WAVLINK AX6000 Dual-Band Wireless Router Giant Steam6

n the past I have upgraded my router/modem regularly as wireless security has progressed, believing that I had to do router and modem together. Given that the modem just does the negotiation with the network for your account, this is no longer the case, I have a fibre to the box arrangement which is not the fastest but serves my needs currently. I have several devices such as security camera that work purely on WiFi so the actual internet connection is irrelevant. I do suffer from WIFi dead spots and have tried using repeaters from the same manufacturer as my modem/router but they give limited success Location of this device is key to its success so bear in mind it is not a small unit and requires a mains power supply. The WAVLINK AX6000 router has changed all that, with its array of eight antenna it reaches as much as ten metres outside my house, which means the WiFi security cam on my summer house now reports and connects perfectly. I also have a PTZ camera at the front of the house which now performs perfectly. This device uses both 2.4 and 5g WiFi networks simultaneously so your cameras that only use 2.4g can benefit from the combined speed. The set up procedure is easy via the web interface and once you have secured your network you are good to go. To take full advantage of the features offered by this unit you need a VPN subscription and this is something I am now looking into. This router has functions far beyond my understanding but it has given me the will to learn about something new.

There are a lot of good features about this router.

First and foremost, it gives a good strong signal over a wide area throughout my house and well into the garden.

I also tried out the MESH networking with with my current router and it all worked together very well, so that was a pleasant experience. I probably don't need the MESH networking capabilities at the moment, but I learned a bit about possibilities and configuration.

However the router didn't quite make the 5* mark.

On unpacking the router, one of the anntenae was detached from the unit. The wire was still intact but one of the swivel nodes was broken. It was straightforward to repair, but the packaging was in great shape so I suspect this happened before the router was packed up.

I found the initial configuration a bit awkward. I tried both the Android app and the default WiFi connection and found them difficult to use, but when I used the wired connection I could easily setup and configure via a web browser. The requirement to register as part of the setup process was another small bump in making quick progress. There was nothing terribly unusual in the setup process, but my existing router had a seamless app-based setup process so I suspect my configuration expectations are a bit higher today.

Finally, it is quite a large physical box, so plan on having a large flat surface on which the box can be placed.

Overall, excellent performance and capabilities marred a little by the detached/broken antenna and slighlty bumpy initial installation process.

This router has solved long-standing issues I've had with my home wifi setup. Let me explain my situation first:

I have a separate building behind my house that serves as my office and music studio—it's where 99% of the tech lives here. I have fiber internet that comes in behind the office, at the back of the property. In the house, I need to feed the TV in the living room at the front of the house. I have ethernet cabling that runs underground between the buildings, so TV in itself is not a problem, but I need wifi in the house and the router in my office won't cover the whole property. So, I've been running a second router in the house, a TP-Link that cost about the same as this one.

The TP-Link router has been a continual frustration. The wifi isn't strong, despite claims, so in going back and forth between the buildings I have to switch wifi sources. Worse, it's problematic connecting wifi devices to it—some smart devices and even a wifi repeater simply refused to complete the setup process with it, getting part way through the handshaking process then mysteriously going unresponsive—I've wasted hours trying to get some devices paired with it, even when nearby. I've also had ongoing issues connecting to the admin management of the router, leaving me stuck with the "weak encryption" message when connecting to it.

This WAVLINK router had no problem with configuration and the wifi is so much faster than either the router in my office (supplied by the fiber internet company) or TP-Link that I'm stunned. 2.4 GHz wifi is three times as fast as the TP-Link, twice as fast as the office router, and I'm getting 534 Mbps at 5 GHz. And I actually have functional wifi from the house while sitting here at my office desk, and farthest point away from the router—not high speed at this distance, but the fact I have a stable connection this far away is surprising. Wifi is not important for me in the office, but the fact my phone can stay on one router means I don't have glitches from walking around due to one router going out of range and it waiting until failure before switching the wifi.

Especially important in my use case was being able to change mode to "AP" (Access Point) configuration. It looks like this solves my problems, but if I want to set up a mesh configuration to cover my property with wifi more evenly, it can do that too.

Very happy to be rid of my TP-Link issues and have a wifi router that works. I originally planned to use this device as a repeater at a more central point between my two buildings, but after realizing how much faster and stronger the wifi is—and the setup flexibility it has—I simply replaced the TP-Link with it, good riddance.

This router might be the single largest router I have ever used. It is an absolute unit! This router is an 8 inch/20.5 centimetre square router with 8 large antennas arranged around the outside. It has one 2.5Gbps WAN port, one 2.5Gbps LAN port and three 1Gbps LAN ports, which is enough ports for most people's needs. It was very easy to set up, and it also had a very good signal strength all throughout my home, which is a two story detached home with no other wireless networks nearby. The setup had all of the usual configurations, though I had a little trouble trying to set up a static IP address on my network. There was nowhere within the setup to access this very standard setting, and I am hoping that it was just overlooked on the part of WAVLINK. Hopefully they can issue a firmware update that will add this functionality. It is a brand new product, so it isn't unheard of for new items to be missing some usual things.

I do think it is a bit on the pricey side, though, but being able to set up a mesh network with this as your centrepiece does help a little bit. I was lucky enough to have had a WAVLINK BE3600 mesh router that I wanted to add to my network, and it could not have been simpler. There was no setup involved: I literally plugged it in & turned it on, and without doing anything the AX6000 router had added the BE3600 as a node. To be honest I was expecting to have to make some adjustments, but the fact that this WAVLINK AX6000 was able to use a router from a different product line to extend your mesh network is really amazing.

My current wireless setup includes two Linksys AX5400 Atlas Pro WiFi 6 mesh routers, and they have quite a few more steps that are needed to add a new node to your existing network. I consider this a triumph for WAVLINK - well done guys.

If you need to upgrade your wireless networking gear from a WiFi 5 setup, I would definitely consider using this WAVLINK AX6000 as your router. With the excellent signal strength and speed, this one unit will work for most normal sized British homes. If you have an older home or a home with lots of thick walls you may need to add an additional node, but you may not. It was able to provide a robust WiFi 6 network to my 1,900 square foot/176 square metre home.

Works awesome. No more dead spots in my house