The easiest Wi-Fi mesh systems to set up

• Forget the old wireless routers that needed some technical skills to set them up. Each of these picks are able to be installed using just a mobile phone or tablet.
• Most of these mesh systems can be set up in 10-15 minutes and only require plugging them into electrical outlets to become operational.
• After setup, these mesh systems can be fully controlled and changed right from an app on your phone and don't require any networking skills to maintain them.

Mesh networking and wireless routers with multiple access points are a complicated category by default. Each unit works in conjunction with the others to create one large wireless network in your house and pull different amounts of bandwidth depending on how you move about your home.

While the potential for headache is all around, we've picked the top mesh systems that are the easiest to install and get setup in no time. Just a few years ago, configuring a wireless network required an ethernet cable and knowing the IP address associated with different manufacturers — no more.

All of these systems can be configured, used, changed, and tweaked using a mobile device, like your phone or tablet. Each also has step-by-step informational screens that walk you through the setup process so you shouldn't need an instructional manual either.

I worked as a home computer technician for a decade and setting up a wireless router was always a pain. I've also written about routers and smart home gadgets for years. We've personally tried these mesh systems out and can confirm each is simple enough that network administrators will be out of side work very soon.

• Easiest mesh system overall: Eero
• Easiest mesh system for smart homes: Nest Wifi
• Easiest mesh system for add-on features: Linksys Velop
• Easiest mesh system for parental controls: Netgear Orbi