Coverage and speed are fine, well behind the Asus XT8 but beating the Eero 6 (below). The app is straightforward and setting up a guest network is easy. Originally released with the free HomeCare software, it has since become a HomeShield system, and TP-Link has updated its HomeShield and parental controls subscriptions. You get basic network security (router scanning, guest network, QoS) and parental controls (creating profiles, internet pausing, blocking, and filtering) for free, but everything else requires a subscription.
HomeShield Security+ costs $5 per month or $36 per year and adds web and intrusion protection with alerts and reports. Total Security costs $70 per year and includes device antivirus, a VPN service, and a password manager. Advanced Parental Controls costs $3 per month or $18 per year and offers time limits, downtime scheduling, rewards, app time limits, safe search, insights, and reports. While this granularity allows you to choose what you need, it might be confusing for some, and I’m not a fan of subscription creep. However, most families will likely want the Security+ and Advanced Parental Controls safety features, which will cost $54 per year ($1 cheaper than the HomeShield Pro it replaces).
The Quality of Service feature lets you prioritize activities like gaming or streaming, or set priority devices. The important thing is that you can do it Division of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands as two separate Wi-Fi networks. This is handy since some smart home devices only work on the former band. Likewise, there is a mixed mode for WPA2 and WPA3 security. Some devices don’t work with the newer WPA3 standard and some routers force you to choose one or the other, which can cause problems. This mode ensures that all your gadgets have a compatible standard.
The web interface is simple and doesn’t add much, so I preferred using the user-friendly app. However, the update is a bit slow and the settings are still limited. It didn’t recognize many devices and listed unknown hardware manufacturer names, making it difficult to figure out which devices I should add to my child’s profiles.
It wasn’t the fastest system, but this system is fast and reliable enough for the average household. If you have a connection of 500 Mbps or more, it may be worth upgrading to this Deco X55 or Deco X60.
Best for Smart Homes
Amazon’s Eero 6 mesh system is one of the easiest to set up, offers fairly wide coverage and delivers stable connectivity. It’s an elegant system, available as three identical routers or (slightly cheaper) as a main router and two small nodes. The Eeros fit on a table or shelf, although the compact design leaves no room for ports. (There are only two gigabit ports on the routers and none on the nodes.)
Although the base Eero 6 was one of the slower systems I tested, especially at longer distances, the node speeds were close to what I got from the main router. There were no outages and it proved adept at sharing limited bandwidth. The mobile app is straightforward and gives you an overview of connected devices with the ability to pause the internet and set up a guest network. I was also able to create profiles, group devices, set schedules, and set bedtimes. Unfortunately, content filtering, other parental controls, advanced security, ad blocking, and activity information require an Eero Plus subscription for $10 per month or $100 per year.
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