7 Best Mesh Routers (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Mesh routers promise dependable Wi-Fi passim your home, and astir travel through, but uncovering the champion mesh router for the occupation tin beryllium tricky. Instead of a single router to lavation your location successful Wi-Fi connectivity, a mesh strategy combines the main router with 1 oregon much nodes that look arsenic a unified Wi-Fi network. Your devices volition automatically link to the nearest enactment for the champion speeds.

Most of america are stuck with placing our router successful a less-than-optimal spot, depending connected wherever the net transportation comes into our home. You tin widen Wi-Fi sum by placing a 2nd oregon 3rd node wherever needed. Whether you privation to hole dormant zones, present a stronger awesome into the backmost bedroom, oregon person large Wi-Fi successful the backyard, a mesh strategy could beryllium the answer. The Asus ZenWiFi XT8 is our apical prime for astir people, but I person galore alternatives to suit antithetic homes and net connections.

Before you dive into our lineup, it’s a bully thought to see whether a mesh strategy is close for you. Our usher connected how to take a router volition assistance you reply that question and fig retired what features you need. If you don't privation to power to a caller system, I besides person proposal connected upgrading your existing Wi-Fi and, arsenic always, ways to secure it and support your location network.

Updated April 2025: We've added immoderate details to our apical pick, changed our recommended Eero system, and added the Eero 7. We've besides added the Asus ZenWifi BT8 mesh and an Avoid conception with a fewer entries, including the Acer Predator Connect T7.

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Best Mesh Router Overall

The operation of speedy performance, awesome range, and tons of other features earns the Asus ZenWiFi XT8 the apical spot arsenic the champion mesh Wi-Fi system. (Even if it's a spot of a mouthful.) I tested the two-pack, and the straightforward setup done the mobile app took minutes, though you person to support the node adjacent by during setup and past determination it. This is simply a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 strategy with 1 2.4-GHz set and 2 5-GHz bands (one is reserved for wireless backhaul). Available successful achromatic oregon white, these units are reasonably large, but they're unobtrusive and look classy, with broadside vents to assistance dissipate heat. Each router offers three gigabit Ethernet ports, which is generous, arsenic good arsenic a 2.5 gigabit WAN larboard and a USB 3.1 port.

At short, medium, oregon agelong range, the XT8 was consistently 1 of the fastest systems I tested, and speeds ne'er dropped. The inclusion of AiProtection Pro, which adds anti-malware and parental controls powered by Trend Micro, is precise welcome, particularly since it doesn’t necessitate a subscription, dissimilar astir competitors. Just retrieve that utilizing AiProtection means sharing your information with Trend Micro, truthful you mightiness privation to work its privacy policy. I similar the parental controls, too. You tin acceptable up and reuse profiles, docket bedtimes, filter by property group, and reappraisal activity. The Quality of Service (QoS) enactment lets you prioritize activities similar moving from home, gaming, oregon streaming, and you tin bounds bandwidth for circumstantial devices.

The mobile app has a wealthiness of options, and the web interface is adjacent much in-depth. It’s casual to divided bands oregon acceptable up a impermanent network. I besides recovered that the app recognized astir devices correctly. (Sometimes it’s hard to place devices from the attributed hardware names successful router apps.) There's enactment for AiMesh, which means you tin easy adhd different Asus routers to grow your Wi-Fi system. The dedicated backhaul channel—the mode the router speaks to its nodes and vice versa—is highly fast, ensuring you get the afloat velocity of your net transportation adjacent from that node you placed adjacent the backyard.

The large caveat with this mesh is that it tin instrumentality immoderate tinkering to get it moving good for your home. If a failed firmware update is your thought of hellhole oregon you can’t look proceedings and mistake with settings, prime 1 of the systems below. My XT8 node initially refused to update its firmware, which took a mates of attempts to fix. I besides had an contented with my Sonos speakers disappearing, which required a mill reset. Overall, utilizing the XT8 has been a creaseless experience. With a small patience and research, it’s casual for conscionable astir anyone to operate, but the extent of options volition fulfill powerfulness users. You tin find unfastened root firmware if you privation to spell down the rabbit hole.

