Tenda Nova Mesh WiFi System MW6 - Covers up to 4-6 Bedroom Houses- AC1200 Whole Home WiFi Mesh System - Gigabit Dual-Band Mesh Network - Replaces Wireless Router and WiFi Extender - 3-Pack

I’ve been using the Tenda Nova MW6 Mesh WiFi System for a while, and it’s been fantastic! Setting it up was super quick and easy through the app, and now the coverage around my home is seamless—no more dead spots or dropped connections. The speed is consistent, and the system automatically connects my devices to the strongest signal. It’s reliable, affordable, and perfect for anyone who wants strong WiFi in every room. I highly recommend it!

If you want a mesh router for your house, buy the Tenda Nova MW6. I got tired of multiple routers and SSIDs and extenders. Be careful as some of the “mesh” products marketed over the past year are really just powerful extenders. Broad brush, the advantage of a mesh system is that you can more effectively use the 5 Ghz band to get stronger/faster throughput (over somewhat shorter distances) compared to the 2.4 Ghz (farther/weaker throughput/noisier “Wild West of WiFi”) band. I bought the Nova MW6 Mesh Router from Amazon. My review would have been 1 star. The Tenda product support team was superb and efficient in helping me to overcome a problem. (The problem I experienced may be common in the US so I explain it below.) For $200, Amazon ships. The product is 3 mesh nodes in an elegant box. The product delivers an elegant solution: • 802.11r (fast roaming) and 802.11v (as well as 802.11 b/g/n/a/c • Dual bands, broadcasting simultaneously in the 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands • You set up with an iOS app or Android app. • The suggestion is to keep nodes no more than 45 feet apart. However, I have 2 nodes that are at least 70 feet from each other. YMMV. • 3 nodes, not 2. • If you have a truly huge house, buy more sets of 3 for less than the other alternatives. (3 was enough for me.) I believe that Tenda’s Nova MW6 product also supports Ethernet backhaul, but I am not sure that has been built yet into the app. You need the app to set up main node and satellite nodes. However, you do not need to create a cloud account with Tenda to set up the mesh network. I am not sure in December 2017 you can configure from Web GUI by just plugging Ethernet cable into the Nova. The problem I ran into was that, because of a restriction by Comcast, Tenda’s Nova MW6 did not work easily when plugged directly into the cable modem. Tenda support recommended that I instead plug the nova into my old router. The mesh system from Tenda now works behind my old router and broadcasts to the other 2 nodes (also connected to each other). Once I plugged directly into my old router, it took 10 minutes to setup. (Could have been 2 minutes but I use extremely long passwords.) My main knock is that I wish the option to plug into my old router had been explained as a setup option in the quickstart guide. The only other knock I might have would be that there is only 1 more LAN port from the main node. If you need more LAN ports for wired Ethernet at your main node (near your broadband connection), you need add an Ethernet switch OR . . . . install by plugging into your old router.) I disagree with the reviews posted here about lack of support from Tenda. My experience was different. Tenda was all over trying to support and truly patient. Maybe Tenda has amped up its support so those reviews are an artifact of the past? In my case, Tenda’s support was super responsive and ultimately effective Here are 2 videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2hs05ZqKA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW02nXksDeI If you want to move toward efficient deployment of a mesh (where the remote nodes connect to each other) versus star pattern system, Tenda Nova MW6 is a compelling choice. The price is about half of the Netgear Orbi (does not yet support Ethernet backhaul), Google Wifi (that sucks all your data), or Linksys Velop. Compared to Zyxel Multy X, you get 3 nodes and not 2. I am not sure D-Link has a true mesh (nodes connect to each other) product yet. Luma may not support Ethernet backhaul. I had never heard of Milo, but it appears to just be an extender (“connect wirelessly from the edges of your existing network”). The price of the Tenda Nova MW6 is slightly cheaper than the TP-Link Deco set of 3 nodes. If you are installing a mesh WiFi in your house, consider Tenda Nova MW6.

