Between running and finding out from house, gaming on-line with buddies and calling family members for normal video chats, the previous few years have made the significance of a competent Wi-Fi sign at house abundantly transparent. With the common house’s web use surging, it is a nice time to offer your own home community an improve — and one of the crucial easiest strikes maximum houses could make is to improve your router to a mesh gadget.
With more than one units unfold during your own home, a excellent mesh router is extra like a group of routers that may relay your wi-fi site visitors again to the modem higher than a conventional router, particularly if you find yourself connecting at vary. With the precise gadget quarterbacking your connection, that you must experience overall wi-fi protection and speeds which are about as rapid as your community is in a position to during nearly all of your own home, if no longer the whole lot of it. Higher but, you will not must juggle your connection between your primary community and a separate extension community like you’re going to with a easy vary extender — the mesh router will robotically direction your connection accordingly inside a unmarried, unified community.
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Which router upgrade is right for you?
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Some of the best mesh routers we’ve tested include systems from Eero, which popularized mesh networking before being bought by Amazon in 2019, as well as the latest setups from TP-Link Deco, Asus ZenWifi, Netgear Orbi and Google Nest. Mesh systems like those regularly sold for as much as $400 or even $500 a few years ago, but now, all of these manufacturers and others offer multipoint mesh router systems — including the main router and the additional satellite extenders — that cost less than $300, if not less than $200. Though we’d recommend aiming a bit higher, you can even find basic, entry-level mesh systems for as little as $20 per device.
We’ve still got lots of routers and mesh systems we’d like to try out — including a growing number that use Wi-Fi 6 technology, promising better performance and faster speeds. More mesh routers that support Wi-Fi 6E, which means they can access a newly unlocked mass of fresh bandwidth in the 6GHz band, should continue to arrive throughout 2022, as well, but it’s probably still too early to invest in a system like that (and believe me, they won’t come cheap).
Expect regular updates to this post as new Wi-Fi mesh routers like those make it to market. For now, here are our picks for the top-tested systems you should be considering first if you’re buying now.
Chris Monroe/CNET
For a mesh router upgrade that really feels like an upgrade, you’ll want to look for these things: Wi-Fi 6 support, and a tri-band design with the usual 2.4 and 5GHz bands, plus a second 5GHz band that the system can use as a dedicated backhaul connection for wireless transmissions between the main router and the satellites. The problem is that tri-band Wi-Fi 6 mesh routers like that are typically pretty expensive. Not too long ago, I was commending Asus and Eero for bringing the cost of a two-piece system like that down to around $400 or so.
Now, TP-Link is doing even better and selling the Deco W7200 mesh router, a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 system that only costs $229 for a two-pack. That might be the best mesh router value I’ve ever seen — and the even better part is that it performs like a champ, with fast, stable speeds, decent range and a setup process that’s about as easy as it gets, with satellite extenders that automatically join the mesh as soon as you plug them in. In fact, the only mesh system that beat the Deco W7200 outright in my at-home speed tests, the Netgear Orbi AX6000, costs more than three times as much at $700 for a two-pack.
All of that makes the Deco W7200 an outstanding value, and the first mesh router I’d point people to if they asked for a recommendation. Just know that it’s been in and out of stock this year on Walmart’s website, so it might not be immediately available in your area. If it isn’t, you could also consider stepping up to the TP-Link Deco X90, which performed even better in my tests and adds in a multi-gig Ethernet jack for high-speed internet plans. It costs more at $450 for a two-pack, but Amazon currently has it available for $50 off if you apply a coupon before checkout.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
At a retail price of $699 for a two-pack and currently on sale for $667 on Amazon, the AX6000 version of the Netgear Orbi is too expensive to recommend outright — but if you just want one of the fastest mesh routers money can buy, look no further.
With full support for Wi-Fi 6 and a second 5GHz band that serves as a dedicated backhaul connection for the router and its satellites, the powerful system was downright impressive in our tests, with top speeds of nearly 900Mbps at close range in our lab. That’s one of the fastest numbers we’ve ever seen from a mesh router in that test, and it only fell to 666Mbps at a distance of 75 feet — which is still faster than we saw from the Nest Wifi up close, just 5 feet away.
