EnGenius EnMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System Reviewed

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At a glance
Product	EnGenius EnMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System (EMR3000-KIT) [Website]
Summary	Three-node 2x2 AC1200 class Wi-Fi system with USB storage sharing
Pros	• More control than usual via web admin • Supports USB storage sharing
Cons	• Very limited documentation

Typical Price: $0 Buy From Amazon

Introduction

Update 9/29/17 - Corrected flash capacity. Clarified Wi-Fi test conditions. Tested storage performance.

EnGenius is known more for its access points and outdoor Wi-Fi bridges and isn't a big consumer networking player. Nonetheless, they apparently think they have a shot at getting traction in the consumer Wi-Fi System market as a (very) late entry.

The EnMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System is yet another Qualcomm-based three node mesh-type Wi-Fi system using older devices that make each 2x2 node AC1200 class.

There are two gigabit Ethernet ports, power port and USB 2.0 port on the rear, the latter supporting SMB storage sharing. Like most other Wi-Fi systems, there's a Bluetooth radio and iOS and Android apps for "onboarding", aka setup. The shot of the bottom of the device shows screw mounting slots for your convenience.

EnMesh rear panel

There is one multicolor LED on the front and a reset hole on the rear. The LED flashes blue during setup to indicate Bluetooth use and steady white, orange or red to indicate "stable", "spotty" and no network connection.

EnMesh LED color decoder

Inside

EnGenius released the FCC ID photos, so I didn't open the EnMesh up for component identification. Since the product's FCC ID is A8J-EMR3000V2, I just had to look at the EMR3000(v1), which never made it to market.

Aside from mesh in the product's name, however, the user manual filed with the FCC lacks any detail on "mesh" features. The V1 was also Qualcomm-based, with one of the radios on a mini-PCIe card and had a single dedicated gigabit WAN port and four-port LAN gigabit switch.

EnMesh V1

The V2 hews closer to what has become the standard for mesh system "pucks", except it uses older components than most. The inside shot shows the two 2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz bent-metal antennas mounted on a metal plate. The plate also serves as a heatsink thermally coupled to at least one of the RF can tops below it, if the FCC photos accurately represent the current design.

EnMesh inside

The next photo, with heatsinks and RF can tops removed shows separate 2.4 and 5 GHz Qualcomm radios on the left and two Atheros gigabit Ethernet PHYs on the right.

EnMesh board top

The bottom view shows the connectors and TI CC2564B Bluetooth radio

EnMesh board bottom

The table compares EnMesh's key components against Google Wifi and TP-Link Deco M5, which also do not have a second 5 GHz radio.

	EnGenius EnMesh	Google Wifi	TP-Link Deco M5
CPU	Qualcomm QCA9557 2x2 11abgn WiFi SoC	- Qualcomm IPQ4019 - STM32F072 32 bit ARM Cortex-M0 - Infineon STM9615 Trusted Platform Module	Qualcomm IPQ4019
Switch/Ethernet	AR8033-AL1A + AR8035-A Gigabit Ethernet PHY	QCA8075	QCA8072
RAM	128 MB	512 MB	256 MB
Flash	32 MB	- 4 GB eMMC (IF5055?) -4 MB Winbond 25Q64FV	32 MB
2.4 GHz Radio	- In QCA9557 - Unidentified 2.4 GHz power amp (x2)	- In IPQ4019 - Skyworks SKY8530 2.4 GHz front end (x2)	- In IPQ4019 - Skyworks 85303-11 2.4 GHz Front End (x2)
5 GHz Radio	- QCA9882 2x2 abgn+ac radio SoC - Unidentified 5 GHz power amp (x2)	- In IPQ4019 - Skyworks SKY85717-11 5 GHz front end (x2)	- In IPQ4019 - Qorvo PA5542 5 GHz power amp (x2) http://www.qorvo.com/products/p/RFPA5542
Bluetooth	TI CC2564B dual-mode Bluetooth 4.1 controller	Qualcomm 3003-CL3D (CSR102x?)	CSR 8811 Bluetooth 4.1
ZigBee	N/A	- Silicon Labs EM3581 ZigBee / Thread SoC - Skyworks SKY66109-11 2.4 GHz ZigBee front end	N/A

Table 1: Component summary and comparison

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