HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 review: Affordable Wi-Fi 6 for large homes!

HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is a whole home Wi-Fi system with a pleasant design, an affordable price, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and a focus on ease of use. But does all that make it a great choice for your home? To find out the answer to this question, learn more about this elegant mesh Wi-Fi system and whether it’s right for you, read this review:

HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3: Who is it good for?

This mesh Wi-Fi system is a suitable choice for:

• People with large apartments or one-story houses
• Home networks with a moderate number of devices
• Users who don’t want to spend a fortune on a mesh Wi-Fi system
• Those who don’t need advanced features for their home network

Pros and cons

Here are the things I like about HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3:

• Good-looking design
• Solid performance when using the Wi-Fi 6 standard
• Superb multi-lingual support (40+ languages)
• Easy to install and configure
• Reasonable pricing

There are also some downsides to consider:

• Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 stability and performance need improvement
• It has few advanced features
• No USB port

Verdict

HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 has many good things going for it, impressing with its elegant design and fast setup process. It also doesn’t cost a lot of money, and it offers reliable Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. And most of all, it provides easy-to-extend Wi-Fi coverage for larger apartments and living spaces. That’s enough to constitute a great buy for many users. However, if you’re an advanced user who wants more than basic Wi-Fi, you’ll find the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 rather underwhelming. The same is true if you have older devices that require Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5 for backward compatibility. Other mesh Wi-Fi systems offer better performance than HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 when it comes to older standards.

Unboxing the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3

HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 comes in a beautiful cardboard box, with a large picture of the stations that make up the kit on the top cover. On the back and the sides, you find some information about the main features of the system, printed in several languages. If you read everything printed on the box, you’ll notice that HUWEI insists this system is powered by its HarmonyOS platform, its multi-device platform that connects HUAWEI’s entire ecosystem of smart devices. The packaging is beautiful When you remove the top cover, you see the three stations that are part of the kit, elegantly packaged and placed inside the box. Unboxing HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is a pleasant experience After unpacking everything, you find the following items: the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 stations, their power adapters, a network cable, the quick setup guide, warranty details, and some other leaflets. While HUAWEI has sent for testing its 3-pack variant, you should know that this system is also sold in kits of two devices, not just three. So if you have a smaller home or apartment, there’s no need to buy a 3-pack. Everything you find inside the box The packaging used for HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is elegant, and the unboxing experience is very pleasant, making you feel that you’ve just bought a premium, well-designed kit. Inside the box, you find all the information and accessories you need to start setting up your network immediately.

Hardware specifications and design

The stations that make up the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 are all white, with the subtle company logo printed towards the top. Towards the bottom, there’s an H button used to connect devices to the mesh network through WPS. Their design is simple and elegant, fitting for any living room. As for their size, each station has 70 mm x 107 mm x 174 mm or 2.7 x 4.2 x 6.8 inches in width x depth x height. They’re also light, weighing 413 grams or 0.91 pounds each. HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 has an elegant design On the top of each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, you see a discreet LED that signals the working status and a logo signaling that it offers Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. A sticker also shows how easy it is to connect your smartphone or tablet to Wi-Fi through NFC. You can connect your smartphone to Wi-Fi via NFC The base is made of gray plastic and includes a sticker with details about each station. In addition, you see the default IP address, Wi-Fi name, and a QR code that allows you to download the HUAWEI AI Life app and use it to set up this mesh Wi-Fi system. Around the base, a rubber band helps hold each station into place without slipping. Unfortunately, there are no holes for mounting HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 on your walls. The details on the bottom of each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 The hardware inside each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is not that powerful. Each station is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm IPQ5018 processor running at 1 GHz, 256 MB of RAM, and 128 MB of storage space for the firmware. While this hardware offers Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and WPA3 password encryption, it is not made to handle networks with many devices. Also, Wi-Fi transfers are available using 2x2 MU-MIMO - another signal that this mesh Wi-Fi system was designed for home networks with a smaller number of devices. HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is a dual-band system, with its total theoretical maximum bandwidth split as follows: 574 Mbps for the 2.4 GHz band and 2402 Mbps for the 5 GHz band. While HUAWEI isn’t very clear in its official specifications about this aspect, each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 should have four internal antennas for broadcasting the Wi-Fi. On the back of each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, you find three Ethernet ports working at 1 Gbps, a Reset jack, and the Power jack. Unfortunately, there’s no USB port. Also, this mesh Wi-Fi system doesn’t have a dedicated Wi-Fi backhaul like more premium systems do, which doesn’t make it a great choice for home networks with many devices connected simultaneously. The ports on the back If you want more technical information about this product, I recommend visiting its official page: HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3.

