Zyxel WAX630S Review: A Slightly Over-priced but Reliable Wi-Fi 6 Access Point

At the current price of around $380 a pop, the Zyxel WAX630S wireless access point (WAP), available for purchase today, is not cheap. But it still costs significantly less than EnGenius ECW230 while delivering a similar experience.

Truth be told, just like the EnGenius counterpart, the WAX630S represents a section of each company’s products. There are other APs from Zyxel, including those from the WAX6xx family, of lower and higher tiers that cost less or more than the WAX630S.

However, Zyxel’s hardware tends to be slightly more affordable when comparing apples to apples. Still, this WAX630S could use some price reduction to be more enticing, and my guess is its street price will come down relatively soon.

As a business WAP, the WAX630s is a bit hard to set up at first—it also requires an online account if you want to use multiple units in a mesh system.

But if you want to blanket a large property with reliably fast Wi-Fi 6, a couple of these broadcasters will make a robust Wi-Fi solution, provided you already have a good router.

That said, on the one hand, the new AP is great. You can start with one and scale up as you want your network to expand. And if you choose to use the mobile app, this approach is user-friendly enough.

On the other hand, considering the cost, you can opt for one of the home options among those on this list—many will make life comparatively easier for you.

Zyxel WAX630S: A mesh-ready Wi-Fi 6 access point

I’ve been a fan of Wi-Fi access points for a long time, even before I reviewed TP-Link’s Omada series, which are still excellent buys today.

The main reason is that APs require network cables to work, which means they are applicable for homes with the infrastructure to get the fastest possible network speed. You heard it right—get your home wired!

And now, with the proliferation of Multi-Gig, this wired approach has gotten even more exciting. And the new WAX530S seems to fit right in, at least from the hardware specs.

Zyxel WAX630S: Hardware specifications

Name	Zyxel WAX630S 802.11ax Dual-Radio Unified Pro Access Point
Model	WAX630S
Wi-Fi Standards	AX3000
5 GHz Speeds (channel width)	4×4 AX: Up to 2400Mbps (20/40/80MHz). Or 2×4 AX: Up to 2400Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz)
2.4 GH Speeds (channel with)	2×2 AX: Up to 600Mbps (20/40MHz)
Number of SSIDs	8 per radio
Role Supported	Access Point, Reaper, Mesh point (Nebula required)
Roaming Standard	802.11k/v/r
Backward Compatibility	802.11ac/n/g/a/b
Power over Ethernet (PoE)	802.11at
PoE Power Consumption	19.5W
DC input	12V DC at 2 A
Network Ports	1x 2.5GBASE-T PoE Multi-Gig, 1x Gigabit
Wireless Security Methods	WEP WPA WPA2-PSK WPA3
Authentication	WPA WPA2 WPA3-Enterprise EAP IEEE 802.1X RADIUS authentication
Access Management	L2-isolation MAC filtering Rogue AP detection
Mobile App	Zyxel Nebula
Dimensions (W x D x H)	7.09 x 7.09 x 1.54 in (180 x 180 x 39 mm)
Weight	1.17 lbs (530 g)
Operating Environment	Temperature: 0°C to 50°C/32°F to 122°F Humidity: 10% to 95% (non-condensing)
Processor	Qualcomm 4-Core CPU
Release Date	March 15, 2022
US Price (at review)	$380

A standard PoE access point with a hard-to-ignore cloud-manage option

The WAX630S looks like most access points you’ve seen, and that’s because it’s a standard PoE device. Specifically, it’s a Dual-band, or Dual-radio as Zyxel calls it, the access point with up to 8 virtual SSID (Wi-Fi network names) with no powering accessories included.

Indeed, you won’t be able to use the Zyxel WAX630S out of the box. That’s because it includes nothing but mounting accessories. There’s no power adapter or even a network cable. The device supports 802.3at PoE, but there’s no injector included, either.

The idea is that you use it with an existing PoE switch, such as the Zyxel XS1930-12HP. If not, you’ll get a 12v power adapter or a POE12-30W inject for another $50.

This type of packaging is standard for business APs. If you get one from another brand like Netgear or EnGenius, expect things to be the same. But you sure would hate that sinking feeling that you’d have to get something else before you can use the new shiny device—much worse than getting a USB printer that doesn’t include a USB cable.

In any case, when you have all the necessary parts, the hardware setup portion of the AP is simple and the same as setting up any PoE device:

• First, mount the access point to where you want it to be via the included mounting accessory. Or you can place it on a surface.
• Then, connect its PoE port—the 2.5Gbps labeled as Uplink—to an existing network via a PoE switch or an injector.

And you’re all set!