I besides tested the somewhat upgraded mentation of this mesh, the Asus ZenWiFi XT9 ($285). It appears identical but offers a fewer upgrades beneath the hood. Firstly, the 5-GHz set you tin link to has a 160-MHz transmission width (theoretically treble the XT8’s bandwidth), the processor is somewhat much powerful, and there’s enactment for nexus aggregation. On the downside, conscionable similar with the XT8, I had immoderate teething troubles with the XT9 that required a firmware upgrade and immoderate tweaks to the settings. It’s somewhat amended than the XT8, truthful if you spot it astatine a akin price, I would spell for the XT9 instead.

Best Budget Mesh Router

Note: The US authorities is reportedly mulling a TP-Link router ban aft reports that vulnerabilities successful the Chinese firm’s routers were exploited successful high-profile attacks linked to the Chinese government. According to The Wall Street Journal, the US Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments are investigating TP-Link, though nary grounds of immoderate deliberate wrongdoing has yet emerged. TP-Link president Jeff Barney told WIRED the institution is cooperating with the investigation, has a transparent proviso concatenation with manufacturing successful Vietnam, not China, and is present headquartered successful California, having divided from TP-Link Technologies, which focuses connected mainland China. TP-Link is not the lone marque targeted by malicious actors; Cisco and Netgear devices person besides been infected successful suspected Chinese state-sponsored attacks. I'll show this concern arsenic it develops earlier deciding whether I request to reconsider recommendations.

The Deco X20 is an affordable Wi-Fi 6 mesh that delivers decent sum and performance, with optional parental controls and antivirus protection, making it perfect for an mean household home. I tested the three-pack, and it was precise casual to acceptable 'em each up. The 3 routers are tiny and athletics a cylinder plan that blends successful well. This is simply a dual-band strategy (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). There are 2 gigabit Ethernet ports connected each router.

Coverage and speeds are OK, falling good abbreviated of the Asus XT8 but beating systems similar the entry-level Eero 6. The app is straightforward, and it’s casual to acceptable up a impermanent network. Originally released with the escaped HomeCare software, this has since changed to a HomeShield system, and TP-Link has updated its HomeShield and parental power subscriptions. You get basal web information (router scan, impermanent network, QoS) and parental controls (create profiles, intermission internet, block, and filter) included for free, but everything other requires a subscription.

HomeShield Security+ costs $5 a period oregon $36 a twelvemonth and adds web and intrusion extortion with notifications and reports. Total Security costs $70 a twelvemonth and adds antivirus for devices, VPN service, and a password manager. Advanced Parental Controls costs $3 a period oregon $18 a twelvemonth and adds clip limits, downtime scheduling, rewards, app clip limits, harmless search, insights, and reports. While this granularity enables you to prime and take what you need, it mightiness beryllium confusing for some, and I’m not keen connected subscription creep. That said, astir families volition apt privation the Security+ and Advanced Parental Controls, which volition travel successful astatine $54 for the twelvemonth ($1 cheaper than the HomeShield Pro it replaces).

The Quality of Service diagnostic lets you prioritize activities similar gaming oregon streaming, oregon acceptable precedence devices. Importantly, you tin split the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands to amusement arsenic 2 abstracted Wi-Fi networks. This is handy, arsenic immoderate astute location devices lone run connected the erstwhile band. Similarly, there's a mixed mode for WPA2 and WPA3 security. Some devices don't enactment with the newer WPA3 standard, and immoderate routers unit you to take 1 oregon the other, which tin pb to issues. This mode ensures each your gadgets are connected a compatible standard.

The web interface is basal and doesn’t adhd much, truthful I preferred utilizing the easy-to-use app. However, it’s a small dilatory to update, and settings are limited. It didn’t admit galore devices and listed obscure hardware shaper names, making it pugnacious to cognize which devices to adhd to my kid’s profiles.

It wasn’t the speediest performer, but this strategy is accelerated and dependable capable for the mean home. If you person a transportation that's 500 Mbps oregon better, it mightiness beryllium worthy upgrading to the Deco X55 oregon Deco X60.

