The Mercusys H80X kit is a set consisting of three identical devices capable of creating a Wi-Fi 6 mesh network. The main advantage of the devices is that they are very accessible with a bill not exceeding 200 euros for the trio that we are testing .
The access points are equipped with RJ45 sockets to connect wired devices to them and have a dedicated application for configuring them. At such a price, we will obviously be attentive to these features as well as the performance delivered by the kit, compared to competitors such as Netgear.
Mercusys Halo H80XFiche technique
Model Mercusys Halo H80X Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6 (ax) Maximum Wi-Fi Speed 3.0 Gbps Wi-Fi Coverage Up to 650 m² Maximum Connected Devices 150 Mesh System Yes 4G Compatibility No 5G Compatibility No Number of Ethernet port 3 Maximum Ethernet speed 1 Gbit/s Network security WPA2 Price 149 € Product sheet
Mercusys Halo H80XSimplicity above all
Discretion is the word that comes to mind once the Halo H80X kit is unboxed. The boxes, which are completely identical, are particularly compact and very discreet with their brick shape. These are entirely made of white plastic and give an impression of “knock”, as they are light.
Source: Edouard Patout for Aroged
On the front panel, a discreet LED indicator takes place at the bottom left. It is accompanied by the brand logo, on the right part and which could have benefited from being a little more discreet, for even more minimalism. Only the upper part shows a bit of originality with a stylized ventilation grille.
At the back, there is a very classic power connector next to which is positioned a reset button. The connection is limited, on each box, to three undifferentiated gigabit RJ45 ports which can therefore be used both for connection to the operator’s box or for connecting a wired device.
Source: Edouard Patout for Aroged
Each box is thus accompanied by its electrical transformer and a single RJ45 cable is provided in the box. Nothing new under the sun, since most manufacturers limit themselves to this single cable in their Wi-Fi Mesh kit.
Mercusys Halo H80XMise en route
The configuration of the kit is done using the Mercusys mobile application, available on Android and iOS. The initial setup process is child’s play and will have anyone installing the devices in minutes. It’s simply one of the smoothest setup processes we’ve tested so far.
Mercusys Halo H80XA very well designed application
The Mercusys mobile application is a success. The interface is clear, easy to use and offers many settings. If we find the usual list of connected devices and the general state of the network, we also have many settings such as NAT configuration, DHCP or even VLAN configuration when using a TV decoder.
The various settings are child’s play to set up and the less experienced users will have no trouble familiarizing themselves with the interface. Note that a web interface is also available. On the other hand, this one is limited to a simple informative role and does not allow to really configure the Halo kit.
The brand has also integrated a well-thought-out parental control. Each device can be assigned to a user who can then be more or less limited in his actions. It is possible to block certain categories of website while manually specifying certain blocked addresses.
It is also possible to define a time limit of use per day while completely blocking internet access during certain time slots. The icing on the cake: all these features are completely free and do not require any subscription.
A relatively basic QoS system is also present and allows certain devices to be prioritized according to the speed available on the user’s internet connection.
Mercusys Halo H80XDes performances correctes
We applied our usual test protocol to this Mercusys Halo HX80X kit to measure its performance. Our tests consist of measuring the throughput, in both directions, between two Windows computers. This throughput is measured using the iPerf utility and through file transfer between machines. The final result is an average of the two measurements, in order to better represent real usage.
In optimal conditions, the kit manages, in both directions, to saturate the Ethernet port with a gross downlink speed of approximately 950 Mb/s on iPerf. However, file transfer hardly exceeds 70 MB/s. Upload performance is similar under the same conditions.
By moving away from the access point by a little more than 5 meters with different partitions between the PC and the access point, the speed drops to stay above 400 Mb/s on iPerf. Under these same conditions, the transfer of our test file peaks at approximately 40 MB/s. Here again, we observe a significant difference.
Finally, outdoors, the waves have, as always, much more difficulty in passing through load-bearing walls. Our weighted result does not exceed 130 Mb/s. These values nevertheless remain very correct and allow you to take advantage of all the digital uses of the moment without difficulty.
We will not dwell particularly on the performances in Mesh mode. On the other hand, the kit being “only” dual-band, it does not have a dedicated link for communication between the access points. In fact, the overall throughput for each client drops by approximately 50% once the mesh network is in place. However, it is still possible to connect the Halo boxes to each other using an RJ45 cable so as not to lose performance at the Wi-Fi level.
Mercusys Halo H80X Mercusys Halo H80X Kit Price and Availability
The Mercusys Halo H80X Wi-Fi Mesh Kit is available at the recommended price of 190 euros.
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Mercusys Halo H80X at the best price?
