Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is my 3rd Linksys router and works greak, nice range easy to install a great router for those Spectrum internet service.

Great unit 2700 sqft and easy set up 100% recommended

This is not the best router but for the price does a good job. I can’t say buy it or not because it depends how big is your house or apartment.

It works but it’s somewhat pricey. The setup was easy and straightforward

Great item, great buy. Very happy with this product!

So far so good its hasent restart from old router that i had i paid $400

The Linksys Hydra Pro 6 is simple and easy to setup. Linksys has developed an app for Android and iPhone which makes the setup of the router fast and simple. You don’t have to be an expert in networking in order to get up and running quickly. For those of us who are, I wasn’t able to do manual setup initially. I had to download the app to go through the initial configuration. Once that was done, I was able to access the config where I was able to manually configure settings. As far as performance, I’ve been using the router for several days without issue. I was able to get a little over 400Mbps down and around 150Mbps up on a 1Gb fiber connection. I haven’t run into any problems with streaming services and my desktop and laptop has stayed connected since setting up the router and are seeing good networking performance. The configuration pages load reasonably fast, so no issues there. The router lets you add in nodes for those who will be setting up a mesh network. I didn’t have a second one to see how easy it is to add in a node, but if the initial setup is any indication, then it would be simple. It can cover up to 2700 square feet and supports over 30 devices. The signal is good across all of my living space and I have 24 devices connected to it. Everything has been working well. The only downside I’ve come across so far is that I had the use the app to go through the initial configuration. I would recommend the Hydra Pro 6 to anyone looking for a router good performance and which can have additional nodes added later or someone who is looking for a router that is quick and simple to setup.

I can’t lie to you; moving from my old router to this one wasn’t completely without its issues – most of them unique to my setup and devices. Some of those issues persist and will require work arounds and new approaches. But even so, the Hydra Pro router has FINALLY solved a vexing problem for me that I’ve been experiencing for over a decade or so that support techs, network pros and even other routers couldn’t. I started out years ago with a Verizon router; standard coaxial cable at first then moved to FiOS. At some point I noticed a recurring problem; occasionally my 2.7Ghz Wi-Fi connections would completely drop out. At first it was happening infrequently and just a minor annoyance and eventually it became a regular event. I’d have to reboot the router to get the 2.7 side of the network running again which would solve the issue for a while before it would happen again. Verizon switched out the router three times and each time the problem would come back after a week or so. Even had a VZ tech come out and do the last replacement in person, but they were completely stumped. I did some research on the support forums and found that I was not the only person having this issue – in fact more a few users reported the exact same symptoms. I decided to take the plunge and stop renting my router from Verizon and replace it with an off the shelf router from Netgear. While it was a bit of a production to get it up and running, things seemed great for the first week or so. I was getting better throughput and my range increased to the point that I no longer needed repeaters in my house to cover everything. But then it started to happen again. And this time, it was happening more frequently and would sometimes require multiple reboots to get this back to normal again. It was maddening and in researching the issue at Netgear’s support forums I again found that I was among a substantial number of users that had the same problem. I even had a buddy who was a network engineer look at my setup and he was as stumped as I was. When BB gave me the opportunity to evaluate the Hydra Pro 6, I jumped at it. While I wasn’t sure it would solve my problem, I figured it would at least give me another troubleshooting attempt as well as some new data points to help me narrow down whether the problem was the router or something else in my network. In desperation, I prepared for the cutover, documenting all my settings, firewall port forwards and the like. I can happily say that since I put the router into service, I have not experienced a single drop out! My range is even better now, and I have solid throughput throughout my entire home. My signal is even solid in the backyard! After dealing with this annoying issue for almost 12-14 years, the Hydra Pro has solved it. Based on this alone, I’d have to recommend it highly. It has required some changes in my network and not everything in my setup is back to normal yet; mostly things that require firewall rules. Most of these are things that the average user won’t have to deal with and are part of my unique home configuration. But this is a small price to pay for what I got in return – a stable network – and I am resolving these items as I find them. Based on my experience so far, I would highly recommend anyone with hard to solve network issues or Wi-Fi instability to seriously consider this router. For me, it’s been a Godsend!

