Linksys' new Hydra Pro 6 Wi-Fi router brings you Wi-Fi 6 for just $299

Lifestyle shot of the Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Wi-Fi router atop a side table in a well-appointed living room.

(Epitome credit: Linksys/Belkin)

At CES 2022 today, Linksys launched the Hydra Pro 6 router, a Wi-Fi half-dozen router that aims for the sugariness spot in the market with a list cost of $299. That's a good deal less than the $499 Linksys Hydra Pro 6E, which launched only a couple of months ago.

The Hydra Pro 6 doesn't have Wi-Fi 6e, and hence delivers less throughput than its pricier sibling. That may not matter nonetheless, equally few devices can handle the 6-GHz ring that Wi-Fi 6e uses, but many more will get available in the next couple of years.

Run into our CES 2022 live blog for all the big news

Its specs are solid but unspectacular. The Hydra Pro 6 delivers a throughput of upwardly to 5.four Gbps on its 2.4- and 5-Ghz bands, sports 2 fixed antennas, can connect to up to xxx devices at a time over an area of 2,700 square feet and offers a invitee network. On the back, information technology's got four LAN Ethernet ports, one WAN port and a single USB port, but nosotros don't withal have the specs for the Ethernet connections.

On the software side, the Linksys Hydra Pro 6 supports the new WPA3 secure-connectedness standard, comes with parental controls and can update its firmware automatically. For a CPU, it uses the Qualcomm Immersive Home 216 chipset, which delivers up to six simultaneous streams.

Linksys already offers at to the lowest degree two other Wi-Fi 6 routers besides the Hydra Pro models. The entry-level Linksys MR7350 is even smaller than the Hydra Pro 6 and can be had for about $80, but it has a smaller range (1,700 square feet) and uses a cheaper MediaTek CPU.

Lifestyle product shot of the Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Wi-Fi router on a side table with a woman on a sofa in the background. — (Paradigm credit: Linksys/Belkin)

However, the Hydra Pro half dozen's real rival is Linksys' own Max Stream MR9600, which has four antennas and a faster Broadcom CPU, but almost the same range and throughput as the Hydra Pro half-dozen. The Max Stream MR9600 has a list cost of $399 but tin be institute for about $300, every bit it's now almost a year sometime.

You can order the Hydra Pro 6 today on the Linksys website, and the company says it will before long exist in stock at major retailers. We're looking forrard to reviewing the Hydra Pro 6 to see how it compares with Linksys' other Wi-Fi 6 offerings.

Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom'south Guide focused on security and privacy. He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-haul driver, code monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the information-security space for more than 15 years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown up in random TV news spots and fifty-fifty chastened a console discussion at the CEDIA habitation-technology conference. Yous tin follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.