It works extremely well in my 1 story ranch style house. Like most things in life though, sometimes things just don't work the way you want them right out of the box. Ok, I would have given 5 stars but, one of the 3 cubes did not want to behave when it was being setup and bricked itself. If you get them setup correctly these are fantastic. The trouble is, it's too easy to get a failure when you are initializing them. The good news is, the factory and company have awesome support and were only too happy to replace the bricked cube with another. Read the installation and configuration instructions at least a couple of times before you launch these. Once you get through it, great product. I have a 4 bedroom 2 bath house with living room and family room. Distance between nodes is about 30 feet. I am getting 300+ mbps speed from all of the house.

Worked for purpose intended. Extended existing router throughout our residence.

SO we moved to a MESH supposedly WHOLE HOUSE system to cover the dropouts we were experiencing in Wifi signal. We started with 1 set of the MW6, thinking this would solve our problems since the MW6 is supposed to provide a saturated Wifi signal over up to a 6000 sq ft home according to the manufacturer. NOT! ... First off this system has the inherent problem of having your devices AUTOMATICALLY CONNECT to the FARTHEST not the closest MW6 Nova that it can find, which of course degrades the speed and quality of the Wifi signal to that device and since the only way to control this system is through the smartphone app (no web interface) and your phone is going to connect to the farthest unit it can find you can imagine how this plays havoc with everything regarding control of this system, sometimes not even being able to find a network signal to connect to! ...and to make matters worse, there is no way to ASSIGN a device to the CLOSEST MW6 Nova! YIKES! Additionally, when running a system analyzer, come to find out that even though there is a competitive neighbors Wifi in the area using the same Channel, the MW6 is not changing channels to avoid the low SNR (signal to noise ratio) we are seeing and to make it worse, this system has NO WAY TO MANUALLY CHANGE CHANNELS to avoid the interfering Wifi signal! After contacting Tenda's tech support multiple times regarding these issues, I was offered no solutions and was told my feedback was valuable input. I was furious since Tenda seems to have adopted so many other big tech companies philosophy of put the product out there and let the consumer tell us how to make it better! ...I'm not buying anyones product to do their R&D to make their systems better! UPDATE... The FLAWS of ALL MESH SYSTEMS and AMAZONS ECHO and other smart home devices. Thinking of a buying MESH router to use with smart home devices… DON’T! After almost a year of putting up with the inherent FLAWS in MESH and smart home technology, I’ve come to the conclusion that none of the manufacturers of either technology have tested using them together! Otherwise, they would have FIXED the issues plaguing BOTH technologies when being used together as most people do these days! The Good… MESH routers with multiple nodes do provide excellent signal coverage and can overcome areas in your home with weak or no wifi coverage. The Bad… MESH router systems regardless of the number of nodes installed will provide you nothing but headaches if you intend to use ANY smart home devices that are 5ghz capable such as Amazon’s echo devices and the plethora of others out there. ANY smart home deice that supports 5ghz by default also supports 2.4ghz. This typically results in the device constantly switching back and forth between bandwidths attempting to find the best signal. A Major FLAW in the design of todays systems regardless of manufacturer. This Bouncing between bandwidths plays havoc with so called “smart” systems that have voice and other ways of controlling other devices on your network. Devices such as Amazon echo’s that trigger timers, routines and carry out voice commands, require both the echo and the device being triggered to be on the same bandwidth. Since 5ghz enabled devices are always searching for the strongest bandwidth to use between the 2.4ghz (designed for distance) and 5ghz (designed for speed) and since you can’t restrict them OR your MESH router as to which bandwidth to stay on. Another flaw of MESH routers is they are notorious for intermittent device dropouts regardless of bandwidth possibly due to flipping channels seeking the best channel to broadcast on. The Ugly… 1. MESH routers currently do not allow for disabling the 5ghz bandwidth which would prevent the bouncing between bandwidth problem. 2. You cannot use the “Guest” network feature with smart home devices. Another culprit adding to the bouncing issue! 3. Another FLAW of MESH systems is that they do not allow for control to “statically bind” specific devices to their closest nodes. There is no reason that any device within a local area (3-10ft) of any node should decide to connect to a more distant MESH node 40 feet away on the other side of the house! While I’m sure that manufacturers will have to address these issues in the future, until manufactures of BOTH technologies step to the plate and FIX their respective FLAWS, if you intend to use your Wifi setup with ANY smart home device that supports BOTH 2.4 and 5ghz, expecting it to work as the manufacturers advertise, for the sake of your sanity DON’T BUY A MESH ROUTER! Current options for a SOLUTION… Bearing in mind you will need to disable 5ghz and the Guest network features on any router, don’t spend a lot of money by buying the Best router available! Buy a router along with multiple wired access points preferred over wireless wifi extenders/repeaters that will further slow your network speed and may cause buffering issues on streaming devices. The SETUP…Your router along with wired access points to blanket the house with coverage all must be named the same SSID and password and the 5ghz and the Guest network features MUST be disabled! This will stop the bouncing around between bandwidths and/or guest networks of the ECHO and other 5ghz smart home devices thus ensuring all wifi signals are kept on the same 2.4ghz SSID for all smart home devices to recognize, allowing you to keep your sanity when expecting a voice command, timer or routine to trigger something!

