Customer Ratings & Reviews

Wifi 6 is the next revolution in Wifi. Its goal is not so much to make wifi faster but more consistent and efficient especially when there are lots of devices sharing the same network. At the moment there are very few Wifi 6 (or AX) routers available, and they are all at a price premium. The other issue to keep in mind is to get the true benefit from Wifi 6 you need devices to support it. Those are just now starting to appear on the market in flagship cell phones like the iPhone 11 or recent laptops with the newest Intel or Killer wifi cards. The Arris MAX Pro is one of the first mesh kits available that supports Wifi 6. The kit comes with two nodes and either can be used as the router or satellite. You can buy additional single nodes if two is not enough. I already have a Wifi 6 router (Netgear AX12) so I was hoping to use this as an access point to add some more AX coverage throughout my large 2 story home but I quickly found out that this router kit is not meant for those types of advanced networking setups. It seems as if Arris is going for utmost simplicity here, which is fine for most consumers. Setup and configuration are done entirely through an app with just the most basic of options available which leaves networking gurus missing some advanced features we crave like DHCP control, channel and width selection, port triggering, security, and QoS. I’m hoping at some point Arris will add an advanced setup screen like other router manufacturers have done to satisfy advanced scenarios. What you can do with the app: Add additional MAX routers Reserve IP Addresses Configure Port Forwarding Configure Parental Controls (I didn’t test this out) Set up Guest Network Choose SSID and Password Configure DNS Enable/Disable UPnP Setup, while meant to be simple, could be improved. From what I could tell it cannot be done without the app, called Surfboard Max, meaning you have to a mobile phone with cell service to set up the device. This could be problematic, other routers I have setup had default wifi passwords or were able to be setup via an ethernet cable, but here it looks like the app is your only option. I used my Galaxy S10 (as it is a Wifi 6 device) to perform the setup. The first thing it does is ask for an email address and to confirm it with a code which is extremely annoying. There’s no reason why a router needs my email address in order to function. The app will then ask you what type of hardware you have and then proceed to tell you what to plug in and in what order. You will first set up the root router, then you’ll be able to configure the satellite(s). The app froze on me once during each of those steps, requiring me to force stop and restart the process. One thing I do like about the app is that the home screen shows you the connection speed between the nodes. One thing I could not get to work was an ethernet backhaul, I’m not sure if it supports it or not but the speeds I were getting over the wireless backhaul were typically around 1Gbps anyway. Once you're past setup, things are pretty darn smooth and work well. As mentioned above, the backhaul speed was really good even though the app warned me that the satellite was too far away. I did several unscientific iperf3 networking tests between my existing wifi setup and the Arris and from what I could tell speed was basically the same. Keep in mind my existing setup was already anchored by a top-notch Wifi 6 router so I was not expecting to see anything different but if you are upgrading from an inexpensive or several years old router or mesh setup I’d expect you to see a bump in speed and coverage. I did some tests with just my Netgear router versus 1 Arris node for a more fair comparison and I was impressed that the Arris did have better coverage. Pros – Extremely fast Wifi 6 Excellent range Fast Backhaul Big beefy units with fast CPUs Supports internet speeds faster than 1gbps through Link Aggregation. Guest access Cons – Cannot use as an access point. Wired Ethernet Backhaul? Does not support multi-gig LAN Privacy concerns – forces you to enter email and name to setup Can only setup/configure with app Overall – I do not recommend going out and buying this just because you want the latest and greatest, unless you are a tech enthusiast and have tons of Wifi 6 devices lying around. However, if you find you need to replace your current setup and want something simple and to future-proof yourself for years I think this is an overall good investment. It’s lightning fast, provides ample coverage, and while wonky at the moment I bet the app will get better over time through updates. If you are one of the select few who have advanced networking needs might look elsewhere otherwise one of the best wifi mesh kits of 2019.

Works as indicated. It was a bit touch and go at first until i restarted its a few times. Works like a charm and I about tripled my speeds. Getting closer to a 1gps.

Fast WiFi and a fantastic App. Love it! Haven't tested the range but i get full bars through my 2,500 sq ft house. And the backyard.

Best WiFi routers your can buy. Full WiFi signal everywhere in my 3000 square foot home

Great quality i really like them. The price isba little too high however i reviewed them on YouTube https://youtu.be/-6ekW_hhV40

I purchased these to replace a series of 3 extenders around my two story, 3500sf house. I had wall to wall coverage on wireless AC using one router. I contemplated returning the pair for a single router until I installed the second and went from 60Mbps to 400Mbps at the furthest point from the first router. I can't wait to get some AX devices!

The Wi-Fi is super fast now but, if you put something on the Box then you should support it. The Box says that it supports link aggregation. After calling up The manufacturer they say it isn't in the software yet and as stated for a future Release.

Simple to set up and easy to use. Without question it has made life in my house better.

Easy to set up and works great! Already received an App upgrade.

Great Unit! East To Setup and East To Use! Highly Recommend!

It works as advertised! Setup is quick and easy, the app walks you through what to do.

Great product for Wi-Fi 6 on both levels of my house. Strong signal everywhere.

This will give you the WiFi speeds you are paying for unlike other mesh devices.

This has an insanely fast wifi 6 wireless backhaul. As of now, the firmware doesnt support ethernet backhaul, however we're expected to get this feature in the future. They are nicely shaped to blend into the decor, and the lighting brightness is controllable via app, so that you dont distract from the TV..... if you have you're sitting under the TV like I do.

For a home not wired for ethernet/fiber, this system brought my full internet speed back to my "office"; then added the Netgear 8-port gig hub to connect the non-WIFI devices. The WIFI system set itself up and was plug n play after that; and looks cool too.

Horrible product wifi speed fluctuates most of the time and even goes down to 0. I talked to tech support many times but no luck. Ethernet ports very bad design right on the bottom and after you run the cables through the gap behind the router, still you need to twist it upward to the router. If you are using good quality Ethernet cables avoid this product because it will damage the cables. I'm using audioquest and cat8 cables which are thicher than cheap regular ethernet cables I was having trouble connecting without damaging I ended up returning it in less than 2 weeks

It was good for about 6 months. I only had to reboot it just a few times. It Seemed to have been rather descent in reliability. Then all of the sudden the secondary AP disconnected and refused to connect even after several reboot/factory default settings. The app is horrible. This wifi can only be configured via the android/apple app? Very limited in config settings that you can do to monitor your wifi network. I dont recommend this product. I feel sick that i spent $700 on this thing.

Very hard to set up, and super finicky depending on your ISP. I’ve tried this a few times over a few months and it was a headache that was bigger than it was worth.

After completing the setup, the mesh network wouldn't maintain a connection to the internet for more than 15 minutes. If I powered it down, let it sit a few minutes, and then powered it back on, it would work for 15 minutes and then, once again, lose the connection to the internet. After paying ~$600 for it, you would it expect it to work. Not so. I took it back and bought another brand.

I had to return this product. The necessary management app stopped working after one day and always said there were no devices connected (several were connected). It also failed to acknowledge both included router devices. And some app functions stopped working. The technical support team at Arris was not able to fix the issue without my permission to “download my logs in the background”. Not impressed.