High-performance, high-security Wi-Fi 6 router "HUAWEI WiFi AX3"

Huawei has released a new Wi-Fi router, the HUAWEI WiFi AX3. Although it is the latest model compatible with Wi-Fi 6, it is an entry model, but it is a notable product that is full of unique technologies that improve speed, stability, security, and even usability. Let's approach an attractive product that will make you want to actively switch to the Wi-Fi 6 environment.

Huawei, which entered the domestic home Wi-Fi router market at the end of last year (December 2019) with the reasonable Wi-Fi 5 compatible “HUAWEI WiFi WS5200”, released a new model. .

The new product named "HUAWEI WiFi AX3" is compatible with IEEE802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6, which is becoming the main force in the current Wi-Fi product market. It is a product that supports dual bands of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, supports 2-stream 160MHz width communication, and can achieve a maximum speed of 3000Mbps.

When Wi-Fi 6 compatible routers first appeared, they were mainly high-end, expensive products for the gaming market, but since around last year, the introduction of middle-range and entry-level products has become noticeable. The price has also come down to an affordable level.

This product is also targeted at the entry-middle class, and the highlight is that it is packed with Huawei's unique technology.

Details will be described later, but the following three points are important.

In other words, it is not just a Wi-Fi 6 reference, but a product equipped with the latest technology so that the user's benefits are maximized in the actual usage scene. It can be said that it is a notable product that anyone can easily obtain the latest technology.

Let's take a look at the actual machine.

The size is about 225 x about 131.9 x about 30.9 mm (excluding the antenna), which is compact enough for a recent Wi-Fi router. The main body is slimmer and lighter than expected, and the white and simple design gives it a refreshing feeling that is not typical of a communication device.

There are four external antennas, but they are also modest in length and foldable, so they don't get in the way at all. Recent Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices may have an unbalanced long antenna size compared to the main unit, but this product has a cohesive design as a whole and gives a good impression.

The interface is provided on the back, and the LAN ports are WAN x 1 and LAN x 3, all supporting 1000Mbps.

There is only one LED on the front of the main unit that indicates the operating status, and the color and blinking method change depending on the situation.

For example, it is normally lit green, but if the Internet connection is lost, it turns red. Since it does not flicker unnecessarily, you will not be bothered by the LED even at night.

It is easy to set up and manage, and after installation, after connecting to the standard unencrypted SSID, you can connect to the Internet and encrypt from the "HUAWEI AI Life (Android)" or "HUAWEI SmartHome (iPhone)" app. Keys, passwords for setting screens, etc. can be easily set.

Since it is a router made overseas, some people may feel uneasy about setting and management, but this product has a setting that is easy to understand even for relatively beginners. Management after the initial settings is also possible from the app or browser, and it is possible to check the current status and change various settings.

You can manage initial settings and post-settings from the "HUAWEI AI Life" app and browser for Android only.

As mentioned at the beginning, the compatible standard is Wi-Fi 6, IEEE802.11ax, but this product supports Huawei's unique "Wi-Fi 6 Plus".

The basic standard is the same as Wi-Fi 6. By supporting 2-stream MIMO and supporting 160MHz wide communication, it is possible to achieve a maximum of 2402Mbps.

Among the entry-level Wi-Fi 6 routers on the market, even though they are compatible with Wi-Fi 6, there are quite a few products that do not support 160MHz width and have an upper limit of 80MHz width 1201Mbps. Considering that the number of devices that support 2402Mbps, mainly gaming PCs, is increasing, the 160MHz width compatibility of this product seems to be reassuring.

If you use a smartphone or PC that supports 160MHz bandwidth, you can link at 2.4Gbps

On the other hand, Wi-Fi 6 Plus, which can be said to be the biggest feature, is a technology that improves communication efficiency.

Specifically, by installing a technology called "Dynamic Narrow Bandwidth technology", it automatically adjusts the bandwidth used for communication in environments where signals tend to attenuate, such as when there is a shield. (Using a narrow band of 2MHz width. The output can be increased by the amount of narrowing), so that the gain can be improved.

As a result, the basic method such as frequency band, bandwidth, and MIMO multiplexing is IEEE802.11ax compliant, and the theoretical speed is the same as 2402 Mbps (that is, compatibility is perfect), but the actual terminal The effective speed when communicating from is faster than normal Wi-Fi 6.

