Do you want to upgrade your home network to Wi-Fi 802.11ax, the most recent and fastest version? A Wi-Fi 6 router is required. Here are some of the best Wi-Fi Routers in 2022.
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Every few years, the 802.11 standard, which we name Wi-Fi, is updated with additional capabilities and better speeds. Because it was the sixth significant Wi-Fi generational update. The industry dubbed it Wi-Fi 6 to make things easier for users.
Wi-Fi 6 has become the de facto standard for next-generation devices three years later. It’s supported by almost every new phone and PC release. We’re starting to see it in peripheral devices as well. Last Black Friday, did you get an Apple TV 4K or Amazon Fire TV 4K Max media streamer? Both of these devices are Wi-Fi 6 compatible. Have you been able to get your hands on a new PlayStation 5 console yet? That, too, is a Wi-Fi 6 device.
You’ll need a Wi-Fi 6 router to fully utilise the capabilities of gadgets like those in your home. When Wi-Fi 6 first came out, it was a costly proposition, but not anymore. If you look around, you’ll find a number of solutions under including mesh systems, gaming routers, range extenders, and more. Some do a better job than others, but that’s where we come in, with detailed. Hands-on evaluations to help you figure out which upgrades are the best value for your money.
As we continue to put Wi-Fi 6 to the test in 2022, expect regular updates to this site. We’ll add a new router to the list as soon as we locate one that deserves to be considered. For the time being, these are the models I’d recommend to anyone looking to buy in June 2022.
Archer AX21 from TP-Link
When a router supports Wi-Fi 6, it can use new capabilities like OFDMA and 1024-QAM. To provide better speeds and lower latency to busy networks with many connected devices. That holds true even for the budget-friendly value selections, the greatest of which is the TP-Link Archer AX21.
In my at-home speed testing, the Archer AX21 performed admirably. The Archer AX21’s average download speed on a 300Mbps fibre network was a near-perfect 299Mbps after many days of testing across five locations in my house. That includes triple-digit download speeds in the back of my house, a common dead zone where many of the routers I test have trouble staying connected. After upgrading my home network to gigabit speeds in 2022, I retested the AX21 — it isn’t powerful enough to top out a connection like that, but it still produced fast, steady speeds, with downloads average 441Mbps.
The Archer AX21’s performance was good enough to knock out similar models from Netgear, Asus, and D-Link, and it even kept up with more expensive routers. It’s also simple to set up, owing to TP-Tether Link’s app for Android and iOS, which provides rapid access to basic network settings without assaulting you with advertisements like some other router apps.
All of this makes the Archer AX21 an excellent choice for small to medium-sized households, as well as one of the most cost-effective Wi-Fi 6 options available.
Deco W7200 from TP-Link
TP-Link had a great year in 2021, and it wasn’t only due of the Archer AX21. The TP-Link Deco W7200, which sailed through my speed testing to earn a spot as my top-rated mesh router of the year, is another option. It’s a great choice for large homes since numerous devices work together like a team of routers to provide a faster, more reliable signal over a broader area than a single router can.
The Deco W7200 is a tri-band device with the normal 2.4 and 5GHz channels plus an additional 5GHz band that the system uses as a specialised wireless backhaul connection between the main router and its satellites, in addition to full Wi-Fi 6 capability.
Because it keeps those system broadcasts apart from your usual network traffic, dedicated backhaul is the key to unlocking the best mesh performance.
When I tested the system, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it performed. In fact, only two of the mesh routers I tested at home had greater download rates on average. That makes the Deco W7200 an amazing value for most houses, and a better, more obvious upgrade than a high-powered conventional router.
The only real drawback? It’s been difficult to get the Walmart exclusive in stock so far in 2022. If you can’t find it, consider the TP-Link Deco X90, a somewhat more expensive device that performed even better in my tests than the W7200. It’s a little more pricey, but Amazon has it on sale right now.
The Asus RT-AX86U is a router by Asus
Asus is one of the most well-known brands in the gaming router market, with a wide range of fast, flashy routers that offer high performance, low latency, and advanced connection controls. The Asus RT-AX86U is one of the most subtle routers in the group, without color-changing lights and a showy design, but it’s still one of the finest gaming routers you can buy. Aside from gaming, it’s one of the greatest Wi-Fi 6 routers available.
Along with providing fast, consistent speeds, the RT-AX86U outperformed every other router. I tested in terms of latency management, and it comes with a full suite of tools for optimising your gaming connection, including an adaptive quality-of-service engine and an Open NAT database of game- and platform-specific port forwarding rules. There’s even a Mobile Game Mode, which prioritises traffic to your phone in real time.
In other words, the RT-AX86U ticks all of the boxes you’d expect from a gaming router. Most importantly, it makes extensive use of Wi-Fi 6 to ensure that even non-gamers in your household would find it useful. It’s unquestionably an upgrade, but it’s a fair one that’s still less expensive than many gaming routers. If you’re considering switching to a new multi-gig internet plan from AT&T, Frontier, Xfinity, Verizon, Ziply Fiber, or another provider that offers similar plans, you can obtain an updated RT-AX86U with a multi-gig Ethernet connection that supports incoming wired rates of up to 2.5Gbps.
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