Ready to upgrade your mesh Wi-Fi? These are some of the best options



Wi-Fi 6 was designed with the future of routers in mind. As more people work from home in the wake of coronavirus, holes in our Wi-Fi are more annoying than ever. As our homes get smarter, we have more connections than ever that need to check in consistently and reliably. Wi-Fi 6 is designed to bring more capacity to a network and even allows for greater speed with a lot of devices. Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems have come down in price, and the Netgear Nighthawk MK62 is one of the best choices for most people.

Best Overall: Netgear Nighthawk MK62

The Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 System from Netgear takes on compact AC-only mesh systems with its compact housing and understated design. Measuring only 4.8 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall, each router has a smaller footprint than a CD case. This compact design makes this mesh system one of the easiest to integrate into a home.

While you do give up some speed compared to the larger and more expensive mesh systems, the AX1800 speeds should be more than enough for most homes. 4K streams should be a breeze, and if you need a few more wired connections, a network switch could be connected to one of the gigabit LAN ports available on each router.

Netgear claims these routers can cover a 3000 sq ft home, and of course, more satellite units could be added down the line. This is helped by compatibility with Wi-Fi Certified EashMesh . EasyMesh is a Wi-Fi standard developed to help ensure future compatibility with mesh products. This is all brought together with Netgear's robust Nighthawk app.

Pros:

Small housing
WPA-3 security
Wi-Fi EasyMesh support

Cons:

Only dual-band
AX1800
1 LAN port

Best Overall

Netgear Nighthawk MK62

$230 from Best Buy
$230 from B&H
$280 from Amazon (3-pack)

Easy entry to Wi-Fi 6 mesh

Fast enough for most people in a small housing that can blend in anywhere, build your Wi-Fi 6 mesh with the Nighthawk MK62 system.

Best Wired Support: Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6 System (RBK752)

The newest addition to Netgear's Wi-Fi 6 enabled Orbi family is the RBK752 system, which including one base router and a satellite and can cover approximately 5,000 square feet with it's tri-band, six-antenna setup. This Orbi is in line with the older Orbis as far as size and appearance with a two-tone gray and matte white housing. Wi-Fi 6 speeds come in at AX4200, which breaks down to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz channel and 1200 Mbps on the 5GHz band. The remaining 5GHz channel can operate up to 2400Mbps, however, it's dedicated to the connection between the Orbi units. This speed should be more than enough for the vast majority of home network use including multiple 4K video streams.

The base unit has one uplink gigabit Ethernet port and three Ethernet ports for wired devices. You can also combine the uplink...

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