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In general, the 5GHz band is going to be your best bet for a reliable, high-speed connection at close and medium range, while the 2.4GHz band is great for devices at the far reaches of your Wi-Fi network, where the improved range is worth the speed tradeoff. 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. Gaming routers promise high performance and low latency for die-hard gamers, and it isn't uncommon to find them selling for $300 or even $400.
If you have a very fast internet connection and think you'll be able to upgrade to an even faster connection sooner than later, we say, grab the CAX80. This is also a great gaming router as the on-board Ethernet, which lets you hook up your Xbox or Playstation via a cable rather than Wi-Fi, is much faster than the Ethernet you're probably used to. You have to check off a lot of boxes to get the most from this modem/router, but if that's you, you just met your future connection to the internet. Wireless router technology might seem dry and complicated, or even difficult to understand, but you can make an informed decision if you’re able to wrap your head around a few key concepts. For example, you need to select a wireless router that supports the standards required by your wireless devices, and it’s important to understand the difference between the two main wireless router frequencies.
Best Wireless Router of 2022 (WiFi, Budget, Gigabit, AC)
In the end, the key to finding the best wireless router is to consider all of the factors outlined above, and then select the device that best meets your own personal needs. A good standard to look for on a router is four Gigabit Ethernet ports, although some higher end devices include eight or more. Some even allow you to achieve a 2Gbps connection by connecting to two Gigabit Ethernet ports at once, and a few leading-edge gaming routers now offer special 2.5Gbps or even 10Gbps ports. In general, you should look for a router that’s fast enough to match the speed of your internet connection. Your home network enables devices like computers and printers to communicate inside your house, and it also allows your computers, phones, game consoles, and other devices to connect to the internet.
The wireless standards supported by a router determine which devices are able to connect to that router. These standards have evolved a lot over the years, so it’s important to make sure that you choose a router that works with the same standards as your devices to get the best experience. This Synology router ended up alongside two other dual-band routers (the Asus Blue Cave and Asus RT-AC86U) at the top of our performance charts. Like the Archer A20, each of these routers was able to handle the traffic our multi-client test generated and to give us a smooth browsing experience. And the Synology was able to keep a strong connection to our long-distance testing site, transferring data at a speedy 166 Mbps throughput (by comparison, the budget TP-Link Archer A7 was able to manage throughput of only 27 Mbps to the garage). Any of our picks will easily outperform any router you got from your Internet service provider, or any router more than a few years old.
Do you lose speed with mesh Wi-Fi?
Still, even small homes have dead zones, and mesh routers will help address problem spots like that better than regular routers. With an average, single-point router like the one provided by my ISP, my 300Mbps fiber speeds typically plummet to double or even single digits in the back rooms farthest from the router. With a mesh router, I can still hit triple-digit speeds in those back rooms, which are about as fast as when I'm connecting closer to the router. I liked the Eero Pro 6 as an upgrade pick, but the standard Eero 6 wasn't quite strong enough for me to recommend it. Best of all, with a faster AX3000 design and support for full-width, 160MHz channels , the performance is significantly improved.
We ran all these tests at the same time for a full five minutes to simulate a realistic extra-busy time on a home network. Although your network probably isn't always that busy, it is that busy often enough—and those busy times are when you're most likely to get annoyed, so they're what we were modeling in our tests. The last laptop sat in a spare bedroom downstairs at close range and downloaded a very large file. We didn't care about latency—the amount of time between when the computer made a request and when the router responded to it—for our large file download, but we did want to see an overall throughput of 100 Mbps or better.
Eero Pro Mesh Wi-Fi System
Now, TP-Link is doing even better and selling the Deco W7200 mesh router, a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 system that only costs $233 for a two-pack. Motorola's MG7700 checks all the right boxes when it comes to delivering the performance and features most users need in a cable modem/router. If you're looking for even broader coverage, then Netgear's Orbi CBK752 combines a top-rated Wi-Fi 6 mesh system with a fast (and future-ready) cable modem to let you take full advantage of the fastest internet plans in even the largest of homes.
For as long as I can remember, I've had love of all things tech, spurred on, in part, by a love of gaming. I began working on computers owned by immediate family members and relatives when I was around 10 years old. I've always sought to learn as much as possible about anything PC, leading to a well-rounded grasp on all things tech today. We then ran over to our MacBook Pro, now moved to test location #2—long-distance, line-of-sight—and fired up a 4K YouTube video.
Belkin F9K1123 AC1200 Dual-Band AC WiFi Router ($18.
The TP-Link Archer A20 is Wirecutter's pick as the best all-around router for speedy and dynamic connections. If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY’s newsroom and any business incentives.
This router also comes with MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output) technology, which simply means the router can communicate with multiple devices simultaneously at once , ensuring a strong and stable connection. You might think of laptops and computers when you think of Asus, but they actually make some of the best wireless routers on the market. From budget routers to their high performance Republic of Gamers line, Asus has a wireless router to fit just about any situation. Asus also has its unique AiMesh 2.0 technology that lets you easily group almost any set of Asus routers into a mesh Wi-Fi system, making it easier to expand your network if you find you need more coverage.
Folks who rent their modems from their cable companies, don't have super-big homes, don't have a really high-speed connection , and don't have a lot of additional devices to hook up. There are only two Ethernet ports, which let you plug in devices with a cable, which is faster and more reliable—but you have to trail a cable between them. Andif you’re a parent, routers that support Parental Control is essentialas this gives you full control over all devices connected to the router.
The full-featured router operating system makes it straightforward to configure filtering rules for your whole home, plus individual profiles for each of your kids. From there, you can schedule when they’ll be allowed online and for how long, and choose from over 20 different content categories to block. You can even set up individual filters for different periods of the day, so you can keep your kids off games and social media while still allowing them to access educational and research sites during homework time. There’s also support for Safe Search to keep your kids from seeing inappropriate results when searching Google, YouTube, or Bing.
The easier, more modern way is to use the router's app, which will typically walk you through setup in about 5-10 minutes. After setup, you can also use either approach to access the router's settings or change your Wi-Fi password. TP-Link's Archer C5400 is a tri-band router offering MU-MIMO support and 4×4 radios.
Fortunately, most major cable providers in the U.S. have already "pre-approved" the cable modems from all the big manufacturers. You'll normally find this information on the packaging or on the manufacturer's website. However, if you're still not sure, you can always ask your cable provider if the modem/router you're considering will work with their network. To take full advantage of the bandwidth your ISP provides, you'll need a modem/router combo that at the very least matches, and ideally exceeds, the top speed promised by your provider. The maximum bandwidth is indicated in gigabits per second and is usually prominently displayed in a modem/router's title or description.
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