Setting up and using the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3

The initial configuration process is very quick and involves using the HUAWEI Ai Life app on your smartphone or tablet. I documented the entire process here: HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 systems are quick to install. Installing HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is a breeze You can also use a PC and a web browser; the steps involved are the same as when using the app. In addition, the web-based admin interface and the HUAWEI Ai Life app are available in about 45 languages, which is amazing. I haven’t seen this level of multi-lingual support on any mesh Wi-Fi system I’ve tested so far. HUAWEI offers excellent multi-lingual support The web interface first loads the essential configuration options and displays the basic data that most people need. Navigating it is easy, and most settings have on-screen explanations that help you figure things out. The web-based interface is easy to use All the advanced features are buried in the More Functions section. I highly recommend accessing this section after the initial setup process because it offers a few settings you can change for the sake of brevity. Your advances settings are under More Functions Knowledgeable users will quickly notice that HUAWEI doesn’t offer much in terms of advanced features: you get IPv6 support which is mandatory for today’s internet, some access rules for the devices that connect to your network, basic Parental Controls, VPN connectivity, and not much else. Coupled with the lack of a USB port, the simplicity of HUAWEI’s firmware will be a downside for advanced users who want more than basic Wi-Fi connectivity. I’ll discuss this subject more in this review's Extra features section. If you have a HUAWEI smartphone or tablet, you can find the HUAWEI Ai Life app preinstalled. If it’s not on your device, you can easily get it from the AppGallery. Unfortunately, if you have an Android smartphone from another brand, you must download the app manually from its webpage and install it. iPhone users, however, can find the newest version of the app in the App Store, which is great. The HUAWEI Ai Life app is easy to use HUAWEI Ai Life is friendly and easy to use. It offers a limited number of features and tools that mostly cover people's basic needs. The More features section gives access to some advanced stuff, like configuring your Guest Wi-Fi or IPv6 connectivity, but knowledgeable users will probably be disappointed and want more. The more advanced features found in the HUAWEI Ai Life app The most useful tool inside the HUAWEI Ai Life app is the Smart Diagnosis, which thoroughly evaluates your mesh Wi-Fi and highlights any problems and things that need fixing. The Smart Diagnosis is useful During my days of testing HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, I noticed the following:

• Wi-Fi coverage is a strength of this system. You can service a large living space with the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3. For example, a 3-pack kit like the one I received is overkill for my apartment. I could get complete Wi-Fi coverage in every nook and cranny with only two stations.
• The speed you get is good overall, but HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 doesn’t break any records, as its hardware is not powerful enough to do that. It’s a good match for people with up to 750 Mbps internet connections. If you have 1 Gbps or faster internet connections, you are better served by more expensive mesh Wi-Fi systems.
• I stumbled upon stability issues when setting the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 to broadcast using the older 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) and 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) standards instead of Wi-Fi 6. The system couldn’t keep the internet connection on for more than a few minutes. However, the internet got back up by itself after about 30 seconds of downtime. I downloaded a debug report from HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 and sent it to HUAWEI for troubleshooting to fix this problem in future firmware updates. Luckily, these stability issues did not manifest when using Wi-Fi 6 on both bands.

