Netgear R6700AX
Finest price range router for gigabit networks
Though the Wi-Fi 7 routers at the moment are out and being built-in into fashionable tech, Wi-Fi 6 continues to be a superbly well-functioning web supply. It is what’s used for Wi-Fi-supported units just like the PlayStation 5, Amazon Hearth TV 4K Max and Apple TV 4K. Although they may work with older routers, they will work finest with the correct router. Fortunately, lots of the finest choices for a Wi-Fi 6 router are below $100 and appropriate with nice mesh methods, gaming routers, and vary extenders.
Some do the job higher than others, and that is the place we are available, with complete, hands-on checks to assist determine the perfect improve picks for the cash. Anticipate common updates to this publish as we proceed to place Wi-Fi 6 to the check in 2024. Every time we discover a new router that deserves consideration, we’ll add it to the record.
Finest Wi-Fi 6 routers of 2024
When a router helps Wi-Fi 6, that implies that it is able to utilizing options like OFDMA and 1024-QAM to ship quicker speeds and decrease latency to busy networks with a lot of linked units. That is true even with the budget-priced worth picks — and amongst these, the one which performs the perfect is the TP-Hyperlink Archer AX21.
The Archer AX21 did an impressive job in my at-home pace checks. On the finish of a number of days of checks throughout 5 spots in my home, the Archer AX21’s common obtain pace on a 300Mbps fiber community was a near-perfect 299Mbps. That features triple-digit obtain speeds within the very again of my home, a typical lifeless zone the place a variety of the routers I check battle to remain linked in any respect. In 2022, I retested the AX21 after upgrading my dwelling community to gigabit speeds — it is not highly effective sufficient to prime out a connection like that, but it surely nonetheless delivered quick, constant speeds, with my downloads averaging in at 441Mbps.
That degree of efficiency was robust sufficient for the Archer AX21 to beat out comparable fashions from Netgear, Asus and D-Hyperlink, and it even saved the tempo with fancier routers that price considerably extra. It is also a cinch to arrange, because of TP-Hyperlink’s Tether app for Android and iOS, which additionally provides fast entry to fundamental community settings with out bombarding you with adverts like another router apps will.
All of that makes the Archer AX21 a particularly worthy decide for small- to medium-size houses, and among the finest worth picks you will discover that helps Wi-Fi 6.
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This was an excellent yr for TP-Hyperlink, and it wasn’t simply due to the Archer AX21. There’s additionally the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200, which cruised by my pace checks to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the yr. With a number of units working like a staff of routers to unfold a quicker, extra dependable sign throughout a bigger space than a single router can, it is a unbelievable decide for giant houses — and one that will not set you again very a lot.
What’s nice concerning the Deco W7200, together with its full help for Wi-Fi 6, is that it is a tri-band mannequin with the standard 2.4 and 5GHz bands plus an extra 5GHz band that the system makes use of as a devoted wi-fi backhaul connection between the primary router and its satellites. That devoted backhaul is the important thing to unlocking the perfect mesh efficiency as a result of it retains these system transmissions separate out of your common community site visitors. Tri-band mesh routers like these will usually price you $300 or extra, however the Deco W7200 will get you there for $100 much less.
Certain sufficient, the efficiency was excellent once I examined the system out. The truth is, of all the mesh routers that I’ve examined at dwelling, solely two averaged quicker obtain speeds — the primary prices greater than $200 greater than the Deco W7200, and the opposite prices greater than 3 times as a lot. That makes the Deco W7200 a flat-out unbeatable worth and a greater, extra noticeable improve for many houses than splurging on a high-powered commonplace router.
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Asus is likely one of the prime names within the gaming router class, boasting the perfect number of quick, flashy routers that promise elite efficiency, low latency, and superior controls on your connection. The Asus RT-AX86U is definitely one of many extra understated routers in that blend — it would not embody color-changing lights or an outsized, ostentatious design — but it surely’s nonetheless among the finest gaming routers you should buy. Gaming apart, it is among the finest Wi-Fi 6 routers you should buy, interval.
Together with providing quick, constant speeds, the RT-AX86U did a greater job at managing latency than some other router I examined it in opposition to, and it comes with a full suite of instruments for optimizing your connection whereas gaming, together with an adaptive quality-of-service engine and an Open NAT database of game- and platform-specific port forwarding guidelines. There’s even a Cellular Sport Mode designed to immediately prioritize site visitors to your cellphone.
In different phrases, the RT-AX86U checks all the packing containers you’d need from a gaming router (besides the color-changing lights, I suppose — although you may get it Zaku-styled in the event you’re keen to spend just a little extra). Most significantly, it makes robust sufficient use of Wi-Fi 6 to make sure that even the non-gamers in your family will admire having it round.
