Tenda Nova Mesh WiFi System MW5 - Covers up to 3500 sq.ft - AC1200 Whole Home WiFi Mesh System - Dual-Band Mesh Network for Home Internet - Gigabit Mesh Router for 60 Devices - Plug-in Design - 3-Pack

Reviewing the Tenda MW5 3-pack: Compared to the D-Link router + extender setup that I was using this system is futuristic. You plug in the primary unit, then the secondaries, and it just works. Install the app, change the network name and password, maybe rename some devices, and you're golden. There are some other bells and whistles but at this pricepoint just feel lucky they included them even if they're not perfect. If your devices are too quick to connect to the wrong unit before you get everthing situated, just turn the device off then back on and it will find the optimal unit. The App is actually pretty neat and I like how it gives you connectivity details about each connected device, including real-time transfer speeds. I'd still prefer a browser-based option for accessing settings but the App seems to be working fine. Am I right that I can't access settings from a computer though, just a mobile device? That does seem limiting. I also turned off the QoS and Fast Roaming settings as I think they add unnecessary complication. My family is nowhere close to ever using the 100Mbps we have available, let's be realistic. Good enough for me.

This unit setup was easy and my wifi signal is at the highest point anywhere in the house and also out in the garage, I had the plugin range extenders and they helped, but this system does so much better. The price is more than fair on this unit and preformance is much better than i would have expected. If your looking for a low cost mesh system for your home, try this unit

Update Nov 2022: I unplugged and plugged back both my modem and mesh router and then placed the secondary nodes closer to the main node in order to connect them. Left them for a little while and then moved the secondary nodes back to where I need them. This seems to have fixed the connection issue. I did this back in June after I wrote secondary update. Haven't had issue since. Customer service did respond faster after my second email, but was unable to assist in getting me WPA2. I'm just dealing with it for now and taking security measures elsewhere (strong passwords, 2-step verification, anti-virus). Putting back 1 one star. Update May 2022: my secondary novas have stopped connecting to the main node. I just bumped up my internet speed and I don't know if that had something to do with it. Maybe the secondary novas can't handle the download speed? Can't find anything to confirm this. I just emailed them letting them know of my issue. I actually emailed them weeks ago to ask how to set the tenda router to WPA2 security since it automatically set it to WPA and I can't find a way to change this anywhere in the app. They advertise WPA2 in their description, but you don't actually get it. I didn't know of this until recently. Well, I finally got an email response from them 2 days ago and they asked for model number. We will see how long it takes to resolve this. Not great customer service. Because of these issues, I am taking away 2 stars. Original review May 2019: I was hesitant to buy this system because it was so inexpensive compared to the top rated ones. I have Xfinity in a 2 story, 4 bedroom house and was constantly losing connection to the internet no matter where I was in the house. Some parts of the house was worse than others. So I decided to upgrade my router and found out about mesh wifi. I read a lot of articles and did lots of comparing before deciding on this Tenda Nova system. I like that it has only 1 corded node, which is the main one that gets hooked up to the modem. The secondary nodes are plugged right into the outlet so I have have no unsightly cords. Plus, the areas that I placed the secondary nodes are hallways so they would have been sticking out like sore thumbs if I bought the pack where all three nodes looked like the main node. I have had great internet connection everywhere in the house since installing this system. The setup through the app was incredibly simple and it's great to be able to see all the devices that are connected. The app even does a bit of troubleshooting for you if something goes wrong. Like the other day, I suddenly lost connection so I tried to restart my modem first and nothing happened. So I went into the Tenda wifi app and it told me that the WAN cord was disconnected. Sure enough, it was loose on the modem. I just pushed it back in and we were back in business. Buy this! You won't regret it!

Have a 3 level 3,500 sq ft house that's L shaped with garage taking up empty space and decided it was time to upgrade from single router approach. After trying multiple different router placements and trying a repeater always had areas where it was difficult getting a strong signal to in house so decided to try a mesh system. This was the first unit I tried and decided if it didn't work then I'm out a little less than a hundred dollars and I'd just go back to old router until trying something else. When I received it and unboxed it, I was honestly underwhelmed. How can something so small and so light do what I expected it to do. The 3 units are quite small, very light, and look presentable but don't feel like they're anything substantial. I say this because I'm used to wifi routers being somewhat large. In any case, I downloaded the app, hooked up the unit to modem and power, powered it, fired up the app and within 5 minutes, this router was up and running. Standing next to primary unit, I was pulling down 250Mpbs on my phone, which is about what I pull down when wired directly to modem on my laptop. First impressions kind of blew me away. With old router (which was also rated an AC1200) I would get maybe 100Mpbs standing next to it on 5 Ghtz. Plugging in the 2 "satellite" wall plug units required no configuration. Just plug it in, make sure you get a green light and you're good. In app, I could see all units were associated with each other and "talking". I now have a strong signal in every corner of the house. The app is simple, but does what it needs to. I can easily see at quick glance who's connected, what node they're connected to, how much data they're pulling, etc. Other reviews have stated that they're a bit lacking in options/functionality. That is true. There's no DMZ config, no IP reservations, etc, but for this price point and its purpose I think it does an excellent job at what it's trying to be. This was up 100% and running within 5-10 minutes of unboxing. That's pretty incredible, I think, coming from setting up wireless networks in the past. The only gripe I have is that sometimes you'll see in app that devices are connected to a certain node while another node would seemingly make more sense (this is after turning on fast roaming as well) or a device will be using 2.4Ghtz when there's no reason it shouldn't be using 5Ghtz, but these are minor gripes in my opinion for what you get at this price point. Solid 4.5/5 rounded to 5/5 for me.