Things got even more impressive when we took the Orbi AX6000 home to test its performance in a real-world setting. With an incoming internet connection of 300Mbps serving as a speed limit, the system returned average speeds throughout the whole home of 289Mbps to Wi-Fi 5 devices and 367Mbps to Wi-Fi 6 devices, including speeds at the farthest point from the router that were 95% as fast as when connecting up close. That’s an outstanding result, and it’s held up as I’ve continued my controlled mesh router speed tests. In the two years that have passed since I first tested the Orbi AX6000 at my home, no other system I’ve tested has been able to take its top spot on the leaderboard, not even the newer Orbi AXE11000 system that adds in support for Wi-Fi 6E (yes, really).
Again, the problem is the price: $699 is simply too expensive for most folks, especially given that you’ll need a connection of at least 500Mbps in order to notice much of a difference between this system and others we like that cost less than half as much.
There’s also the less expensive AX4200 version of the Orbi mesh system that costs $350. It’s still a tri-band Wi-Fi router that supports Wi-Fi 6, but you don’t get the multigig WAN port that comes with the AX6000 model here. We’ll keep an eye on that one and update this space once we’ve tested it out.
Amazon
Eero was an early pioneer of the mesh networking approach, and in 2019, it got scooped up by Amazon. Then, in 2020, we got two new versions of the Eero mesh router: the Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6, both of which add in support for — you guessed it — Wi-Fi 6.
Each system is priced at a value, netting you a three-piece setup with two range-extending satellites for about as much as some competitors charge for a two-piece setup. That’s great if you live in a large home and you need your Wi-Fi network to cover a lot of ground — the additional mesh Wi-Fi network extender will make a big, noticeable difference in your speeds when you’re connecting at range.
But between the two of them, I strongly prefer the Eero Pro 6, which costs $599 for a three-pack or less if you can catch a sale. Unlike the regular Eero 6, which disappointed in my tests with poor band-steering, the Eero Pro 6 setup I tested worked like a charm, spreading fast, reliable speeds across my entire home. Plus, it features a tri-band design with two 5GHz bands, which is key for optimal mesh performance. It’s also a great pick for Alexa users thanks to a built-in Zigbee radio that lets you pair things like smart locks and smart lights with your voice assistant without needing any extra hub hardware.
$599 isn’t inexpensive by any stretch, but it’s about as good a price as you’ll find for a three-piece, tri-band mesh router with full support for Wi-Fi 6, and Amazon has a habit of putting it on sale. That makes it a worthy and sensible upgrade for large homes. Meanwhile, if you don’t need a three-piece system, you could also consider the Eero Pro 6 two-pack, which costs $399.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Several years ago, Google Wifi became a breakout hit thanks to its easy setup and its ability to spread a fast, reliable Wi-Fi connection throughout your home for all of your connected devices. Now, there’s the Nest Wifi, a second-gen follow-up that adds in faster internet speeds and a better-looking design, plus Google Assistant smart speakers built into each satellite extender.
The price is a little lower this time around, too — $269 for the two-piece setup above, with roughly the same area of Wi-Fi coverage as a three-piece, $300 Google Wifi setup from years back. That’s less of a good deal now than it was when the system first launched, but there’s still plenty of reason to consider the Nest Wifi if you catch it on sale. (Sure enough, Google currently has the system marked down by $80, bringing the price of that two-pack down to $189.)
On average, the Nest Wifi notched the fastest top speeds that I saw in my tests from any Wi-Fi 5 mesh router (and faster speeds than some of the Wi-Fi 6 systems I’ve tested, too). Plus, the two-piece setup offered enough signal strength to provide sufficient coverage at the 5,800-square-foot CNET Smart Home. It also aced our mesh tests, never once dropping my connection as I moved about my home running speed tests, and I never caught it routing my connection through the extender when connecting directly to the router was faster, either.
The lack of Wi-Fi 6 support might seem like a missed opportunity, but the Nest Wifi does include support for modern features like WPA3 security, device grouping and prioritization and 4×4 MU-MIMO connections that offer faster aggregate speeds for devices like the MacBook Pro that can use multiple Wi-Fi antennas at once. It’s also fully backward-compatible with previous-gen Google Wifi setups, which is a smart touch. All of it is easy to set up, easy to use and easy to rely on. Among dual-band mesh routers, I’d much rather have a top-of-the-line Wi-Fi 5 system than an entry-level Wi-Fi 6 system — even among new competition, the Nest Wifi mesh router fits that bill.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
It isn’t quite as fast as the AX6000 version of the Netgear Orbi listed above, but the Editors’ Choice Award-winning Asus ZenWiFi AX (model number XT8) came awfully close — and at $400 or less for a two-piece system, it’s a lot easier to afford.
