My home network uses a fiber connection with the download speeds capped at Mbps, and at the end of multiple days of tests across five spots in my house , the Archer AX21's average download speed was a near-perfect Mbps. That includes triple digit download speeds in the very back of my house, a common dead zone where a lot of the routers I test struggle to stay connected at all. That level of performance was strong enough for the Archer AX21 to beat out similar models from Netgear , Asus and D-Link , and it even kept the pace with fancier routers that cost significantly more.
It's also a cinch to set up, thanks to TP-Link's Tether app for Android and iOS, which also offers quick access to basic network settings without bombarding you with ads like some other router apps will.
All of that makes the Archer AX21 an extremely worthy pick for small- to medium-size homes, and one of the best value picks you'll find that supports Wi-Fi 6. There's also the TP-Link Deco W, which cruised through my speed tests to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the year.
What's great about the Deco W, along with its full support for Wi-Fi 6, is that it's a tri-band model with the usual 2. That dedicated backhaul is the key to unlocking the best mesh performance, because it keeps those system transmissions separate from your regular network traffic. Sure enough, the performance was outstanding when I tested the system out.
In fact, the only mesh router I've tested that returned faster average download speeds in my home costs more than three times as much as the Deco W That's flat-out unbeatable value, and a better, more noticeable upgrade for most homes than splurging on a high-powered standard router.
Asus is one of the top names in the gaming router category, boasting the best variety of fast, flashy routers that promise elite performance, low latency, and advanced controls for your connection. The Asus RT-AX86U is actually one of the more understated routers in that mix -- it doesn't include color-changing lights or an oversize, ostentatious design -- but it's still one of the best gaming routers you can buy.
Gaming aside, it's one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers you can buy, period. Along with offering fast, consistent speeds, the RT-AX86U did a better job at managing latency than any other router I tested it against, and it comes with a full suite of tools for optimizing your connection while gaming, including an adaptive quality-of-service engine and an Open NAT database of game- and platform-specific port forwarding rules.
There's even a Mobile Game Mode designed to instantly prioritize traffic to your phone. With an AXE rating, the tri-band device more than lives up to the hype by delivering nearly 2. Add this to the slick design and highly customizable configuration options, and the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE becomes one of the best wireless routers we've ever reviewed. It's the sort of performance that earned it the Tom's Guide Award for best Wi-Fi router , even if it's not a great fit for everyone.
It might be priced like a high-performance or gaming router, but the Netgear Nighthawk AC RS delivers in a different and perhaps more important area: cybersecurity. The RS may deliver solid performance and enough range to cover most homes, but the real value is protection, with a fistful of security features from Netgear and Bitdefender, including three years of protection from Bitdefender Total Security software. The RS is built to safeguard your entire connected home, from your laptops and phones to a whole range of smart devices, from TVs to ovens, thermostats and doorbell cameras.
With so many devices on today's home network, you have to be more vigilant, as a single poorly secured gadget can open you up to hackers and malware. The RS keeps your whole home safe, and is easy to set up and manage, too, making it our favorite cybersecurity router. The Archer A7 has great performance for the price — pushing through more data than most of the comparably priced routers we've tested — and features four Gigabit LAN ports and a USB 2. In addition to solid performance and features, the Archer A7 also has a very easy setup process and useful parental controls, with an app that lets you monitor and control network use from anywhere.
It may not be loaded with customization tools, but it offers parental control and Quality of Service QoS software that ensures better than average performance.
It's the best value Wi-Fi router we've tested. The TP-Link Archer CX is the gaming router to beat, with some of the best performance you'll see in any single home networking device. It offers best-in-class tri-band performance, delivering 1Gbps over its 2. It also has impressive coverage, with more than feet of superb coverage that will blanket most homes in strong, clear Wi-Fi signal. The spider-like 8-antenna design and red-on-black color scheme are sure to turn heads, but the real selling point is the collection of optimization and security features that will satisfy any power user.
With excellent bandwidth-allocation controls to let you use the massive throughput as you wish, this router puts incredible performance into the user's hands, for gaming or anything else.
For a truly customizable router, we recommend the Linksys EA Max-Stream, which is not only a great tri-band router, it's also loaded with tools to tweak and customize your router for optimal performance. The small black EA Max-Stream can move lots of data, though it will do best in smaller homes. Whether you're allocating bandwidth to prioritize gaming or media streaming, or just setting up parental controls, you can automate many features, make manual adjustments on the fly, and monitor it — all from your desktop or smartphone.
Maybe you're finding your current Wi-Fi coverage to feel slower than it used to, have been dogged with spotty reception, or maybe you just need something that can better handle the demands of an increasingly wide range of smart devices in the average home. If you've got any of the above irritations, a new router should fix these common problems. It's also worth upgrading if you're using older hardware.
If you still have an old Wireless-N or Wireless-AC retroactively renamed Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5, respectively router in your home, you should definitely think about getting something current. Not only will these newer standards offer faster connectivity, you'll see other benefits, too.
Your smartphone battery will last longer thanks to more efficient device management, and your connected home gadgets will all feel faster and snappier with the more capable standards. The other big reason to upgrade your router is if you've been paying a monthly rental fee for a gateway device from your ISP. Just don't forget to pair it with one of the best cable modems to free yourself entirely from the extra costs that often come with broadband internet packages.