I have been using this product for a week and no issues. Prior to my purchase, I had purchased a router from a big box store that was a pain in the rear to set up. When I was unable to make a small change I returned it a few days after the purchase. I have gone through a few routers in the past and they were a HUGE HASSLE to set up. WOW is all I can say. I was impressed from the moment I opened the Amazon box and saw the silhouette of the Tenda MW6. The device(s) or elegant cubes as my wife calls them came in a handsome box that is not typical for what the Netgear and Linksys giants offer. Upon opening the well crafted black box you find the three "elegant cubes" positioned equally in foam along with the power adapters. I have to admit I watched a youtube video to make sure the install went smoothly. You are directed to download the app to set up the device. WOW WOW WOW, Super Easy and efficient! I am shocked that my prior Netgear routers were not this easy. This is a great product that helps spread and balance the bandwidth stress from all of the computers. phones, tablets, and smart tv's in my home. The guest wifi was a snap. The hardest part was creating a password. I give this product 10 stars due to its price. It may not be the fastest but I now have a strong signal in parts of my house that were dead zone, Great Product, Great Value! By this before you consider buying an over priced mesh wifi system.

I am an experienced network tech and am more than happy with the Tenda Nova solution. First, price - I purchased two three packs for the special price of $120. One was for a neighbor and the other for me. A brief word regarding the two houses these units were placed in. My neighbor and I both live in Ecuador. Almost all houses here have concrete wals, floor, and ceilings. This makes connectivity throughout a house extremely difficult. My neighbors house is approximately 3,000 sq feet and relatively thin and long. Her ISP’s connection is at the extreme end of the house and she has never had reliable connectivity at the opposite end of the house. My house is a three story building. I have always had a wifi router placed in my attic, and a repeater on the first floor. The performance on the first floor was spotty AND streaming video in my TV room on the second floor (Roku) was inconsistent at best. Setup - I had already downloaded the Tenda IOS app prior to receving the units so I was ready to go. Plugged in the first unit and received a notification that it was using a DHCP connection in less than a minute. Then it was time to add the next two units. Because the Tenda units are pre-linked all that is required is that you locate the two companion units in a suitable location and wait while they boot up and connect. I have significant experience with Google Wifi and Eero and although I love both of these products their setup is a bit more involved. Also, because the Tenda units are pre-linked (and the notice to simply plug in the 2 additional units is rather small) users might try to use the Tenda app feature to add another Tenda unit (which will fail). Just follow the directions and plug the other two units in, check they have a good signal, and you’re good to go. Performance - living in Ecuador bandwith is expensive. My neighbor only has a low speed DSL connection at 5Mbps (on a good day) mine is a fiber connection at 50Mbps. Many of the online performance tests for the Tenda unit put them a little below or above the Google wifi product and below the Eero. For the speeds we have here in Ecuador the aggregate throughput of the Tenda is MORE than ample. In my neighbor’s house i had 100% wifi signal throughout the entire house. A solid 3.5Mbs on speedtest throughout the house (this is her typical wired performance with DSL). Similar experience in my house. A consistent 49Mbps everywhere. IOS App - the Tenda app is almost identical in look to the Eero application. I don’t like the upload/download indicators at the top of the Tenda app as much as Eero’s bandwidth testing results. Tenda’s app gives you an instantaneous measurement rather than a bandwidth test history (which I prefer). I also wish there was a restart option to reboot the units (although I haven’t yet had any need to reboot anything). Nice and simple app that gives you access to the basic things you need. If you’re a tech or advanced user used to a web based router interface with access to deep features this will be dissapointing but that’s not who or what this sytem (or Google wifi, eero, etc) is geared towards. Tech support - I have seen some negative comments in people’s reviews of Tenda’s tech support. I had no need to speak with technical support during or after purchase (yet). I did however contact them prior to purchase to ask some questions. Got through instantly. The agent realized my questions were more technical than she could answer and suggested I speak with an engineer who she promised would call back. Got a call later that day and got knowledgeable answers to my questions. In summary, the product in my experience is a great, low cost, mesh solution. Incredibly easy to install. Decent application. Good tech support. Great performance (for my situation). Amazing value for the money. Highly recommended.