At this worth level, it is undoubtedly an improve decide, however an affordable one which’s nonetheless inexpensive than a variety of gaming routers. And, in the event you’re eager about upgrading to a brand new multi-gig web plan from AT&T, Frontier, Xfinity, Verizon, Ziply Fiber or one other supplier providing plans like these, the RT-AX86U outfitted with a multi-gig Ethernet jack supporting incoming wired speeds of as much as 2.5Gbps.
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Netgear R6700AX
Finest price range router for gigabit networks
Gigabit web speeds are rising in availability from a large variety of main ISPs, and so they’re an ideal match with the quicker wi-fi switch charges of Wi-Fi 6. In the event you’ve made the improve to gigabit web speeds at dwelling, you then’ll undoubtedly need a Wi-Fi 6 router that may take full benefit of it.
Your finest wager could be to go along with a real improve decide just like the Asus RT-AX86U, or a top-rated mesh system — however in the event you’re on a price range otherwise you simply do not wish to spend greater than $100 or so, it’s best to transfer the Netgear R6700AX proper to the highest of your record. At the moment accessible for $90, it is an AX1800 router with full help for Wi-Fi 6 and 5GHz speeds as excessive as 1.3 gigabits per second.
In our checks on a gigabit community, the R6700AX outperformed comparable fashions, together with the TP-Hyperlink Archer AX21, delivering obtain speeds that averaged in at 591Mbps throughout a 1,350-square-foot check setting. At shut vary, these speeds rose as excessive as 800Mbps. For comparability, the Archer AX21 completed those self same checks with an general common of 435Mbps, and it wasn’t capable of hit obtain speeds any greater than 598Mbps at shut vary.
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Netgear Orbi AX6000
Finest high-end mesh system
Keep in mind how I discussed that the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200 outperformed each different mesh router I’ve ever examined aside from one? Effectively, here is the one which beat it — the AX6000 model of the Netgear Orbi mesh system.
With that all-important tri-band design and full help for Wi-Fi 6, the AX6000 Orbi blew us away with glorious sign power and downright spectacular prime speeds after we first examined it out a yr or two in the past. These speeds have held up ever since — whether or not we’re clocking prime speeds in our lab or testing real-world speeds at dwelling, actually nothing else I’ve examined performs as properly. On prime of that, the AX6000 Orbi deserves credit score for being one of many first mesh routers to supply a multigig WAN port and breaking the bottleneck that capped incoming wired speeds at only a single gig.
Efficiency like that often comes at a premium, and positive sufficient, the AX6000 Orbi prices greater than $600 for a two-pack. Like a Mercedes Benz for the mesh class, it is extra machine than most individuals want, however there’s nothing mistaken with coveting one — or ready for the uncommon sale. If it had been my cash, I would reasonably go along with that Deco W7200 system and spend the lots of I would save on one thing else, however in the event you simply need the perfect mesh router efficiency that we have seen in our checks, full cease, cash be damned, right here it’s.
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Going with a mesh router makes a ton of sense in the event you stay in a big, multi-story dwelling with a variety of area to cowl. In circumstances like that, it is value it to prioritize getting a system with greater than two units within the mesh — and Amazon’s Eero 6 Plus will get you there for $300, full with full help for Wi-Fi 6.
The Eero 6 Plus takes the Eero 6 that preceded it and beefs issues up with a quicker AX3000 construct and new help for full-width 160MHz channels, up from 80MHz. These wider channels enable the system to maneuver information twice as effectively to appropriate units, and so they made an enormous distinction in my efficiency checks, the place the 6 Plus completed as a top-10 finisher among the many 30 or so mesh routers I’ve examined at dwelling. Not one of the routers that beat its common obtain speeds can beat its worth, and that makes the Eero 6 Plus a wonderful decide.
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Asus ZenWifi XD6
Finest dual-band mesh system
It was a bit too expensive for me to advocate when it launched at $380 for a two-piece setup, however the Asus ZenWifi XD6 is commonly on sale for nearer to $200, which makes it a greater worth.
For the cash, you are getting a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 mesh router that carried out extra like a fancier tri-band mannequin in our checks, and one which was absolutely able to optimizing our speeds all through everything of the 5,400-square-foot CNET Good Dwelling. The truth is, I would go as far as to name it probably the most succesful dual-band mesh router I’ve ever examined.
It is a stable mesh router with one of many extra complete management apps accessible from a significant producer. That makes it decide for intermediate and superior customers who wish to fine-tune their dwelling community expertise.
