The Gryphon Tower router is so similar to each individual unit of the NETGEAR Orbi RBK50 that the obvious comparison is to be made here. The Orbi kit comes as a pack of two (router + satellite) and costs ~$310 at this time, with a launch MSRP of $399.99. The Gryphon Tower is over a year old at this point and barely has any discounts going on. As such, the street price of $399 for the equivalent 2-pack makes it a hard buy compared to the Orbi RBK50 that has the NETGEAR brand recognition behind it. Indeed, purely from a performance point of view, the even older Orbi RBK50 does slightly better when it comes to throughput, although the signal attenuation was better with the Gryphon Tower 2-pack placed in the same spots. Both of course do much better than single router units tested so far, but also cost more. From a pure performance-to-dollar aspect, there are other options that will do better.

But performance by itself is now what you would be looking at the Gryphon Tower for, or even the newer, more budget-friendly Gryphon Guardian for that matter. The company prides itself on looking out for the average household with ease of installation and network security in mind. The former is something that just about every company today has sorted out via mobile apps, especially for mesh WiFi systems. The latter is found in varying degrees of complexity and customization from the different manufacturers, with Ubiquiti going with a more prosumer enterprise-level feature set in general and NETGEAR throwing in everything but the kitchen sink via a variety of different control and monitor options. Parental controls, including assigned users and managed devices, are expected from WiFi systems in this IOT world we live in these days, and Gryphon includes those and then goes beyond it. The premium protection services discussed on page 5 are excellent options, but only if you need it, and need it enough to pay for it once past the free trial.

By itself, I will say it is among the best looking of the networking routers today, with a subjectively beautiful and clean aesthetic that will be a good addition to a living room just as much as in an office corner. All the advantages of the mesh system are valid here too, with excellent signal strength for a large house (Gryphon rates the 2-pack capable of covering 6000 feet²) and good performance in general. The company offers a 90-day money back guarantee, which also works out well with the 3-month free trial for Gryphon Homebound as it is enough to figure out for yourself whether you will make good use of the subscriptions. These are really what keep the Gryphon Tower relevant. That is, unless it gets a price cut to be more competitive with NETGEAR and similar WiFi AC3000 mesh systems, in which case it would be well worth a recommendation too.