Though the Wi-Fi 7 routers are actually out and being built-in into trendy tech, Wi-Fi 6 remains to be a wonderfully well-functioning web supply. It is what’s used for Wi-Fi-supported gadgets just like the PlayStation 5, Amazon Fireplace TV 4K Max and Apple TV 4K. Although they are going to work with older routers, they will work greatest with the correct router. Fortunately, most of the greatest choices for a Wi-Fi 6 router are beneath $100 and suitable with nice mesh methods, gaming routers, and vary extenders.
Some do the job higher than others, and that is the place we are available in, with complete, hands-on checks to assist establish the most effective improve picks for the cash. Anticipate common updates to this publish as we proceed to place Wi-Fi 6 to the check in 2024. At any time when we discover a new router that deserves consideration, we’ll add it to the checklist.
Greatest Wi-Fi 6 routers of 2024
When a router helps Wi-Fi 6, that signifies that it is able to utilizing options like OFDMA and 1024-QAM to ship sooner speeds and decrease latency to busy networks with numerous linked gadgets. That is true even with the budget-priced worth picks — and amongst these, the one which performs the most effective is the TP-Hyperlink Archer AX21.
The Archer AX21 did an excellent job in my at-home velocity checks. On the finish of a number of days of checks throughout 5 spots in my home, the Archer AX21’s common obtain velocity on a 300Mbps fiber community was a near-perfect 299Mbps. That features triple-digit obtain speeds within the very again of my home, a standard lifeless zone the place quite a lot of the routers I check battle to remain linked in any respect. In 2022, I retested the AX21 after upgrading my residence community to gigabit speeds — it is not highly effective sufficient to prime out a connection like that, however it nonetheless delivered quick, constant speeds, with my downloads averaging in at 441Mbps.
That stage of efficiency was robust sufficient for the Archer AX21 to beat out comparable fashions from Netgear, Asus and D-Hyperlink, and it even stored the tempo with fancier routers that value 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 primary community settings with out bombarding you with advertisements like another router apps will.
All of that makes the Archer AX21 an especially worthy decide for small- to medium-size properties, and the most effective worth picks you will discover that helps Wi-Fi 6.
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This was an excellent 12 months for TP-Hyperlink, and it wasn’t simply due to the Archer AX21. There’s additionally the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200, which cruised by way of my velocity checks to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the 12 months. With a number of gadgets working like a group of routers to unfold a sooner, extra dependable sign throughout a bigger space than a single router can, it is a improbable decide for giant properties — and one that will not set you again very a lot.
What’s nice in regards to the Deco W7200, together with its full assist for Wi-Fi 6, is that it is a tri-band mannequin with the same old 2.4 and 5GHz bands plus a further 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 most effective 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 value you $300 or extra, however the Deco W7200 will get you there for $100 much less.
Positive sufficient, the efficiency was excellent after I examined the system out. In truth, of the entire mesh routers that I’ve examined at residence, solely two averaged sooner obtain speeds — the primary prices greater than $200 greater than the Deco W7200, and the opposite prices greater than thrice as a lot. That makes the Deco W7200 a flat-out unbeatable worth and a greater, extra noticeable improve for many properties than splurging on a high-powered commonplace router.
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Asus is among the prime names within the gaming router class, boasting the most effective 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 embrace color-changing lights or an outsized, ostentatious design — however it’s nonetheless the most effective gaming routers you should buy. Gaming apart, it is the most effective 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 towards, 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 Cell Sport Mode designed to immediately prioritize site visitors to your telephone.
In different phrases, the RT-AX86U checks the entire bins you’d need from a gaming router (besides the color-changing lights, I suppose — although you may get it Zaku-styled should you’re prepared to spend a bit of 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 value level, it is positively an improve decide, however an inexpensive one which’s nonetheless cheaper than quite a lot of gaming routers. And, should you’re serious 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 geared up with a multi-gig Ethernet jack supporting incoming wired speeds of as much as 2.5Gbps.
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Netgear R6700AX
Greatest funds router for gigabit networks
Gigabit web speeds are rising in availability from a large variety of main ISPs, and so they’re a terrific match with the sooner wi-fi switch charges of Wi-Fi 6. In case you’ve made the improve to gigabit web speeds at residence, then you definitely’ll positively desire a Wi-Fi 6 router that may take full benefit of it.
Your greatest wager can be to go along with a real improve decide just like the Asus RT-AX86U, or a top-rated mesh system — however should you’re on a funds otherwise you simply do not wish to spend greater than $100 or so, you must transfer the Netgear R6700AX proper to the highest of your checklist. Presently accessible for $90, it is an AX1800 router with full assist 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 total 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
Greatest high-end mesh system
Bear in mind how I discussed that the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200 outperformed each different mesh router I’ve ever examined aside from one? Effectively, this is the one which beat it — the AX6000 model of the Netgear Orbi mesh system.
