The Netgear Orbi Is the Best Mesh Router That We Tested

Time was that the best you could do to fill a home with Wi-Fi data was to get a traditional router, some extensions and hope for the best. Those days are long gone; now, homeowners are going the mesh router route, where devices efficiently pass the Wi-Fi signal from extension to extension. This gear can make quick work of sending data to every nook and cranny in your home.

In fact, retail tracking company The NPD Group reports that sales of mesh gear have risen from zero just a couple years ago to nearly one-quarter of the home Wi-Fi market last year. Why are homeowners forsaking traditional networking gear for mesh? Because the benefits are astounding, particularly for those who don't care to know the difference between a DHCP server and a fragmentation threshold.
Setting up a mesh network couldn't be easier. Just place the extensions throughout the house and use your phone to go through a configuration process. Unfortunately, however, you give up the ability to fine-tune the connection, because most mesh router interfaces are still crude.