Pcworld November 2021

similar to adding more
nodes to a mesh network,
the hand-off isn’t as seamless
as it is with a mesh network.

For these reasons, mesh
wins this category—but
coverage isn’t the only factor
to take into account when
buying a router.

Winner: Mesh.

COST

We recommend Wi-Fi extenders over Wi-Fi repeaters—the latter can Besides coverage, the other
end up affecting the speed of your wireless connections, as our guide major factor in choosing a
explains (fave.co/2Ze5akw). Wi-Fi router is price.

On this front, mesh

one-story layout, like apartments or smaller routers definitely make you pay for what you

houses. The outer edges may have a weaker get. A set of two to three nodes ranges from

signal or occasional drop-outs, but you can about $130 to $350, with speed and features

easily overcome those by adding Wi-Fi dictating price. On average you’ll spend

extenders to your network (fave. about $170 for a lower-end model and

co/3C5KxoP). (That way you don’t have to around $300 on the higher end. (Obviously

dump your existing traditional router if it’s still the total goes up as you add more nodes.)

relatively new and functioning well, and you You can also start with a single node, but the

need to address a specific dead spot.) price still starts higher than for a traditional

Based on Wi-Fi coverage performance, router—usually around $80.

you can’t go wrong with a mesh router. For When comparing routers with similar

example, even if you live in a small apartment specs, traditional models range from about

or house, some have materials in their walls $60 to $350. Prices go even higher if you

that can attenuate wireless signals and make want bleeding-edge tech. On average,

a traditional router less effective. Mesh expect to pay $80 for a decent basic model

routers also offer a smoother experience. and $250 to $300 for a high-end model.

While you can add Wi-Fi extenders to Traditional routers often drop lower in price

expand a traditional router’s coverage, when on sale—you can sometimes find basic

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 149

HERE’S HOW MESH WI-FI VS. TRADITIONAL ROUTER

ones for as cheap as $35. If a traditional router One is the distance between

works well in your home, you can definitely communication points. The further a signal

save cash by going this route. has to go, the more it degrades. That can lead

Winner: Traditional router. to spots in your home with a weak wireless

WI-FI SPEED signal, which can make your connection feel
sluggish. Also, if signal quality deteriorates

When evaluating Wi-Fi speed by supported enough, you can experience choppiness or

specs and the resulting benchmark scores, even drop-outs in the connection, which also

traditional routers edge out mesh routers. make it feel “slow.”

And if you were to go solely on that basis, How your traffic routes on the network

traditional routers would take this round. matters, too. If your router can only handle

But speed also relates to how fast the transmissions from one device at a time, you’ll

connection feels when using it. A couple end up with some devices waiting their

factors affect that subjective impression—and turn—and those delays make a connection

are often the reason why people say, “My feel slower.

internet is slow sometimes, but my service Signal issues are easily addressed with a

provider says my connection looks fine.” mesh router. Not only can you reposition

nodes or add more of them,

the nodes can all talk to one

another. The wireless signal

never has to go as far, no

matter where you are in your

home. Most important, this

system works seamlessly.

Purchasing Wi-Fi extenders to

use with a traditional router to

alleviate signal woes isn’t as

smooth. Some Wi-Fi extenders

operate on a separate SSID

and password. The handoff

between the extender and the

router can sometimes get

stuck too, leaving you in

Wi-Fi speed is more than just the numbers you see in tests. connection limbo.

150 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

be. And so for gamers and

streamers in particular,

running ethernet cable to

your router can ensure

stress-free sessions.

Traditional routers

have better support for

wired connections. Even

the most basic

models come

with four

ethernet ports

for connecting a

As this picture from Linksys shows, the further you are from the router, the weaker PC, printer,
your signal will be. Eventually, it dies off altogether. network-

attached storage

When it comes to the issue of traffic (NAS), or other compatible device.

routing, it’s more of a draw—you can avoid Mesh routers don’t reliably offer that many

that kind of transmission delay by buying a ports. Some hubs (nodes that can function as

mesh or traditional router that includes the router for the mesh network) only come

MU-MIMO as a feature. MU-MIMO allows a with two. One is for connecting to your

router to handle traffic from

multiple devices at the same time.

Mesh routers won’t be the

fastest solution for everyone, of

course. But they eliminate the

main cause of “speed” problems

for most people, and do so in an

elegant, simple way.

Winner: Mesh.

