Asus aimesh ax6100 review in Spanish (full analysis)

Asus AiMesh AX6100 has come into our hands, the first WiFi mesh system that implements the 802.11ax protocol to offer us all the speed and bandwidth in our connections with OFDMA and MU-MIMO. It has a wide range thanks to the two Asus RT-AX92U routers capable of providing three-band connection with a maximum performance of AX6100.

We will shed all the secrets of this AiMesh AX system to see if it is the fastest mesh system built.

As always, we thank the Asus team, who place their trust in us for this analysis.

Asus AiMesh AX6100 technical characteristics

Unboxing and external design

Asus are always the first to step up from the competition, at least that's the way it is when it comes to routers with AX protocol. Now it's time for your new Asus AiMesh AX6100 mesh network system, also with 802.11ax inside. What happen? As usual, we still do not have clients working on the 802.11ax protocol to get the most out of these computers, although in this case it will not be so problematic.

Asus never neglects its presentations, and in this case it has opted for a thick cardboard box of adjusted size and painted entirely in matt black, as usual, and a hallmark. In this case we have a photograph of the routers in the package on the upper side, they have a pure ROG-style design, but they are not considered gaming routers.

In the back we find the main characteristics of the product, such as the advantages of 802.11ax, the protection characteristics and others, we will see all of this. What we do not find anywhere is the approximate coverage range that we will have with the meshed system, so it is up to us to find out.

We open the box, and we are going to find two floors inside. In the first one we find the routing units and in the lower area the rest of the accessories. So in total we will have the following:

• 2 Asus AiMesh AX6100 routers (Asus RT-AX92U) Multilingual Instruction and Warranty Manual 2x Power Adapters 4 twisted pair network cable

Well, this is a system aimed at creating a meshed WiFi network, called AiMesh by Asus. To do this, we find two Asus RT-AX92U routing units with a design very similar to the Asus ROG line, such as the Rapture.

Obviously they are quite smaller than this one, measuring 155 mm wide and long, and 52.6 mm high without the antennas extended. If we extend them, we will have a maximum height of about 150 mm. The weight of each router is 651 grams.

Each team has a structure made of high quality hard plastic and matte finishes. In this case, we must say that it is not a fingerprint magnet as for example the RT-AX88U was, so the brand has used a different paint or anti-fingerprint coating. Good job, yes sir.

In any case, we have the Asus AiMesh AX6100 system with two identical elements, both outside and inside, and also in terms of software. This will be extremely positive, because both routers will give exactly the same functionalities.

In this case, the antennas will not have to be installed by us, since they are permanently incorporated in each unit. We will only have to turn them clockwise to extend them. In the external area we will have 4 antennas, plus two internal ones that are not in sight.

Both in the upper and interior areas we have openings for internal cooling of the device. We must bear in mind that the system is passive, so it will be the convection that must do all the work. And the truth is that the little space is paid, because they are rather hot routers, even when idle.

Let's start by looking at the side areas of one of these Asus AiMesh AX6100 units to see what we find. And we will start with the front area, where we find the team's white LED indicator panel:

• Power indicator LED WAN network activity indicator LED LAN network activity indicator Indicators for the three available bands

When any of them is turned off, it will mean that the network has no activity, no client is connected or it is simply deactivated in the firmware. In the case of the WAN Light, if we do not have Internet access, it will be shown in red.

We go to the right side area to find a button to activate the WPS mode and two USB ports. One of them will be USB 3.1 gen 1 and the other will be USB 2.0. Both support file sharing mode from a flash drive. It supports Samba, FTP, print server, iTunes protocols, and it will also act as an image, music and video server.

In the rear area we have the rest of the connections of these Asus RT-AX92U units. We have four 10/100/1000 Mbps Base-T RJ45 ports, and one RJ45 port for WAN. In addition, we have the 19V and 1.75A power connector, the power button of the router and finally the button for RESET.

Please note that both routers will be able to work in tandem if connected via network. To do this, a cable connected to a LAN port of one of the routers must be connected to the WAN port of the other unit.

The two units will have exactly the same physical and logical configuration.

Bandwidth and performance

Looking at the exterior of these units of the Asus AiMesh AX6100, we are going to learn a little more about what they offer us.

