Best Wi-Fi 6 Router of 2023

$87 at Amazon

Netgear R6700AX

Greatest finances router for gigabit networks

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Although Wi-Fi 7 routers are on their manner, in the intervening time, Wi-Fi 6 continues to be the most recent era of Wi-Fi that is supported by a lot of the present era of devices and units. And that can assist you equip your own home with the quickest and most steady web connection attainable, we have rounded up the most effective Wi-Fi 6 router choices in the marketplace proper now beneath. 

Virtually each new cellphone and laptop launch helps Wi-Fi 6, and we’re beginning to see help pop up amongst peripheral units, too. Did you choose up an Apple TV 4K or Amazon Hearth TV 4K Max media streamer in your TV? Each of these help Wi-Fi 6. Have you ever managed to attain a brand new PlayStation 5 console but? That is a Wi-Fi 6 gadget too.

Wi-Fi 6 units like these are backward suitable with older routers, however if you wish to unlock their full potential for sooner, higher Wi-Fi efficiency, then you definitely’ll want a Wi-Fi 6 router operating your own home community. That was an costly proposition again when Wi-Fi 6 first arrived, however not anymore. Now, purchasing round, you may discover a good variety of Wi-Fi 6 choices out there for lower than $100, in addition to mesh techniques, gaming routers, vary extenders and extra. Some do the job higher than others — however that is the place we are available, with complete, hands-on assessments to assist determine the most effective improve picks for the cash. 

Anticipate common updates to this put up as we proceed to place Wi-Fi 6 to the check in 2023. At any time when we discover a new router that deserves consideration, we’ll add it to the record.

Greatest Wi-Fi 6 routers of 2023

Like

Sooner efficiency and higher vary than comparable AX1800 routers

Simple-to-use app controls

Excellent worth

Don’t love

Lacks superior options

Not highly effective sufficient to take full benefit of gigabit web speeds

When a router helps Wi-Fi 6, that implies that it is able to utilizing new options like OFDMA and 1024-QAM to ship sooner speeds and decrease latency to busy networks with numerous linked units. 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.

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Like

Tri-band design ensures optimum mesh efficiency

Simplified setup, with extenders that routinely pair with the primary router

Speeds akin to mesh routers that value a whole bunch extra

Don’t love

Bland, barely cumbersome design

Restricted retail availability

Wi-Fi Commonplace Wi-Fi 6Velocity Ranking AX3600Vary As much as 5,500 sq. ft. (two units)Wi-fi Networking Safety WPA2, WPA3Bands Tri-Band (2.4 and two 5GHz)

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 means of my velocity assessments to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the yr. With a number of units working like a crew of routers to unfold a sooner, extra dependable sign throughout a bigger space than a single router can, it is a implausible choose for giant properties — and one that will not set you again very a lot.

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Wonderful speeds, low latency, terrific vary

Complete gaming and community customization options through Asus Router app

Optionally available improve to a multi-gig Ethernet jack

Don’t love

“Good Join” band steering would not carry out nicely in small properties (however you’ll be able to flip it off)

Wi-Fi normal Wi-Fi 6Velocity Ranking AX5700Vary As much as 2,500 sq. ft.Wi-fi Networking Safety WPA3Bands Twin-Band (2.4 and 5GHz)

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 in 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 oversize, ostentatious design — but it surely’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.

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Dependable, constant speeds

Wonderful worth

Higher efficiency on high-speed, gigabit networks than different entry-level Wi-Fi 6 routers

Don’t love

Barely increased latency than comparable AX1800 routers

No USB jack

Velocity Ranking AX1800Vary As much as 1,500 sq. ft.

Gigabit web speeds are rising in availability from a large variety of main ISPs, they usually’re an excellent 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 desire a Wi-Fi 6 router that may take full benefit of it.

