Based on our in-depth testing and reviews of more than 15 routers, the TP-Link Archer C2300 ($145) is the best overall choice, thanks to its category-leading throughput and extensive feature set. If you're on a budget, you should also consider Netgear's R6220 ($80), which offers welcome features like parental controls alongside solid performance in a reasonably priced router.
There's a traffic jam in your home, with a wide array of connected devices — from smartphones and tablets to laptops and media streamers — competing for a share of your wireless network. According to market research firm IDC, the average home has more than eight connected devices. Make sure your home network can handle today's networking needs by getting up to speed on the latest wireless routers.
Holiday Router Deals
Updated Dec. 11 - Your internet can be better, and the holidays are a great time to upgrade for less. Get better speeds and wider coverage with a new router or mesh system, and save some money while you do it with these holiday deals.
- Linksys Max-Stream AC5400 Tri-Band Router (EA9500) is $300 ($100 off)
- TP-LINK Archer C2300 for $119 ($30 off)
Latest News and Updates (December 2018)
- There's a new king in gaming routers. The TP-Link Archer C5400X looks wicked, and backs it up with killer speeds, great range and built-in security.
- Older routers are under attack from criminals using NSA-spawned malware. Find out what you can do to protect yourself.
- Our mesh networking favorite, the Netgear Orbi, just got an Alexa-powered boost in the Netgear Orbi Voice. It's the first router we've seen with Amazon's voice assistant built in, and we have to say we're impressed.
Types of Routers: Standalone and Mesh
Routers that support the latest wireless standard, called 802.11ac, help alleviate traffic issues by providing more than four times the throughput of 802.11n hardware. Plus, by using a more efficient process, newer routers can help save battery life on your mobile devices. But not all 802.11ac routers are created equal.
A new type of router uses mesh networking, in which a router uses relay points to extend a wireless network throughout your home. The Netgear Orbi ($400) is currently our favorite mesh-router system, although rival mesh systems, including the Eero, the Amped Wireless Ally Plus and Google Wifi have their merits. If you need to fill a large home with Wi-Fi, we recommend the $350 AmpliFi HD.
If there's a router you'd like us to review or if you have any questions about what to buy, drop us a note in the comments. You may also want to check out our recommendations of cable modems and Wi-Fi extenders.
How Much Do Routers Cost?
Current 802.11ac routers often sell for under $100 for basic, dual-band models. Many models will sell for more, but deliver better coverage, and range up to $300. You can also buy mesh routers for whole-house coverage, security routers that protect your network, and gaming routers that deliver performance optimized for online gaming, but all of these options come at a premium.
How We Test Routers
We test every router we review to get an accurate measurement of performance, but also to get a clearer picture of how a given router will perform in various environments. To start, we test all routers in our Utah testing facility using Ixia's IxChariot to measure throughput at distances from 5 feet to 150 feet. These distance-based tests measure both throughput and range, telling us not only how much data a router can move, but how well it does at 5, 50, 75 and 150 feet. If you want the best performance in a large, spread-out home, you'll want a router that does well over longer distances. If you're in a smaller apartment, short-range performance will be your priority.
We also test how well each router does at transmitting and receiving through various materials – drywall, brick, concrete, and even metal. You may not be able to change the building you're in, but you can select a router that provides strong signal even through Wi-Fi dampening barriers. Testing is also performed on more than one floor of the building, since two- and three-story homes have their own unique Wi-Fi needs.
For mesh routers, we perform additional testing to determine how well the mesh system does sending signal through both the main router and through a satellite unit. We also test to see how consistently a pair of mesh units will cover a large area, taking dozens of measurements throughout our lab space and producing detailed heat maps of signal strength and quality.
Finally, we send each router out of the lab to our reviewer's home, to measure real-world performance. These anecdotal tests are performed in an older house with thick walls, to test both range and how they handle simultaneous streams from multiple devices. Other factors used in evaluating the routers include ease of setup and use, software features and available ports.
Here are our top Wi-Fi router picks across several categories.
The TP-Link Archer C2300 has a mild-mannered design, but it's one of the most powerful routers you can buy. Pumping out nearly a gigabit per second of data in standard performance tests, it’s the performance champ, and when it comes to pushing data through walls and ceilings, it led the category. In addition to stellar performance, the Archer C2300 comes with antivirus protection baked in and is covered with a 2-year warranty. Add it all up, and it’s the best router on the market.
Editor's choice
TP-Link Archer C2300
Best Overall
You get a surprising number of features from Netgear's R6220, without a corresponding jump in price. This budget router features a USB 2.0 port for connecting peripherals, a switch for turning off wireless transmissions when you're on vacation and parental controls that filter out objectionable websites. You'll also get good performance for the money, with the R6220 pushing through more data than most of the comparably priced routers we've tested.
Editor's choice
Netgear R6220
Best Value
The TP-Link Archer C5400X is the first gaming router from the company, and it's number one with a bullet. The gaming router offers best-in-class tri-band performance, delivering 1Gbps over its 2.4GHz band, as well as 2.167Gbps over each of its two 5GHz channels. It also has impressive coverage and a look that's sure to turn heads. Premium perks include built-in security and customization tools, and even lets you combine two Ethernet connections to maximize throughput.
Editor's choice
TP-Link Archer C5400X
Best for Gaming
Netgear scores a home run with its initial foray into the mesh-router world. A single Orbi unit is one of the most powerful routers we've seen; add an Orbi satellite, and the system easily covers a 5,000-square foot home. The secret weapon is a dedicated backchannel that handles traffic among the Orbi units, without interference from client devices. We wish the devices were a little smaller and a little cheaper, but for the moment, the Orbi is the mesh router to beat.
Netgear Orbi
Best Mesh Router System
The Linksys EA8300 Max Stream is a capable tri-band router that offers plenty of ways to tweak and customize your router for optimal performance. Whether it’s through your desktop browser or a dedicated phone app, you can monitor your network use, prioritize data allotment between media, gaming and other uses, share wireless signal equally between multiple devices and balance data flow across three wireless bands. All of it can be managed manually, or automated, at home or on the go. Linksys also offers extensive online support, from manuals to troubleshooting guides and help videos for exploring the most advanced options. With so many ways to customize your router’s performance, the Linksys EA8300 Max Stream is an easy pick for the power user.
Linksys EA8300 Max Stream
Best for Power Users
The best way to extend wireless connectivity throughout your home is through a mesh network, and the best coverage we've seen so far comes from the AmpliFi HD, which includes a router and a pair of included extenders (or mesh points, as Ubiquiti calls them). The HD version isn't cheap, but it will bathe a mid- to large-sized home in Wi-Fi. It covered a 3,500-square foot home (and more) in our testing, and setting up the entire network took us about 15 minutes. Ubiquiti offers less expensive versions with less range, but AmpliFi HD's excellent coverage area makes it hard to top when you've got a lot of real estate to cover.
AmpliFi HD
Best for a Large Home
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About the author
Broadcom based routers from Netgear/Linksys (Marvell based units as well)/Asus can cause performance degradation with MU enabled, as Broadcom's implementation sucks. The Asus 86U is also close to the R7800 WiFi wise but its Broadcom based, though using an improved WIFi chip compared to older Broadcom units. FYI compared to the 88U (similar to R8500) the 86U is actually more powerful and using newer gen hardware, only reason the 88U is higher priced is due to extra lan ports.
Questions:
1 - ATT sells the AirTies 4920 as a match to establish a whole house mesh network. Any experience?
2 - What is the average range of the BGW?
3 - Why should I buy another router and bridge the BGW for $XXX AND added complexity?