Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 Wi-Fi 6 router test - to infinity and beyond!

Xiaomi has brought the technology of the future with the AIoT AX3600 router, and we can enjoy the benefits right away.

Introduction - Xiaomi AIoT AX3600

When Xiaomi's new router was introduced, I immediately caught my eye. I didn’t know the price yet, but I thought it wouldn’t be cheap compared to a traditional router. I looked at the price tags of home Wi-Fi routers and was often quite dizzy from the amounts on the label. I decided to wait any longer. Okay, new, better, faster, but spending hundreds of thousands on one router seemed like a lot.

I thought I’d wait a bit with Wi-Fi 6, especially since I saw how much stronger iron gets into the Xiaomi AX3600 than most devices available at home and measured at an astronomical price. I knew the pencil wouldn’t be too thick when it came to pricing Xiaomi stuff, but the new router was still so powerful, it was hard to believe it could fit under a hundred thousand.

Then it turned out that not only would it fit, but it would be one of the cheapest Wi-Fi 6 routers on the market. I’m not revealing the price right now, read the article below first so we can then decide if it’s expensive or not, if it’s worth the price or not.

Wi-Fi 6, the technology of the future

Wi-Fi 6 and 5G mobilnet arrive at about the same time, and it’s no coincidence. Both standards were created by the same need, ie the simultaneous, fast, low-delay service of as many devices as possible.

Let’s start with why the new standard has been called W-Fi 6! Previously, Wi-Fi standards were denoted by letters. The first was IEEE 802.11a, then came ab, ag, n, ac and now ax. So this is the sixth of the standards. With the introduction of the name Wi-Fi 6, we need to get used to the previous names also changing, so AC becomes Wi-Fi 5, n becomes Wi-Fi 4, and so on. Of course, we’ll rarely come across a device under n, so we’ll mostly come across Wi-Fi 5 and 6 markings, rarely even 4.

Now take a deep breath, take a sip and get ready, a kilometer article follows full of foreign expressions!

Why is Wi-Fi 6 good?

A lot of things will change with the transition from Wi-Fi to 6, from which we, the field users, won’t notice much, as apparently, there will be no change in operation. Our device will connect nicely to the network and will be net. The changes, of course, are much deeper than that.

The key word in the development of Wi-Fi 6 was flexibility. When the previous standard was released (2013), an average household used 3-5 devices with a wireless connection. This has at least doubled by now. More and more mobile phones, tablets, TVs are also Wi-Fi, TV-boxes are also Wi-Fi, and back then we didn’t even talk about different smart home devices, robotic vacuum cleaners, smart lights, smart sockets and more. So if there are 10-15 Wi-Fi devices within a household, we are no longer surprised, and that is just the present.

Year by year, the number of Wi-Fi devices is growing by orders of magnitude, and the growing number of devices is becoming increasingly difficult to serve with routers available today. This can be traced not only to the weakness of the iron built into them, such as the processor, but also to the shortcomings of the technology used.

Using Wi-Fi 6, you can build much more flexible and reliable networks to serve up to hundreds of Wi-Fi widgets simultaneously. This is achieved by introducing several new technologies. For Wi-Fi 6, for example, the transmission channel width increases to 160 MHz, and 1024-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) modulation is displayed, which can transmit four times as much data per unit time.

With Wi-Fi 6, we get a method called OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) that allows the router (or AP) to serve multiple devices at once. This needs a little more explanation.

Routers, since they have multiple antennas and use MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, have since been able to serve multiple devices in parallel, that is, send data to multiple devices at once. However, they could only receive data from one device at a time. In addition, traffic is slowed down by the fact that an older router per antenna can only communicate with one device at a time.

Manufacturers illustrate this with a truck example, respectively. The thing is, we have a Wi-Fi 5 router with 4 antennas, so staying with the example, we can use four trucks to deliver packets, each carrying a data packet for 1-1 devices. The wifi device should signal to the router that the packet has arrived and is error free. The router can wait for a signal to arrive from one device at a time, and the other three devices are waiting in line to send the message.

With Wi-Fi 6, the thread changes completely. An antenna can send data to not only one but several devices at the same time. That is, if we stick to the previous example, then the four antennas are four trucks, but not every one per truck, but even all four Wi-Fi devices have a packet. So, in one cycle, that one antenna sends as much data as 4 sent in the older solution. And if we have four antennas, the number of packets sent at a time will be 4 x 4 instead of four. In addition, the data sent back gets to the router faster, ie several devices indicate at the same time that the shipment has been received correctly, the next packet can come.

Thus, the speed of Wi-Fi 6 accelerates by orders of magnitude compared to Wi-Fi 5, especially when many devices need to be served with data at once.

