Wifi router price comparison

L2TP Passthrough. URL filter. IPv6 enabled. Mesh Wi-Fi. DLNA certification. Sort by: Versus Score release date price high to low price low to high. Xiaomi Mi AX General info. Linksys Hydra Pro 6E General info. Linksys MR General info. Linksys E General info.

Tenda TX3 General info. Tenda RX3 General info. Tenda AC23 General info. Linksys Hydra Pro 6 General info. Netgear AC R General info. Tenda RX9 Pro General info. Tenda TX9 Pro General info. Asus Blue Cave General info. Linksys EA General info.

Honor Router 3 General info. Tenda AC10U v2 General info. Google Nest Wifi General info. Amazon Eero 6 General info. In fact, of those three systems, Netgear Orbi clocked in with the fastest average top speed at close range -- and when we put that range to the test with smart devices at the CNET Smart Home , it edged those two Wi-Fi systems out with a faster router speed once again.

I even like the design, with clever contours on top that vent out heat in style. Read our Netgear Orbi review. With a second 5GHz band serving as a dedicated backhaul for system transmissions between the router and its satellites and full support for Wi-Fi 6, the system is still our top-tested mesh router, with the best scores in both our lab-based top speed tests and our at-home mesh coverage tests.

That's a near perfect result, and one that no other mesh system I've tested has been able to match. I think most will find better value with something less expensive -- and you've got a growing number of solid options that fit the bill. Still, if you're buying right now and you want elite mesh performance, price be damned, then this is the system to get. Read our Netgear Orbi 6 review. Most noteworthy is the router's latency management.

In fact, it leads all of the routers I've ever tested, gaming or otherwise, with the lowest average latency across all of my tests, which online gamers will definitely appreciate. Something else you'll appreciate: An excellent mix of app-based controls and features, including a mobile boost mode, that lets you prioritize gaming traffic to your phone at the touch of a button. If you need additional range, you can add other Asus "AIMesh" devices to your home network to make it the centerpiece of a mesh.

That checks off all of the boxes that most people want from a good gaming router, and it gets you there at a price that isn't too painful for us to recommend.

Even if you aren't a gamer, this is still one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers you can buy right now. Read our list of the best gaming routers. Watch this : Ways to speed up your Wi-Fi.

I'll post the answer to commonly asked router questions below -- if you have any others, feel free to reach out on Twitter rycrist , or by clicking the little envelope icon on my CNET profile page.

Doing so will let you send a message straight to my inbox. You need to be connected to your modem in order to send and receive data from the web -- your router lets you do that without need for a wire. It's basically a big, fancy antenna for your modem that lets you connect with it wirelessly, over Wi-Fi. You can also use that local Wi-Fi network to connect with other devices at home, like printers or remote storage servers. If your home is larger, then it's probably worth spending more on a mesh system that can spread more consistent speeds from room to room.

And if you're working from home, gaming online or sharing bandwidth with multiple housemates or family members, upgrading to something like a high-speed tri-band router is probably a good investment, too. 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 minutes. After setup, you can also use either approach to access the router's settings or change your Wi-Fi password.

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Ry Crist. Jump to details. Best mesh value Netgear Orbi dual-band, AC Best mesh performance Netgear Orbi tri-band, AX Read more: Best internet providers for Best budget router.