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Mercusys Halo H50G Family Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System Evaluation Rating
Generalize
The initial impression of Mercusys Halo H50G is not very good and it is troublesome to set up. Relative to its cost, it makes up for this shortcoming with excellent Wi-Fi performance.
advantage
- Value-for-money WiFi performance
shortcoming
- Bad application and setup process
- The dual-band mesh system suffers from severe signal loss, which means that you want the device connected to the Internet to be located in the center of your home as much as possible
I didn’t impress me too much Mercusys Hello S12Although it is very cheap, the overall specifications and performance reflect the price.
Mercusys Halo H50G is a major upgrade of the specifications, and it is also the minimum specification of the Wi-Fi mesh system that I personally recommend.
Since many homes can access Internet speeds exceeding 100Mbps, I think a 100Mb Ethernet port is unacceptable. I understand that this may not be so important to everyone, but as far as my recommendation is concerned, I think Gigabit Ethernet is essential.
Halo H50G has this important upgrade. It has three Gigabit ports, while H12 has two 100mb ports.
Halo H50G also upgraded the Wi-Fi speed to 1300 Mbps at 5Gh and 600 Mbps at 2.4 GHz. Therefore, I assume that the Wi-Fi radio is 3×3 instead of 2×2. You are unlikely to connect at 1300 Mbps, but it gives you more space and may help the return journey.
Of course, all this comes at a price. Mercusys Halo H50G is priced at 120 pounds, and Mercusys Halo S12 is priced at 50 pounds
Specification
- Wireless standard:
- speed:
- Operation mode: router, access point
- Management: local management, remote management, multiple administrators
- Ethernet: 3 Gigabit ports per Halo unit (WAN/LAN auto sensing)
set up
I set it up using the Mercusys application. When I checked Halo S12, everything was done through the local web interface, so there were some improvements, but not many. Compared with most Wi-Fi devices, the setup process is relatively unpleasant.
Testing the first Halo H50G device requires multiple attempts. Then when it detects it, it won’t connect to it, forcing me to try again. In the end, it suggested that I connect my phone to the open Mercusys SSID that was broadcasting, and I was finally able to set it up.
The app has some shocking reviews online, so it’s not just me having experience issues.
Thankfully, once I set up the initial router, everything else worked. In the app, there is a small plus button that can be used to identify satellite devices. It took a while to find them. I thought it would fail, but it found them for the first time.
Performance
I have a medium-sized 4-bed brick and half brick internal brick wall, just like many British homes. The main equipment is in my office, which is located in the center and upstairs of the home. Then I have a satellite in the front living room and kitchen, and the two rooms are the furthest away from the main router.
I first tested the main Halo H50G router separately without a satellite connection to understand the maximum speed and overall range.
I connected to Speedtest.net on a desktop PC that was in close contact with Halo H50G. I was able to achieve a download speed of 461Mbps, while my Pixel 6 Manage 443mbps.
Using iPerf on the desktop, I achieved a throughput of 627 Mbits/sec. As far as Wi-Fi 5 devices are concerned, this is actually a very good result, higher than many recent systems I have reviewed.
In contrast, Mercusys Halo S12 uses Speedtest to manage 70Mbps, which is too slow to use iPerf for testing.
Walking around the house, I was surprised to find that it provided a pretty good signal throughout my home. In the kitchen, this is 199Mbps, and in the front room, this is 112Mbps.
Connecting to the satellite increases the speed slightly, but not very much. One problem here is that this is a dual-band mesh system, so the backhaul is shared, resulting in 50% signal loss.
In the front room, the speed increased from 112Mbps to 184Mbps
In the kitchen, the signal extends far enough that I can connect to the garage/gym across the garden. I reached 158Mbps here
Prices and alternatives
Mercusys Halo H50G triples on various websites (such as Currys) for £120. Unusually, Amazon is the most expensive, at £150.
Three packs of Google Wi-Fi discounts are only £135, but usually at a full suggested retail price of £190
The Tend MW12-3 tri-band system is currently priced at 160 pounds, but the full suggested retail price is 214 pounds. It costs more, but the tri-band design will provide better performance.
Tenda Nova MW6-3 is priced at 95 pounds, or 117 pounds suggested retail price. Its Wi-Fi specification is lower than Halo 50G, and it has only 2 Gigabit ports.
The specifications of the TP-Link Deco M4 are almost the same as the Tenda MW6-3, which is priced at £116.93, but it usually costs less than £100
comprehensive
The Mercusys Halo H50G is much better than the Mercusys Halo S12 I reviewed earlier. A dual-band Wi-Fi 5 system with a gigabit port is the minimum configuration I recommend.
The Android application and setup process are below average, but once set up, I have no problems with the application and you shouldn’t need to use it often.
Wi-Fi performance is much better than expected. Connecting to the main Halo H50G, I was able to achieve faster speeds than many other Wi-Fi 5 routers or mesh systems I used in the past, most of which cost much more. The dual-band mesh network performance is about average, with a significant drop in speed, but it provides a good range and a very usable speed of over 150Mbps in every location of my property.
At a price of £120, I have been trying to find anything with the same specifications and a better price, and the Wi-Fi performance can easily justify the price.
Last updated on 2021-12-23 / Affiliate link / Image from Amazon Product Advertising API
