This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET’s guide on everything you need to know and how to make sure you get the best deal.
Amazon Prime Day 2020 Running until late Wednesday, you’ll find great deals in wireless networking from big names including Netgear and Eero while you shop. This includes deals on brand new routers that support the latest and fastest Wi-Fi 6 Speeds Gaming routers Designed to reduce your lag and Network routers This promise to fill your home with fast, reliable connection in every room.
The highlights are for each of Amazon’s new gear steering systems, Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6. As the names suggest, both platforms offer full support for Wi-Fi 6, And each also includes a built-in Zigbee hub for connecting things like Smart locks And the Smart lights For your home network. Neither system ships until early November, but you can pre-order it now – and in each case, as an early deal on Prime Day, Amazon will offer a few free devices to help sweeten the bowl.
Anyway, let’s get to the full list of deals, which I’ll update regularly when things come out and run out.
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Wi-Fi 6: What is it?
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The offers are now live
Amazon
The three-piece Eero 6 system with router and two expander satellites costs $ 279. This system won’t arrive in stores until early November, but if you are ready to pre-order, you can currently bundle it with a free Echo Dot and two Philips Hue bulbs for free. Total Cost: Still $ 279, which is a bargain.
Thanks to Zigbee’s new hub in the Eero router, you’ll be able to pair Hue bulbs directly with your home network, and with Alexa, that’s where the free Echo Dot comes in. From there, you’ll be able to turn the lights on and off, adjust brightness and color temperature, or turn on your favorite smart lighting scenes with a quick voice command of the Amazon Assistant.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, while this deal gives you the new Wi-Fi 6 version of the Eero network router, it doesn’t get you The latest Echo Dot with its new ball design. Instead, you get The previous model is a disc from 2018. No peggy there.
Second, two hue bulbs The bulbs are hue white ambiance. This means that they can change color temperatures across the white light spectrum, with shades ranging from yellow, like a candle-like glow, to hotter, bluish tones of whites. They can’t change colors on the RGB spectrum, so there’s no green, blue, pink, purple, red, or anything like that. That’s kind of a flaw, but at least the new Eero routers make it not need a Hue Bridge if you’re going to control it via the Alexa app.
Amazon
Meanwhile, if you prefer to upgrade to Eero Pro 6, which will also be released in November, you can currently find a bundle of $ 599 on Amazon along with the free package. Fire TV Cube, Which usually retails for $ 120 on its own. This router can reach top speeds faster than normal Aero 6 Mentioned above, the Triband design features an additional 5GHz band that you can customize for system transmissions between the router and extenders. This is the best approach to fast and sophisticated networking, such as Our tests appear frequently. The Free Fire Cube extension helps reduce this high price as well.
Chris Monroe / Cnet
Do you want a three-piece network router, but don’t want to spend hundreds on a fancy 3D Wi-Fi 6? Consider last year’s release of Eero, where 3 packs sell for $ 75 during Prime Day. As I said, there is no support for Wi-Fi 6 (and no Philips Hue bulbs or free Echo speakers), but it is still a fully capable system for people with ISP speeds below 500Mbps. A well-tested network router with two extenders for anything under $ 200 is a steal.
Amazon
Look, don’t ask me to pronounce it, but Ziyituod’s AX3000 PCIe Card can provide full-speed Wi-Fi 6 support for your laptop, it’s available on Prime Day for $ 25, and it’s as cheap as cards like this one. With support for 160MHz channels and maximum speeds of up to 2400Mbps on the 5GHz band, it will make inbound connections easy, and help your laptop stay up-to-date with the latest and fastest routers on the market.
For compatibility, you’ll need a PC running Windows 10 or a Linux distribution like Ubuntu, as well as a F_USB connector on the motherboard. According to the list, it will work with both Intel and AMD processors, as well as PCI-E X1, X4, X8 and X16 slots.
TP-Link
Okay, so we’re only talking about a $ 7 discount here, but that still brings the price of the practical dual-band router down to just $ 28. With higher 5GHz speeds of around 900Mbps, it’s not fast enough for gigabit connections, but TP-Link devices do well in our tests, and the simplified controls in the Tether app for Android and iOS devices make the setup snug. If you just need something cheap to get you ready for a big upgrade to Wi-Fi 6, this should get the job done.
