As part of router selection, two additional questions
you’ll need to answer are whether you want a Wi-Fi 6
router or a Wi-Fi mesh system—or even both in one.
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widening selection of compatible routers coming to
market. If you’re looking to replace your current router,
and it’s more than three years old, or if you’re simply
looking for the latest in terms of speed and security,
Wi-Fi 6 is what you want.
Wi-Fi mesh systems are for folks willing to pay a little
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whole-home Wi-Fi coverage. Though you can increase
the coverage in your home with a standard router and a
wireless range extender, that solution tends to make
users jump through a few additional hoops to get things
working smoothly, notably forcing them to log into
different wireless networks depending on where they
are in the home. Wi-Fi mesh makes all that go away
with a quick and easy path to initial setup and a series
of compatible “nodes” that integrate seamlessly into a
single wireless network that blankets your entire home.
Newer Wi-Fi mesh systems, such as the recently
announced Amazon Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6, combine
Wi-Fi 6 and mesh technology into a single package; the
new Eeros add Zigbee smart home technology as well.
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it comes to achieving that basic set of green blinking
lights, that still just represents basic router setup, mesh
or otherwise. To tweak your network settings—for
example, to improve security with a guest network and
parental controls or even to add quality of service (QoS)
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going to need to dig beneath your router or mesh
system’s basic installation utility. That’s when the steps
below will come in handy.
Wi-Fi 6 is an
emerging
standard that
is seeing a
widening
selection of
compatible
routers coming
to market.