As smart home products become more accessible and innovative, your Wi-Fi network becomes more crucial — this is especially so during a pandemic that's forced many people around the planet to work from home if they could and if they still can , overburdening home networks that once sat mostly dormant in daytime.
If you want your Zoom calls, photos, videos, games and everything else you share or view online — whether on your laptop , tablet , TV or smartphone — to load fast and to load reliably, you want a strong Wi-Fi router at home.
However, not all Wi-Fi routers are born equal. Once upon a time, computers needed to be wired up to one another in order to communicate. In Wi-Fi launched as a way for computers to wirelessly connect to one another and the internet.
Through your internet service provider typically referred to as your ISP , a cable or DSL line finds its way into your home and connects to a modem — a small device that decodes the incoming internet signal into something your computer and other devices can read. All that said, renting from your ISP does come with one major benefit: free tech support when something goes wrong.
It's easy to get lost in all the specs and features that Wi-Fi routers list and boast. We'll dive into what the most significant features and specs mean, in plain terms, below. To give you an idea of some of the best routers out right now, these top routers come with different price points and equip varying levels of bells and whistles, some of which are universally substantial and others of which only matter to heavy users like gamers.
And if you just need something to provide wireless access and your home internet speeds are as low as 20Mbps or 30Mbps, you can save yourself some serious cash by opting for a less pricey router. Fiber is becoming more common around the nation, but in no way is it commonplace yet. Even more scarce are Gigabit 1,Mbps speeds. That doesn't mean you don't need a router that can reach a Gigabit, though.
In other words, get a Gigabit router for future-proofing purposes. You may need it before your next upgrade. Wireless routers work on two different frequency bands -- 2. The 2. The newer 5GHz band is typically less cluttered and provides a faster connection. A dual-band router offers both 2.
Choosing between a single-band and dual-band router is quite simple. If you live in a crowded neighborhood or a densely populated area, you're better off with a dual-band router. If you don't need faster wireless speeds and you don't have any nearby neighbors whose wireless network might interfere with yours, a single-band router will do the trick. The positioning of your router is extremely important.
It should be in a central location, away from other gadgets or obstructions and, ideally, high up on a shelf. Still, even with great positioning, you're likely to run into dead spots inside your home, places where the wireless signal just can't reach.
Using heat map software can help you maximize your wireless coverage, and buying a more expensive router might give you better range, but it still doesn't mean the signal will reach the far corner or your basement. Mesh systems often promise outstanding performance, but don't always deliver. Linksys's Atlas Max 6E is an exception. This mesh system demolished other routers to become the fastest mesh our standard router we've ever used.
Performance is outstanding close to the primary access point, hitting an average of Mbps in our benchmark. What impresses us most, though, is the Atlas Max 6E 's fast download and upload speeds across all test scenarios. There's even more performance available. We were not able to test this, however, as Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices remain rare and we didn't have one available. Wired connectivity is strong as well. This means you can use any of the mesh system's access points as the primary router.
The wired ports will not work on the additional access points, however. Setup is easy, though nothing to write home about. Linksys has an attractive app that will guide you through setup and provides a healthy variety of router options once finished.
There's also a web interface available, though Linksys makes some advanced settings hard to find. This is an incredible chunk of change for any router.
To be clear, the vast majority of people don't need a system this fast or this reliable. The Linksys Atlas Max 6E targets demanding owners in large homes connected to an Internet service with gigabit speeds.
Pros: Wi-Fi 6E support, excellent maximum performance, plenty of wired connectivity, QoS can reduce lag. We'll start with a warning: you likely don't need a gaming router. Because of this, we believe gamers should skip affordable gaming routers which offer few unique features and buy the best. Most devices don't support Wi-Fi 6E yet, but those that do can access a new 6GHz spectrum faster than any previously available.
This router is also backwards compatible with older Wi-Fi standards. QoS can prioritize network traffic to improve reliability, especially when multiple devices request bandwidth simultaneously. PC gamers, who often prefer wired connections, will love the extensive wired connectivity including a 2.
The fast WAN port is useful for the lucky few who have access to Internet service that exceeds Gigabit speeds. This router is larger than an Xbox Series S, so you might have trouble finding space for it. It's also expensive. However, its pricing is competitive to other Wi-Fi 6E routers currently available.
We test real-world router performance using a file transfer test and the Ookla Speedtest app. To keep the testing objective, all benchmarks are carried out on an Apple iPhone 12 Mini using the same files and app. All testing is conducted while the home network is free from other traffic.
The routers are connected to a modem providing Gigabit Internet service. To ensure the Internet Service Provider is not a bottleneck, we verify its speed with a desktop connected to the modem. We considered dozens of routers for this guide.
These alternatives left an impression good or bad in our testing. The release of Wi-Fi 6E in has left router manufacturers competing to introduce the standard with new, premium routers. These routers are well beyond the budget of most shoppers, but they hint at the performance you can expect from mainstream routers in just a few years. Wi-Fi 6 is a new wireless standard that delivers a huge performance upgrade over Wi-Fi 6.
In our testing, Wi-Fi 6 routers are often two to three times quicker than similarly priced Wi-Fi 5 routers. You will only see Wi-Fi 6 performance if you have both a router and a device that supports Wi-Fi 6, but most new smartphones, laptops, and game consoles like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 support Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 6 routers still support older Wi-Fi standards, so they remain compatible with older wireless devices.
We generally recommend Wi-Fi 6 routers which, at this point, are fast becoming the standard. This is especially true when buying a standalone router instead of a mesh router: every standard router we recommend supports Wi-Fi 6.
A standard router is a single device that you'll typically place near your Internet modem with an Ethernet cable. Mesh routers have additional access points that connect wirelessly to the primary router which, again, will be connected to your Internet modem. We recommend a standard router for most people. It can handle larger homes when placed in a central location with no nearby obstructions.
Mesh routers can improve reliability by using multiple access points to get around objects that cause Wi-Fi dead spots, like a large appliance or a concrete brick wall. You should also look out for mentions of quality of service, or QoS features. David Nield is a tech journalist from the UK who has been writing about gadgets and apps since way before the iPhone and Twitter were invented.
When he's not busy doing that, he usually takes breaks from all things tech with long walks in the countryside. Although the final decision is usually yours, getting their buy-in is important.
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