In fact, the ZenWiFi AX offers the same multigig WAN ports as the Orbi AX6000, which is a great piece of future-proofing that you don’t always get in this price range. The tri-band build means that it also boasts the same dedicated backhaul band to help keep the system transmissions separate from your network traffic, and it offers the same ease of setup, the same steady mesh performance, and the same strong speeds at range, too. All of that makes it a future-ready upgrade pick at a fair price. It even comes in your choice of white or black.
I also appreciated the depth of control in the Asus app, which lets you manage your network and customize that backhaul as you see fit. If $400 is a bit too much for your budget, know that there’s a smaller version of this system called the Asus ZenWiFi AX Mini. It isn’t as high-powered and it isn’t a tri-band system like its big brother, but it comes with three devices that all support Wi-Fi 6 for $250, which makes it pretty interesting. There was also a new dual-band ZenWifi system last year called the ZenWifi XD6 — it performed quite well in our tests, but it only costs slightly less than the XT8. Between the three of them, the XT8 is the one I’d be looking to buy first.
Ry Crist/CNET
I did a double take the first time I saw the price tag for the slimmed down, dual-band version of the Netgear Orbi mesh router system. Currently available at just $100 for a three-pack, which is even less that it was selling for during the holidays, it’s a clear value pick — and a dramatic turnaround from the original Netgear Orbi, which was too expensive for most consumers at $400 for a two-pack.
Netgear brought the cost down by sticking with Wi-Fi 5, ditching the built-in Alexa speaker that comes with the Orbi Voice and skipping the tri-band approach and the dedicated 5GHz backhaul band that other Orbi systems use to connect each device in the mesh. I wonder if Netgear missed an opportunity by not branding this system as “Orbi Lite.”
It all makes for a less robust mesh system than other Orbi setups, but I hardly noticed in my tests. Among the Wi-Fi 5 systems I’ve tested, the dual-band Netgear Orbi actually notched the fastest top speeds at close range, it kept up with the Nest and Eero in our real-world speed tests and it offered excellent signal strength in the large-sized CNET Smart Home.
Netgear’s app isn’t as clean or intuitive as Nest’s or Eero’s, and the network didn’t seem quite as steady as those two as it steered me from band to band in my tests, but those are quibbles at this price. If you just want something affordable — perhaps to tide you over until you’re ready to make the upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E — then the budget-friendliest Netgear Orbi definitely deserves your consideration.
(CNET editors pick the products and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read more about how we test mesh routers.)
With a fiber internet connection of 300Mbps in my home, these are room-by-room average download speeds for each mesh router I’ve tested with a Wi-Fi 6 client device. The Netgear Orbi AX6000 is our top performer, but the TP-Link Deco W7200 is right behind it and costs less than a third as much.
Ry Crist/CNET
At-home speed tests
Router manufacturers make a lot of big claims about top speeds, many of which can be misleading, or at least confusing as you’re shopping for a new one. I’m more interested in knowing the ins and outs of how they’ll perform in people’s homes, where incoming speeds might be limited and multiple devices might be competing for bandwidth.
To find out, I test all of the routers I review out of my home, a one-story, 1,300-square-foot house in Louisville, Kentucky, with incoming fiber internet speeds of 300Mbps, upload and download. Up until 2020, I ran the majority of these at-home tests using a Dell XPS 13 laptop that uses Wi-Fi 5. Then, once Wi-Fi 6 became available, I started running two separate sets of tests: one to measure speeds to that Wi-Fi 5 laptop, and another, separate set of tests to measure speeds to a client device that supports Wi-Fi 6. That means that there are some routers listed in this post that were tested before we were able to run our at-home tests to a Wi-Fi 6 device (I’ve starred them in the leaderboard graph below).
After running countless speed tests in multiple spots throughout my home, where I have fiber internet with upload and download speeds of 300Mbps, I average the results together to get these aggregate speed ratings for each mesh router I test. Here’s the leaderboard as it currently stands. (Routers with stars were tested with a Wi-Fi 5 client device, before we were using Wi-Fi 6 devices for our at-home tests. Routers without stars were tested with a Wi-Fi 6 client device.)
