]

...
And if Ax6000 is priced under 800rmb, asus should be shitting in their pants... lol

If it is priced under RMB 800, I guess that many of us will buy the new Xiaomi AX6000.

On the other hand, I think this one will be priced higher, probably matching TP-Link XDR6060 (AX6000) at RMB999, which is still a pretty good buy.

ACWifi has the router offer in the Chinese market here.
https://www.acwifi.net/0-wifi

TP-Link XDR6030 AX6000, RMB549, strong competitor to RT-AX82U and TUF-AX3000

TP-Link XDR6060 AX6000, RMB999, strong competitor to RT-AX86U (some say that you can flash RT-AX86U FW, but the 2.5Gbe LAN port may not work properly).

 

[porky_88]

If it is priced under RMB 800, I guess that many of us will buy the new Xiaomi AX6000.

On the other hand, I think this one will be priced higher, probably matching TP-Link XDR6060 (AX6000) at RMB999, which is still a pretty good buy.

ACWifi has the router offer in the Chinese market here.
https://www.acwifi.net/0-wifi

TP-Link XDR6030 AX6000, RMB549, strong competitor to RT-AX82U and TUF-AX3000

TP-Link XDR6060 AX6000, RMB999, strong competitor to RT-AX86U (some say that you can flash RT-AX86U FW, but the 2.5Gbe LAN port may not work properly).

I am done with the transition to wifi6. All devices on WPA3.
Next move will be 6E if and when apple makes that jump.

As it is, I am already making use of ALL the DFS channels available for Singapore. My neighbours still have 36-48 and 149-165... lol

 

[xiaofan]

I am done with the transition to wifi6. All devices on WPA3.
Next move will be 6E if and when apple makes that jump.

As it is, I am already making use of ALL the DFS channels available for Singapore. My neighbours still have 36-48 and 149-165... lol

Wow nice, all devices on WPA3.

I just start to have AX6 devices (two AX routers and one Mac Mini M1), majorty of my devices are still on Wifi 5 AC. And I have some older devices on Wifi 4 only.

Next AX device will be iPhone 12 in January. I bought an Intel AX200 wifi card for my 3 year old Acer Swift laptop but unfortunately I have not figured out a way to open the Acer yet.

 

[porky_88]

Wow nice, all devices on WPA3.

I just start to have AX6 devices (two AX routers and one Mac Mini M1), majorty of my devices are still on Wifi 5 AC. And I have some older devices on Wifi 4 only.

Next AX device will be iPhone 12 in January. I bought an Intel AX200 wifi card for my 3 year old Acer Swift laptop but unfortunately I have not figured out a way to open the Acer yet.

wpa3 is independent of ax. ios 13 and android 10 already had wpa3 support. so did macos many months ago.

wifi6 does imply ax and wpa3 thou.

i was hoping unifi updates to wpa3 sooner but gave up waiting. so decommissioned UAP AC HD once the ax3600s were up.

 

[koreanlover]

Next AX device will be iPhone 12 in January. I bought an Intel AX200 wifi card for my 3 year old Acer Swift laptop but unfortunately I have not figured out a way to open the Acer yet.

There are some videos on Youtube how to open Acer Swift.

 

[xiaofan]

There are some videos on Youtube how to open Acer Swift.

Thanks for the tip.

The screens are not the problem but somehow I could not find the way to open the bottom cover, my version is a bit different from the online videos. But I will try again later.

 

[xiaofan]

wpa3 is independent of ax. ios 13 and android 10 already had wpa3 support. so did macos many months ago.

wifi6 does imply ax and wpa3 thou.

i was hoping unifi updates to wpa3 sooner but gave up waiting. so decommissioned UAP AC HD once the ax3600s were up.

Indeed some wifi 5 devices also support WPA3, but still many do not.

So your AX3600 performs better than UAP AC HD? Unifi APs are highly recommended by the pros here. But they are slow in WiFi 6 and just start to ship AX APs.