If you haven’t upgraded your router in a few years, read on for tips and guidance. We put their expertise to work and rounded up top-rated Wi-Fi routers for your home. That’s why we spoke with Wi-Fi and networking experts - to help break down the latest in Wi-Fi tech, internet speed and more. All of these new features can help you get a faster, more stable connection in the right circumstances. If it has been a few years since you’ve looked into Wi-Fi routers, you’ll find plenty of new innovations, like tri-band, Wi-Fi 6E and mesh Wi-Fi networks. I'll also note that, while overkill for most setups, the previous-gen Asus GT-AC5300 was well-received here on CNET.Whether you are working from home or streaming the latest dragon-filled fantasy TV, you need a fast, stable Wi-Fi connection. Now, in 2020, it's down below $400 at most outlets, which is a step in the right direction. In our initial batch of gaming-specific router tests, we didn't see enough of a bump in performance to justify buying in at that price. The router also features a second 5GHz frequency band that you can dedicate to gaming only - that way, your gaming setup won't have to compete with traffic from any of the other Wi-Fi devices in your home.Īvailable now, the GT-AX11000 debuted as one of the most expensive routers on the market with a staggering price of $450. To deliver it, the GT-AX11000 supports Asus' GameFirst V feature, which prioritizes gaming traffic from ROG devices. The target demographic: die-hard gamers who require the best connection possible in order to stay competitive during online play. You'll need Wi-Fi 6 devices in order to take advantage of everything that a Wi-Fi 6 router like this one has to offer.įor even speedier top speeds, Asus offers the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, which uses a 1.8GHz quad-core CPU to promise wireless connections as fast as 11,000Mbps. Like with other Wi-Fi 6 routers, your existing Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4 devices will still be able to connect just fine, but don't expect them to be much faster, if at all. It's also compatible with the Asus AiMesh system if you want to add some extenders throughout your home to maximize coverage. Specifically, the AX88U and its four antennas promise combined wireless speeds of up to 6,000 megabits per second across the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, which is up from 2,600Mbps with the previous generation (and remember that you can only connect to one band at a time - the speedier 5GHz band clocks a top speed of just under 5,000Mbps). As the "AX" in the name suggests, this is a Wi-Fi 6 router, and that means it supports key Wi-Fi 6 upgrades like OFDMA, which lets it transmit data to multiple devices at once on a single channel, as well as 1024-QAM, which lets it pack about 25% more data into each of those transmissions than previous-gen, 256-QAM routers ( read more about 1024-QAM here). More important than how it looks: the next-gen specs. It looks just like the AC88U that came before it, albeit with gold accents instead of red this time around. First teased at CES 2018, the AX88U went on sale in October of that year, and it's available now for a princely sum of about $289. Read more: When are Wi-Fi 6 smart home gadgets coming? (Spoiler alert: Yep, they're awfully speedy.) And if you're curious as to just how fast these things actually are, check out our latest Wi-Fi 6 speed test results. Keep scrolling through this gallery to get to know some of your top options - we'll keep it updated with new models and specs as they arrive. Now, in 2020, we're seeing a new, second wave of Wi-Fi 6 routers and mesh systems hitting the market - and a lot of them are surprisingly affordable.Ĭouple that with Wi-Fi 6 support in new flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the iPhone 11, and 2020 is starting to look like a pretty good year to upgrade your router. We saw plenty of options that support the standard debut last year, but most were too expensive to recommend. Of course, to take advantage, you'll need to upgrade to devices that support the new Wi-Fi 6 standard - most notably, your router itself. This new standard, 802.11ax, supports faster, more efficient performance from your router, and can enable it to handle lots of connections with lots of devices all at once (you can read more about 802.11ax here). 2019 marked the big rollout of Wi-Fi 6, the latest version of the 802.11 wireless communication standard that we commonly call Wi-Fi.
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