MacLife - UK (2020-02)

THE WINNER

Zyxel Multy U

Fast, affordable, and easy–to–use Mesh Wi-Fi

A

LL OF THESE mesh networking

systems give a reliable Wi–Fi signal

all through your home or office. If

you’re on a budget then the low–cost

D-Link Covr will give you “whole–home”

Wi–Fi with three routers. It’s not the

fastest in this group, but its 125Mbps in

our Wi–Fi–challenged office is more than

adequate for browsing and streaming.

Netgear’s Orbi two–router kit is a lot

more expensive than its three–router

rivals, but its 450Mbps Wi–Fi signal will

allow you to stream 4K video and provide

fast Wi–Fi to multiple computers and

mobile devices. But its app is limited in

terms of features and parental controls.

The Asus Lyra provides good mid–

range performance and an easy–to–use

app. If you’ve got thick walls to deal with,

then the Powerline option from TP–Link’s

Deco P9 will be useful. But the Zyxel

Multy U wins, with good performance at a

competitive price, and an app with useful

diagnostic tools and parental controls.

Note: The final verdict scores reflect the overall opinion of a product and are not necessarily an average of the criteria listed in the table.

How do

they

compare?

THE SPECS ASUS LYRA TRIO D–LINK COVR C1203 NETGEAR ORBI RBK50 TP–LINK DECO P9 ZYXEL MULTY U WSR30

WEBSITE asus.com us.dlink.com netgear.com tp-link.com zyxel.com

PRICE $279 $274.99 $369.99 $TBC $269.99

NUMBER OF

ROUTERS

33233

SPEED AC1750 (dual–band) AC1200 (dual–band) AC3000 (tri–band) AC1200 (dual–band) AC2100 (tri–band)

RANGE 5,400sq ft 5,000sq ft 5,000sq ft 6,000sq ft 6,000sq ft

ANTENNAS 3x3 MU–MIMO 3x3 MU–MIMO 3x3 MU–MIMO 2x2 MU–MIMO 3x3 MU–MIMO

PORTS 2x Ethernet 2x Ethernet 4x Ethernet, 1x USB 2x Ethernet,

Powerline

2x Ethernet

DIMENSIONS

(HXWXD)

78x135x123mm 51x117x109mm 226x170x79mm 190x91x91mm 30x123x123mm

SPEED (LOUNGE) 282Mbps 218Mbps 600Mbps 291Mbps 280Mbps

SPEED (OFFICE) 272Mbps 125Mbps 450Mbps 250Mbps 250Mbps

TEMPLATES

INCLUDED

Ye s N o Ye s Ye s Ye s

OTHER PLATFORMS Windows Windows, iPad due

2020

No No No

LOOKS & DESIGN

GETTING STARTED

APP ASSISTANCE

PERFORMANCE

OVERALL

Good performance and an affordable price

combine to make the Zyxel Multi U stand

out as our winner.

maclife.com FEB 2020 59