Then there is another technology that improves data transfer, and this is called BSS Coloring. This seeks to eliminate the problem when many APs or routers that are close to each other want to communicate on the same channel. This is a serious problem in places such as a prefabricated house (just to stay for residential use), where, for example, the same company connects the Internet to all apartments, the same router is used in all apartments, professionals do not choose a channel device is broadcasting and the router is unable to switch channels.

If we encountered such a case, the error phenomenon was always that the net was torn, the speed fluctuated. This is due to interference and the fact that the router has to wait for a clear signal to be generated before it can send the data packet to the wifis device.

With Wi-Fi 6, the router can detect how strong the interfering signal is on a particular channel. It indicates the strength of the signal on a scale between zero and seven, and indicates these strengths in different colors. Hence the name colors. If you find that the interfering signal level on a particular channel is low, your ancestor will use that channel, but if the signal level is strong, you will not. With this method, the channels can be shared much more efficiently, there is less interference, which means that in short, the data transfer is accelerated even in an environment that is overcrowded with Wi-Fi routers.

One more sentence, and then I'll finish. Previous Xiaomi and Redmi AC2100 routers also used a technology that was, of course, included in the AX3600 as well. With this, the router was able to recognize the Wi-Fi device to which it transmitted a signal, for example, it could distinguish a phone from a smartphone, and even "see" the distance from the router, so it could automatically select the frequency, ie 2,4 or 5 GHz through which the data was transmitted.

Let's talk about the Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 router now!

I will not repeat the previously described novelties of Wi-Fi 6, of course the new router knows all of them.

Let’s start with why the AX3600 was named. The AX notation is clear, the Wi-Fi 6 standard is also known as ax. The 3600, like previous Xiaomi routers, has the highest bandwidth available. As before, this number does not mean that the router can communicate with one device at such a speed at the same time. Until now, the combined speeds of the 2,4 and 5 GHz bands have been the model number, to which is now added the speed of the IoT antenna. That is, in the 2,4 GHz band 574- in the 5 GHz band 2402- and in the IoT antenna 150 and 433 Mbps the maximum theoretical speeds, i.e. a total of 3559 Mbps (megabits per second), carefully (and usefully from a marketing point of view) rounded up 3600.

The hardware in the Xiaomi router is amazing to put it mildly. The “brain” of the Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 is a Qualcomm IPQ8071A processor (SoC) with 4 Cortex A53 cores running at 1 GHz. Next to them, we also find a dual-core NPU, or dedicated network accelerator, with a speed of 1,7 GHz. Separate chips work for the 2,4 and 5 GHz bands. The former is a QCN5024 chip, the latter is a QCN5054 chip, but the AIoT function has also been given its own dedicated unit in the QCA9889 chip. The router also has 512 MB of memory and 256 MB of built-in storage, the latter of course only for the router firmware, and the former to handle up to 248 connected Wi-Fi devices at a time without any problems.

I wrote above about the truck example that the new technology allows you to serve not one device per antenna, but multiple devices at once with router data packets. Well, the AX3600 has an antenna in abundance, exactly 7 pieces. Two of these are the 2,4- to four pieces for the 5 GHz band, and the remaining one is for IoT devices.

Connected to the antennas are the installation of two high-power signal amplifiers (PA power amplifier + LNA low-noise amplifier) ​​for the 2,4 GHz and four for the 5 GHz band, further increasing the strength and stability of the connection. Since we've gone into the details so far, I'll add the little information now that the PA amplifier is important for sending data, the LNA amplifier is important for receiving data, so they work together in both directions.

One more thing left out of the description is the IoT feature. IoT is an abbreviation of the English words Internet of Things, which can best be translated into Hungarian. This means devices that connect to the Internet for any reason, such as smart home devices, lamps, home appliances, or anything like that.

With its dedicated IoT hardware and antenna, the Xiaomi router can connect Xiaomi smart home devices to the Mi Home app running on your phone with lightning speed and ease of play, but of course that’s not the end of the stunt, it’s really just starting.

As I wrote above, IoT data traffic is also included in the overall bandwidth. In addition, this antenna can communicate at 2,4 and 5 GHz, thus providing a dedicated channel to the Internet for IoT devices. This can significantly accelerate - and accelerate - the communication of IoT devices to the net, and thus to cloud services.

By the end, some more important information. The router has been given the NetEase UU game accelerator feature. This, of course, doesn’t speed up the game running on our machine or phone itself, but gives priority to online traffic when we play, so it won’t get stuck, there won’t be LAG, so we can practice against it more effectively.

The other important thing is that WPA3 encryption has finally appeared in this router, which has had time, so at least everything has been given from the side of the router to replace the old WPA2.

You’re past the hard part of the article, now things are a little easier to digest!