Total bandwidth will be the most important element of these routers and the Mesh system. We already know that they implement the new 802.11ax protocol which offers connectivity in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. In this case, we have routers with tri-band capacity, which means that clients will be able to connect to one 2.4 GHz band and to another two 5 GHz bands, with certain nuances.

The maximum yield will be:

• 400 Mbps at 2.4 GHz 2 × 2 867 Mbps at 5 GHz-1 2 × 2 4804 Mbps at 5 GHz-2 4 × 4

This will make a total of AX6100, using the 6 internal antennas of each router. The manufacturer makes it clear that in some countries the 160 MHz WiFi technology and 1024-QAM typical of the connection under 802.11ax may not be compatible.

Let us explain a little how these three bands work. When we have our Mesh network mounted with the two routers, they establish a trunk connection between them for the transit of information with the 5 Ghz-2 4 × 4 band at 4804 Mbps. This means that clients will normally connect to the 5 GHz-2 and 2.4 GHz bands. If we have the Smart Connect functionality activated, it will be the router that will automatically select the most suitable band of the two available for each device.

In the event that the router works only as a single router, we will have the three bands, N, AC and AX fully available for clients who want to connect to the router. The Smart Connect function will select among the three bands the most suitable for the device.

As it happens in all the routers with AX protocol, we will have to our device the MU-MIMO and OFDMA technologies, which increase the solvency capacity of the WiFi network by 2.5 times compared to the previous protocols. Adaptive QoS technologies are also incorporated to obtain maximum Traffic Analyzer efficiency through a firmware dashboard, and support for VPN server in PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN protocols .

As for functionalities for the mesh network, we have AiProtection Pro, along with parental control to prevent them from infecting our mesh network from the outside. The Roadming Assist function allows us to move from the range of one router to another immediately and without connection cuts. In this aspect we must say that in the tested devices (which are not totally current) the transition between both routers takes a few seconds to complete.

Finally, we will have Asus's own Beamforming technology available so that the router is the one that detects the client's position and focuses greater bandwidth in that direction. Again, when we have the mesh network mounted, we have experienced that the WiFi coverage fluctuates for a few seconds if we move, until it correctly focuses the location of the device.

These small details will be rectifiable with successive firmware updates, so it is not serious either.

Asus AiMesh AX6100 coverage

Then we come to the main point, the coverage range, in which a mesh network should especially stand out. And so we have verified, with a single unit inside the house, we have obtained a coverage range of about 15 meters in a straight line (with walls in between) making a total of 225 m ². Optimizing then the space and placement of the routers we will obtain a total of approximately 500 m ² of range that is spectacular and very interesting for large houses.

But we have also placed them outside, it is the window of living on the outskirts, that there is space for everything. In this case we have managed to obtain stable coverage at about 25 meters with a single unit. In this way we would have at best a range of about 1250 m ².

Please note that these measurements are not entirely scientific, and may vary depending on the client used, the saturation of the bands and the thickness of the walls. This has been our experience of use, and we count it.

Interior and hardware

As usual, we are going to do a little exploring inside an Asus AiMesh AX6100 unit to see what hardware we find. The procedure for opening is more or less as expected in Asus products, we remove the four screws under the rubber feet, and slightly tighten to separate the clips that keep both casings glued together. Be careful, because on one of these screws we will have the warranty sticker.

To start, we will find a 256 MB flash memory in each unit, in which we have introduced the firmware of each router. Remember that each unit will have its own complete firmware and will be perfectly manageable.

As for RAM, Asus has opted for 512 MB, which are not bad knowing the benefits of each unit. The main CPU is the well-known Broadcom BCM4908 64-bit quad core operating at 1.8 GHz that manages the firmware and the LAN / WAN connectivity of the router. For network management we will have another 3 Broadcom processors that will be in charge of the 2.4 GHz 2 × 2 network, the 5 Ghz 2 × 2 AC network and the 5 GHz 4 × 4 AX network.

We observe how in the upper area of ​​the PCB, we have the connections of the 6 Wi-Fi antennas that this router has. Remember that inside the router there are two other internal antennas that we clearly see installed in the lateral areas.