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How we check Wi-Fi 6 routers
Every time I take a router into consideration, I put it by the identical set of complete, managed pace checks to get sense of the way it performs in comparison with different fashions. I have been working these checks out of my 1,300 square-foot dwelling in Louisville, Kentucky. Later, we had been capable of transfer these checks into the CNET Dwelling check lab, the place we arrange a 1,350-square-foot check setting with a gigabit fiber connection.
There are 5 rooms in that check area, so after setting the router up within the first of them, I run a battery of pace checks in all of them to get a way of the common speeds at numerous ranges. For every set of checks, I begin in the identical room because the router with my check system, a Lenovo ThinkPad Wi-Fi 6 laptop computer. I connect with the router’s community, then I run three pace checks and document the outcomes for add pace, obtain pace and latency. Then I transfer to the subsequent room and repeat.
As soon as I’ve completed within the fifth room, which is farthest from the router, I restart my connection and repeat all of these checks in reverse room order. This strategy provides me sense at how the router’s efficiency differs when the connection begins up shut versus when it begins at a distance, as this will usually impression your speeds. I repeat this whole course of 3 times, throughout morning, afternoon, and night hours. I will usually additionally run devoted check runs to examine the speeds on particular person bands, or if the router provides any distinctive efficiency settings. All advised, it provides as much as lots of of pace checks and a number of days of labor for every router I evaluation.
Which Wi-Fi 6 router is correct for me?
There are three major issues to contemplate first as you are dialing in on a brand new router: the pace of your own home’s web plan, the scale of your own home, and the variety of Wi-Fi units below your roof that want a dependable connection. In the event you’re residing in a small- to medium-sized dwelling with web speeds of 500Mbps or much less, and also you simply want a dependable sign on your cellphone, laptop computer and streaming system, then a easy decide just like the TP-Hyperlink Archer AX21 or the Netgear R6700AX ought to provide loads of bandwidth and vary to fit your wants. The 2 are largely indistinguishable until your own home has a high-speed connection, and the AX21 usually prices rather less, so I would advocate beginning there.
In the event you’ve bought a home stuffed with good dwelling units, or a number of members of the family who every make common use of your Wi-Fi with quite a lot of devices, or in the event you’ve simply upgraded your web plan so as to add in gigabit speeds, it’s best to in all probability think about a router with larger bandwidth potential. The tried-and-true Asus RT-AX86U is the one I would in all probability advocate first as a result of it has been an everyday standout by a number of rounds of CNET checks, together with full rounds of checks on three separate networks at three separate areas.
Nevertheless, in the event you’re residing in a bigger dwelling, particularly a multistory dwelling, then it is value contemplating stepping as much as a mesh router just like the Eero 6 Plus, the Asus ZenWifi XD6, or the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200, as a result of these a number of mesh units will assist guarantee a greater, extra dependable sign all through everything of your own home. You can additionally think about splurging on a mesh powerhouse just like the Netgear Orbi AX6000, however at a value of a number of hundred {dollars}, it is in all probability overkill for many houses.
Wi-Fi 6 router FAQs
You probably have questions concerning the ins and outs of Wi-Fi 6, make sure to try my full explainer on the usual and what makes it higher than the Wi-Fi of yore. It’s also possible to attain me by wanting me up on X (@rycrist).
What makes Wi-Fi 6 higher than earlier than?
Wi-Fi 6 contains help for brand spanking new Wi-Fi options that assist units go information backwards and forwards quicker and extra effectively. One of many key upgrades is 1024-QAM, which stands for quadrature amplitude modulation, or the trick your router makes use of to ship radio waves that different units can learn as a sequence of ones and zeroes — the binary code that makes up all the pieces you see, learn and expertise on-line. 1024-QAM permits your router to ship out 10 digits of binary code with every transmission, in comparison with eight digits of binary from Wi-Fi 5 routers that use 256-QAM. That is one of many key the explanation why Wi-Fi 6 provides prime speeds which might be roughly 30% quicker than earlier than.
Different options of be aware embody OFDMA, or orthogonal frequency division a number of entry, which improves community effectivity by permitting your router to ship information to a number of purchasers inside a single channel without delay. Consider that like a pizza supply driver dropping off a number of pizzas to a number of clients in a single journey to save lots of gasoline. There’s additionally Goal Wake Time, which lets the router schedule units that have to periodically examine in in order that they do not trigger interference with each other. And, although it is not particularly tied to Wi-Fi 6, most next-gen routers will help WPA3, the most recent commonplace for Wi-Fi safety.
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Are Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E the identical factor?
Will older units nonetheless work with a Wi-Fi 6 router?
Sure — Wi-Fi 6 is absolutely backward-compatible, so earlier-gen Wi-Fi units will nonetheless have the ability to connect with them and get on-line. They simply will not have the ability to make the most of the brand new Wi-Fi 6 options that pace issues up for current-gen units.
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