When it comes to choosing the best wireless router, it's easy to get lost in the complexity of networking jargon and obscure technology standards. But all you really need to know is how to answer two key questions: What speed do you need for your internet connection? And what sort of coverage do you need in your home? Speeds and standards: The internet speed you need for your router will generally be determined by the speed you get from your internet service provider and what speed is supported by your modem.
For most people, a standard With average broadband speeds sitting right around Mbps, most wireless AC routers will be able to handle the job with ease. The latest technology for routers is called Wi-Fi 6 aka Many Wi-Fi 6 routers are available, but there's an even newer twist on this standard called Wi-Fi 6e that takes advantage of a newly opened part of the radio spectrum.
Wi-Fi 6e-enabled devices, such as laptops and phones, are still few and far between. Is it worth it to upgrade to a mesh router with multiple satellite devices , or maybe a router that supports Wi-Fi 6? Questions like those get confusing fast, and perhaps a little intimidating if home networking isn't your strong suit.
That's why we've dedicated time to testing and reviewing the top selections from the router aisle -- we want to help you demystify your options and find a router upgrade you can feel confident in. Those reviews help CNET make money by way of advertisements on the page and also referral links, where CNET earns a small commission whenever someone buys a product using the links on our site, but none of that impacts the products we select for review or our opinions of their capabilities, which we'll always communicate clearly and honestly.
Putting that coverage together means spending countless hours with each router we review, and we run hundreds of controlled speed tests to give you a thorough look at how each of them stacks up in terms of performance. You can find the full rundown of those results in my lists of the best routers , the best mesh routers and the best range extenders of the year. If you're interested in hearing about how those tests actually work, keep reading. I first started reviewing routers for CNET in -- a little over a year later, life as we knew it screeched to a halt, forcing millions of us to make the best of working remotely, out of our homes.
Fortunately, I had already begun developing a process for testing routers at my home. A 1,square-foot shotgun-style house in Louisville, Kentucky, my place isn't the ideal spot for testing connection speeds at long range, but it's long and skinny enough to have a stubborn dead zone in the back that a lot of routers struggle to reach.
That's helped make it a workable living lab for testing routers and range extenders. That's why, when necessary, we'll run additional top-speed tests at our test lab, where we're able to measure the speed of wireless file transfers between a router and a laptop connected to its network at distances of up to 75 feet, which gives us a better look at a router's top speed and range capabilities.
That said, with every router I test, I start by setting it up at my home and playing around with the various features and settings.
That gives me a good sense of what the router offers and how easy it is to set up and use, as well as other practical considerations like the level of encryption offered for your network and the number of spare Ethernet ports for plugging in things like media streamers and smart home hubs.
Throughout all of it, I always maintain consistent network settings, and I make sure to position the router in the same spot in my living room, which sits at the front of my home -- your router's specific position and the obstructions surrounding it will make a noticeable impact in the quality of your connection.
I begin by connecting in the living room, just a few feet away from the router. Then, I run multiple speed tests on Ookla , one of our top-recommended speed-testing sites. I record the upload, download and latency results in a spreadsheet, then I move a little further from the router into my kitchen, where I run another series of tests. I continue these tests in three more spots throughout my home, each one at a greater distance from the router.
I finish in my home's back bathroom -- that dreaded dead zone I mentioned earlier. That's just the start, though. At this point, I disconnect from the router and reconnect while still in that back bathroom. Then, I run the same battery of tests, but in reverse -- I start in the back of the house and move closer to the router, room-by-room.
Still, if you're buying right now and you want elite mesh performance, price be damned, then this is the system to get. Read our Netgear Orbi 6 review. Most noteworthy is the router's latency management. In fact, it leads all of the routers I've ever tested, gaming or otherwise, with the lowest average latency across all of my tests, which online gamers will definitely appreciate.
Something else you'll appreciate: An excellent mix of app-based controls and features, including a mobile boost mode, that lets you prioritize gaming traffic to your phone at the touch of a button.
If you need additional range, you can add other Asus "AIMesh" devices to your home network to make it the centerpiece of a mesh.
That checks off all of the boxes that most people want from a good gaming router, and it gets you there at a price that isn't too painful for us to recommend. Even if you aren't a gamer, this is still one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers you can buy right now. Read our list of the best gaming routers. Watch this : Ways to speed up your Wi-Fi. I'll post the answer to commonly asked router questions below -- if you have any others, feel free to reach out on Twitter rycrist , or by clicking the little envelope icon on my CNET profile page.
Doing so will let you send a message straight to my inbox. You need to be connected to your modem in order to send and receive data from the web -- your router lets you do that without need for a wire. It's basically a big, fancy antenna for your modem that lets you connect with it wirelessly, over Wi-Fi.
You can also use that local Wi-Fi network to connect with other devices at home, like printers or remote storage servers. If your home is larger, then it's probably worth spending more on a mesh system that can spread more consistent speeds from room to room.
And if you're working from home, gaming online or sharing bandwidth with multiple housemates or family members, upgrading to something like a high-speed tri-band router is probably a good investment, too. The old-fashioned way is to plug the thing in and connect it with your modem via Ethernet cable, then type its IP address into a browser's URL bar to begin the setup.
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