Table of Content
This is a good showing—many of the routers in immediate competition cost up to $200 more than the A8. Note that the value-priced D-Link R15 and our former budget pick, the Archer A7, landed at the bottom of this ranking, far behind the Archer A8. If you were to place the two side by side, you’d have to flip them over to read their labels, or notice the AX50’s Intel logo, to tell the difference. This router’s plastic body is a little shiny and kind of cheap feeling next to that of the Archer A20 or Asus’s routers, but you’re probably not going to be handling your router after you install it. The AX50 has four non-removable antennas connected to the back panel, but they are articulated and adjustable. Most of the time, you will not have to worry about this metric unless you want to absolutely max out your internet capabilities.
We recorded all the results of these tests, and threw in the results of Cloudflare’s Internet Speed Test, run from the desktop computer, as an extra data point. These tests gave us a clear picture of how the routers performed on a small number of devices at extreme range and optimal conditions, as well as a large number of diverse devices in fairly taxing conditions. The Asus RT-AX86U has excellent speed and range, and can handle several people streaming 4K video, playing online games, working from home and taking video calls at the same time.
Previous testing (2018 and earlier)
It’s a reliable option for a small home or an apartment with a few people and their devices. The only potential downside to the MG7700 is that it is limited to DOCSIS 3.0 rather than the newer DOCSIS 3.1. While this isn’t an issue for most, if you want those higher speeds in the future, you might be left wanting. The two bands can be broken down further into channels, or narrower sections of the radio spectrum, but this usually isn't necessary unless you're doing a pinpoint analysis of what frequencies are best in a specific area.
The latest and greatest in technology isn’t always worth paying for, but the new Wi-Fi 6 standard (also known as 802.11ax) included in routers like the AX50 will make a noticeable difference in how most home networks perform. And this model is not that much more expensive than some Wi-Fi 5 routers even though it should feel faster, longer. The biggest improvements in Wi-Fi 6 concern how routers handle simultaneous connections to multiple devices—an increasingly common cause of wireless problems in busy households.
How Can I Speed up My Wi-Fi Router?
We drew our eight criteria below from research, as well as extensive testing. Instead of testing for the maximum throughput from a single laptop, we used four laptops, spaced around 2,300 square feet of a two-story suburban home, to simulate the real-world activity of a busy home network. We repeated each test set six times and averaged the results to smooth out spikes.
Our How to Buy a Router guide answers a lot of questions on the terminology you'll come across when shopping for a router. Select the Mac Filtering option (depending on your router, it might be listed as “MAC Filter,” “Network Filter,” “Network Access,” etc.). You can also enable MAC address filtering, a unique identifier on each Wi-Fi device. MAC address filtering allows you to block traffic coming from unknown sources.
A Solid Alternative to the TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX
The WiFi router is the most important piece of hardware for your home and office. If you are still not sure about it and want to know what are things to consider before buying a great WiFi router, read this article first. EXPERIENCE THE EERO TRUEMESH DIFFERENCE - eero’s patented TrueMesh technology intelligently routes traffic to reduce drop-offs and dead spots. Bill Thomas has been covering tech for several years, and has extensive experience with PC hardware, networking gear, and gaming. Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire.
Depending on your router, you may need to use your app via your mobile device to make these kinds of changes. You can also set your IP address for your router by changing the last handful of digits in the IP address field. Doing this will make your network more secure, and you'll be able to use that address to configure your router in the future. Start by first changing the default username and password for your home network. Popular choices for alternative DNS servers include Google’s Public DNS, Cisco-owned OpenDNS, and Cloudflare’s DNS. Each of these DNS servers is free and intended to provide a secure and private way to browse the web. We are here to assist people in setting up their smart homes with our daily informative blogs.
With the convenience of AI, the process of product selection or evaluation will completely become faster and faster, and untroubled. Through your internet service provider , a cable or DSL line finds its way into your home and connects to a modem — a small device that decodes the incoming internet signal into something your computer can read. The old-fashioned way is to plug the thing in and connect it with your modem via Ethernet cable, then type its IP address into a browser's URL bar to begin the setup. The easier, more modern way is to use the router's app, which will typically walk you through setup in about 5-10 minutes. After setup, you can also use either approach to access the router's settings or change your Wi-Fi password.
This article will explain how to optimize your router setting for optimal speed and performance and how these settings will minimize your security risks. Taking specific safety measures will prevent intruders from accessing your home's internet connection. Where you place your router can impact the strength of your internet connection.
Routers that support MU-MIMO are widely available, but the fact that consumers have been slow to understand exactly what the benefits of MU-MIMO are has kept the number of client devices somewhat scarce. You don’t get many extra features with the Reyee RG-E5, but for around $150 you get the latest Wi-Fi 6 technologies, solid throughput performance, and wide Wi-Fi signal coverage. The RG-E5 is easy to install and manage and gets you into a Wi-Fi 6 network without spending a bundle. If you require multi-gig ports and parental control software, be prepared to spend significantly more money for a router like the TP-Link Archer AX11000. You can, however, still use basic access-scheduling and URL-filtering features to help you control when your kids go online and which sites they can visit.
With devices like the TP-Link Deco M9, we can see how they’re only getting better and better. UK consumers looking for a simple, great value Wi-Fi 6 wireless router will find a strong contender in the Linksys Hydra Pro 6, which is easy to set up and use. It might not be as feature-rich as other routers on this list, but it's got a simple yet effective app, plethora of ports, and good coverage. While on the outside, it might look like a router straight out of Blade Runner, it's actually very easy to setup.
It performed on our tests as well as the TP-Link Archer AX20, which costs half as much, so we’ve placed the MR5500 here among the rest of the competition. Again, the Asus RT-AX88U was able to speedily serve each client simultaneously, with a minimal wait between each request. At the bottom of the chart, the longer browsing bars for the TP-Link Archer A7 and D-Link R15 show that you’ll be sitting there waiting for a few seconds if other devices are stressing the network at the same time.
It has a 2.5-Gbps WAN/LAN port, a Gigabit WAN/LAN port, three Gigabit LAN ports, and two USB ports (a 3.0 and a 2.0). Simple setup, silky performance, and serious speed make this Asus router a good choice for anyone prepared to spend more for smoother Wi-Fi. It sports an eye-catching red and black design with three rotatable antennas. This router had no issues covering my entire home and garden and was one of the top performers in my tests. It delivered consistently fast speeds everywhere and was stable, even with four people streaming and gaming at once. There are some handy customization options for gamers and optimizations that ensure low latency.
