With each system, the three devices are identical, so you can use any one of them as the main router and the other two as extenders. In each case, getting everything up and running was quick and painless. There's a Quality of Service feature in each app, which is usually intended to prioritize traffic to specific devices, but with these systems, it's just a switch that you toggle on, with no way to actually prioritize anything. You can turn on a guest network or utilize some extremely basic parental controls, but that's about it. Mind you, those setting options are pretty meager. Apple is working with the developers of the three apps to ensure that they're in line with the company's privacy and data security guidelines, the spokesperson added.Īs far as functionality is concerned, these apps will do what most router apps do - they'll walk you through the setup process, and then let you adjust settings on your network as needed. I asked Apple if it was unusual for copycat apps like these to have different file sizes and privacy disclosures, and a spokesperson noted that an app's data practices are at the discretion of the company or developer in question, and that some disclosures are optional. Meanwhile, the Rock Space app claims to collect no data at all. Specifically, the MeshForce and Tenda Nova apps claim to collect data that isn't linked to your identity, including diagnostics, location info, user content and device identifiers. The only other key difference I noticed is that the apps have different privacy disclosures in Apple's App Store. Each has a slightly different color palette, but that's really about it. Each system uses its own separate app, too - but those apps are functionally identical, each with the same design, the same features and the same typeface and copy. All three feature identical ports on the underside of each device, too - a power jack, a WAN port for connecting to the modem and two spare Ethernet jacks, with no USB jacks whatsoever.Įach system comes from a differently named parent company - Shenzhen Teno Network Technologies Company Limited for MeshForce, Shenzhen Tenda Technology Company Limited for Tenda Nova, and the aptly named Shenzhen RenQing Excellent Investment Company Limited for Rock Space (in some places, the company is also listed as "Excellent Technology"). Both of those cubes have green indicator lights in the same spot on the top face, while the MeshForce system features an identical green indicator light on the front face. Though the MeshForce M7 comes as a set of three cylinder-shaped nodes, the other two (the Rock Space mesh system and the Tenda Nova MW12) both come as a set of three cubes, one black and one white. Just know that those top speeds are based on laboratory-controlled setups that don't take things like network congestion or interference from obstructions into account - what's more, you can only connect to one band at a time.Īt any rate, the specs for these three systems are identical - and the similarities don't stop there. The "AC" part tells you that they support Wi-Fi 5 (for newer, Wi-Fi 6 models, look for "AX") while the "2100" part tells you the combined top transfer speeds of the bands, in Mbps. The three mesh systems I purchased and tested out are each tri-band AC2100 models. That's well-within the too-good-to-be-true range, but with each of these no-name mesh systems, I was determined to answer the age-old question: is this cheap-looking piece of tech actually any good?įrom left to right, the Rock Space mesh system, the MeshForce M7 and the Tenda Nova MW12.
That's less than what a two-pack of what our favorite dual-band Wi-Fi 5 mesh system Nest Wifi costs, so skipping the brand name is essentially netting you an additional extender and a tri-band design for free here, and then some. How much less? The three I bought - the Rock Space mesh system, the MeshForce M7, and the Tenda Nova MW12 each sold in a three-piece setup for about $200 after applying coupons. Among them are a few tri-band models that make big performance claims - and all of them cost significantly less than big-name, marquee mesh systems from well-known names like Linksys and Netgear. Enter Amazon, where the search rankings include a number of off-brand mesh routers from companies you've never heard of, many of which are located overseas.