Want more cuteness? The Archer A7, which raises the top speed on the 5GHz range to 1.3Gbps and also adds support for Alexa voice controls, is On sale today for $ 52.
D-Link
If you want a budget router that looks a little more sophisticated than your last budget pick, consider spending on the D-Link DIR-1360-US, which was set at under $ 50 on Prime Day. I haven’t tested this specific model, but other D-Link routers in the same family like the DIR-867 excellent It left me impressed with its faster and more reliable speeds than I had anticipated for its cost. At $ 48, this appears to be a solid value choice, and adds support for MU-MIMO connections, And supports Alexa volume controls and Google Assistant too.
Want more speed? You have more options. The first is the DIR-1960-US, which can reach speeds of up to 1.3 Gbps. The $ 30 discount on Prime Day brings the asking price Down to $ 70. You can also save $ 35 on the gaming-focused DIR-2660-US, which raises the 5GHz speed limit to 1.7Gbps – that’s it. Down to $ 84 On Prime Day.
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Meanwhile, this Netgear AC1600 router has been reduced to $ 56 on Prime Day, saving you $ 24. It’s a touch faster than some of the other budget picks on sale today as well, with a top speed of 1.3Gbps on the 5GHz band. That might make a good choice if you pay for gigabit internet and just want a simple router capable of reaching those extreme speeds.
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The AX6000 version of Netgear’s popular Orbi mesh router features a triple-band design with 5GHz bands, plus full Wi-Fi 6 support. One of the fastest and most impressive mesh routers I have ever testedIt isn’t cheap, as a two-piece system sells for $ 700. Now, on Prime Day, you can get a three pieces With a router and two satellites at the same price, it saves you $ 300. This will cover an area of ​​7,500 square feet with a fast and reliable connection.
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If you want to upgrade to a 2.4GHz tri-band router, 5GHz band, and else 5GHz range, this Prime Day display for Netgear Nighthawk X6S might be for you. It doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6, but it’s as powerful as Wi-Fi 5 routers, and is capable of reaching gigabit speeds on both 5GHz bands. At $ 180 selling, you save $ 100.
Trades I was skipping
Tyler Lazenby / CNET
It doesn’t support the latest Wi-Fi 6 speeds, but Asus still has a very solid track record in gaming router tests – and this model, the GT-AC5300, is a giant among the Wi-Fi 5 crop, in at least as far as specs are concerned. With eight antennas in an eye-catching array, it’s the same width as routers get, and the tri-band design allows you to allocate the entire 5GHz band to priority gaming traffic while leaving the second 5GHz band free for standard network traffic.
At $ 245, Prime Day is available for under $ 100 below the usual list price, but here’s the thing: The last time I tested a large group of gaming routers, I included the Wi-Fi 6 version of this router in the mix – and it didn’t win. 1st place went to the least expensive dual-band Asus RT-AC86U Instead – and Asus has just released a follow-up to this router with Wi-Fi 6 support. This new model RT-AX86U, It cost $ 250 – only $ 5 more than that offer – and it looked impressive on early speed tests, especially when it came to managing response time. If I was in the market to buy a new gaming router, I’d skip this offer and buy that full price instead.
Josh Miller / CNET
It’s not a Prime Day deal per se, but Google recently gave its original Wi-Fi system a price cut, bringing the cost of a three-piece Google Wifi setup down to $ 200. That’s a fair price for this Well-reviewed system, But I want to see it for sale at a lower price since it’s about four years old at this point. There is also a reasonably good chance that we will see the latest and fastest Black Friday sales Nest WifiThat appeared only last year. If you are looking for a Google network router, this is probably a bargain worth the wait.
It’s also possible Google will release a new Wi-Fi 6 version of Nest Wifi here at the last minute before the holiday buying season kicks off, but I don’t think that’s likely given that. Google’s latest Pixel phones, Nest speakers, and Chromecast streaming devices All Wi-Fi 6 is completely skipped. However, I think you can find better deals than this at this time of year.
