Linksys Hydra Pro 6, unveiled at CES 2022, is the Wi-Fi 6 router I've been waiting for

Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Wi-Fi 6 router as unveiled at CES 2022

(Image credit: Linksys)

published 5 January 2022

I really want Wi-Fi 6 at home, but I've been scanning our best wireless routers guide with a frown: the good ones are really, really expensive. So I'm delighted to see a big-spec Wi-Fi 6 router from a big name that doesn't have a big price tag. The Linksys Hydra Pro 6 has just been announced at CES 2022 and it's the firm's most affordable Wi-Fi 6 product yet.

Let's start with the price: the Hydra Pro 6 will cost $299 in the US and £169.99 in the UK. That's really cheap for a high-performance router, and the specifications don't disappoint.

A router with specs appeal

You get a lot of power for your money with this router. It supports up to 30+ devices per node across 2,700 square feet of coverage, and it delivers speeds of up to 5.4Gbps – and because it uses mesh networking you can eliminate dead spots by adding more nodes. There's a good chance this router will score highly in our best mesh networks guide in 2022.

If all that power seems like overkill, it probably is for me right now – but it probably won't be later this year. That's the thing about Wi-Fi: the more you can connect to it, the more you connect to it – and when you share your home with other, equally gadget-crazed people, it doesn't take long before your router is really struggling. My 802.11ac router is already showing signs of strain when the kids are streaming and I'm working or gaming, so Wi-Fi 6 is definitely on my to-do list this year – and as a Linksys user going back decades, the Hydra Pro 6 is definitely high up on my shortlist.

The Hydra Pro 6 is available in the US now from Linksys and will reach Amazon in the UK this spring.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).