Final Thoughts
When it comes to networking products I actually don’t review a whole lot of them. The last networking product I even reviewed was back in 2017! But when MSI briefed us on the RadiX AXE6600 I was very intrigued. A few years ago I got the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 and I was extremely impressed with it, especially compared to other routers from the “big guys” I’ve always used. MSI is entering the space as a direct competitor to ASUS’s ROG line of networking products so I thought it would be great to see what MSI has been cooking up.
When it comes to specifications this router has everything you would want from a gaming router. The is a WiFi 6E router so you are going to get 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 1200 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 4800 Mbps on the 6 GHz band. On top of that there is a 2.5G Ethernet port that you can use for either LAN or WAN. Finally there is a USB 3.0 port that you can use for multiple different applications. Of course you get the RGB lighting too, which I think MSI’s implementation is quite good. As of right now it is not customizable, but hopefully in the future it will be.
Many gamers are not networking experts and I would say I am not an expert by any means either. They just want something that is easy to set up and works. MSI seems to understand this as the router takes minutes to setup and the different modes only take one click to enable. No going through multiple menus, forwarding ports, etc. If you are gaming enable to gaming mode, if you are streaming enable the streaming mode, etc. Even if you are going to want to go more in-depth in the settings the interface is very easy to navigate and I didn’t have any issues finding specific settings.
When it comes to performance the RadiX AXE6600 definitely traded blows with the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, but that router does not have a 6 GHz band, so when testing on the 6 GHz band the RadiX AXE6600 was the clear winner. This is of course because the 6 GHz is less congested. I currently have AT&T fiber at my house and I was able to completely max out my bandwidth using the RadiX AXE6600.
As of writing these features currently do not work.
– Mystic Light
– MSI First
– MSI center interface
– MSI router app
It will be interesting to see what type of options you would get with a router section in the MSI Center app on Windows.
Overall I think for their first entry into the gaming router space MSI is on the right path. This router has all of the speed that you want and an easy to use interface for even the most novice user. It looks great and the RGB lighting is going to make it look awesome in your room! If anything I would have liked to have seen more than four Ethernet ports and some of the other features working by now. MSI is setting the MSRP of this router at $349, but they are running a promotion on Newegg for $100 off with the code LUCKYHUNDRED (promo start Feb 16 to March 15) so that would bring the cost down to $249.
Pros:
– Sleek design
– Great performance
– 2.5G LAN/WAN port
– Easy to enable Ai Modes
– RGB lighting
– Easy to setup
Cons:
– Only 4 Ethernet ports
– Some features not available yet
– Unclear how MSI Mystic light will work
