Josh Hendrickson
With more and more Wi-Fi devices from smart speakers to smartphones in our homes, congestion issues are worse than ever. Wi-Fi 6E promises to solve that with a new communication band, and Linksys just launched the first two Wi-Fi 6E routers, the Hydra Pro 6E and the Atlas Max 6E.
If you want to be on the forefront of technology, expect to pay a pretty penny along the way. Standard Wi-Fi 6 routers already cost a lot of money, with “budget” systems still commanding over nearly $150 for a single router. But Wi-Fi 6E will cost you even more, with a starting price of $500 for a single router.
That’s because Wi-Fi 6E goes beyond Wi-Fi 6 routers. Wi-Fi 6 communicates over the same 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands as Wi-Fi 5 routers. But it uses new technology to broadcast further and device channels into smaller subchannels to avoid technology. Wi-Fi 6E has all that, plus an extra band on the 6 GHz spectrum.
The upside is, you get another band that most people probably aren’t using, thus avoiding congestion. The downside is, only Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices can connect to the new band. Everything else will connect to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Buying now is future-proofing for later.
Linksys Hydra Pro 6E: Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6E Router
Linksys has two freshly certified Wi-Fi 6E routers for your consideration today. The first is a standalone router that can connect to other Linksys VELOP mesh routers. It’s the choice to go with if you only need one router in your home, or if you want to add a big boost to a central point and prefer to layer in less expensive Wi-FI 6 or Wi-Fi 5 VELOP mesh routers elsewhere.
The Hydra Pro 6E router goes for $499.99 and is a tri-band Velop mesh Wi-Fi 6E router. It covers up to 2700 sq. ft, can handle up to 55+ devices, and provides speeds up to 6.6 Gbps, which is well above what most can get from their ISPs. On the back, you’ll find a 5 Gigabit WAN port, along with four ethernet ports, and a USB 3.0 port. It uses a 1.8GHz Quad-Core processor to keep up with network-intensive tasks.
You can buy the Hydra Pro 6E from Linksys today.
Hydra Pro 6E
If you want to get dip your toes into the future of Wi-Fi, this single Wi-Fi 6E router will do the trick. It’s Velop mesh capable, and so can pair up with any other Linksys Velop router.
Linksys Atlas Max 6E: Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6E System
If you want to go all in and don’t mind sinking $1,199.99 into your Wi-Fi system, the Atlas Max 6E is about as advanced a router you can get. It comes as a three-pack tri-band system that supports Velop mesh routers. In theory, you can purchase multiple Max 6E systems or layer in other Velop routers like the Hydra Pro or any Linksys Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 5 Velop router.
For $1,199.99, you get a truly powerful Mesh system capable of covering 9000 sq. ft., while connecting 195+ devices per node and supporting speeds up to 8.4 Gbps. If you have a smart home, this mesh router should keep up even better than a Wi-Fi 6 system. Each node has a 5 Gigabit WAN port, four ethernet ports, and a USB 3.0 port. It uses a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core processor to handle all the devices you can throw at it.
You can buy the Atlas Max 6E from Linksys today.
Atlas Max 6E
As its name suggests, the Altas Max 6E can hold up a world of Wi-Fi-connected systems. It covers up to 9,000 square feet and can connect up to 195 devices per node.
