Best Wi-Fi routers for 2024
The best Wi-Fi routers offer an easy way to give your home network a major upgrade that everyone in your household can benefit from. You can also save quite a lot of money over their lifespan as you won’t have to pay a monthly rental fee for a router from your internet service provider.
From devices with Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E to the latest ones with Wi-Fi 7 support, we’ve rounded up the best Wi-Fi routers for every budget and home. However, if you have a large multi-story house and notice there are places where your Wi-Fi signal just can’t reach, you might be better off upgrading to one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems instead.
In order to determine which Wi-Fi routers are truly the best, we put them through extensive real-world testing, though we use networking benchmark software like IxChariot and iPerf3 too. We also test each of the Wi-Fi routers we review at 15, 50, 75 and 100 feet to measure their range and throughput. Additionally, we see how well each Wi-Fi router performs when it comes to pushing data through walls and ceilings.
If you’re tired of that old router from your ISP or just want a more capable device that lets you take full advantage of your internet speed, these are the best Wi-Fi routers you can get today.
The quick list
Below you’ll find everything you need to know at a glance about the best Wi-Fi routers available today. Whether you’re looking for an inexpensive and compact router or a larger one with plenty of Ethernet ports, there’s something here for every budget.
1. Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500
Best Wi-Fi router overall
The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 is a tri-band Wi-Fi router with Wi-Fi 6E support. It has a 2.5 Gbps WAN port for multi-gig internet along with four gigabit LAN ports and two USB 3.0 ports. The RAXE500 has a range of 105 feet and delivered 2.39 Gbps speeds at 15 feet in our tests.
Best Wi-Fi router for customization
The Asus RT-AX86U is a Wi-Fi 6 router that’s reasonably priced and highly customizable. At the back you’ll find a gigabit as well as a 2.5 Gbps WAN port, four gigabit Ethernet ports and two USB 3.0 ports. The RT-AX86U has a range of 95-feet and it delivered 929 Mbps…
