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All reviews and overviews on this website are based on thorough hands-on testing and real-world first-hand experience.
Note: This category also includes previews, first-takes, and opinions—all derived from initial impressions, past experience, or preliminary assessments.
The ZenWiFi AC (model CT8) is not the first canned Wi-Fi system from ASUS, but in my opinion, it’s the first built with the popular AiMesh feature in mind. The mesh is part of ASUS’s new ZenWiFi family, announced earlier this month at CES 2020, including a Wi-Fi 6 version, …
If my previous mentioning of the AmpliFi Alien mesh portion sounded a bit like a tease, that’s because, at the time, I knew Ubiquiti would release an Alien Kit but couldn’t talk about it. Even though you can use two Alien routers—at $380 each—to form a mesh, it makes more …
Even at a reduced street price of some $700, NETGEAR’s Orbi RBK850 Series—currently available as a 2-pack (model RBK852)—AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh System is still crazy expensive. For the most part, it’s an excellent Wi-Fi system but, for my money, not hundreds of dollars better than the recently released budget-minded …
The Zyxel PLA6456BBKIT powerline adapter kit is a quick way to extend your wired network from one end of your home to another without running an actual network cable. It turns a couple of power sockets into two ends of a standard network connection. The kit’s included two adapters are …
The EnGenius ESR580 EnMesh tri-band Whole-Home Smart Wi-Fi System is a decent mesh with the potential to be an excellent one. It has a practical hardware design, an easy setup process, and a useful app. The performance is also better than that of many similar canned systems, including its presumed …
The Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine, or UDM, is my new favorite Wi-Fi 5 router. It’s an advanced enterprise-class system packed in a beautiful, compact, home-friendly hardware box. You can use it as a simple single router via a sleek mobile app, like it’s no big deal. Or you can dive …
At $230, the all-new NETGEAR Orbi RBK13 is the most affordable version among the famous Orbi mesh brand. The new Wi-Fi system has an entirely new design, consisting of three hardware units instead of the traditional two. But it shares the same mobile app, web interface and hence has the …
With the Archer AX3000, not to be confused with the Archer AX50, TP-Link manages to hit that current sweet spot of Wi-Fi 6. The router delivers the performance level of existing available clients at a cost most of us won’t need to think twice. Indeed, available at Walmart at just …
ARRIS’s first Wi-Fi 6 offering, the SURFboard mAX Pro AX11000 Mesh system (model W133), is a bit of an exaggeration. Without a multi-gig network port, it can’t deliver max Wi-Fi 6 speeds, and its mobile app doesn’t include any pro features or, I dare say, any features at all. Update: …
The ASUS RT-AX88U is one of the first Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers on the market, and I was quite excited to get my hands on it. So excited, I decided to test it for a second time—I didn’t have any Wi-Fi 6 clients the first time around. So, this is …