Inside the metallic encapsulation are the processing units, but as they have been customary since the Rapture AX11000 all of them are located in an aluminum mold that is not easy to remove, so we will choose to keep it in perfect condition.

In the area that is oriented towards the top we have the entire cooling system of finned aluminum heatsinks in direct contact with the encapsulation of the processors and glued by means of thermal pads.

The construction is really well-kept and very clean. The extremely powerful hardware that we find in each unit and that surely does not give a spectacular performance as we will see later.

Firmware and configuration

We got to the firmware and configuration part of the Asus AiMesh AX6100. In this case, we will not go through each of the available sections, because in addition to being practically the same as other routers of the brand, we would talk more or less of the same. For this reason we will focus on the mesh configuration and the Smart Connect options.

Initial setup:

Just connect our first router to the current and the respective RJ45 for our PC and WAN, we will access it through http://router.asus.com and this is where we will start the typical setup wizard. We will choose the function as a normal and ordinary router, so that it supports internet connection and acts as the main router. At the end we will find a screen to start the mesh configuration.

We connect to the current the other router in the desired place. Once it boots completely, we are going to give the button " Add another node " and it will automatically detect the router that we have connected last.

If we prefer, we can go to the main screen of the Asus AiMesh AX6100 firmware to add when we want the other or other routers to the mesh. We will click on AiMesh Node and the search for the node will automatically start. We will only have to add it and after a few seconds, it will be connected to the main one and the network will be formed. The process is truly simple and fast.

Tri-band configuration with a single router

Directly on the main screen of the firmware, we can make a quick configuration of the WiFi network. We can choose the tri-band Smart Connect mode so that the router manages the connection of the clients in the three bands, in this case, a single network will appear on our device.

We can also choose 5 GHz Smart Connect to manage them in the two 5 GHz bands, for the first case, or two networks, for the second, thus separating the 2.4 Ghz band and the 5 GHz band.

Finally we can disable Smart Connect and have the three bands separately. In this case, we recommend putting a different name on each of them to better identify them and know which one we connect to.

Tri-band configuration in AiMesh mode

Let's go to the “ wireless ” section of the firmware in Asus AiMesh AX6100 AiMesh mode. Now we will see that the previous options disappear and we will only have the option of Smart Connect with two bands, 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz-1. This is because 5 GHz-2 (the one that works on 802.11ax) has been used for the trunk link between the two routers, and therefore will not be available to clients. It is certainly a limitation if we had AX clients, because we can only connect under 802.11 or 802.11ac.

If we disable Smart Connect we can choose the default band to connect to. In which case, two different WiFi networks will be available for our clients.

Wide configuration that we have available with these routers. In any case, we recommend Smart Connect Triband for the case in which we put only one router, or Smart Connect Dual Band in almost AiMesh, so we will forget about having several separate networks.

Test of performance

Being a tri-band router and with AiMesh, we will see the performance separately of the three bands available with a single router, both close and far. To do this, we will connect one device to a GbE port on the router and another via Wi-Fi with 4 × 4 capacity.

And then we will see the performance of bandwidth with the mesh network configured in Smart Connect and a client on each side and far, both connected via Wi-Fi taking advantage of the AX trunk link generated by the routers.

We will also test the performance of USB 3.0 with an AC client connected to the AX 4 × 4 band.

Testing equipment

• Asus AiMesh AX6100 Routers First Computer (Wi-Fi): Asus PCE-AC88 Second Computer (LAN): Intel I218-LM GbESecond Computer (Wi-Fi): Intel Wireless-AC 7260 Storage Drive: USB 3.0 Sandisk Extreme Software: jperf 2.0.2

First test: 2.4 GHz band, theoretical maximum: 400 Mbps.

We see significant improvements in the 2.4 GHz band for this new router. It is noted that the firmware is more optimized than on previous occasions, especially in the Asus RT-AX88U.

Second test: 5 Ghz-AC band, theoretical maximum: 867 Mbps

Since we are unprecedented under the same conditions in this new configuration for next-generation routers, we see the results only from the analysis router. In any case, those 687 Mbps close is fine, staying close to the maximum provided by the router's 2 × 2 connection at 5 GHz.