My initial reaction to this product is mixed. I bought and installed two MW6 sets, so 6 nodes total. Setting up the first 3 was simple. The other 3 were a pain. I tried resetting each unit until I got the white LED. But it still required multiple tries and resets to get the other 3 nodes on the network. I have no idea why this was so difficult. Once that was finally done, I started testing. My original network was still running, using 3 older routers with 2 configured as access points. Using Wifi Analyzer, I was getting stronger signals with the Tenda mesh system at almost every location. However, that did not necessarily mean better bandwidth performance. I did speed tests on both networks at several locations. About half the time, the older network had better bandwidth performance despite a weaker signal. The mesh network did have fewer dead spots. And it did seem to switch nodes a little faster, but still not as fast as I would have expected. Just like the old system, it would stubbornly stay connected to a weaker signal even when I was standing directly next to a different node. Then I turned to the Tenda app. It has a nice visual display of the network and connected devices, with customizable names. The settings are easy enough to figure out. But I immediately noticed that several things were not working right. For instance, two of my six nodes are on an older firmware. Why would they ship that way? Anyway, I went to Firmware Upgrade in Settings. It identified the two nodes as needing updates, so I ran the update. I then watched a spinning download icon for about 30 minutes. I finally stopped it, killed the app, and tried again. Same thing. Still can't seem to get those two nodes to update. Very frustrating. Then, many things don't seem to update real time. For example, on Connected Devices, it frequently shows devices offline that are in fact online. It takes several minutes of updating the page or closing the app and reopening to get the updated status. Very confusing when I'm trying to test and troubleshoot. Then the biggie... My Amazon Echo devices (gen. 2) simply will not work on this network. Streaming music stops for long periods. The blue ring lights up and then nothing happens. Random orange rings. This seems to be a common complaint on other Amazon reviews, with comments from the manufacturer suggesting that fixing this is a high priority. Just for grins, I called tech support. (I think I woke him up from a nap). He advised me as follows: "Call Amazon to see which ports need to be opened up to enable the Echo to work on a mesh network. Then go to Port Forwarding and add a rule for each of those ports one at a time, testing the Echo each time to see which one solves the problem." Ummm... no. I'm not going to do that. So the Echos went back to my original WiFi network where they function perfectly to this day. I'm torn on this product. It's clearly better than my old network in terms of coverage area, but then again I'm running 6 nodes compared to 3 routers, so not an apples-to-apples comparison. And actual bandwidth performance is often better on my old network in the most common areas where I use WiFi. And... IMO, the app is amateurish at best. And finally, the tech support advice regarding the Amazon Echo was laughable, even though I'm sure they'll fix that problem at some point. This system was half the price of Google WiFi and that means a lot for a device that will likely be technologically obsolete in less than 3 years. So at this point, I'm thinking I will return these units, try the Google product, and then decide which way I want to go... or maybe wait for further refinements to the Tenda product. Bottom line... better signal, better coverage, maybe better bandwidth performance, maybe not, amateurish app, serious issues with Amazon Echo, sleepy tech support, great price, possibly great product, possibly not. Roll the dice on this one.