Ry Crist/CNET
The biggest names that are still waiting for Wi-Fi 6 speed test data are the Nest Wifi mesh router and the Asus ZenWifi XT8, both of which performed well when I tested them with my old Wi-Fi 5 laptop. The latter is a tri-band router with support for Wi-Fi 6, so it would likely be a spot or two higher on that leaderboard (and potentially higher than the dual-band ZenWifi XD6) if we had tested it with a Wi-Fi 6 device.
I’ll update this post when I’m able to add those results, and I’ll also continue to run tests on both types of client devices in order to get a good sense of how well these routers perform with both current- and previous-gen hardware. You can check out my full reviews for more information on that breakdown.
The short version is that newer client devices that support Wi-Fi 6 will typically be able to hit sustained speeds that are noticeably faster than what you’ll get with older, Wi-Fi 5 devices — but previous-gen devices like those can still benefit from a mesh router that supports Wi-Fi 6.
Specifically, my data shows better performance at range, with speeds that didn’t dip as much in the back of my house. With the top-performing Netgear Orbi AX6000 system and others like it, speeds hardly dipped at all. Connecting my old laptop near the satellite in that master bedroom and back bathroom was almost as good as connecting near the router itself in the living room.
That likely stems from the fact that the router and the satellite are able to use Wi-Fi 6 to relay signals back and forth more efficiently and at faster speeds. The Orbi AX6000’s tri-band design does some heavy lifting here, too, as that allows the system to dedicate an entire 5GHz band to the backhaul transmissions between the router and satellite.
Just be aware that adding an extra band to the mix really brings the price up. The Asus ZenWifi XT8 and Eero Pro 6 each cost about $400 or so for a two-pack, while the Linksys Velop MX10, AmpliFi Alien, Arris Surfboard Max Pro and Netgear Orbi AX6000 systems each cost about $600 or $700 for a two-pack. Meanwhile, our top pick, the TP-Link Deco W7200, only costs $229 for a two-pack.
If you live in a large home and need more than one satellite extender, the Eero Pro 6 is worth considering. At $599 for a three-pack, it’s expensive, but it still costs less than most other tri-band three-packs with support for Wi-Fi 6.
The Vilo mesh router is the slowest I’ve ever tested, but it’s functional, and it only costs $20 per device, plus shipping.
Ry Crist/CNET
If you’re living with a slow ISP connection and you don’t need Wi-Fi 6 or a fancy tri-band build, then there’s nothing wrong with skipping those upgrades and going with something simpler in order to save some money. I’ve tested a number of bargain picks like that — among them, the AC1200 version of Netgear Orbi, currently available in a three-pack for $100, is my top recommendation, with the right balance of performance and value. If you really want to get dirt cheap, you could opt for a system like Vilo, which costs just $20 per device, plus shipping. It’s the slowest mesh router I’ve ever tested, which wasn’t surprising, but it was still functional and able to maintain average download speeds above 100Mbps in that back bathroom of mine.
We’ve resumed our mesh router tests at the CNET Smart Home, starting with some of our top-performing systems — all were able to maintain strong average speeds throughout the entire place. Note the strong, across-the-board jump in upload speeds from the Wi-Fi 5 client to the Wi-Fi 6 client.
Ry Crist/CNET
CNET Smart Home tests
After suspending most of our tests from the lab and the CNET Smart Home during 2020 and 2021, we’re picking up where we left off in 2022. For starters, I’m running an entire, separate set of tests for every mesh router I review at the CNET Smart Home, a 5,400 square-foot multistory home located in the rural outskirts of Louisville, where we’ve got a fiber internet connection with upload and download speeds of up to 100Mbps.
For those tests, I run multiple rounds of speed tests across eight rooms: Four on the main floor, where the router lives, and four in the basement, where I place a satellite extender. I complete this process three separate times — once to an Apple iPad Air 2 from 2015 that uses Wi-Fi 5, again with a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop that supports Wi-Fi 6, and a third round of tests to a Samsung Galaxy S21 that uses Wi-Fi 6E to connect over the 6GHz band. Routers that don’t support Wi-Fi 6E will still work with devices like that, but they’ll treat them like regular Wi-Fi 6 devices, meaning that the 6GHz band won’t be in play.
