TP-Link Deco M series (2017) vs NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 RAX120

The TP-Link Deco M5 and NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120) make for good, if unremarkable, Wi-Fi Routers at their respective budgets.

With that said, while they both should serve reasonably well, you might want to look into other options at the $60 and $420 price points - it's likely that there are some better alternatives available.

If you want to learn more about the TP-Link Deco M5 and the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120), however, we prepared a summary of the information that we have:

The TP-Link Deco M5 has done really well in a number of roundups conducted by sources that perform their own hands-on testing, such as Windows Central, Android Central, PC Gamer, and PCWorld - it was awarded the "Best value" title by Windows Central, "Best Value" by Android Central, and "The best budget complete mesh solution" by PC Gamer. That's high praise from reliable sources.

Returning to the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120), PCmag, a source that's known for its high-quality in-depth testing, has great things to say about it. In fact, it was named its "Good for Large Homes That Need Fast Throughput" in its "The Best Wireless Routers for 2021" roundup, which is quite a feat.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both Wi-Fi Routers, including PCmag, preferred the TP-Link Deco M5 over the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120).

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The TP-Link Deco M5 was liked best by Expert Reviews, which gave it a score of 10, while the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120) got its highest, 7, score from PCmag.

Lastly, we averaged out all of their review ratings and observed that the TP-Link Deco M5, with its 8.5 average, performed considerably better than most Wi-Fi Routers - the mean score for the product category being 7.4 out of 10 - while the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120) managed an average of 7.0.

There's one caveat here - it might not be entirely justifiable to do a direct TP-Link Deco M5 vs. NETGEAR Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi 6 Router (RAX120) review average comparison since they aren't priced the same and more expensive products tend to get higher review scores from some sources.