ETHERNET SUPPORT Ethernet cables plugged into a router.

A wired connection is faster and
more stable than Wi-Fi could ever

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 151

HERE’S HOW MESH WI-FI VS. TRADITIONAL ROUTER

modem, while the other is for creating an the app being simpler and faster, and the

ethernet backhaul—aka using a wired browser-based interface better for more

connection between nodes—when a wireless complex administrative tasks.

connection isn’t quite cutting it. So on this point, it’s a draw between the

Of course, you can increase a mesh two router types. Instead, research the

router’s available ethernet ports by particular models you’re interested in to see

purchasing an ethernet switch (fave. how good the interfaces are, as the quality

co/3pkLOVH). (The same goes for a varies between manufacturers.

traditional router.) But since that requires an Winner: Draw.

extra step and more cash, the winner on this FINAL VERDICT
point is the easiest solution out of the box.

Winner: Traditional router. You can’t go wrong with a mesh router. You

SETUP AND CONTROLS may overspend for your situation, or you
may not have an optimal setup out of the

For today’s mesh and traditional routers, box, but you can’t actually misstep.

setup and management happens through Combined with how easy setup and future

either a companion app or a browser-based network expansions are, mesh nabs the

interface. Both have their advantages, with crown in this showdown.

(Don’t have time to

research which model to get?

Consult our list of the best

mesh routers [fave.

co/3DXf5d0].)

But as said earlier, mesh

routers aren’t inherently

superior to traditional routers.

Everyone has a different home

layout, budget, feature

requirements, and number of

active users and devices. The

actual winning router type is

the one that best matches your

Mesh routers win this showdown, but they may not be a perfect fit particular situation.
for your situation. Winner: Mesh.

152 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

How to remove the Widgets
button from Windows 11

You can clear up Windows 11 and pretend Widgets never existed. BY MARK HACHMAN

W ithin Windows 11 (see Widgets is the Windows 11 reboot of
page 25), the Widgets News & Interests, the Windows 10 feature
drawer is huge. But what that pre-selects news, weather, sports
if you don’t want or need scores, and stock prices and collects them in
Widgets? You might not be able to banish it a small widget that lives at the bottom of
entirely from your system, but you can get your screen. (In Windows 10, News &
rid of the Widgets button from your Taskbar Interests displays the temperature and
in just a few easy steps. weather within your Taskbar, while within
Windows 11 it does not.)
In fact, if you don’t use the Search icon or
even Task View, you can remove those icons In Windows 11, however, clicking the
from your Taskbar as well. Widgets button slides out a massive Widgets

IMAGE: MICROSOFT NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 153

HERE’S HOW REMOVE THE WIDGETS BUTTON FROM WINDOWS 11

drawer from the left side of

your screen, complete with

a search window in the

latest build. There’s

weather, local traffic, your

Microsoft To Do lists, your

photos from OneDrive,

sports and esports, your

stock watchlist, and tips. To

some, it will feel like a huge

and obnoxious intrusion.

Fortunately, there are

two easy ways to get rid of

the Widgets button.

With just a few clicks, you can ban Widgets from Windows 11 forever.

HOW TO GET

RID OF WIDGETS one for Search, one for Task View (fave.

FROM WINDOWS 11 co/3lP6fb0), and another for Widgets. You

The first way is extremely simple: Right-click can turn off any or all of them, and those

the Widgets button on your Taskbar, and then buttons will vanish from your Taskbar, too.

click “Unpin from

Taskbar” (1). Poof! It’s

gone, baby, gone.

The second way is

to right-click the

Taskbar itself and

select “Taskbar

settings.” You’ll then

be taken to the

Windows 11 Settings

menu (Settings >

Personalization >

Taskbar), where you’ll 1.
see three toggles:

154 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

My kid would never vape.

More than 5 million
American kids vape.
Which means, they’re being set
up for a lifetime of addiction.
Good students. Athletes.
Kids who’d never smoke
regular cigarettes.
All types of kids.
Maybe even yours.
Talk to your kid about vaping.
Start by getting the facts at

Tech Spotlight Avideoshowcase
of the latest trends

Watch the
video at
youtu.be/
XO40lrPHDF8

Intel Arc

Gaming GPU ≥ After a year of
ruinous shortages
Explained and sky-high prices,

a third graphics card maker is about to

enter the scene. Here’s what you need to

know about Intel’s Arc Gaming GPUs.

156 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021