The chances are you are reading this review, for one of 3 reasons - #1 you already have an existing Velop network and you'd like to extend it's coverage, #2 - you're either looking to replace your existing primary wireless router with a new Wifi6 capable device or #3 you are looking to add wireless coverage to some remote outpost of your house/buildings for some wired devices. The great news is that for #1 this is a good choice - the Linksys Hydra Pro6 seamlessly blends in an existing Velop network. I have the Linksys Atlas Pro (MX5500) devices, and this was a great addition to add coverage to my office location. The Hydra Pro 6 (MR5500) is using the exact same wireless chip as the Atlas Pro, so in my case it takes one of the high/low 8021.AX bands to run as the backhaul and then serves both my wired and wireless devices admirably. It all gets managed as a single Velop network and is very much plug and play. The Linksys Hydra Pro6 also does a pretty solid job when you run it as a primary router - I upgraded it to the latest Linksys firmware and found all the usual device and router control features you would expect from any modern router (guest access, parental controls, bandwidth prioritization etc) as well as the ability to share a USB hard drive as a network attached storage. I would say that if you are considering this device for a simple home network, then this will serve all your mobile, handheld and smart-home devices well for both 2.5 and 5Ghz networks, but there are a couple of things to be aware of. As soon as you enable any of the advanced features (parental controls, device prioritization etc), you automatically disable 'express forwarding'. This basically means that the router engine has to involve every packet it sees to decide how to handle it - which is great for control but not so good for throughput. In my testing although the network ports are 1Gb , with any of these advanced features enabled, you'll be luck to get higher that 150-200Mbps throughput to the internet connection. You can run it in bridge mode (where all the routing decisions are handled upstream , potentially by your ISP router or another device), but if you have a high-speed internet connection >200Mbps then be aware that most of these features will be useless to you , unless of course you are happy to sacrifice some of the network throughput for control. The last use case might be a corner-case, but I also like to use these devices as a wireless bridge - especially in my new office location where I don't actually want to serve wireless clients, I just want a way to connect wired clients to the wireless network. Unfortunately although the Linksys web site and specs say this router supports this feature I can find no trace of it, and was unable to get a response from Linksys (even though I've used the feature on similar versions of the router such as an MR7350). So in summary , if you are looking to extend or replace your wireless router - the Hydra Pro 6 is an 'ok' choice, but the access to the 160Mhz channels is a theoretical marketing pitch and you're unlikely to realize in the near future until all of your devices get the newer wifi chips. In the short term I would still recommend Linksys but maybe look at last generation hardware (MR7350 etc) which will give you more or less the same real world performance, with a more mature firmware/feature set - and at a significantly reduced price point.

Overall very happy with the Hydra Pro 6 AX5400 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi Router. After installation my internet speed was double that of my previous mesh system. This router was installed in the basement of my home and so far have not been able to find any dead spots in my home. I found that my Wi-Fi range was greatly improved, reaching well into my yard. My previous mesh system has three APs and so far a single Hydra Pro 6 AP easily outperforms in both connection speed and range. The only negative aspect and truly the only reason for the 4 star rating was the requirement for App based configuration. Don't get me wrong, the app simplified the initial setup considerably, for those uncomfortable with manual configuration the App is definitely a plus. I however prefer to manually configuring most aspects of my home network and connecting directly would have saved me a considerable amount of rework. I also found many configuration options I've grown accustomed to were missing from both the companion app and administration portal. All things considered, this is an excellent performing router. I currently have about 40 connected devices and everything appears to be running flawlessly. I would happily recommend this router to anyone looking for an upgrade. Note: The speed tests results in the images below were taken while I was streaming a 4k movie and two of my children were playing with their VR systems.

Easy to set up. Great coverage and speed. Running two gaming computers, two Fire TV streams, 6 phones, a tablet, and two additional desktops. Handles them all seamlessly. Have had to reboot a few times which seems like it shouldn’t happen so often for such a new router. Once rebooted it works fine for a while. App is very user friendly. Overall I have had good luck with Linksys. I’m going to add some mesh nodes in the near future and see how that performs.

