Have you ever found yourself wandering around your home, phone in hand, trying to find that one spot where the Wi-Fi actually works? If your internet slows to a crawl in certain rooms or drops out entirely, your traditional router might be struggling to keep up. Standard Wi-Fi routers work by broadcasting a signal from a single point, which is fine for smaller homes or apartments. But in larger spaces or in homes packed with smart devices, gaming consoles and multiple family members streaming at once one router often isnt enough. Thick walls, long distances and network congestion can all lead to frustrating dead zones and excessive buffering.If you want to improve your homes Wi-Fi network, one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems could ease your troubles. Instead of relying on a single router, mesh Wi-Fi systems use multiple nodes placed around your home to create a seamless, blanket-like coverage. Think of it like having multiple Wi-Fi hotspots working together to keep your connection strong, no matter where you are. These systems are great for eliminating dead zones, handling lots of devices at once and ensuring smooth streaming and gaming without lag. And with the rise of Wi-Fi 7, the latest generation of wireless tech, mesh systems are becoming even more powerful, offering faster speeds, lower latency, and improved efficiency for smart homes and high-performance setups. If youre tired of unreliable internet and want a solution that just works, weve rounded up the best mesh Wi-Fi system options to fit every home and budget. Table of contents Best mesh Wi-Fi systems for 2025 What to look for in a mesh Wi-Fi system How we test Wi-Fi routers Other mesh Wi-Fi router systems we tested Wi-Fi details Best mesh Wi-Fi systems for 2025 What to look for in a mesh Wi-Fi system Its a pretty good time to buy a mesh Wi-Fi system, since Wi-Fi 6E represents a fairly significant leap in the technology. Matt MacPherson, Ciscos Chief Technology Officer for Wireless, said that Wi-Fi 6E is a substantial inflection point and can take advantage of a much broader chunk of the wireless spectrum than its predecessors. If youre using that spectrum with a Wi-Fi 6 [device], he said, youre going to get significant gains [in speed.] MacPherson added that Wi-Fi 6E will likely carry you for a long time, thanks to the fact that its top throughputs now typically exceed what people can actually connect their home to. In short, with a top theoretical per-stream speed of 1.2 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E is fast enough to outrun all but the fastest internet connection. (You may also see talk of Wi-Fi 7 devices, some of which have been released already before the standard is officially launched later this year. Given that it will take a generation for all of the devices in your home to be compatible with Wi-Fi 7, its not worth thinking about this for several years yet, so a Wi-Fi 6 system will suffice for now.) Range and speed All mesh routers boast a theoretical broadcast range in square feet, as well as its theoretical top speed. Given there are so many factors outside of the manufacturers control, these numbers dont really mean much in the real world. Your internet service providers (ISP) real speed, the construction materials and layout of your home, amongst other things, will all affect your Wi-Fi coverage. Simply investing in a wireless router or mesh Wi-Fi system isnt going to offer faster speeds on its own. Its worth saying that raw speed isnt everything, and that for most normal users, you probably need a lot less than youre paying for. Netflix recommends a minimum speed of just 15 Mbps to stream a 4K video to a single device. Naturally, thats just for one connection, so youll need some more capacity if youve got other connected devices all running at the same time. As cool as it is to say youve got 100, 200 or 500 Mbps download speed, factors like latency and reliability are way more crucial. And unless you have Gigabit internet that can reach speeds of up to 1Gbps, you wont need a mesh router that offers these specs. Backhaul Mesh Wi-Fi systems work by connecting every hardware node to a single wireless network, letting them all communicate with each other. Imagine four people in a busy, noisy restaurant all trying to order their dinner from a weary staff member, all at once. Now imagine, while this is going on, that four more people at that same table are also trying to tell a funny anecdote. Its no surprise that it might take a long while for the right information to reach its intended destination. To combat this, higher-end mesh routers offer dedicated wireless backhaul; a slice of the spectrum for node-to-node communication. So rather than everyone talking at once in the same space, the conversations are essentially separated, reducing the invisible clutter in the air. Because theres less confusing cross-chatter, everything moves faster, offering a significant performance boost to those systems. Connectivity These days, even your washing machine has a wireless connection, but that doesnt mean you should ignore the joys of wired internet. No matter how fast Wi-Fi is, a hard line will always be faster, and some gear, like Philips Hue bridge, still needs an ethernet connection. Plenty of routers can also use these hard connections as backhaul, eliminating further wireless clutter. Its convenient for spread-out systems and power users, but it will mean running more wires through your home. The most common standard is Cat 5e, or gigabit ethernet which, unsurprisingly, has a top speed of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). Since Ethernet cables are backward compatible, you should be able to easily find one that works with your system. However, to make the most out of your mesh routers, its worth investing in an Ethernet cable that meets the standard your router uses if its Cat5e, use a Cat5e cable. You can check your routers specs via the manufacturers website to be sure. Flexibility and scalability Mesh routers enable you to add (or subtract) modules from your home network to suit your needs. D-Links Alan Jones said users should check how scalable the prospective product is before you buy. This sense of scale doesnt just apply to the number of nodes on the network, but how many simultaneous connections it can handle. Placement Mesh networks use multiple access points in order to create a bigger network, resulting in better indoor Wi-Fi coverage. You might see the term whole home coverage, which is more easily achieved with multiple access points or nodes. Modern mesh routers offer one, two or three (or more) pieces of equipment that are commonly the same hardware inside and out. It normally doesnt matter which module you make the primary one to connect to your modem, usually over ethernet. Youll then set up the