Yesterday, I wrote about Linksys AXE8400 WiFi 6E router which the company claimed was the world’s first, but it was pointed out to me that Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router was outed a few days earlier, and is even available right now in China or, while the Linksys router is scheduled to launch in spring or summer.
Another big difference is the price with the Xiaomi router offered for 599 CNY (about $92) while the Qualcomm Networking Pro 1210 based Linksys router will sell for $450. That can partially be explained by the speed for WiFi (6000 Mbps vs 8000 Mbps), and Ethernet (2.5 Gbps WAN vs 5 Gbps WAN), but the Xiaomi router should still offer decent performance.
Another reason for the cheaper price, as pointed by some smart people on OpenWrt forums is that the Xiaomi router goes not support 6 GHz, so it’s NOT a WiFi 6E router as initially advertised, and the company now refers to it as a WiFi 6 “Enhanced” router instead, just to make sure everybody is confused…
Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router key features and specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.0 GHz with network acceleration engine
- System Memory – 512MB RAM
- Connectivity
- Wired
- 1x 2.5GbE LAN/WAN port
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet LAN/WAN port
- 2x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
- Wireless
- 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 6 2×2 MIMO up to 574Mbps
- 5GHz Wi-Fi 6 4×4 up to 4804Mbps
- Antennas – 6x external high gain antennas + 1 external “AIoT” antenna
- Wired
- Misc – 7x LED indicators, System reset/Mesh networking button
- Power Supply – 12V/2A power supply
- Dimensions – 408mm x 133 x 177mm
- Temperature Range – Operating: 0 to +40°C; storage: -40 to +70°C
Xiaomi says the operating system is based on OpenWrt with WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAE encryption, wireless access control (black and white list), hidden SSID, intelligent network management via a web interface or MiWiFi Android or iOS app. The source code has not been released, but the closed-source firmware for IPQ5018 chipset appears to be available on Github, which should enable the OpenWrt community to port the OS to the router if there’s interest.
Xiaomi Mi AX6000 WiFi 6 “Enhanced” router ships with a power supply, an Ethernet cable, and a user manual. If you are not based in China, it’s still possible to pre-order the router on sites like Aliexpress or GearBest for about $134 and up including shipping.
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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Thanks for saving my ass I thought 6ghz is available on this device and ordered but after reading your article I canceled it
Thanks again
And further to that point; I’ve been pounding the phone reviews (putting my comment back up as soon as they take it down.) That their phones do NOT have 6e. It is clearly implied by the presents of a Snapdragon 888, which has 6e; but this requires a 6ghz antenna and the 6ghz band turned on !
But the FCC and the 802.11 working group, clearly had to have seen this deception coming, and have done nothing about it. More sales for Qualcom, as people upgrade to get what they though they where getting the first time.
I smell a class action for the Wifi 6 – Wifi 6e deception