Devolo BE6500 review: an affordable upgrade for struggling home WiFi

In today's world, the number of devices we connect to our WiFi is growing all the time. From smart speakers and doorbells, to connected appliances and smart heating controls. It's not uncommon to rack up 40 to 50 devices these days.

And that's going to put a lot of load on a standard router that gets sent to you from your broadband provider. They'll cope, but you'll start to notice shortcomings.

And then there's the fact we're relying on strong WiFi in every room. To help with this, broadband companies can send out mesh systems such as BT's "Whole Home WiFi", but they charge you a monthly premium.

A sensible way to get around all these issues is to upgrade your router. And while that's not a cheap solution, it can be staggeringly effective.

We're firmly in the WiFi 7 era now, which means faster speeds, better connectivity, and more capacity. And one of the most affordable routes in to this marvellous technology is offered by a company called Devolo.

I've been living with their new BE6500 kit for a while now, and the difference you notice over a standard router is quite remarkable.

Building a mesh is as simple as ordering a two-pack from either the Devolo website, or Amazon, and you're looking at £249.99 to start you off. Just plug it in where your old router went, and you're ready to go. Adding extensions is then just a case of either ordering a three-pack or an extension, all of which are readily available.

What I liked about the Devolo BE6500

The first thing I like is the flexibility. You can use the BE6500 as your router, as an access point connected to an existing router, or as part of a compatible Devolo mesh setup.

For example, an access point can provide Wi-Fi elsewhere in the house through an Ethernet connection to your existing router. A mesh system uses multiple units to spread coverage more widely.

Neither arrangement makes the broadband arriving at your house faster, but both can help you make better use of it.

The design is sensible too. At 175mm tall, 118mm wide and 72mm deep, this is something you can put on a shelf without making it the room’s main attraction.

The wired connections are another strong point. There is a 2.5Gbps WAN port for the incoming connection, alongside three Gigabit LAN ports for devices such as a television, desktop computer or games console.

I always like having the option of plugging stationary equipment in. Wi-Fi is convenient, but a television that never moves doesn’t necessarily need to compete with everything else for wireless capacity.

The wireless specification has an interesting feature as well. Rather than being restricted to the usual 2.4GHz and 5GHz combination, the BE6500 lets you switch to 2.4GHz and 6GHz.

The 6GHz option is useful for compatible newer devices, including those supporting Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7. It also gives the router an upgrade path as you replace phones and computers.

There is Multi-Link Operation, or MLO, too. With compatible equipment, this allows more than one frequency band to contribute to a connection, rather than relying on one alone.

The BE6500 mesh two-pack costs £249.99 and a three-pack, which you'd need in a larger house, costs £369.99. A single router is the cheaper starting point, but households needing several units have ready-made alternatives.

The three-year warranty is reassuring, too.

What I didn’t like about the Devolo BE6500

The biggest compromise is that this is a dual-band router, despite offering access to three possible frequency bands.

You can use 2.4GHz with 5GHz, or 2.4GHz with 6GHz. You cannot have all three operating together.

Switching to 6GHz doesn’t magically upgrade a 5GHz-only device. It leaves that equipment relying on 2.4GHz, which may be a poor trade-off if several of your everyday devices still need a strong 5GHz connection.

Devolo's Home Network app handles everyday management really well, but more detailed configuration can involve the browser interface.

I would prefer important options, particularly the frequency-band choice, to be as easy to find as possible.

Overall verdict - should you buy the Devolo BE6500?

The Devolo BE6500 makes a reasonably affordable case for upgrading your home network without buying an enormous, expensive router.

I like the compact design, the useful selection of Ethernet ports, and the ability to start with one unit and expand into a compatible mesh system.

Its biggest selling point is also the feature that requires the most thought. Being able to choose 6GHz is attractive, but losing 5GHz when you do so means this isn’t quite the best-of-everything arrangement it might initially appear.

For a household happy to use 2.4GHz and 5GHz today, with the option of changing configuration later, it is an interesting proposition.

For someone wanting 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz available simultaneously, I would spend more on a tri-band model.

At the end of the day, the BE6500 offers useful flexibility. Just make sure its particular compromises suit your devices, rather than buying it simply because seven is a bigger number than six.