The first 802.11ax routers were unveiled a Computex 2018, before the WiFi Alliance decided to use a new consumer-friendly naming scheme and rename 802.11n to WiFi 4, 802.11ac to WiFi 5, and 802.11ax to WiFi 6, and then WiFi 6 routers launched later that year from companies such as ASUS and TP-Link with price starting at $350.
Prices have now come down with for example TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 smart WiFi router going for $142.99 plus shipping on Amazon, and Xiaomi has now launched their own WiFi 6 router with Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 offered for $135 including shipping on Aliexpress. Price may soon come down further as the router is sold for just 599 CNY, or about $86 US, in China excluding shipping. Note that with the Coronavirus outbreak, shipping may be delayed.
Xiaomi AIoT Router AX3600 specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm IPQ8071A quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.0 GHz CPU with dual-core NPU (Network Processing Unit) @ 1.7 GHz
- System Memory – 512MB RAM
- Storage – 256MB flash
- Networking
- Wireless
- IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- 2.4Hz
- Wi-Fi 2×2 (802.11ax up to 574Mbps)
- Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
- 5GHz
- Wi-Fi 4×4 (802.11ax up to 2402Mbps)
- Channels: 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
- Antennas – 6x external high-gain antennas + 1 external AIoT antenna
- Security – WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, WPA3-SAE
- Wired
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet WAN port
- 3x Gigabit Ethernet LAN port
- Wireless
- Misc – 7x LED’s (1x SYSTEM, 1x INTERNET, 4x Ethernet status, 1xAIoT status ); 1x reset button
- Power Supply – 12V/2A
- Dimensions – 410 x 177 x 134 mm including antennas as shown below.
Via AndroidPC.es
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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“runs a customized version of OpenWrt“ now that sounds very interesting! whats xiaomi‘s firmware update track record for routers? might be the cheapest router with a oem supported openwrt…
Well… my own experienced is abit negative
having two routers (v1 and v3) and 3 extenders (all v2)
– the web GUI was never released in EN ( only CH ) by vendor
–you can use chrome translate (req internet connection)
-There router app requires a xiaomi account (needs internet connection for use)
-there extenders…trying to connect to a non xiaomi router is a really horrible story : requires another app..
best to wait for the reviews
i have the OG Mi router R1D, going on 4 years old and still running. last update was Nov 2019. my other mi routers, is also being updated regularly (at least 2x per year) dont let the “based on openwrt” fool you. it doesnt have the same feature set as generic openwrt. Some of their router cant install generic openwrt. Yes it is in chinese, but tutorial exist to help you set up, you dont need the app ,just browser is enough (it is only a required for mi extenders). For general use, its the best bang for buck IMO.… Read more »
I also own a xiaomi r3g, still the best for the price. You can use the android app for the basic setup tasks in english. After it is online you can use Chrome’s auto translation on the web admin interface, so chinese language isnt really a problem.
The ones that can run other firmware usually require soldering to flash via JTAG
Depends on the chipset, some just need devrom and a few command line to work.
Do we know more about the “AIoT” functionality (the 7th antenna)?
From: https://www.gizchina.com/2020/02/13/xiaomi-aiot-router-ax3600-announced-at-599-yuan-86/
…The independent AIoT antenna also adopts 2.4GHz + 5GHz dual-frequency design, which can provide 150Mbps for AIoT devices + 433Mbps
This router also has an independent AIoT smart antenna. When you open the Mijia app, you can automatically discover Xiaomi smart devices that are not initialized around you. So you can configure the network for new devices with one click, eliminating the need to manually add search devices and manually enter passwords.