With the incoming internet speeds limited to 100Mbps, we haven’t seen much differentiation in room-to-room download speeds between the top models we’ve tested, but all have been able to deliver top speeds throughout the entirety of the house.
Ry Crist/CNET
So far, the only Wi-Fi 6E mesh router I’ve tested at the CNET Smart Home is the Netgear Orbi AXE11000, a quad-band system that costs a staggering $1,500 for a three-pack. It performed admirably in those tests, maxing out my speeds to all three devices across the entirety or near-entirety of the house, but with the internet speeds capped at 100Mbps, it didn’t offer a noticeable speed boost to my Wi-Fi 6E device, and it wasn’t noticeably better than systems that cost less, including some that cost more than $1,000 less.
The rest of the models we’ve tested so far here in 2022 have all been top-performing models, and none of them have struggled to deliver maxed out download speeds throughout the entirety of the house. You’ll see more differentiation in the upload speeds, but for the most part, our top picks all perform pretty closely to one another in a real-world environment, which is a big reason why the least expensive of these top performers, the TP-Link Deco W7200, is our top pick overall.
It’s also worth pointing out that our Smart Home data shows a clear, across-the-board benefit in upload performance to Wi-Fi 6 devices as opposed to Wi-Fi 5 devices. As more and more of the devices in our homes start using Wi-Fi 6, having a Wi-Fi 6 router they can take advantage of will become even more of an advantage than it already is.
Mesh routers worth skipping
Router recommendations are all well and good, but what about the mesh routers I don’t recommend? Glad you asked — let’s run through the ones I’d pass on save for a good sale.
Let’s start with the dual-band Netgear Nighthawk mesh Wi-Fi system, which supports Wi-Fi 6 but doesn’t include an extra backhaul band. That means that your network traffic has to share bandwidth with the transmissions between the router and the satellite, but it also brings the cost down. At $230 for a two-pack, it’s tempting, but the performance was too shaky for me to recommend it.
Another dual-band option is the TP-Link Deco X20 mesh router. Currently available at $200 for a three-piece system with full support for Wi-Fi 6, the Deco X20 is similar to Amazon’s standard, non-Pro Eero 6 system, but it did a better job in my at-home tests of steering me to the right band, which raised its overall speeds. It’s a decent pick if you want a Wi-Fi 6 system with two extenders and you don’t want to spend too much, but a two-pack of the top-recommended Deco W7200 tri-band system costs just $30 more. Even without a third device, I’d rather have that tri-band two-pack than the X20’s dual-band three-pack.
Here’s a peek at some of my speed test data for the standard Eero 6 mesh router. In the top batch of tests, I started my connection close to the router and moved towards the back of the house. In the bottom tests, I connected in the back of the house and moved closer to the router. The results were wildly inconsistent, which wasn’t an issue I found with the Eero Pro 6.
Ry Crist/CNET
Speaking of the standard Eero 6 system, it was a disappointment when I tested it out, with weak, inconsistent speeds between my various rounds of testing. Specifically, I saw a night-and-day difference in my speeds depending on whether or not I started my connection in the same room as the router. If I connected from afar, the system would keep my connection on the slower 2.4GHz band even after moving closer to the router.
Among the other routers I’d pass on are fancier models that actually finished pretty high on that leaderboard. For instance, I was impressed with the Asus ZenWifi XD6, a dual-band mesh router that managed to keep up with the tri-band models I’ve tested, but the upload speeds were a bit weak, and with a price tag that’s pretty close to what you’d pay for the fancier, tri-band ZzenWifi system, the value isn’t especially strong. I’ve seen it marked down closer to $300 for a two-pack, which is pretty tempting, but I can’t quite recommend it at full price.
The Arris Surfboard Max AX6600 was another strong performer that I’d skip. It aced my Wi-Fi 6 tests, finishing with the third-best average download speeds in my home of any system I’ve tested, but performance was much less consistent with Wi-Fi 5 devices, which makes it hard to recommend at its full price of $400 for a two-pack.