Outer and packaging - Xiaomi AIoT AX3600

If you’ve chewed yourself through what you’ve done so far, you deserve to continue with a slightly easier-to-understand section, sort of like a rest.

The Xiaomi router bitang comes in a big box, so big that when the courier pushed it into my hand, I thought it had a robotic vacuum cleaner in it. The only problem was that I didn’t buy a vacuum cleaner.

Not only is the box huge, the router in it is also tiny, a completely different dimension than what we are used to. It sure looks a lot smaller in the pictures. Of course, the space is needed, because it has hardware with it, plus the large antennas, all seven had to be placed on it.

Due to the performance of the hardware, there is likely to be heat generation as well, but showing how well the device is designed, we don’t notice much of this from the outside, on the casing. What’s more, a tenth of a low-cost router with this power can get so hot that you can’t even grab it, compared to the AX3600 being downright cool.

The bottom of the router is completely lattice, the air entering there exits at the top. If we look at the upper edge of the triangular profile, we can see a strip of copper-colored decor, which in this case is not part of the decoration, but part of the cooling, and not only its color but also its material is copper. This plate extends to the electronics, dissipating the heat generated inside directly outside the housing.

The AX3600 has four Ethernet ports, one for WAN (where the Internet comes in) and the other three for a LAN connection to serve your home wired network. Of course, all four gigabits, but this is no wonder with such a peak device.

Apart from these, we only find the power connector and a reset button. The only painful feeling I felt about the router here would have been a very good USB port to which a data storage can be connected. The Mi WIFI app, which can be downloaded to your phone, also has the option, but you missed the AX3600 router as well as the AC2100.

Usage - Xiaomi AIoT AX3600

Anyone who used a Xiaomi router used all of them, at least in terms of software. The AX3600 and AC2100 are exactly the same in terms of software and commissioning. For example, it only knows Chinese like the AX2100, but luckily, just like there, there is a solution here.

The Router can be set up not only from the desktop computer via a browser, but also from a mobile phone. What’s more, the mobile interface speaks English. So, the commissioning process is as follows:

1. Power on the router and plug the Internet cable into the WAN port.
2. We will download and install an app called Mi Wifi from our Google or Apple online store on our mobile phone.
3. After launching the app, it will search for the router, then if you have a Mi account, log in, if not, register one first.
4. If you already had Our router, you can now reload its settings, if this is the first one, select this.
5. The router scans our network and proceeds accordingly. For the most common PPPOE connection, it asks for your name and password to the internet and we’re done. We have internet and we also have wifi.

This has not been complicated so far, and it is necessary to remedy the Chinese interface through our machine, the browser. If you already have internet and can access your router from your desktop or notebook, do so through a Chrome browser. Type 192.168.31.1 in the address bar of your browser, or just miwifi.com, enter the password you entered in the phone app, and you're in the settings interface.

Then comes the “magic”. Right-click on the window and select Translate into Hungarian from the menu that opens. Miracle of miracles, everything will be Hungarian, we can easily set up the router.

I note that by default, the telephone setup is sufficient, but if you used a different IP range, for example, you would need a desktop computer. I’m just adding in parentheses that everything is more transparent on the monitor, so I prefer to fine-tune it on it more than on my phone.

So the point is, while the Chinese interface was pretty bust-proof, the solution to this is simple and obvious, even for those who don’t feel like gurus in the world of networking devices. Moreover, those who think so will not even need to fine-tune, after a few steps of the phone wizard, they are ready for secure, home internet and wifi.

Experience - Xiaomi AIoT AX3600

Although this is a test, it is actually the part of the test that will be the shortest in the article. One reason for this is that my ordered Wi-Fi 6-capable phone is still somewhere on the road from China, the other is that I am halfway between the old and the new apartment while moving, and where we pulled ourselves the internet speed is quite ergy that to put it mildly. So I can’t take advantage of the router to put it mildly, not least because all of my smart home devices are waiting in the box to move in.

For the sake of the test, I installed a smart light so I could test what the IoT function offers. So that's where I start.

As expected, the connection slap was simple and quick. By installing the Mi WIFI application on the phone, as with the Xiaomi AC2100 router, here too, the router will appear in the Mi Home application, i.e. the Xiaomi smart home software. Unfortunately, most of the interface available from here is Chinese, but this is not a problem, because the settings can be accessed from here, but from the Mi WIFI application, in English.

After setting up the router, installing the program, all you have to do is start the Mi Home program, and you're already throwing up the window to find a new device, in this case the light bulb. The installation is a few clicks away and we see a miracle right away. At least I saw it.

So far, due to the slowness of the internet and the capabilities of the service router, it has been a torment to use the burner, many times I have had to tap the button three or four times to make something happen, turn the lamp on or off. Now, this is happening at roughly the same speed as my old gigabit digis subscription. After that, I’m looking forward to moving in and the new gigabit net, I think there will be happiness.