If you want to know more about the real-world performance offered by the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, go to the next page of this review, where I present detailed measurements and comparisons.

Wireless network performance

My test apartment is set up similarly to the diagram below. As you can see, I’ve placed the main HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 in the largest room, where I spend most of my day. I placed the second station in Room 1 to provide better Wi-Fi in Room 2, where most routers struggle. The third was placed towards the entrance to my apartment. However, using the third station is overkill in a home this small. Two stations are more than enough for excellent Wi-Fi coverage. The apartment where I tested HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 I evaluate the quality of the wireless network managed by HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 through measurements made in three different places:

• I record the maximum speeds when no walls absorb the wireless signal, in the room where the main node is placed.
• Room 1 - is separated by one wall from the main station.
• Room 2 - is separated from the main station by two walls absorbing the wireless signal. Also, the wall between Room 1 and Room 2 is twice as thick as the one between the router’s room and Room 1. As a result, Room 2 can be a difficult challenge for many routers, but it should not be a problem for a mesh Wi-Fi system.

I’ve made all my measurements using a laptop with Wi-Fi 6, running Windows 11 with the latest drivers and operating system updates. I compared the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 with two wireless routers: Xiaomi Mi AIoT Router AX3600 and TP-Link Archer GX90.

How the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 performs on the 2.4 GHz band

I first measured the signal strength using NetSpot. When using the Wi-Fi 4 standard (or 802.11), HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 delivered a reasonably strong signal. Signal strength on Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz band) However, when switching to the Wi-Fi 6 standard on the same band, the signal strength was better everywhere. This indicates that HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is optimized for using the Wi-Fi 6 standard, but not so much for using the older standards. Signal strength on Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz band) Next, I used the SpeedTest app to measure the maximum speed you get when transferring data to and from the internet on the 2.4 GHz band, using Wi-Fi 4. Downloads were reasonably fast, and HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 showed its strength the most in the room furthest from the main station. SpeedTest - The download speed on Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) Uploads were a lot slower though, as you can see below. SpeedTest - The upload speed on Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) I then switched to Wi-Fi 6 on the 2.4 GHz band and repeated the same measurements. HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 was much faster everywhere in my apartment, delivering better download speeds than the routers I’ve compared it to. An excellent result! SpeedTest - The download speed on Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz) Upload speeds also improved to a more satisfactory level. SpeedTest - The upload speed on Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz) For the next set of measurements, I used the PassMark Performance test to transfer data between two computers connected to the network. This benchmark tells me the average speed I get when transferring data only inside the network and not on the internet. Again, I was connected to the 2.4 GHz band using the Wi-Fi 4 standard. Downloads were pretty fast everywhere in my apartment. Network Wi-Fi downloads on Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) Unfortunately, uploads were relatively slow almost everywhere. Network Wi-Fi uploads on Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) Switching to Wi-Fi 6 on the 2.4 GHz band meant that HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 delivered even faster download speeds. Network Wi-Fi downloads on Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz) Uploads were faster too when using Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 4, on the 2.4 GHz band. Network Wi-Fi uploads on Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz) HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 offers a large coverage area on the 2.4 GHz band. When switching from Wi-Fi 4 to Wi-Fi 6, you get meaningful improvements in speed and signal strength, which is great. The only downside is that upload speeds tend to be on the slow side when using Wi-Fi 4 on this band.

