ZTE AX3000 Pro router launches with Wi-Fi 6 support, high-gain antennae and NFC

The new ZTE AX3000 Pro has won a 2022 iF Design Good Design award for its looks, which involve a more modern arrangement of antennae standing in parallel toward the back of the router, in a departure from the full spiky crown developed by more and more of its peers.

There are also only 4 of these antennae, a refinement based on their rated power of 7dBi for simultaneous 2.4GHz/5GHz functions. ZTE, of course, touts it as capable of going at up to 250 times faster than a comparable 4-stream Wi-Fi 5 router (or at up to 3,000Mb/s) thanks to its upgrade to the 802.11ax or 6 standard.

It is conferred by the AX3000 Pro's Qualcomm platform. ZTE never says which one it is exactly; however, it is specified as a dual-core 64-bit, 12-thread CPU capable of using either 80 or 160MHz channels and "intelligent" QoS to distribute signal strength based on the relative demands of each connected device (of which up to 256 can be served at any one time).

ZTE claims that one new router can cover up to 1500 square feet around it; alternatively, multiple AX3000 Pros can form an "Easy Mesh" to completely serve a larger residence. Each unit is also rated for WPA3 and WPA2 security. Finally, it has NFC, which is intended to allow Android devices to form their connections through it with one tap.

The AX3000 Pro has already hit Amazon at a price of US$99; however, it is also available on ztedevices.com for US$10 less at the moment. The router has launched in black or white, although only the latter is available through either vendor right now.