other, secondary nodes around your home, which is often just a case of adding them to the existing mesh network. When installing your hardware, remember that every physical obstacle between nodes may hurt your performance. The ideal spot is, at the very least, at waist height on a piece of furniture without too many obstructions. Tables, sideboards, free-standing cupboards, and bookcases make for a good home. The rule of thumb is to place each node no more than two rooms away from the last one. How we test Wi-Fi routers My home covers around 2,200 square feet across three stories, with my office on the third floor. Its relatively long and thin, with the living room at the front of the house, the kitchen at the back and three bedrooms on the second floor. Its age means there are a lot of solid brick walls, old school lathe and plaster, as well as aluminum foil-backed insulation boards to help with energy efficiency. There are two major Wi-Fi dead zones in the house, the bathroom and the bedroom behind it, since theres lots of old and new pipework in the walls and floors. For mesh routers that have two nodes, I placed the first in my living room, connected via ethernet to my cable modem, with the second on the first-floor landing in the (ostensible) center of the house. For three-node sets, the third went in my kitchen, which Ive found is the optimal layout to get the bulk of my house covered in Wi-Fi. Each mesh is judged on ease of setup, Wi-Fi coverage, reliability, speed and any additional features. I looked at how user-friendly each companion app is from the perspective of a novice, as well. My tests included checking for dead zones, moving from room to room to measure consistency, and streaming multiple videos at once. Other mesh Wi-Fi router systems we tested Amazon Eero 6E On one hand, Eero Pro 6E does count as an easy device, the sort you could hand to a total novice and expect them to thrive with. Theres very little brain work needed to get things set up, and the app has a clean UI with plenty of hand-holding. But and its a big but the fact so many common management tools arent available to me here because theyre paywalled irks me. Amazon and Eero are playing in the same slightly shallow waters as Google / Nest, building a good enough mesh product for "everyone; types who want to set up the hardware and more or less forget about it for several years at a time knowing that everything is in hand. But the fact that the Nest Wi-Fi Pro offers more features for free compared to Eeros package means that, despite my gripes about Googles system, it wins out in a straight duel. Netgear Orbi 960 The Orbi 96T0 (RBKE963) is Netgears flagship mesh Wi-Fi product, which the company calls the worlds most powerful Wi-Fi 6E system. Its also one of the most expensive consumer-level kits on the market, setting you back $1,499.99 for a three pack. It's a fantastic piece of gear but it's worth saying that the subset of people who could, would or should buy it remains far smaller than you might expect. Ultimately, I feel that if youre paying luxury prices, you should expect a luxury product. There were plenty of times during testing that I went looking for a feature that was either only available via the web client, or behind a paywall. While, yes, much of your cash is going to the superlative hardware, but for this sort of money, the fact you have to pay extra for some table-stakes features is insulting. If youre looking for a new Wi-Fi system and arent prepared to spend almost $1,500, its worth considering our other top picks for the best Wi-Fi routers and mesh systems. Wi-Fi details Wi-Fi is governed by the International Standard IEEE 802.11, and every few years the standards evolve. Until 2018, routers were sold under their IEEE designation, leaving consumers to deal with the word soup of products labeled 802.11 b/a/g/n/ac et cetera. Mercifully, wiser heads opted to rebrand the standards with numbers: Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. Were presently between two Wi-Fi generations, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, which relates to the frequencies the standard uses. Wi-Fi 6 covers routers which operate on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, while the latter means it can also use the 6GHz band. Each Wi-Fi band has tradeoffs, because the slower radio frequencies have greater range but less speed. 2.4GHz signals will travel a long way in your home but arent quick, while 6GHz is blisteringly fast, but can be defeated by a sturdy brick wall. A lot of Wi-Fi-enabled gear, like a lot of smart home products, only use 2.4GHz because the range is better and its a lot cheaper. But it means that the band is also overcrowded and slow. You can check the speed of your Wi-Fi by using an online speed test like Speedtest by Ookla. This will display your download and upload speeds, offering better insight. Linksys CEO Jonathan Bettino told Engadget why mesh systems are an advancement in Wi-Fi technology over buying a single point router. With one transmitter, the signal can degrade the further away from the router you go, or the local environment isnt ideal. You can have a small [home], but theres thick walls [...] or things in the way that just interfere with your wireless signal, he said. Historically, the solution to a homes Wi-Fi dead zone was to buy a Wi-Fi Range Extender but Bettino said the hardware has both a terrible user experience and one of the highest return rates of any consumer electronics product. Mesh Wi-Fi, by comparison, offers multiple nodes that can be placed anywhere in your home, says Bettino, resulting in ubiquitous Wi-Fi that feels as if you have a router in every room. Rather than having one main router in your home, having a router in every room is the biggest selling point for mesh Wi-Fi given how reliant we all are on the internet. Each node is in constant contact with each other, broadcasting a single, seamless network to all of your connected devices. Theres no separate network for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, just a single name that you connect to. You may also see mesh Wi-Fi systems advertised as dual-band or tri-band routers. Dual-band routers typically offer a 2.4GHz and 5GHz band. Wi-Fi 6E tri-band routers, on the other hand, provide a 2.4GHz, a 5GHz and a 6GHz band or in the case of Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 routers, a 2.4GHz band and two 5GHz bands. Once youve got your head wrapped around the concept of dual-band and tri-band, you should also be aware that the width of each band is measured in MHz. The wider the band, the more MHz it can support, typically 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz. The wider the channel, the more bandwidth it offers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-mesh-wifi-system-130028701.html?src=rss