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Like

A constant prime finisher throughout a number of years of velocity assessments

Multi-gig Ethernet jack helps the quickest web speeds out there right now

Don’t love

Costly and infrequently on sale, regardless of being a couple of years outdated

Wi-Fi Commonplace Wi-Fi 6Velocity Ranking AX6000Vary As much as 5,000 sq. ft.Wi-fi Networking Safety WPA, WPA2Bands Tri-Band (2.4 and two 5GHz)

Keep in mind how I discussed that the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200 outperformed each different mesh router I’ve ever examined aside from one? Properly, here is the one which beat it — the AX6000 model of the Netgear Orbi mesh system.

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Like

Sturdy efficiency and speeds, with help for 160MHz channel width

Constructed-in Zigbee radio and help for Matter make it an excellent good dwelling choose

Don’t love

Barely inconsistent bandsteering in small properties

Wi-Fi Commonplace Wi-Fi 6Velocity Ranking AX3000Vary As much as 1,500 sq. ft.Wi-fi Networking Safety WPA2, WPA3Bands Twin-Band (2.4 and 5GHz)

Going with a mesh router makes a ton of sense when you stay in a big, multi-story dwelling with a number of house to cowl. In instances like that, it is price 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.

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Like

A dual-band mesh router that performs extra like a tri-band mannequin

Compact, nice-looking design

Don’t love

Barely costly at full value

Wi-Fi Commonplace Wi-Fi 6Velocity Ranking AX5400Vary As much as 2,700 sq. ft.Wi-fi Networking Safety WPA, WPA2Bands Twin-Band (2.4 and 5GHz)

It was a bit too expensive for me to advocate when it launched at $380 for a two-piece setup, however I’ve seen the Asus ZenWifi XD6 marked right down to $300 at a number of retailers in latest weeks, which makes it a significantly better worth.

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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 means of the identical set of complete, managed velocity assessments to get an excellent sense of the way it performs in comparison with different fashions. All through the pandemic, I have been operating these assessments out of my 1,300 square-foot dwelling in Louisville, Kentucky, however final yr, we have had been in a position to transfer these assessments again into the CNET Residence check lab, the place we have arrange a 1,350 sq. ft. check surroundings with a gigabit fiber connection.

There are 5 rooms in that check house, so after setting the router up within the first of them, I run a battery of velocity assessments in all of them to get a way of the common speeds at varied ranges. For every set of assessments, I begin in the identical room because the router with my check machine, a Lenovo ThinkPad Wi-Fi 6 laptop computer. I connect with the router’s community, then I run three velocity assessments and report the outcomes for add velocity, obtain velocity and latency. Then I transfer to the following 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 offers me an excellent 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 will sometimes additionally run devoted check runs to test the speeds on particular person bands, or if the router presents any distinctive efficiency settings. All advised, it provides as much as a whole bunch of velocity assessments and a number of days of labor for every router I evaluate.

Which Wi-Fi 6 router is correct for me?

There are three predominant issues to contemplate first as you are dialing in on a brand new router: the velocity of your own home’s web plan, the dimensions of your own home, and the variety of Wi-Fi units beneath 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 in your cellphone, laptop computer and streaming machine, then a easy choose 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 except your own home has a high-speed connection, and the AX21 sometimes prices rather less, so I might advocate beginning there.

If you happen to’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 a wide range of devices, or when you’ve simply upgraded your web plan so as to add in gigabit speeds, it is best to in all probability contemplate a router with better bandwidth potential. The tried-and-true Asus RT-AX86U is the one I might in all probability advocate first as a result of it has been an everyday standout by means of a number of rounds of CNET assessments, together with full rounds of assessments on three separate networks at three separate areas.

Nonetheless, 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 units will assist guarantee a greater, extra dependable sign all through the whole lot of your own home. You can 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

If you happen to’ve bought questions in regards to the ins and outs of Wi-Fi 6, you’ll want to 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 Twitter (@rycrist) or by clicking the little envelope icon on my CNET profile web page to ship a message straight to my inbox. Within the meantime, I will put up solutions to any generally requested questions beneath.