It isn’t a top performer or a value pick, but the Amplifi Alien is a great-looking Wi-Fi 6 mesh router that lets you create a VPN-style connection to your home network when you’re traveling, which is a nice, unique feature.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Setup, security, features and other considerations
Performance and value are probably the first things you’ll look for as you shop for a mesh router, but there are other factors worth taking into consideration as well. Take features, for instance. Mesh routers typically don’t come with very many unique bells and whistles, but there are some standouts. The Amplifi Alien mesh router from Ubiquiti is a good example — apart from a unique-looking build, it features touchscreen controls on the front of each device, along with a feature called Teleport that lets you establish a VPN-style connection to your home network when you’re traveling. That’s a useful trick that lets you leverage your home network’s security capabilities when you’re connecting to a public Wi-Fi network.
Speaking of security, if you’re buying a new router, then it’s worth looking for one that supports the latest encryption standards. Most of the new models released in the last year or two support WPA3 for stronger defense against things like brute-force hacking attempts — I’d want a model like that if it were me making the upgrade.
Most mesh routers are a cinch to set up, with companion apps that walk you through the process in a matter of minutes. Just plug everything in and follow the instructions.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
As for setup, don’t worry too much about it, if at all. Just about every new router, mesh or otherwise, will come with a convenient companion app that’ll walk you through the setup process in a matter of minutes. From there, you’ll have simplified network controls just a few taps away, making it easy to turn a guest network on and off, manage parental controls, or change your network password. Just keep in mind that router apps like these will often glean lots of data from your networking habits for marketing and ad targeting purposes — if you’re privacy-minded, then it might be worth checking the app’s privacy policy to see if you can opt out of data collection altogether.
There are a number of other factors that we take into consideration whenever we test a mesh router. Latency is a good example. I run each of my speed tests to the same, stable server on the other side of Kentucky, which gives me a good, comparative look at how quickly each one is able to send and receive data. Most of the mesh routers I’m testing these days do just fine, with average latency usually coming in between 15 and 20ms per ping, but some systems will see latency spikes when they’re routing your connection through an extender.
These radar graphs show you the latency across all of my speed tests for each router I test. You’re looking for results with fewer spikes that stick close to the center. Among these four top picks, the Eero Pro 6 (blue) performed the best.
Ry Crist/CNET
We’re also planning to resume testing signal strength at the 5,800-square-foot CNET Smart Home this year after putting those tests on hold during the pandemic. Using NetSpot software, we’re able to make a map showing the signal strength of each device in the mesh, which gives you a good indication of the system’s range and the quality of the connection.
In 2022, we’ll resume our signal strength tests at the 5,800-square-foot CNET Smart Home. In a large home like that, adding a third device to the mesh is your best bet for a better connection at range.
Steve Conaway/CNET
It’s worth pointing out that those maps show you the aggregate signal strength of each system throughout the house and not their actual download speeds. That said, better signal strength means better wireless speeds. My partner-in-testing Steve Conaway summed it up thusly: “Yellow means you’re in heaven, green means good enough and blue means WTF.”
The main takeaway from those tests is that you’ll want to prioritize getting a system with more than one extender if you live in a home as large as our Smart Home — in most cases, those additional extenders will make a much more noticeable impact in the strength of your connection at range than an upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 or a tri-band design will.
What about Wi-Fi 6E?
Wi-Fi 6E is a new designation for Wi-Fi 6 devices that are equipped to send transmissions in the 6GHz band, which is something routers couldn’t do until recently, after the Federal Communications Commission voted to open that band for unlicensed use. The 6GHz band offers more than twice as much bandwidth as the 5GHz band and there aren’t any older-generation Wi-Fi devices using it, so the pitch is that it’s sort of like an exclusive, multilane highway for your internet traffic.
The newest Linksys Velop mesh router supports Wi-Fi 6E, which means it can transmit on the 6GHz band.
Linksys
There are already a handful of routers that support Wi-Fi 6E available for purchase. Among them is the Linksys Velop Atlas Max 6E mesh system, which — at $900 for a two-pack, or $1,200 for a three-pack — is one of the most expensive mesh routers you can currently buy.
Wi-Fi 6E routers like that are certainly impressive pieces of hardware, but I won’t be recommending that anybody buy one this year. Remember, the only devices that can connect over 6GHz are other Wi-Fi 6E devices and, aside from the Samsung Galaxy S21 and a handful of others, there are hardly any of those on the market yet.