How the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 performs on the 5 GHz band

I moved on to the 5 GHz band and repeated the same measurements performed on the previous band. I started using the Wi-Fi 5 standard and fired up NetSpot to analyze the signal strength. HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 offered good signal strength, especially in the rooms furthest from the main station, which is great. Signal strength on Wi-Fi 5 (5 GHz band) When using the Wi-Fi 6 standard, the signal strength was slightly lower but still good in all rooms. Signal strength on Wi-Fi 6 (5 GHz band) Moving on, I used the SpeedTest app to see how fast the internet connection is on the Wi-Fi 5 standard. HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 delivered reasonably fast download speeds only in the room where the main station was placed. In other rooms, downloads were on the slow side. SpeedTest - The download speed on Wi-Fi 5 (5 GHz) We also noticed the same trend when measuring the upload speed. SpeedTest - The upload speed on Wi-Fi 5 (5 GHz) When switching to the Wi-Fi 6 standard on the 5 GHz band, the download speed improved significantly in all rooms. This further emphasizes that HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 was designed to work best with Wi-Fi 6, not the older standards. SpeedTest - The download speed on Wi-Fi 6 (5 GHz) Uploads were also a lot faster on Wi-Fi 6 than on Wi-Fi 5. SpeedTest - The upload speed on Wi-Fi 6 (5 GHz) I switched to the PassMark Performance test and transferred data between two computers connected to the network. The download speed was OK in the room where the main station was placed and relatively slow in the others. Network Wi-Fi downloads on Wi-Fi 5 (5 GHz) The same happened with the upload speed too. Network Wi-Fi uploads on Wi-Fi 5 (5 GHz) Switching to the Wi-Fi 6 standard meant that downloads got a lot faster everywhere. I was pleased with the performance I got in all the rooms. Network Wi-Fi downloads on Wi-Fi 6 (5 GHz) Uploads were much faster when using Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 5. Network Wi-Fi uploads on Wi-Fi 6 (5 GHz) HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 works very well when using the Wi-Fi 6 standard on the 5 GHz band. However, its performance when using the older Wi-Fi 5 standard can be improved, and hopefully, HUAWEI will focus on this aspect in future firmware updates.

Wired network performance

In this section, I evaluate the performance of Ethernet network connections. My internet connection offers a maximum of 1 Gbps for the download speed and 800 Mbps for uploads. When using SpeedTest, HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 got very close to the maximum speeds allowed by my internet provider. SpeedTest on wired connections HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 delivers solid performance when using Ethernet cables to connect your computers and devices to the network.

Extra features

The firmware on the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 doesn’t have many advanced features like more expensive competitors do. Instead, what you get is the following:

• Smart diagnosis - a collection of Wi-Fi analysis and troubleshooting tools that helps you fix problems when they appear, so that you get stable and speedy Wi-Fi coverage everywhere in your home.
• House layout - in the HUAWEI Ai Life app, you can edit your house layout, specify where you placed each HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, create a heat map with the Wi-Fi signal in each room, and then use the map for all kinds of automation.
• Parental Controls - some basic tools that allow you to select the devices used by your children and set a schedule for how much time they can spend online each day. You can also manually set a blacklist of websites your children shouldn’t access. Unfortunately, the blacklist is available only in the web-based interface, not in HUAWEI Ai Life.
• Guest Wi-Fi - you can enable a separate network name and password for your guests, create rules about how long they can use your network, and set speed limits for them.
• VPN - you can set your HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 to connect to a VPN server outside your network using the L2TP and PPTP protocols.
• IPv6 - you can enable or disable IPv6 for your network and the internet connection. You can also choose which IPv6 DNS servers to use.
• Wi-Fi Schedule - you can set a schedule for when HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 broadcasts the wireless signal. For example, you can have the network turned off when you’re at work.
• Firewall - a standard firewall tool that protects your network from brute force attacks, gateway spoofing, and DHCP server spoofing.

The firewall provides some level of network protection The feature list offered by HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is not that long, sticking pretty much to the basics. There’s no advanced security, antivirus protection, or cloud-based parental controls like on mesh Wi-Fi systems from other brands.

What is your opinion about the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3?

At the end of this review, you know what HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 is like, its strengths, and its weaknesses. However, before closing, I would like to know your opinion: do you like what HUAWEI offers with it? Are you considering buying it? Comment below and let me know. Also, if you already use HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3, don’t hesitate to share your experience.