Best for Simplicity

Amazon’s Eero mesh systems are immoderate of the easiest to acceptable up, connection reasonably wide coverage, and present unchangeable connectivity. The Eero Pro 6E (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is an elegant system, disposable arsenic 2 oregon 3 identical routers. The Eeros blend successful easy connected a array oregon shelf, athletics a USB-C larboard for power, and 2 Ethernet ports rated astatine 2.5 Gbps and 1 Gbps. This tri-band strategy supports Wi-Fi 6E, offering the 6-GHz set alongside 2.4- and 5-GHz, and is designed to beryllium a hands-off, set-and-forget mesh system.

The Eero Pro 6E was impressively accelerated successful my tests; determination were nary drops, and it proved adept astatine sharing bandwidth. The mobile app is straightforward, giving you an overview of connected devices with the enactment to intermission the net and acceptable up a impermanent network. I could besides make profiles, radical devices, acceptable schedules, and hole bedtimes. Unfortunately, contented filtering, different parental controls, precocious security, advertisement blocking, and enactment insights necessitate an Eero Plus subscription astatine $10 per period oregon $100 per year.

Eero is an Amazon company, and its routers travel with Alexa support. Enable the Eero skill, and you tin intermission the net with a dependable bid done your Echo device, which is useful erstwhile your kid won’t get disconnected the machine to devour dinner. The Eero Pro 6E supports Matter and Thread and tin propulsion treble work arsenic a ZigBee smart-home hub successful the aforesaid mode Echo devices can, allowing you to straight link immoderate astute lighting, astute locks, and different ZigBee devices.

Two different tricks marque Eero systems attractive. An Echo (4th Gen), Echo Dot (4th oregon 5th Gen), oregon Echo Dot with timepiece (4th oregon 5th Gen) astute talker tin act arsenic a Wi-Fi extender, offering an other 1,000 quadrate feet of sum astatine speeds up to 100 Mbps for up to 10 devices. Eero besides offers an Internet Backup option, truthful you tin adhd aggregate backup networks (Wi-Fi oregon hotspot) to support you online if your main wired web goes down.

Eero’s simplicity volition entreaty to anyone who hates digging into settings, but there’s a cost. You won’t find immoderate Quality of Service features for prioritizing activities, and you can’t abstracted bands. One last con with basal Eero systems is comparatively dilatory transportation speeds, though this was not an contented for the Pro 6E and different higher-end systems I tested.

A fewer Eero systems connected the marketplace are worthy considering, offering a broadly akin experience. The archetypal 2 are dual-band systems (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). Although the basal Eero 6 ($200) was 1 of the slower systems I tested, peculiarly astatine longer distances, it's apt capable for folks with net connections up to 500 Mbps and humble needs. If you person a faster connection, up to 1 Gbps, and your location is smaller than 4,500 quadrate feet, past the Eero 6+ ($300) mightiness suit.

If you privation a Wi-Fi 7 strategy and person a tiny location oregon constricted demand, see the Eero 7 ($350). It’s different dual-band system, truthful you don’t get the faster 6-GHz band, but you get the different advantages of Wi-Fi 7, including MLO and enhanced security. The Eero 7 performed respectably successful my tests, with coagulated 2.4- and 5-GHz set speeds, but scope and throughput are limited, meaning it won’t beryllium a bully prime for everyone. It has a 2.5 Gbps port, but I'd prime thing other if your transportation is faster than 1 Gbps. The Eero 7 lone did somewhat amended than the 6+ and was importantly outperformed by the Pro 6E. Considering that a three-pack of the Pro 6E often drops to $400, it's a amended buy.

Anyone with larger properties oregon above-average demands (lots of devices and radical simultaneously utilizing the internet) mightiness see the Eero Pro 7 ($700)—I'll beryllium investigating it next. Or the top-of-the-line Eero Max 7 ($1,360) (7/10, WIRED Review), which boasts 4 Ethernet ports, 2 rated astatine 10 Gbps and 2 astatine 2.5 Gbps, though it volition beryllium overkill for astir people. If you privation a stronger awesome successful your backyard this summer, you tin besides snag an Eero 7 Outdoor ($400) to brace with immoderate of these systems, though I person not tested it yet.

All Eero systems are compatible with each other, which makes it casual to grow your network. You tin excavation deeper into the differences successful our Eero buying guide. But whichever exemplary you choose, support an oculus retired for predominant discounts.