Mercusys AX3000 – Wi-Fi 6 – Halo H80X

The Mercusys Halo H80X is a mesh system consisting of three Wi-Fi 6-compatible terminals that can achieve a combined throughput of up to 3000 Mbps. Its high-level features and compact size do not prevent it from being sold at a low price.

Overview

The Halo H80X is Mercusys’ most advanced Wi-Fi mesh system. It consists of three terminals with three RJ45 ports that are Wi-Fi 6 compatible with a total throughput of 3 Gb/s. These modules are identical and can be connected as a router module (the one connected to the internet box) or a satellite module acting as a Wi-Fi 6 signal repeater.

Each terminal is compatible with the 802.11ax standard (Wi-Fi 6) on two bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) for the wireless part. The 2.4 GHz frequency band can reach a theoretical speed of 574 Mb/s, while the 5 GHz band has a ceiling of a generous 2402 Mb/s. In the absence of a third band dedicated to communication between modules, the advertised theoretical throughput is halved when a device is connected to a module acting as a repeater.

The Halo H80X modules each have three Gigabit (1 Gb/s) RJ45 ports for the wired part. The ports are self-negotiating, so you don’t have to worry about where to plug in the cable from your internet box or laptop. The terminals are also compatible with the Ethernet Backhaul function, which is helpful if your home is equipped with an RJ45 socket.

Interaction with the boxes is limited to the indicator light that changes colour depending on the module’s status and the presence of a reset button. For powering up, rebooting or WPS pairing, you will need to use the Mercusys app on Android and iOS.

The design of the boxes is plain. They are small blocks (12.7 x 8.2 cm for a height of 8.5 cm) that easily find a place on a shelf. Only a few stylised perforations on the top brighten up the matt-white finish. The weight is exceptionally light (280 g per module).

Ergonomics

The installation of the Mercusys Halo H80X is straightforward. It is, in fact, identical to that of TP-Link’s Deco kits. The easiest way is to use the “Mercusys” application available on Android and iOS and let yourself be guided.

Once you’ve connected to the first module, the app prompts you to create the name of your Wi-Fi network and the associated password. You must connect your smartphone to this new network to finalise the installation. You will then have two minutes to add the other modules. Stay calm if the time is up. Just press the “+” button in the application to add a module.

The settings available in the application allow you to manage your network fully. It is thus possible to choose the frequency bands to be activated but not dissociate them or set up a “guest” wireless network. In the advanced settings, you can change the DHCP range, do port forwarding or set the level of aggressiveness of roaming between modules and connected devices.

Parental control is also present. It is free and allows you to create a profile for each user. The control is thus adapted to the user’s age, and their devices can be assigned. Finally, access to Wi-Fi can be limited to a specific duration and time slots.

A web administration interface is accessible via a browser. However, it could be better in terms of settings. You can console yourself with the possibility of updating your Halo or restarting it from your browser.

Speeds

To evaluate the performance of the Mercusys Halo H80X mesh system, we connected the router to our operator’s box, to which we connected a laptop via an adapter to the 2.5 Gb/s socket. We transfer a file (a disk image) of 4.73 GB from the first laptop to a second one equipped with an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E chip, but also to a fixed desktop PC located upstairs and connected to a Gigabyte GC-WBAX200 PCIe card with an external antenna, and updated with the Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 chip.

Connected to the 5GHz band, we obtained 865 Mb/s in download mode at the closest to the main module and 791 Mb/s in upload mode. These speeds are limited by the Gigabit port to which our server PC is connected since our file transfer was limited to 111 Mb/s. The addition of a 2.5G port would have been in the right place, at least for the WAN port (the one connected to the box).

On point 2 connected to the satellite module, we get 524 Mb/s, both in download and upload. High speeds despite a dedicated band for communication between the modules. When connected to a repeater module, the data rates are halved, showing that the Halo H80X can saturate its Gigabit port.

On our measurement points 4 and 5, the Halo H80X maintains 427 Mb/s download and 338 Mb/s upload; good results.

On the 2.4 GHz frequency band, we are approaching 300 Mb/s on points 1 and 2, i.e. those located near the modules. On points 4 and 5, which are further away, speeds are maintained at around 200 Mb/s, excellent results that allow us to take advantage of video-on-demand services and to surf very comfortably.

With its three modules, the Halo H80X covers our home perfectly. It allows itself to compete with models like the Amazon Eero Pro 6 in terms of performance and even surpass the Xiaomi Mesh AX3000, which has the same characteristics. Its aggressive price even shadows mesh kits from its parent company, such as the TP-Link Deco X60.

CONCLUSION

The Mercusys Halo H80X Wi-Fi 6 mesh system focuses on the essentials: covering a home with high-performance Wi-Fi. And it does it well. We would have liked to find a 2.5G port to connect it to a box. However, we appreciate the presence of three Gigabit ports per module and its overall design.