Even if you do own a device like that, you’ll likely be better off on the 5GHz band than on 6GHz. Seriously. In most cases, both will top out at whatever max speeds you’re paying for from your internet provider, but the 6GHz band has noticeably weaker range than 5GHz.
Just take a look below at my at-home test-data for that Atlas Max setup. I ran a full set of speed tests for each of the router’s three bands using a Galaxy S21, with the main router hooked up in my living room and a single extender placed in my master bedroom. The router performed well — but it’s the green 5GHz band that performed the best. The 6GHz band, shown in yellow, saw its speeds dip as I moved away from the main router. They rebounded a bit as I neared the extender, but the speeds on 5GHz were faster overall and I didn’t notice any appreciable difference between the bands in terms of latency, either.
My average download and upload speeds by room for each band with a two-piece Linksys Velop Atlas Max 6E router running my home network. The 6GHz band (yellow) offers decent speeds, but it was outperformed by the good ol’ 5GHz band (green).
Ry Crist/CNET
That weaker range also undercuts the notion that the 6GHz band will improve mesh systems by serving as the backhaul band for the router and its satellites. With less range, you won’t be able to spread those satellites out quite as much throughout your home if you’re using the 6GHz band as the backhaul. That means you might need to buy an additional satellite to cover the space — and with Wi-Fi 6E, that’s an expensive proposition. Perhaps tellingly, the new Wi-Fi 6E mesh router from Netgear Orbi still uses a 5GHz band as the backhaul.
That’s not to say that Wi-Fi 6E is a meaningless upgrade. It’s just too early to buy in. With so much available bandwidth and so much less interference from other devices, the 6GHz band might prove ideal for next-gen, high-bandwidth connections — things like wireless VR headsets, which need to move a lot of data at relatively close range with as little interference as possible. But that isn’t a good argument for buying in now, before those devices even exist and when Wi-Fi 6E costs an arm and a leg. If you’re at a crowded public venue like an airport or a stadium, a 6GHz network might be a real luxury with its relatively fast speeds, room for everyone’s traffic and fewer devices competing for bandwidth. But that’s an argument for getting a Wi-Fi 6E phone or laptop, not a Wi-Fi 6E router.
I’ll continue testing Wi-Fi 6E systems as they hit the market, so stay tuned. When I have more data to share on 6E, I’ll post it here, but for now, don’t rush out to spend big on a Wi-Fi 6E router, mesh or otherwise.
Mesh router FAQs
Got questions? Look me up on Twitter (@rycrist) or send a message straight to my inbox by clicking the little envelope icon on my CNET profile page. In the meantime, I’ll post answers to any commonly asked questions below.
Is a mesh router better than a regular router?
With multiple devices working together to spread a strong, usable connection across a larger space, a mesh router is usually better than a single, standalone router, especially in medium to large homes. In a home or apartment that’s smaller than 1,500 square feet or so, a mesh router might be more hardware than you need.
Still, even small homes have dead zones, and mesh routers will help address problem spots like that better than regular routers. My home is 1,300 square feet, and a good example. With an average, single-point router like the one provided by my ISP, my 300Mbps fiber speeds typically plummet to double or even single digits in the back rooms farthest from the router. With a mesh router, I can still hit triple-digit speeds in those back rooms, which are about as fast as when I’m connecting closer to the router.
Does mesh Wi-Fi replace your router?
Yes — a mesh router will replace your existing router.
To set one up, you’ll need to connect one of the devices in the system to your modem using an Ethernet cable, just like your current router. From there, you’ll plug in the other mesh devices in the system elsewhere in your home, so they can start boosting the signal and relaying your traffic back to the modem-connected device whenever you’re connecting from more than a few rooms away.
What are the disadvantages of a mesh network?
Mesh routers are good for offering consistent speeds throughout your entire home, and the best of the bunch are capable of hitting gigabit speeds. Still, single-point, standalone routers usually cost less than mesh routers with comparable specs, so they’ll typically offer better top speeds for the price.
Mesh routers often have fewer ports than single-point routers, too. Some lack USB jacks, and others limit you to only one or two spare Ethernet ports for wired connections to media streamers, smart home bridges and other common peripherals. Some mesh routers feature no additional ports whatsoever on the satellite extenders.
You might also experience a very slight increase in latency when the system is routing your connection through one of the satellite extenders — in my tests, it usually translates to a small-but-noticeable bump of a few extra milliseconds per ping.
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