In addition to 5G networks, you may have heard of Wi-Fi 6. What is so special about Wi-Fi 6? In fact, in simple terms, Wi-Fi 6 is the sixth-generation wireless network technology. Its biggest advantage is faster speed, lower latency, larger capacity, safer, and more power saving. It can be said that compared to the previous generation of wireless technology Wi-Fi 5, it is a comprehensive improvement.
Wi-Fi 6 will become popular in 2020, and more and more Wi-Fi 6 routers will go on sale. In the early days, Wi-Fi 6 routers could be said to be synonymous with high-end products, and the prices were generally around US$300 to 400. The AX3600 launched by Xioami this year is the first to lower the price of its flagship Wi-Fi 6 router to $100. Subsequently, the AX1800 launched by Xiaomi further lowered the price of Wi-Fi 6 routers. Now, Redmi has also launched a Wi-Fi 6 router. This is Redmi AX5, a Wi-Fi 6 router priced at just over $40.
Although the price is cheap, Redmi AX5 does not shrink much in terms of configuration. It uses a 4-core 64-bit A53 1.2GHz CPU single-core 1.5 GHz NPU with a computing power of 11040DMIPS. It has 256MB large memory and 4-channel Qorvo independent signal amplifier, supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 technical standards, and has Mesh networking capabilities. In terms of parameters, it has reached the level of medium and high-end routers, but the price is very close to the people, which will promote the popularization of Wi-Fi 6 technology.
Tookfun will show you how the Redmi router AX5 performs. Can it bring users the excellent network experience they imagined?
Product exterior
The outer packaging is always simple and simple.
The Redmi router AX5 is relatively conventional in appearance. Using the traditional main body + antenna design, there are four antennas, two thick/two thin. baiIf everything goes well, it should be two 5G antennas and two 2.4G antennas. According to the official description, the four antennas are all 5dBi high-gain omnidirectional antennas, and they are made of phosphor copper and support LDPC error correction algorithms.
The main body of the router is still traditional pure white. There are only two indicator lights on the top, through which we can understand the current working status of the router more intuitively.
At the rear of the router, there are a power port, a Wan port, three Lan ports and a RESET reset hole. One Lan port less than the conventional router. But it’s basically enough, and now families generally use wireless connections. From the overall point of view, it is very concise. Apart from these interfaces, there is no redundant design. This is also the common design concept of Xiaomi in recent years. Many young people also like this style.
In addition, a large number of heat dissipation holes are provided on the top and bottom of the main body. This can provide good heat dissipation conditions to meet the needs of long-term high-load work. But I think that after setting up the router, most people will put it in a corner or on a shelf and will not move it for a long time. I don’t know if this design will increase the dust accumulation speed inside the product.
Unfortunately, there is no anti-skid pad at the bottom. In this case, it may slip easily on the table. A hook hole is also designed in the middle of the bottom to facilitate hanging on the wall.
To sum up the appearance of the AX5, I think it is indeed very conventional. Because the overall external structure is not significantly different from the product a few years ago. So if you update from other products to AX5, there should be no major visual problems. However, it should be noted that if you work in one place for a long time, it is best to clean up the dust on the surface of the router at regular intervals.
Powerful configuration
Redmi router AX5 can be described as powerful in terms of configuration.
AX5 is equipped with 4-core 64-bit A53 1.2GHz CPU + single-core 1.5 GHz NPU. And it adopts 14nm new generation process to make it smaller in size but more powerful. It can not only significantly reduce power consumption, but also a full 20% reduction in heat generation.
AX5 also has an independent network acceleration engine (single-core 1.5GHz NPU) designed to handle network data traffic. Not only the throughput is increased by 21%, but also the CPU occupancy is reduced by 95%, which significantly improves the data forwarding efficiency and effectively reduces the delay waiting. It is very enjoyable to ensure that while watching 4K high-definition network video, you can also play games with your friends.
256MB of memory provides the hardware foundation for AX5 mass connection. After all, in addition to common smartphones and computers, many people also have tablet computers and IoT smart home products at home. These products may make the router’s online demand soar.
At the same time, to ensure wider and more stable signal coverage, AX5 also uses four Qorvo high-performance independent signal amplifiers. Compared with the traditional integrated amplifier, the signal strength of the independent amplifier is increased by 4dB, the theoretical coverage can also be increased by 50%, and the user use effect is better.
Redmi router AX5 also supports OFDMA, MU-MIMO and other technologies and multiple Mesh networking.
Compared with the current mainstream Wi-Fi 5, the advantage of Wi-Fi 6 is not only the increase in speed, but also the support of two new technologies: MU-MIMO and OFDMA. Although the Wi-Fi 5 standard also supports MU-MIMO (Multi-user multi-input multi-output) technology, it only supports downlink, while Wi-Fi 6 supports both uplink and downlink MU- MIMO, up to 8×8 MU-MIMO can be supported. This is also one of the important reasons for the significant increase in Wi-Fi 6 speed.
OFDMA (Frequency division multiplexing technology) technology is an evolved version of Wi-Fi 5’s OFDM technology. It combines OFDM and FDMA technology. After it uses OFDM to parent the channel, it loads and transmits data on some sub-carriers. Wi-Fi 6 allows different users to share the same channel, so that network bandwidth can be used more efficiently, allowing more devices to access. The response time is shorter and the delay is lower.