With that all-important tri-band design and full assist for Wi-Fi 6, the AX6000 Orbi blew us away with wonderful sign power and downright spectacular prime speeds once we first examined it out a 12 months 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 residence, 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 normally comes at a premium, and certain 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 improper with coveting one — or ready for the uncommon sale. If it had been my cash, I would fairly go along with that Deco W7200 system and spend the lots of I would save on one thing else, however should you simply need the most effective 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 should you stay in a big, multi-story residence with quite a lot of area to cowl. In circumstances like that, it is price it to prioritize getting a system with greater than two gadgets within the mesh — and Amazon’s Eero 6 Plus will get you there for $300, full with full assist for Wi-Fi 6.
The Eero 6 Plus takes the Eero 6 that preceded it and beefs issues up with a sooner AX3000 construct and new assist for full-width 160MHz channels, up from 80MHz. These wider channels permit the system to maneuver knowledge twice as effectively to suitable gadgets, 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 residence. 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
Greatest dual-band mesh system
It was a bit too dear for me to advocate when it launched at $380 for a two-piece setup, however the Asus ZenWifi XD6 is usually 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 totally able to optimizing our speeds all through the whole lot of the 5,400-square-foot CNET Sensible Dwelling. In truth, I would go as far as to name it probably the most succesful dual-band mesh router I’ve ever examined.
This can be a strong mesh router with one of many extra complete management apps accessible from a significant producer. That makes it a superb decide for intermediate and superior customers who wish to fine-tune their residence community expertise.
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How we check Wi-Fi 6 routers
At any time when I take a router into consideration, I put it by way of the identical set of complete, managed velocity checks to get a superb sense of the way it performs in comparison with different fashions. I have been operating these checks out of my 1,300 square-foot residence 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 velocity checks in all of them to get a way of the typical 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 hook up with the router’s community, then I run three velocity checks and document the outcomes for add velocity, obtain velocity 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 offers me a superb sense at how the router’s efficiency differs when the connection begins up shut versus when it begins at a distance, as this could usually impression your speeds. I repeat this complete course of thrice, throughout morning, afternoon, and night hours. I will sometimes additionally run devoted check runs to verify the speeds on particular person bands, or if the router provides any distinctive efficiency settings. All instructed, it provides as much as lots of of velocity checks and a number of days of labor for every router I assessment.
Which Wi-Fi 6 router is correct for me?
There are three fundamental issues to contemplate first as you are dialing in on a brand new router: the velocity of your own home’s web plan, the scale of your own home, and the variety of Wi-Fi gadgets beneath your roof that want a dependable connection. In case you’re dwelling in a small- to medium-sized residence with web speeds of 500Mbps or much less, and also you simply want a dependable sign on your telephone, laptop computer and streaming system, then a easy decide just like the TP-Hyperlink Archer AX21 or the Netgear R6700AX ought to supply 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 sometimes prices rather less, so I would advocate beginning there.
In case you’ve obtained a home stuffed with sensible residence gadgets, or a number of relations who every make common use of your Wi-Fi with a wide range of devices, or should you’ve simply upgraded your web plan so as to add in gigabit speeds, you must in all probability contemplate a router with better 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 a daily standout by way of a number of rounds of CNET checks, together with full rounds of checks on three separate networks at three separate areas.
Nevertheless, should you’re dwelling in a bigger residence, particularly a multistory residence, then it is price 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 gadgets will assist guarantee a greater, extra dependable sign all through the whole lot of your own home. You may additionally contemplate splurging on a mesh powerhouse just like the Netgear Orbi AX6000, however at a price of a number of hundred {dollars}, it is in all probability overkill for many properties.
Wi-Fi 6 router FAQs
In case you have questions in regards to the ins and outs of Wi-Fi 6, make sure you try my full explainer on the usual and what makes it higher than the Wi-Fi of yore. You can too attain me by trying me up on X (@rycrist).
What makes Wi-Fi 6 higher than earlier than?
Wi-Fi 6 contains assist for brand spanking new Wi-Fi options that assist gadgets move knowledge forwards and backwards sooner 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 gadgets can learn as a sequence of ones and zeroes — the binary code that makes up the whole lot 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 are roughly 30% sooner than earlier than.
Different options of observe embrace OFDMA, or orthogonal frequency division a number of entry, which improves community effectivity by permitting your router to ship knowledge to a number of shoppers inside a single channel without delay. Consider that like a pizza supply driver dropping off a number of pizzas to a number of prospects in a single journey to save lots of fuel. There’s additionally Goal Wake Time, which lets the router schedule gadgets that must periodically verify 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 assist WPA3, the most recent commonplace for Wi-Fi safety.
Are Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E the identical factor?
Will older gadgets nonetheless work with a Wi-Fi 6 router?
Sure — Wi-Fi 6 is totally backward-compatible, so earlier-gen Wi-Fi gadgets will nonetheless have the ability to hook up with them and get on-line. They simply will not have the ability to reap the benefits of the brand new Wi-Fi 6 options that velocity issues up for current-gen gadgets.