Already with the AC2100, I loved the fact that the router can handle the 2,4 and 5 GHz bands as one, and now it is no different. The practical benefit of this is that we do not see a separate 2,4 and 5 GHz connection between the wifi networks, only one, and it is up to the router to decide which one to serve our device to.

At 5 GHz, the transmission speed is higher, but it spreads less well when the apartment is articulated and there are a lot of walls. 2,4 GHz, on the other hand, spreads better through walls and is a bit slower. Anyway, this higher frequency worse coverage is also true for 5G mobile networks, so you need more towers.

So the point in terms of usage is that it’s enough to connect to that one network, and if the router “sees” that we’re near it, it automatically uses 5, if at a distance, it uses 2,4 GHz.

Even with the Xiaomi AC2100, I noticed a surprisingly large difference between the digis router at the time and the Xiaomi device. If possible, the AX3600 will even do this with a shovel. I can still loosely use the signal of the router in the upstairs room on the other side of the house at the foot of the wall on the other side of the house, I don't really understand where the signal comes from there, because there are only deciduous trees in front of the window and the foliage shades properly.

As I wrote, the speed of accessing the net would have been unnecessary to test under the current circumstances, but I promise if the new Wi-Fi 6 phone comes and it gets the gigabit, I will also write a detailed, measurement-laden test.

However, even without any special tests, I am sure that whoever buys this router, just to repeat myself, will see a miracle. In our Facebook group, those who bought the AC2100 bless the day when they were seduced because they were given wifi to use in parts of the apartment where there was no crumb net until then. More is expected than the AX3600.

Conclusion - Xiaomi AIoT AX3600

If you’ve had the patience to read through it so far, you’ll obviously already understand why and how much better Wi-Fi 6 is than 5. The only difference is the number, but the underlying technology has jumped a giant, perhaps bigger than any version change so far.

In fact, this router, despite its relatively low cost, is a pretty expensive piece, but if you look at it working with hardware about as strong as a low-end phone or a lower-end tablet, you might understand the reason. To be sure, whoever buys such a router now is investing in the future, but not in the distant future, but in what is panting around our necks here.

Wi-Fi 6 will soon be common in phones, and I also envelope that the number of our portable or home-connected devices connected to the Internet will also expand rapidly. We already have a cheaper camera, or with us the micro and the kettle, the smart sockets and lights all use wifis connection. And, we didn’t even talk about phones, tablets, notebooks, smart watches and bracelets then. So, the future will be for wifi, that’s indisputable.

Anyone who buys such a router now will have no problem with their home wireless network for many, many years.

In the end, all that was left was the price I had avoided so far as hot porridge. The price of the Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 at the moment is Priority Line with duty free shipping and G4C0CAFF72627000 with a coupon code HUF 47, which is not a small amount of money. However, this price is worth comparing with the domestic offer, and the location of the girl will be different immediately.

Currently, two devices are available for less than HUF 50, the TP-Link Archer AX10 AC1500 and the ASUS RT-AX56U. these are the most affordable, entry-level routers, ASUS, for example, with just two antennas, suspected of a 2,4 and a 5 GHz, and fairly weak hardware.

The next step is the TP-Link Archer AX3000, which is already similar in terms of theoretical bandwidth but lags behind Xiaom in other respects. This is to be understood for the antennas, as well as for the devices that can be connected together, and also for the iron in it.

What is really competitive with the Xiaomi AX3600 is the TP-Link Archer AX6000, which is a really good router, but the price in the product finder starts from 109 HUF, so we can buy two Xiaomites for the money.

So the price is only relative, who cares that Wi-Fi 6 is at home, but doesn't want the strongest, it's also worth looking around Xiaomi's house, because their entry-level Wi-Fi 6 router is currently only 24 forints. Line with duty free shipping. Iron isn't weak in that either, the CPU is a five-core Qualcomm processor (SoC), so I don't think there will be any complaints about it.

So the point is. I recommend the Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 to those who want uncompromising, fast, stable wifi, a device that brings the most perfect technology currently available for online gaming, millions of smart home devices, and everything else. As I wrote, this investment is really for a long time, and from that point of view, especially knowing domestic prices, it’s worth the money spent on it.

If you think this is a lot for you, then there is still a cheaper solution for the Xiaomi AX1800, which is now the X4A87EA543227000 with a coupon code and duty-free delivery costs HUF 24.

If someone is liable to pay VAT (their package is cleared through customs), Gearbest will refund the VAT. You will need to write to us for this, you will need the order date and the order number!

Here you can buy routers:

Xiaomi AIoT AX3600 Wi-Fi 6 router - Coupon code: G4C0CAFF72627000

Xiaomi AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 router - Coupon code: X4A87EA543227000

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