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How to pick
First figure out whether the whole house is slow or just one room. If it is the whole house, the router itself is the problem and you want a new one. If it is one back bedroom, you do not need a new router, you need to get the signal out there. Also worth knowing: the box your internet company gave you is usually the cheapest one they could buy, so replacing it is often the single biggest improvement you can make. A note on eero: I am a qualified eero installer, so it is the system I know inside out and the one I fit most often. That is not why it is on this list, it is on here because the app is genuinely the simplest of any mesh system I have set up and I get the fewest callbacks about it. If you buy one and would rather not wrestle with it yourself, this is the exact thing I do.
What I recommend
TP-Link RE315 Wi-Fi extender
If it is only one room dropping out, try this before spending real money. It picks up your existing signal and pushes it further. Not as tidy as a mesh set, but it often solves the whole problem for very little.
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 5, AC1200
- Bands
- Dual band
- Ports
- 1 ethernet
- Fits
- Straight into a wall outlet
UGREEN Cat6 ethernet cable
Wi-Fi is convenient, a cable is reliable. If your computer or TV sits near the router, plugging it in directly solves a surprising number of problems. Buy some slack so you are not pulling it tight across a doorway.
- Category
- Cat6
- Speed
- Up to 1 Gbps
- Connector
- RJ45
- Lengths
- 3 ft up to 50 ft
TP-Link Archer AX55
The easy upgrade from whatever your internet company handed you. Better range, keeps up with a house full of phones and TVs, and the setup app does not fight you. For most homes this is enough and you can stop here.
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 6, AX3000
- Bands
- Dual band
- Ports
- 4 gigabit LAN
- Setup
- Phone app or browser
Amazon eero 6+ mesh system
Two or three units that talk to each other, so the signal follows you around instead of coming from one corner of the house. Worth it for two story homes, thick walls, or anywhere one router has never quite covered. This is the system I fit most often and the one I know inside out. The app is genuinely simple, which matters more day to day than the specs do.
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 6, AX3000
- Coverage
- About 1,500 sq ft per unit
- Ports
- 2 gigabit per unit
- Setup
- Phone app
eero Pro 6E or eero Max 7
The step up. Adds a third band that nothing else in the house is using, which keeps the units talking to each other without stealing bandwidth from your devices. Only worth the money if you are paying for a genuinely fast connection, several hundred megabits or more, otherwise the 6+ above is doing everything you need. Happy to tell you honestly which of the two your house calls for.
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7
- Extra band
- Kept clear for unit to unit traffic
- Worth it if
- You pay for several hundred Mbps or more
- Setup
- Same simple phone app
Related reading
Want it fitted properly?
I am a qualified eero installer and I set up mesh systems across Santa Cruz County. If you have replaced the gear and it is still dropping out, that is usually placement or interference, and I can track it down in a visit.