To use these technologies, a device that also supports Wi-Fi 6 Plus (HUAWEI P40 Pro 5G supports as of July 2020) is required, but Wi-Fi 6 Plus is at the chip level (Gigahome650/ Kirin W650), so in the future, it will become more commonly available due to the spread of devices equipped with the company's chips.

In this way, the HUAWEI WiFi AX3 can achieve a higher speed even with the same Wi-Fi 6 support, but it is not only performance but also usability.

As mentioned above, the initial setting is easy, but it is very easy to connect the terminal after setup.

Looking at the main unit from the front, NFC is built in the front right part, and when you hold an NFC-equipped Android smartphone (*) over it, a message asking whether to connect to Wi-Fi appears on the screen. Since it is displayed, you can connect to Wi-Fi immediately by tapping [Connect]. * May not be usable on Android smartphones equipped with non-standard NFC.

There are various methods for Wi-Fi connection settings, such as manual, WPS button, QR code, and Bluetooth, but in terms of ease of use, NFC, which is supported by this product, is the best. If you don't want to use this feature, you can turn it off.

The last point is high security.

This product supports HUAWEI HomeSec, which is a unique security technology implemented at the CPU and OS level.

The Gigahome 650 CPU used in this product has an independent security area, and the OS (Harmony) and trusted apps run in this area to prevent access from other apps. It's becoming

It is becoming more and more talked about in Japan, but old router products, especially models with unfixed firmware vulnerabilities and devices with easy passwords, have been hijacked on a large scale. It is often used for DDOS attacks.

In order to combat cybercrime targeting communication devices, some user effort is required, such as updating firmware and managing passwords, but HUAWEI WiFi AX3 has protection functions at the chip level and OS level. Therefore, there are mechanisms in place to deal with these problems.

Moreover, CC (Common Criteria) EAL (Evaluation Assurance Level) 5, which is an international security evaluation mechanism, has been acquired, and the design and verification of these functions are performed in accordance with international standards. has also been proven.

Traditionally, the security of Wi-Fi routers tended to be topics such as Wi-Fi encryption and administrator account passwords, but now we have to consider the danger of the router itself being hijacked. .

Although this product is an entry model for consumers, it can be said that such measures have been carefully considered.

It's an interesting performance, but it's pretty good.

The following is the result of installing HUAWEI WiFi AX3 on the first floor of a three-story wooden house and measuring the speed with iPerf3 on each floor.

This time, as clients, we used the aforementioned Wi-Fi 6 Plus and HUAWEI P40 Pro 5G that supports 160 MHz width 2402 Mbps, and iPhone 11 that supports general Wi-Fi 6 and supports 80 MHz width 1201 Mbps. ing.

Looking at the results, the short-range performance is still outstanding. In particular, the HUAWEI P40 Pro 5G, which supports 2402 Mbps + Wi-Fi 6 Plus, can achieve over 900 Mbps on the first floor, which is comparable to wired speed. This product has a LAN port of 1000 Mbps, so the upper limit is 1 Gbps, but ultra-high-speed communication that can use this wired bandwidth to the fullest is possible.

For long distances, we were able to achieve very practical speeds, with 100Mbps being achieved even at the furthest end of the third floor. Since the wireless environment changes depending on the surrounding interference and the structure of the building, it cannot be generalized.

Although the result of iPhone 11 is not as high as HUAWEI P40 Pro 5G, it was able to communicate stably, and I also tried connecting a notebook PC equipped with Intel AX200, but I was able to link at 2402 Mbps without any problems. .

The 160MHz width occupies a large bandwidth, so interference may be a problem depending on the environment, but compared to environments that stop at 1201Mbps, it gives the impression that a fairly high-speed Wi-Fi environment can be achieved.

As above, I actually verified the HUAWEI WiFi AX3, but considering that the actual selling price is less than 10,000 yen (excluding tax), the cost performance is quite high. It's normally cheap as a Wi-Fi 6 router that supports 160MHz bandwidth, but it has a lot of plus α appeal because it has proprietary technologies such as Wi-Fi 6 Plus and HomeSec.

It is also attractive that the design is simple and you can place it anywhere, so it can be said that it is a very practical Wi-Fi router.