Is the Hydra Pro 6 right for you?

The Hydra Pro 6 is a decent router. The only thing that differentiates the Pro version from the Hydra 6 model is added capacity on the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. You don’t get a multi-gig port as other upgraded pro routers have, and you don’t get a third wireless radio for better device management. It’s just a bare-bones router you should buy only when it goes on sale, as you can get more features from other routers at this price.

Fastest internet plans for the Hydra Pro 6

The Hydra Pro 6 uses a Gigabit Ethernet port for internet, so it’s only compatible with internet plans of 940Mbps and slower. To see if you have the best internet speeds for the Hydra Pro 6, run our speed test first:

You don’t need the fastest internet plan to enjoy this router. But If you’re shopping for an internet upgrade, here’s a list of the best plans to take full advantage of its throughput.

Hydra Pro 6 standout features

Like the Hydra 6 and Hydra Pro 6E routers we previously reviewed, the Hydra Pro 6 is bare-bones at best. There are a few basic features, but don’t expect all the bells and whistles offered on competing routers.

Compare the Hydra 6 to the competition

Don’t let our 40-foot marker scores fool you. Based on our tests, every router in the chart provides roughly the same speeds at close range up to 120 feet. So, while the Hydra Pro 6 has the slowest speeds on the chart, it still keeps pace with similar AX5400 routers.

The problem with the Hydra Pro 6 is that it has the fewest features in the batch listed above. Sure, you aren’t faced with subscriptions to get the most out of it, but it also lacks some common things like media sharing, built-in VPN tools, and profile-based parental controls we can get on competing routers.

See our full coverage of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers.

Our Hydra Pro 6 scoring breakdown

* out of 5 points

The Hydra Pro 6’s tested speeds are really no different from other AX5400 routers we’ve benchmarked, like the Nighthawk RAX50 and the Archer AX5400 Pro. Their Wi-Fi speeds all start around 850Mbps on average at close range when we test with a client device capable of speeds up to 1,200Mbps. And they mostly end up averaging around 250Mbps outside at 120 feet.

So saying one router is faster than another is a moot point in our Wi-Fi testing because we’re talking about 20Mbps differences at most in single-device scores—speed differences you’ll probably never notice. Plus, since the Hydra Pro 6 doesn’t have a multi-gig internet port, all that bandwidth enabled by the 160 MHz channels is limited to device-to-device transmissions. Boo hiss.

The Hydra Pro 6 is no different feature-wise than the other Hydra models we’ve recently reviewed. They’ve all been pretty humdrum, actually, missing some of the key ingredients we usually see from competing routers from ASUS, NETGEAR, and TP-Link. Mesh networking is probably this router’s only saving grace, and even then, you’re limited to expanding your Wi-Fi coverage using Linksys Intelligent Mesh routers and systems—EasyMesh isn’t supported.

The USB port is still handy if you want a central point for accessing files stored on a flash drive. However, it doesn’t support the usual protocols associated with USB on routers, like Apple Time Machine, FTP file sharing, and DLNA media streaming.

What we wish the Hydra 6 did better

• Better parental controls
• VPN connectivity

The Hydra Pro 6’s parental controls lack user profiles, so you must manually restrict website access and set schedules for each device your child uses. This limitation can be tedious work, especially when you have older kids and teens who use multiple devices, like a phone, computer, game console, tablet, and media streamer.

And while VPN connectivity is the new norm in standalone routers, you’ll find none of that here—except for VPN passthrough support. Generally, the routers we’ve tested have an OpenVPN server, at the very least, for browsing the web anonymously while you’re off the home network.

The Hydra Pro 6 doesn’t have a multi-gig WAN port for internet, which should call for a lower score. But truth be told, it has a slightly better 5 GHz capacity than the base Hydra 6 model, plus it supports 160 MHz channels—but only if you enable them manually.

So, even if the router is limited to 940Mbps internet speed tops, you can still have superfast transfers between two Wi-Fi 6 devices. The USB port is an okay bonus tossed into the mix, although it lacks Apple TimeMachine and DLNA server capabilities.

Linksys treats the Hydra Pro 6 as part of a mesh system, so you must use the Linksys app to set it up—the web interface remains unavailable until you do. It’s no different than the other Hydra routers we’ve tested—and it’s annoying that the setup still goes through an infinite show-stopping loop. All we want is to get the network up and running quickly, and the web interface could’ve done just that.

Linksys says you can have multiple routers on one account, and we selected “Set up a New Product” at the start, but we ended up having to delete and reinstall the app and remove the previous router from the account so the setup loop would stop and let us set up the new one. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mess, and you still have to use the web interface to split Wi-Fi into two connections.

If there’s one thing we can say about Hydra routers, it’s that their features and presentation are  consistent across the board. We like the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi interface, although it could use a bit more work to categorize some settings properly. Our biggest beef is in how Linksys hides some notable settings behind a tiny “CA” link in the bottom corner. The very 160 MHz wireless channels Linksys uses to advertise the router’s 5,400Mbps speed is disabled by default, and you have to enable them in the web portal settings. Why limit the router right out of the box?

The app is a far more streamlined experience than the browser one, and you’ll probably use that the most anyway. Everything you need is crammed into a rollout menu tucked away on the left versus spreading everything out across multiple tabs. It doesn’t list every setting, so you still need the web interface to fine-tune your Wi-Fi network.

Are there any additional costs?

There are no additional costs if you want just the router. However, to create a mesh system, you must purchase a compatible Linksys mesh router or mesh node.

Our Hydra Pro 6 review: The verdict

As we said in the beginning, the Hydra Pro 6 is just an okay router, but honestly, we didn’t expect a lot from a $200 router. It has speeds similar to what we benchmarked on other AX5400 routers, so we can’t recommend it over the competition in that regard.

But when we stand back and compare this Pro model to the base Hydra 6 router, we can’t say it’s worth spending the extra money. You don’t get a multi-gig internet port with the Pro upgrade, just a slightly better multi-device capacity you may or may not even need.

Overall, the Hydra Pro 6 is a bare-bones design. At this price point, the TP-Link Archer AX5400 Pro gives you a multi-gig port, built-in VPN tools, and more—it’s just a better bang for your 200 bucks. The Hydra Pro 6 falls short in comparison.

FAQ about the Hydra Pro 6

Methodology

We test router speed by setting up each router in an office and connecting it to a local test server. Then, we transmit test data between our wireless devices and the server, taking numerous measurements to account for fluctuations in Wi-Fi speeds.

The first tests occur close to the router, without obstructions—so the Wi-Fi is as strong and fast as it’s gonna get. We repeat the process straight out at 10, 20, and 30 feet, with only a glass door obstructing our view of the router. The same glass door and an exterior door blocks our path when we test outside at 40 and 50 feet.

We also run tests in a hallway to the left of the TV room and office—where there’s a glass door, three walls, and an air handler unit blocking our view of the router. The dining room, another testing point, sits to the right of the kitchen, TV room, and office—two walls and a glass door block the path in this test.

To test video streaming, we connect a fast storage device to the router and stream a 4K video to six wireless devices simultaneously—two phones, three tablets, and a laptop—connected to the same wireless band.

Client devices used in testing

Hydra Pro 6 benchmarks (5 GHz only)

Disclaimer