Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Review: An Excellent, No-Frills Wi-Fi 6 Router

8.0

Linksys Hydra Pro 6

Like

• Fast, consistent WiFi speeds
• Support for 160MHz channels
• Simple, unobtrusive design

I don’t like it

• A bit expensive
• Dual-band design not ideal for use in a mesh network
• Does not support incoming wired speeds greater than 1 Gbps

When you think of a Wi-Fi router, it probably looks a lot like the understated Linksys Hydra Pro 6 (model MR5500). With an asking price of $200, more than you’ll pay for some multidevice mesh setups — The dual-band AX5400 Hydra Pro 6 may seem a little overpriced, but there’s more to this unassuming router than meets the eye.

The most striking thing is that it crossed my home speed testswith higher average speeds than notable top picks like the budget conscious TP-Link Archer AX21 and the gaming-centric Asus RT-AX86Uthe latter of which is one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers I’ve tested.

Add to that the consistency of the Hydra Pro 6, which never faltered in range, dropped my connection, or sent me to the slower 2.4GHz band when it shouldn’t have, and you’re looking at a pretty tempting choice for medium-sized homes that need a better, faster WiFi signal. While $200 may seem like a lot to ask, you won’t have to worry about performance issues with the Hydra Pro 6.

Design and specifications

With a name like “Hydra Pro 6,” you’d expect this Linksys model to feature an ostentatious, design-focused build similar to routers like the Batman-approved Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500the spatial, spider-like Asus GT-AXE11000 or the robotic, self-adapting TP-Link Archer AXE200 Omni. That is not so.

Instead, the Hydra Pro 6 is simply a black rectangle with two foldable antennas on the back. That’s all well and good if you just want a decent router that doesn’t take up too much space or draw too much attention, but if you’re looking for something to show off, the Hydra probably isn’t for you.

The Hydra Pro 6 is a dual-band AX5400 router with a 1GHz dual-core processor and full support for Wi-Fi 6 (that’s what the “AX” part means), and theoretical top speeds of 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 4,804 Mbps on the 5 GHz band (add those together to get the “5400” part). Flip the thing over and you’ll find the WAN port, which plugs into your modem, plus four spare Ethernet ports on the back, all of which limit incoming wired speeds to one gigabit per second. That means you’ll want something else with faster connections if you plan on upgrading to a new multi-gigabit internet plan soon.

There’s not much else special about the build, but it’s worth noting that you can use the Hydra Pro 6 as the centerpiece of a mesh setup by other compatible Linksys devices to your network. For example, if you already have another Linksys device and want to upgrade, you can trade in the Hydra Pro 6 and move the old router somewhere else in your home to use as a mesh extender.

I would like that pitch a little better if we were talking about a tri-band router, because a dual-band mesh setup can’t isolate the backhaul transmissions between satellite devices on a separate band. That said, we have seen dual-band mesh setups like the Eero 6 PlusNest Wifi and Asus ZenWifi XD6 who have done an excellent job, so it is certainly not a reason to break the deal.

App installation

The newly redesigned Linksys app (pictured above) has a clean, easy-to-use interface and does a great job of walking you through the setup process. Once the app is up and running, you can adjust network settings, enable or disable parental controls or guest network settings, or keep track of connected devices. You’ll also enjoy automatic firmware updates at night, which is great.

That said, virtually every other router on the market comes with an app that does the exact same things. Many of these alternatives do more, like the gaming-focused latency management features in the Asus app or the ability to sync with Amazon for simplified smart home device setup in TP-Link’s Tether app. You won’t find any unique features like those in the Linksys app, and you’ll also find fewer advanced networking controls. The app doesn’t even let you disable band steering to split the 2.4 and 5GHz bands into two separate networks.

If you’re one of those users who prefers a set-it-and-forget-it router, this is mostly a moot point. But even if you don’t want to mess with your network settings, you’ll probably still want a more robust set of controls for troubleshooting (even if you’re leaving the app to someone more tech-savvy than you).

Performance and speeds

Like every router I review, I tested the Hydra Pro 6 in my 1,200-square-foot home in Louisville, Kentucky, where I have a fiber optic internet subscription from AT&TI recently upgraded that plan to a gigabit connection, after testing for the past few years with top speeds set to 300 MbpsThis gives me a much better idea of ​​the capabilities of each router I test, but it also means I have fewer models to compare them to, as the old 300Mbps data doesn’t provide a fair comparison.

To keep that in mind, I tested the Hydra Pro 6 against a few top picks from my list of the best Wi-Fi routers: the budget-friendly TP-Link Archer AX21 and the Asus RT-AX86U gaming router, plus a handful of other Wi-Fi 6 models I had on hand. In the end, the Hydra Pro 6 ended up with both the fastest average download speeds across my home (536 Mbps) and the fastest average uploads (467 Mbps).

Of those other models, the Asus RT-AX86U (dual-band AX5700) and the TP-Link Archer AX73 (dual-band AX5400) are the most comparable to the Hydra Pro 6. The Linksys beat them both out hands down in terms of average speeds, but perhaps more importantly, it was also the most consistent of the three. To see what I mean, check out the graphs above. Each point on those graphs is the download speed during a single speed test, so you want them to be as high and as close together as possible. The Hydra Pro 6 delivered, with tight speed bands in every room I tested it in, and solid band steering that didn’t leave me stuck on the slower 2.4GHz band when I shouldn’t have been (just check out TP-Link’s graph for an example of what that looks like — it ain’t pretty).

This was a particularly encouraging result for Linksys, which hasn’t always shown its bandsteering A-game in my speed tests. A few years ago, I tested and reviewed the Linksys MR7350which is a similar but less powerful version of the MR5500 reviewed here . Band steering was terrible on that budget model, with speeds plummeting across the board when I started my connection far away from the router, in the back of the house. That wasn’t an issue at all this time.

The verdict

With impressive speeds and performance, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6 is a compelling upgrade choice for anyone looking for a little more oomph in their router. $200 is a bit steep considering you can find good tri-band and mesh models for that price, but it doesn’t seem too hard to find on sale for less. At the very least, it’s a good model to bookmark for Black Friday and other major sales periods.

With relatively few notable features and an easy-to-use but underwhelming app, the Hydra Pro 6 probably isn’t the best choice for intermediate to advanced users looking for in-depth control over their network. But if you’re looking for a fast, reliable router for someone who doesn’t want to think about their router too much (or at all), give the Hydra Pro 6 a closer look, because its combination of speed, simplicity, and consistency make it tough to beat.