Third test: 5 Ghz-AX band, theoretical maximum: 4804 Mbps (tested with AC + LAN client)

We continue with the third test. In it we connect the AC 4 × 4 client that we have. Theoretically this connection should give much more performance, and we clearly see that the ceiling is found in the 1000 Mbps LAN connection. We hope to have more powerful clients for this test soon, in any case, the measurements coincide with the previous routers of the brand.

Fourth test: Smart Connect AiMesh mode, theoretical maximum: 867 Mbps

We have two routers in meshed network mode about 12 meters away from each other with some wall in between. The clients in turn are connected via WiFi AC to each router at about 4 meters. In this way, the data transfer will be carried out through the backbone of both routers.

We see that we are practically obtaining the same bandwidth as in the close-up connection in the 5 GHz band. Thus we can see that the AiMesh network works at an almost theoretical speed and at considerable distances, which shows the power of these two routers and the Asus AiMesh AX6100 system.

Fifth test: USB 3.0 performance

In this part, no surprise, the speeds are kept at about 105 MB / s, which coincide with the speed indicated in the file transfer of the previous tests.

Final words and conclusion about Asus AiMesh AX6100

We can say almost without fear of being wrong that this Asus AiMesh AX6100 is one of the fastest AiMesh systems in its segment. To its segment we refer to the combination of 2 × 2 AC in 2.4 and 5 GHz in mesh mode. We are practically reaching the maximum bandwidth in the clients when we connect to any of the frequencies in an individual router, which is extremely positive. Except of course the tests in AX that we hit the ceiling with the 1000 Mbps of the LAN connection as we do not have AX clients.

Regarding the performance of the meshed network, we must say that it is one of the best we have tested to date. With only two routers we can reach an approximate surface of about 550 m ² indoors combined with outdoor areas, at least in our tests. It is something that only three router systems achieve. And if we go outdoors, we will have around 1250 m ² available, practically a complete medium-sized plot.

The Smart Connect mode in AiMesh is highly optimized, thanks to the 4804 Mbps trunking in 802.11ax we have obtained at a considerable distance almost the maximum bandwidth of a 5GHz AC 2 × 2 connection. One aspect that, if it should be considered, is that, when mounting the mesh, the 5Ghz band under 802.11ax will not be available to connect clients.

We also recommend our guide on the best routers on the market

There is also no doubt at this point of the solvency of the firmware that Asus places on its routers. But we must say that in these units it goes more freely than for example in the RT-AX88U. Changes are made faster and navigation is smoother for your options. The performance of USB 3.0 has not declined in the least in these units, and a positive thing is that we have 4 RJ45 GbE in each unit.

Something that we must consider in our experience of use with this Mesh system, is that the instant connection system when moving from zones between routers, is not carried out as fast as we would like. We notice a small time interval between connection and disconnection. Similarly, Beamforming sometimes has a hard time locating and focusing the electromagnetic beam towards the client, we notice it because of fluctuations in coverage for a few seconds. It is nothing serious, but surely optimizable from firmware.

Asus AiMesh AX6100 we will have it available soon in Spanish stores. We still do not know the price, but we have seen it in a Europe store for a price of 412 euros. Is it really worth it? Considering that it implements 802.11ax and that they are two full-fledged routers, we see it as a fairly competitive price. Furthermore, tests show how powerful the mesh network is.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ BANDWIDTH NEARING THE THEORETICAL IN ALL CASES	-LITTLE DISCONNECT / DISCONNECT INTERVAL BETWEEN COVERAGE ZONES
+ HUGE RANGE OF COVERAGE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE	-BEAMFORMING SOMETHING OPTIMIZABLE
+ MANAGABLE ROUTERS AND COMPLETE AND FLUID FIRMWARE	-802.11AX CONNECTION NOT AVAILABLE IN AIMESH MODE
+4 RJ45 + USB 3.0 IN BOTH ROUTERS
+ SMART CONNECT PERFORMANCE WITH AND WITHOUT AIMESH
+ OF THE BEST MESH SYSTEMS ON THE MARKET

The Professional Review team awarded you the platinum medal and recommended product

Asus AiMesh AX6100

DESIGN - 89%

PERFORMANCE 5 GHZ - 94%

SCOPE - 100%

FIRMWARE AND EXTRAS - 100%

PRICE - 83%

93%