Though the Wi-Fi 7 routers are actually out and being built-in into fashionable tech, Wi-Fi 6 continues 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 finest with the correct router. Fortunately, lots of the finest choices for a Wi-Fi 6 router are underneath $100 and suitable with nice mesh programs, 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 assessments to assist determine the most effective improve picks for the cash. Anticipate common updates to this publish as we proceed to place Wi-Fi 6 to the take a look at in 2024. Every time we discover a new router that deserves consideration, we’ll add it to the listing.
Finest 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 a number of 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 pace assessments. On the finish of a number of days of assessments 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 useless zone the place lots of the routers I take a look at 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 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 price considerably extra. It is also a cinch to arrange, due to TP-Hyperlink’s Tether app for Android and iOS, which additionally gives fast entry to primary community settings with out bombarding you with advertisements like another router apps will.
All of that makes the Archer AX21 a particularly worthy choose for small- to medium-size houses, and probably the greatest worth picks you may discover that helps Wi-Fi 6.
…Learn extra
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 assessments to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the yr. 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 incredible choose for big 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 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 typically price you $300 or extra, however the Deco W7200 will get you there for $100 much less.
Certain sufficient, the efficiency was excellent after I examined the system out. The truth is, of the entire mesh routers that I’ve examined at dwelling, 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 houses than splurging on a high-powered commonplace router.
…Learn extra
Asus is likely one of 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 to your connection. The Asus RT-AX86U is definitely one of many extra understated routers in that blend — it does not embrace color-changing lights or an outsized, ostentatious design — but it surely’s nonetheless probably the greatest gaming routers you should buy. Gaming apart, it is probably the greatest 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 every 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 Cell Recreation 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 assume — although you will get it Zaku-styled when you’re keen to spend somewhat extra). Most significantly, it makes robust sufficient use of Wi-Fi 6 to make sure that even the non-gamers in your family will respect having it round.
At this worth level, it is undoubtedly an improve choose, however an inexpensive one which’s nonetheless inexpensive than lots of gaming routers. And, when 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.
…Learn extra
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 important match with the sooner wi-fi switch charges of Wi-Fi 6. If you happen to’ve made the improve to gigabit web speeds at dwelling, then you definitely’ll undoubtedly need a Wi-Fi 6 router that may take full benefit of it.
Your finest wager can be to go together with a real improve choose just like the Asus RT-AX86U, or a top-rated mesh system — however when you’re on a price range otherwise you simply do not need to spend greater than $100 or so, it’s best to transfer the Netgear R6700AX proper to the highest of your listing. Presently obtainable 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 assessments 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 take a look at setting. At shut vary, these speeds rose as excessive as 800Mbps. For comparability, the Archer AX21 completed those self same assessments with an total common of 435Mbps, and it wasn’t in a position to hit obtain speeds any greater than 598Mbps at shut vary.
…Learn extra
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? Nicely, 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 wonderful 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 incorrect with coveting one — or ready for the uncommon sale. If it have been my cash, I would moderately go together with that Deco W7200 system and spend the lots of I would save on one thing else, however when you simply need the most effective mesh router efficiency that we have seen in our assessments, full cease, cash be damned, right here it’s.
…Learn extra
Going with a mesh router makes a ton of sense when you reside in a big, multi-story dwelling with lots of house to cowl. In instances 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 help 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 help for full-width 160MHz channels, up from 80MHz. These wider channels enable the system to maneuver knowledge twice as effectively to suitable gadgets, and so they made an enormous distinction in my efficiency assessments, 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 superb choose.
…Learn extra
Asus ZenWifi XD6
Finest 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 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 assessments, and one which was absolutely able to optimizing our speeds all through the whole lot of the 5,400-square-foot CNET Good Residence. The truth is, I would go as far as to name it essentially 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 obtainable from a serious producer. That makes it a very good choose for intermediate and superior customers who need to fine-tune their dwelling community expertise.
…Learn extra
How we take a look at Wi-Fi 6 routers
Every time I take a router into consideration, I put it by the identical set of complete, managed pace assessments to get a very good sense of the way it performs in comparison with different fashions. I have been operating these assessments out of my 1,300 square-foot dwelling in Louisville, Kentucky. Later, we have been in a position to transfer these assessments into the CNET Residence take a look at lab, the place we arrange a 1,350-square-foot take a look at setting with a gigabit fiber connection.
There are 5 rooms in that take a look at house, so after setting the router up within the first of them, I run a battery of pace assessments in all of them to get a way of the typical speeds at numerous ranges. For every set of assessments, I begin in the identical room because the router with my take a look at gadget, a Lenovo ThinkPad Wi-Fi 6 laptop computer. I hook up with the router’s community, then I run three pace assessments and report 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 assessments in reverse room order. This strategy provides me a very good sense at how the router’s efficiency differs when the connection begins up shut versus when it begins at a distance, as this could typically impression your speeds. I repeat this whole course of thrice, throughout morning, afternoon, and night hours. I am going to sometimes additionally run devoted take a look at runs to examine the speeds on particular person bands, or if the router gives any distinctive efficiency settings. All advised, it provides as much as lots of of pace assessments and a number of days of labor for every router I assessment.
Which Wi-Fi 6 router is correct for me?
There are three primary issues to contemplate first as you are dialing in on a brand new router: the pace of your own home’s web plan, the dimensions of your own home, and the variety of Wi-Fi gadgets underneath your roof that want a dependable connection. If you happen to’re dwelling in a small- to medium-sized dwelling with web speeds of 500Mbps or much less, and also you simply want a dependable sign to your telephone, laptop computer and streaming gadget, then a easy choose 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 sometimes prices rather less, so I would advocate beginning there.
If you happen to’ve bought a home stuffed with sensible dwelling gadgets, or a number of relations who every make common use of your Wi-Fi with quite a lot of devices, or when you’ve simply upgraded your web plan so as to add in gigabit speeds, it’s best to most likely contemplate a router with better bandwidth potential. The tried-and-true Asus RT-AX86U is the one I would most likely advocate first as a result of it has been a daily standout by a number of rounds of CNET assessments, together with full rounds of assessments on three separate networks at three separate areas.
Nevertheless, when you’re dwelling in a bigger dwelling, particularly a multistory dwelling, 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 value of a number of hundred {dollars}, it is most likely overkill for many houses.
Wi-Fi 6 router FAQs
If in case you have questions concerning the ins and outs of Wi-Fi 6, you should definitely try my full explainer on the usual and what makes it higher than the Wi-Fi of yore. You may as well attain me by wanting me up on X (@rycrist).
What makes Wi-Fi 6 higher than earlier than?
Wi-Fi 6 consists of help for brand new Wi-Fi options that assist gadgets move knowledge backwards and forwards 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 collection of ones and zeroes — the binary code that makes up every little thing 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 reason why Wi-Fi 6 gives prime speeds which can be roughly 30% sooner than earlier than.
Different options of be aware 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 purchasers 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 avoid wasting fuel. There’s additionally Goal Wake Time, which lets the router schedule gadgets that must 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.
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 absolutely backward-compatible, so earlier-gen Wi-Fi gadgets will nonetheless have the ability to hook up with them and get on-line. They only will not have the ability to benefit from the brand new Wi-Fi 6 options that pace issues up for current-gen gadgets.