After that, there are two ways to use the WAX630S. But first, let’s check out how the access point looks and feels.

Zyxel WAX630S: Detail photos

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Local web interface vs. Nebula

The first way is to use it as a standalone access point(s) via the local web interface.

In this case, you need to manage each unit individually—there’s no way to handle multiple units in one place or make them work together as a mesh system. They will work as individual Wi-Fi broadcasters and all that applies.

That said, this way is suitable for those using just a single unit, and it can be challenging—it requires a certain level of networking know-how.

That’s because the WAX630S is not a router—it doesn’t have a default IP address. Instead, it gets one from your existing network’s router. So, to access its interface, you must first figure out this IP address.

After that, things are self-explanatory: from a connected computer, navigate a browser to the AP’s current local IP address and log in with the default credentials—admin for the username and 1234 for the password.

Lots and lots of settings

The WAX630S has lots of settings. You’ll find virtually anything you want to do with an access point in this AP.

For an advanced business network, that’s great. But for a home, even one with lots of networking needs, the WAX630S can be too much.

The good news is you don’t have to mess with all the settings. Instead, pick the default profiles, and you’re good to go. And the mobile Nebula mobile app will make things much less intimidating.

And that brings us to the second way to use this access point.

Excellent mobile app

The second and recommended way to manage the WAX630S is via the Nebula Control Center (NCC). It’s part of Zyxel’s cloud-based vendor-assisted network management. You sign up for a Zyxel account and associate the access point(s) with it.

Note: Connecting your networking devices to the vendor this way can cause privacy risks. Here’s Zyxel’s Privacy Policy.

But overall, NCC is similar to Netgear’s Insight. It allows you to manage your network from anywhere globally via a web portal and a mobile app.

Like Insight, Nebula includes a few service tiers called Packs, including the free Base Pack. The Plus and Pro packs cost $12 and $30 per year per device. (Netgear’s removed the free tier of Insight in early 2021.)

According to this chart, the Base Pack is enough for most use cases and what I used for this review.

Zyxel Nebula includes a mobile app of the same name, making setting up and using the WAX630S much easier than the local web interface. You can use the app to scan the QR code on the back of the hardware to add it to the account.

You can do that with one or many access points and manage them all in a single mesh network. I tried it with two WAX630S units, and it took about 20 minutes to get a new mesh system up and running with basic Wi-Fi settings.

The app doesn’t offer access to all system settings. And that’s a good thing, considering the daunting amount of settings mentioned above. But if you want to configure your network to the max, NCC also has a cloud-based web interface.

Comprehensive but slightly sluggish Nebula cloud-based management

The NCC’s web interface is much more comprehensive than the local one and now includes many mesh-related functions where you can use multiple access points as a seamless network.

I didn’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of what NCC has to offer, but the gist is you can do a lot with it—more than any home or small office would ever need.

The screenshots below will give you some ideas. It’s overall quite excellent.

However, the cloud-based web interface wasn’t always rosy during my testing. It was sluggish at times, and many changes would take up to a few minutes to take effect. Sometimes, it just showed the hourglass, and I had to refresh the page.

But it wasn’t bad enough to cause serious concern. One important thing we tend to overlook: Going the Nebula route means you won’t be able to manage the Wi-Fi network when there’s no Internet.

Nebula Control Center via screenshots

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Zyxel WAX630S: Reliable coverage, decent throughput speeds

I tested two WAX63S units in all possible ways, including using them as a mesh system. And I was happy with their coverage and reliability.

We had no issues with disconnections or weak signals during more than a week of testing. My ballpark estimate is that each unit can handle some 2000 ft² (186 m²) of space, give or take

It’s always hard to pinpoint exactly the coverage. But I’d say the WAX630S delivers the range on par with what one might expect from a broadcaster of its physical size. Your mileage will vary, though.

What I wasn’t too happy with were the sustained throughput speeds. I expected more because of the AP’s 2.5Gbps uplink port and 160MHz channel width support.

As it turned out, no matter what channel width you use, be it 160MHz or 80Mhz, the AP always had ceiling speeds of 2400Mbps, meaning real-world rates are much lower.

Nonetheless, I was hoping it would be higher than on the chart. The AP was not slow. In fact, it was among the fastest I’ve tested among its peers. But for the cost and the specs, it should have been faster.

Conclusion

With too much on the feature front yet a bit shy on the performance, the Zyxel WAX630S is an interesting access point that will make many satisfied but only a few, if at all, happy.

If you’re looking for a reliable way to blanket a large wired home, it’s a relatively safe bet—still waiting for the price to come down. And if you’re into Gigabit-class performance or Multi-Gig, keep looking.