Computer Shopper - UK (2020-10)

ISSUE392|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER 2020 35

Seepage82for performance details

MODEMGigabitEthernet•WI-FISTANDARD802.11ax•

STATEDSPEED1,200Mbit/s(5GHz), 600Mbit/s(2.4GHz)•

USBPORTS (^0) • WALLMOUNTABLENo•WARRANTYOne
year RTB•DETAILSwww.netgear.co.uk•PARTCODEMK62

SPECIFICATIONS

5GHz 2m

5GHz 5m

5GHz 10m

0200 400 600

413Mbit/s

182Mbit/s

168Mbit/s

clientstoprevent your internet connection
getting throttled), manage port forwarding
and turn on support forBTYouView internet
channels, too.
Missing from this system is Netgear
Armour,the network security scanner,and
any form of parental controls. This is about as
basic as awireless mesh system gets.

DUALAT DAWN
Internally,each device in the Nighthawk Mesh
WiFi 6System has dual-band Wi-Fi. There’s a
two-stream 5GHz network running at
1,200Mbit/s (600Mbit/s per channel) and a
two-stream 2.4GHz network running at
600Mbit/s (300Mbit/s). That’s the same
speed per channel as on the Orbi WiFi 6, only
here you get half the number of streams.
The Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6System has
to share this available bandwidth between
other satellites on the network, too.
Performance at close range,testing with a
2x2 Wi-Fi 6network adaptor,meant that our
Wi-Fi 6-ready laptop could suck up the full
bandwidth available.Performance was very
good, with an upload speed of 322Mbit/s
and download speed of 503Mbit/s. Moving
to the first floor, speeds dropped off as we
switched to using the dual-band wireless
backhaul. We saw upload speeds of 171Mbit/s
and download speeds of 192Mbit/s. On the
second floor,performance remained almost
the same,with upload speeds of 162Mbit/s
and download speeds of 175Mbit/s.

Dual-bandvstri-band

Meshsystemsaredesignedtoworkentirelywirelessly,barthefirstdevicethat

plugsintoyourinternetconnectionorexistinghomenetwork.Theideaisthat

thisconfigurationmakesiteasiertosetup the devices,as youcan place satellites

around your home without having to worryabout having Ethernet networkingin

place.Thisconnectionbetween satellites is knownasthe backhaul.

Mesh systemscan be either dual-band or tri-bandwireless, so what’s the

difference? Thenames simply refertohow many networksare available,with

dual-band networks having one2.4GHzand

one 5GHznetwork, while tri-band systems

have an extra 5GHz network.

Typically,onatri-band system,the

additional 5GHz network is used as a

dedicated backhaul. That is, the connection

between the satellites is formed by a

dedicated wireless network,soclients get

to use the fullcapabilitiesofthe remaining

two networks. Thisboostsperformance

and canincrease stability.

With adual-band system,the mesh

network hastoshare thebandwidth it has

between clients and the backhaul.Thisreduces

the total amount of bandwidth that is available

and can make the system slightly less reliable.

The upside is thatdual-bandsystems are a

lot cheaper than tri-band systems, as there’s lesswireless technologyinthe box. For

homesthatneedlessintensivewireless and canget by with slightly slower speeds, a

lowerprice is often agood trade-offagainst slower speeds.

However, dual-band systems can also be useful whenyou already have Ethernet

around the home.Most mesh systems letyou use an Ethernet backhaul: that is, the

communication between satellitesishandled by GigabitEthernetinstead. Ethernet has

the advantage of longerrange,with throughputs thatdon’t drop off at speed.

Whenyou switch to an Ethernet backhaul,most tri-band systems simply stop

usingthe dedicated wireless channelfor communication; in effect, you’renot using

the full wireless capability of the system.

With adual-band system,ifyou go foranEthernetbackhaul, it means that all of

the available bandwidth is therefor clients, andnowireless is used forcommunication

between the satellites.

Admittedly,anEthernet backhaul isn’t going to work formostpeopleand afully

wireless mesh system typicallymakes the mostsense. In this case, atri-band system is

best forpeoplethatwantthe best performanceand fastest speeds, but don’t mind

paying more;adual-band system cuts costs andprovides slightly slower wireless,but

stilldelivers theadvantages of full-home Wi-Fi coverage.

We placed the second satelliteinthe

kitchen, which would otherwise have apoor

signal, and saw upload speeds of 92Mbit/s

and download speeds of 137Mbit/s. However,

switching to an Ethernet backhaul meant

kitchen performance jumped massively,with

upload speeds of 352Mbit/s and download

speeds of 610Mbit/s.

DECKTHE HAULS

Judging the Netgear Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6

System is tough, as the competition has

increased dramatically.Onthe one hand,

you get decent performance from this

system, it’s the cheapest Wi-Fi 6mesh

product available,and it’s cheap to expand

with additional satellites.

The alternative is the TP-Link Deco X60

(Shopper391), another dual-band system,

which is alittle more expensive,but has full

parental controls and internet security,and

performed better in our tests. It’s the slightly

better buy formostpeople.However,ifyou

can put Ethernet throughout your house and

use this as the backhaul, the Nighthawk Mesh

WiFi 6System is the cheapest waytoput

high-performance Wi-Fi 6where you want it.

DavidLudlow

⬆The Netgear smartphone app makes
configuration an easy process

⬆Mesh systems provide high-speed Wi-Fi to

all your devices around the home