The Tenda Nova WiFi mesh system is incredible! I bought it for our primary home first to test it out. The setup is SO EASY, especially compared to setting up "traditional" WiFi primary and guest systems. It was a Breeze to install, and my WiFi signal throughout the entire 3,000 sq ft home more than tripled EVERYWHERE (including on the deck behind the house where I frequently sit to browse and read on my iPad). I was so easy and worked so well that I bought a second one for our church. We had such trouble getting reliable WiFi in that space, because it is such a large space, but this product did the trick! It is widespread and reliable throughout! Finally, we have a second home in Florida, and we spent the week of Thanksgiving there. I ordered a third one of these before we flew down and installed it as soon as we arrived. Quick and easy! To top all of that off, I have a login that allows me to see all three networks from anywhere in the world, just in case there is a problem! FANTASTIC PRODUCT! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

This device is medicre at its finest, with tech support nowhere to be seen. I emailed them regarding how to operate this device in details for a month now, but yet no replies has been received. And before you start judging, I emailed them a couple extra times in the waiting period. Wifi network coverage is also terrible, even comparing to an also terrible wifi router from spectrum. My house is only a 800sq townhouse with one floor, but it barely covers the further edges of the house, even though I placed the nodes pretty strategically. Also, the device would randomly connect some client with 2.4Ghz band even though the client device is fully capable of having 5.0Ghz bandwidth. And let’s not forget about user interface. There’s no word describing the limited usability of the tenda mw5. Yes you can set QoS, but you can’t limit a certain device to a certain speed. Yes you can have a fairly secured network, but it only has one type of security protocol, which is WPA2, so making it irrelevant for business. Ultimately, I regret buying this big time, but it’s too late for me to return it now. Hopefully this can help you reconsider spending your money on this.

Setup was a breeze. Having three units in different areas is amazing. Due to this unit I get a signal in the sheds out back. The managing software could use a improvement. As it doesn't include some basic functions like a dmz setting. The auto restart function is a nice touch as my previous router didn't have that. The units themselves often go unnoticed physically and have options for mounting on the wall for the base unit or as a desk option. All three units have support for a single Ethernet cable connection as well. Only complaints would be the lack of some functions like dmz. Also that even when sitting right next to a unit I often receive 4 bars, but this could be due to the fact that I am probably connected to the main unit instead of the secondary units.

(UPDATE BELOW) I'm in a three level town home with Verizon FIOS with their router/modem on the middle floor with about 20 devices. For the most part I get coverage but it's weak upstairs at the furthest length from the router I average about 30mbps with somewhat frequent dropout to my phone (Pixel 3 XL) and this router fixed my issue without even needing the satellite boxes I'm now seeing up to 160mbps on my phone and close to 250mbps on a desktop computer across the house! Setup was very easy I was literally up and running in 10 minutes... Login and turn off the built in WiFi from the existing modem/router then turn it off, plug up the tenda unit to an ethernet port and power it all back up. Once it's done starting up you connect to it with the tenda app on your phone rename it to the same name as the previous router and BOOM everything reconnected. Walking around the house I've experienced no complete drop outs from my phone as I had before and am experiencing similar signal strength. The tenda device configures itself and gives you very few options but the average joe probably wont care. Unless I find a spot that needs more speed I'll likely not even use the extra satellites. UPDATE DAY 2... Well it seemed like a good idea but now on the second day I'm getting half the speed I originally got and I havnt changed anything, my desktop will not reconnect at AC speed and is defaulting to a slower mode now receiving around 80mbps my phone around 30mbps. There is no control in the Tenda app to remedy this. I tried adding one of the secondary nodes and I get a full signal but even worse speed so i went back to just using the base unit. Tenda doesn't seem to answer any of these issues in their online forums and I'm reading (researching around the web) that this is par for the course for many of these mesh systems unless you have a corded system to back it up... I'm gonna fiddle with it a few more days but I feel this may be on it's way back to amazon next week. For the record I'm not seeing any of the streaming issues other reviews mentioned, I have 4 Alexa devices that are working with spotify and xm radio streaming constantly. I'm going to have to assume there is some issue with the radios in the router, possibly load balancing it can't handle.