Multiple Mesh networking can say goodbye to the dilemma of a single router signal having a dead angle. No matter where you are at that corner, you can surf the Internet freely. Mesh networking is a type of wireless local area network, that is, mesh structure network, also known as “Multi-hop” network. In the Mesh network, all nodes are connected to each other, each node has multiple connection channels, and all nodes form an overall network. Compared with traditional wireless networks, wireless Mesh networks are more stable, so this is why we now recommend using Mesh. (Mesh networking will be upgraded and supported before July 15)
Experience
[Easy to set up]
When the Redmi router AX5 is connected to the Internet for the first time, it can be set up with Mijia APP or XIaimi WIFI without manually entering a password. It can be done in three steps.
- Connect the router to the power supply, and plug the external network cable into the WAN port of the router;
- Wait for the system status light System to turn blue, connect to the WIFI of this router with a mobile phone;
- Wait for the setting page that pops up automatically on the phone, and follow the guide to complete the setting. But it should be noted that the system will set the Wi-Fi access password as the background setting password by default. Considering security, it is best to modify it after the setting is completed.
So far. Almost all Xiaomi’s smart products can connect to the Mijia APP. But because it is a comprehensive APP, it will be lacking in function. Take AX5 as an example, you can only simply set up and operate and check the connection of the device on the Mijia APP. If you need more functional operations, you still have to connect to a more professional Xioami WIFI. (Of course, it is more recommended to use the computer web page for background management, which has more comprehensive functions)
Wi-Fi 6 and 5G Wi-Fi related settings. (AX5 also has the function of dual frequency in one)
There are many settings for AX5, such as security center, WIFI optimization, intelligent speed limit and so on. But in these setting options, I want to focus on the child mode and anti Wi-fi squatter mode. These are probably the two most commonly used functions in our lives.
Child mode: In this Internet age, children spend a lot of time online. Due to the openness of the Internet, all kinds of negative content on the Internet will affect the physical and mental health of children, so the child model is very necessary. In the child mode, you can add the devices you want to restrict, and you can set the children’s online time, allow online websites, etc., which can protect the children’s online health.
Anti Wi-fi squatter mode: This mode can prevent strangers from stealing your own network, can monitor newly-connected devices, can also set up a blacklist for Wi-fi squatter users, and block unknown online users. At the same time, the security center also provides further security protection to the network to ensure that it is not invaded by malicious websites.
As a product of Redmi, AX5 can also connect to Mijia’s smart home products through Mijia APP without entering a password.
[Signal Test]
Performance testing. The first is the theoretical performance, here is the use of WiFi evaluation master for testing.
According to the test results, AX5 can provide a connection rate of 1200Mbps under 5GHz Wi-Fi, and the signal strength is also good. But at the same time, we can see that the Wi-Fi interference in our office is quite severe. After all, you can find nearly 20 access points when you turn on Wi-Fi, which is already a common phenomenon here.
Then came the long-distance test. I used Redmi K30 Pro to test in three locations (near the router; about 20m apart, but almost no obstruction; the same distance but three walls in between).
Based on the above results, the first two locations have almost no other impact except the upload rate halved. After three walls, the network speed was greatly reduced, but it could still meet most usage scenarios, and the delay and network jitter were also maintained at a relatively good level.
[Cooling problem]
Another key point that is easily overlooked for routers is heat dissipation. In order to keep the home environment tidy, many families often put the router in a special storage box. In many homes, routers will be placed with TV boxes and other equipment. Relatively closed space, and the mutual heat dissipation between various devices. In summer, the heat dissipation of the router becomes a problem.
Redmi router AX5 pays much attention to power consumption and heat this time. It is equipped with the Qualcomm5 core chip IPQ6000, which uses a more advanced 14nm process, which not only guarantees sufficient performance, but also has obvious advantages in power consumption control over the old routers.
In design, AX5 has also made a lot of heat dissipation considerations. This router can almost be regarded as a “hollow” design. Both the bottom and the front are equipped with a heat dissipation grill covering the entire surface. In order to ensure the heat dissipation of the bottom grille, the four corners of the router are also designed with feet to allow for the bottom heat dissipation space.
The advantage of this is of course to dissipate the heat of the router as much as possible. I also used a temperature tester to test the temperature. The maximum temperature of the front grille of the fuselage is about 43 ℃, and the maximum temperature of the bottom of the fuselage is 50 ℃, which is at a relatively good level. (Note! The temperature here cannot be compared with the temperature on the surface of the phone. Because the AX5 uses a grille design, especially the grille at the bottom is very close to the internal components. So the heating temperature and the internal temperature difference are not the same Phone so obvious)
Conclusion
The Redmi router AX5 is straight and narrow in appearance, but the pure white appearance is very compatible. In actual use, you should pay attention to dust accumulation and surface stains. It is recommended to clean it at intervals.
In terms of network performance, 1200Mbps is obviously not satisfied with the theoretical bandwidth of Wi-Fi 6, but it is more than enough to cope with the current mainstream broadband network. The addition of Wi-Fi 6 allows it to provide a more stable wireless network when multiple devices are connected at the same time, and the ability to penetrate walls is also good.
So I think the Redmi router AX5 is more suitable for users who want to fill the home network, or use it as a secondary router and want to connect multiple devices. But if you want to achieve super gigabit LAN, AX5 is obviously not for you.
From the configuration and experience point of view, the price of Redmi router AX5 is quite cost-effective. If you are still using Wi-Fi 5 or even Wi-Fi 4 standard routers, you may wish to change to a Redmi router AX5, which can improve your Internet experience.
Where to buy？
Product link:
Xiaomi TookFun Tech Store
Hope this article helps you,
May your life get better and better.
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