Best Wi-Fi router 2022: Budget, mid-range and wireless mesh systems for your home network
(Pocket-lint) - Investing in a top quality WiFi router is the best way to keep your home network stable and secure while still getting good download speeds.
After all, it doesn't matter how fast your internet download speed is if you're filtering it through an inferior router.
Wobbly connections, dropouts, and dropouts can all result if you stick to the default routers provided by your ISP, as they often lack the cutting-edge technology of third-party dedicated wireless routers.
That's where this guide comes in. We tested some of the best routers on the market to see which offer the most impressive range, speed, reliability, and value for money. Whether you want to stream 4K movies or play games without lag, we have the right router for you.
Which are the best WiFi routers? Currently our top pick is the Netgear Nighthawk AX8. However, for some users, we also recommend checking out the Asus RT-AX88U, Nest Wifi, Asus RT-AX86U 5700, and Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000.
Our top picks: Best WiFi router
Netgear Nighthawk AX8
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for
- Wi-Fi 6 ready
- Outstanding speed
- Unusual design
Against
About as advanced as you'd probably want, this bat-looking piece of kit offers huge potential for speed, as well as an extremely important piece of future-proofing. That's right, it's fully compatible with Wi-Fi 6, the next big Wi-Fi standard. This is by no means essential for most users, but as we'll likely see devices adopting it over time, it's a nice feature.
We'll admit that the Nighthawk design is a little risky depending on your tastes, but overall we're drawn to its mix of bold looks and seriously powerful performance. If you want Wi-Fi 6, this is for you.
We also recommend WiFi routers
Here are four other impressive routers to consider.
Asus RT-AX88U
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for
- Ideal for gamers
- Wi-Fi 6 ready
- Great for Ethernet
Against
- Also expensive
- Less bandwidth than tri-band models
This router from Asus is impressive on two counts - it packs Wi-Fi 6 into the package but is more explicitly aimed at gamers who can't afford even the tiniest delays and glitches in their home connections.
To that end, it packs insane speeds and a really impressive eight Ethernet slots on the back for you to wire up your various systems and take advantage of its state-of-the-art Wi-Fi. That kind of customization makes it a great solution for the ultra-avid gamer in you.
Google Nest Wifi
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for
- Unobtrusive design
- Great ease of use
- Easy to expand
Against
- Initially expensive
- Not a big leap from the previous generation
Find us a pie that Google didn't get into and we'd be surprised — whole-home mesh WiFi is no different. Alongside most other efforts, Google's Nest Wifi is, as expected, fantastic. It's fairly cheap, although it still feels steep compared to the router that comes with your internet contract.
For us, the real difference is in everyday use. Nest Wifi has a strong signal to ensure you get coverage throughout the home, and extenders are available to extend that coverage if your home needs it.
The router is unobtrusive and easy to set up, and each extender doubles as a powerful smart speaker with Google Assistant on board. It is a market leading product in terms of simplicity and benefits.
Asus RT-AX86U 5700
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for
- Wi-Fi 6 ready
- Looks pretty normal
- Great speeds
Against
- Expensive
- Can only be mounted vertically
While it's not exactly a quiet look, this router from Asus has a slightly more "normal" look than some of the other options on this list, which is a plus.
It also offers excellent speeds and an impressive range, all with a user interface that makes it really easy to set up and customize to your exact needs.
It's got Wi-Fi 6, just as you'd hope, so it comes at a steep price, but you should find it a reliable workhorse for years to come.
Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
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for
- Enormous speed
- Great coverage
Against
Look, we're not going to lie — many high-end WiFi routers will have guests in your home raising an eyebrow with their spaceship look. That's truer of the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 than any other we've seen. It's pretty monstrous.
It does, however, support the look of the Tower of Barad-dûr with incredible speeds and a pretty insane range, all on Wi-Fi 6 to ensure it stays great for years to come. It's hugely expensive, but in terms of raw performance, you can't do much better.
Other products we considered
We spent hours testing and researching to rank the best routers. We always consider a number of factors when it comes to recommending routers and try to apply the same criteria when considering a new device for inclusion. Not everything is judged by our tests either - we also try to factor in consumer ratings, brand quality and value.
Across all of our buying guides, there are also many products we test that don't make the final cut. However, since they might be the right fit for some people, we've listed them below.
How to choose a wireless router
Choosing the right Wi-Fi router can involve a lot of jargon that you might not understand. Here are some general questions to help you make your decision.
What's your budget?
This is a question we ask in pretty much every tech purchasing decision, but it's undeniably important. Knowing how much you are willing or able to spend is really important to make sure you stay within that budget.
Unfortunately, with the foray into new territory with Wi-Fi 6, most of the best Wi-Fi routers out there are now very expensive, but that doesn't mean you can't find a bargain at a lower price point if you look.
Are you an online gamer?
While every router on our list offers great speeds and responsiveness, some are aimed more explicitly at the gamers among us who might want additional features like ping heat maps or low-latency options to ensure their online gaming is never disrupted by a poor one will link on their side.
This is something to look into if you are serious about your gaming as you may find that a gaming router is your best bet. However, in our experience, these look a bit more unusual.
Do you want to be future-proof?
Wi-Fi 6 is here, bringing improved connections for the devices that support it (which aren't that many yet). While it might be a bit redundant at the moment, you won't want to upgrade your router every few years, so we recommend getting a Wi-Fi 6 router if you can afford it - it's the best way to go to make sure you have a router that will stand the test of time.
Is design important to you?
We've mentioned it a few times, and it will also be obvious from the list we've put together, but routers come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, many of these shapes and sizes are a bit ugly. It's fine if your access point means the router is in a hallway or home office, but if it's going somewhere that's visible all the time or to guests, you probably don't want some crazy spiked monster doing that a few of which occupies square feet.
We'd generally prioritize functionality over design for something like a router, but it's fair to say that making the right choice can take a while if you want something that's both technically impressive and beautiful is to be seen.
More about this story
Every product in this list has been tested in real situations, just as you would use them in your daily life.
Routers are a product category where head-to-head comparisons are relatively easy, so we can compare range, signal strength, and speed to see which routers perform best, even over long distances. We can also check which ones are the easiest to set up and use, which can be a hurdle.
Of course, pricing is also a big issue and one that can swing a router from a top recommendation to a less than stellar rating, but the reality is that most of the best options on the market are quite expensive. They're pretty ugly for the most part, too, which we explain - where there are nice, subtle designs, we're doubly impressed.
As with any summary, it's not possible to provide a list that works for every type of user, but we draw on the experiences and opinions of the broader Pocket-lint team - and thoroughly assess the areas above - to guide our work do best in this regard.
What we always avoid when compiling these tips are unnecessary spec comparisons and marketing lines; We just want to provide an easy-to-understand summary that will give you an idea of how each router is used. Our judgments are brief, but this is for brevity only. Rest assured that everything on this list has been fully tested.
Writing from Max Freeman-Mills.
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