We had a Linksys WRT3200ACM 9 yr. old router that was working well, but at 9 yrs. Linksys terminated updates 2 yrs. ago. We like the Linksys user interface. After weeks of searching for replacements, asking "experts" for advice, we decided on the Hydra Pro 6. There were problems connecting it to the internet which was the failure of the internet provider recognizing the router. We called the Linksys Customer Service who eventually solved the problem. They stayed with me for over one hour trying different solutions. Finally, the problem was solved. They helped also to setup the PC version of the interface instead of using the cellphone. We are pleased with the router, it's range, and ease of use.

We had used two lower powered Linksys MR7350 routers in our townhome satisfactorily for over 3 years, but one started to fail which is within the range of service for routers. I considered Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers, but those are tri-band and I was concerned about device compatibility and complexity. The significantly more powerful Linksys MR5500 with a little repositioning seems to be providing a strong signal to the more than 25 connected devices without the cost of a second mesh unit. This includes PCs, tablets, games and TV all running on Wi-Fi. Throughput is almost identical to when using a wired connection. Another consideration was that the MR5500 was the same size as MR7350 it replaced.

[Employee of bestbuy] Really great range and speed for price, install for wall mount is not the easiest though as mount holes are very very small, would be nice if hardware where to be included. Comes with a nice Ethernet cord as well, and antennas can be positioned in many ways, which was great for wall mounting. Worked with my legacy mesh linksys system too, and has a built in switch.

Bought for my father in law's office. Easy set up, great speed, great coverage.

The Linksys Hydra 6 Dual bank router comes well packaged with the router, set up guide, AC power cord, warranty info and Ethernet cable (3 foot). The most important thing you need to know is THIS IS NOT a WIFI 6 router. WiFi 6 is all over the literature but this is false. If you are looking for a WiFi 6 router, this is not for you. I wanted this router for WiFi 6 support and did not get what was advertised. If you want a dual band router (2.4 GHZ and 5 GHz) there are many other choices available to you for at least half the price. So I did set the router up. First I took strength readings from my existing dual band router. I measured the signal strength in multiple locations using WiFi Analyzer for Android. The measurements are in decibel-milliwatts (dBm). This is a common measure of signal strength. Overall the signal was marginally stronger than my existing router. It was close but marginally better. I have a mesh node and it connected right away. I used the same login information as my old router when I set it up. There are varying opinions on the categorizing of signal strength. Here is a good guide: <= -30 dBm = excellent -30 to -60 dBm = very good -60 to -70 dBm = okay. This is the minimum you want for decent WiFi. For any of you geeks out here, these are the details: - Beside router: 2.4 GHz = 28dBm; 5GHz = 22 dBm; excellent - ~ 18ft no obstacles = 2.4 GHz = 50dBm; 5GHz = 60 dBm; very good - ~ 12 feet through walls outside = 2.4 GHz = 53dBm; 5GHz = 64 dBm; very good to OK - ~21 feet on different floor (basement) = 2.4 GHz = 49dBm; 5GHz = 65 dBm; very good to OK - ~27 feet on a different floor (second story) = 2.4 GHz = 50dBm; 5GHz = 62 dBm; very good to OK - ~40 feet to garage = 2.4 GHz = 55dBm; 5GHz = 70 dBm; very good to OK In conclusion, this is a decent router supporting 2.4 and 5 GHz. The signal strength was very good to OK throughout the entire house. IT IS NOT WIFI 6! Over all I would rate this 4 from a capability perspective and a 1 from a value perspective. I will rate this router a 2 out of 5 overall. I would not recommend this product. There are more cost effective options available to you.

Easy set up and excellent coverage throughout our house and garage for streaming devices and computers. It did not clarify or offer assistance in backward compatibility to WiFi devices including older 802.11b/c adapters. I have spent hours looking to get my older laptop to connect and have given in to a wired connection to transfer data and files.

Great product. Easy setup, very powerful, consistent signal

Strong signal, works perfect, long range, easy installation, goooooood.!!!

I have a 3,000sqft house that required 2 wifi access points. This ine replaced the upstairs wifi and it puts out a signal strong enough for the whole house and some of our backyard. I like that it uses 2.4 and 5g seemlessly. Setup was super easy using the app. No complaints