Has your internet slowed to a crawl thanks to the video-streaming enthusiast or regular Zoom caller living under your roof? There’s no better time than Cyber Monday to upgrade your router or step up to a mesh networking system.
The Best Cyber Monday Networking Deals
How to Choose a Router for Your Home
Not all routers are created equal, and we don’t all need high-power behemoths, but with families fighting for bandwidth amid Netflix streams and TikTok sessions, a router update could give your home network (and your sanity) the boost it needs.
The deals listed above should offer performance and range that’s sufficient for most households. Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E are the newest wireless communications standard, which enable networking devices to push more data to each device than ever before (Wi-Fi 7 is still a ways out). We have a full rundown of what to look for in a router, but here are a few explainers that could help you with your networking setup, too.
TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router
TP-Link’s Archer A7 covers an area of up to 2,500 square feet, making it an ideal solution for large homes. This router also supports speeds of up to 1,750Mbps, and it has a single USB port for adding a network storage device or a USB printer. It also supports Amazon’s Alexa, giving you the ability to turn the guest Wi-Fi on and off using voice controls.
Asus RT-AX3000 AX3000 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router
Asus’s RT-AX3000 Wi-Fi router supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard, with a max bandwidth of up to 3,000Mbps. It also has a number of useful built-in features, including AiProtection Pro for security. The router is compatible with AiMesh, which makes it possible to use the router in conjunction with a separate Asus router to give you even greater coverage. By itself, it already covers up to 3,000 square feet, great for large homes.
Netgear XR500 Nighthawk AC2600 Pro Gaming Wi-Fi Router
For a smoother online gaming experience, Netgear designed this router with built-in software that’s able to optimize network traffic. This can help to lower ping in games and reduce latency, which can greatly help to reduce network lag and stutter. The router is also quite fast with a max bandwidth of 2.6Gbps across two network bands.
TP-Link Archer C5400X AC5400 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Gigabit Gaming Router
The Archer C5400X is one of TP-Link’s most powerful Wi-Fi routers. It features beamforming technology and tri-band broadcasting support that helps to increase its effective range and improve overall performance with faster response times. This is further aided by a fast 1.8GHz quad-core processor that’s built into the unit. The max data transfer speed is listed as 5,334Mbps utilizing all three bands.
Google Wifi AC1200 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System (3-Pack)
The Google Wi-Fi mesh networking system contains three physical devices that each have a range of 1,500 square feet, which gives you an aggregate coverage area of 4,500 square feet. This should easily cover most large homes.
Google Nest Wifi AC2200 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System (2-Pack)
The Nest Wifi with two routers provides whole-home coverage of up to 4,400 square feet and speeds of up to 2.2Gbps. This allows you to stream 4K videos with ease if you have an internet connection fast enough for it. And it can handle up to 200 connected devices.
Recommended by Our Editors
Eero 6 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System
Amazon’s Eero 6 mesh Wi-Fi router alone can cover an area of up to 1,500 square feet for speeds up to 900Mbps, working on two network bands at a time that can handle 75 connected devices. A two-pack expands that to 3,000 square feet, while a three-pack covers up to 5,000 square feet. Amazon’s Eero Pro 6 is a tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system that provides relatively good wireless coverage and doubles as a home automation hub.
TP-Link Deco S4 Mesh Wi-Fi System (3-Pack)
TP-Link’s Deco S4 Mesh Wi-Fi devices can transmit over an area of 2,000 square feet alone. With a three-pack, though, you can cover an area of 5,500 square feet. They also support a number of smart features and can be controlled via a smartphone app or with voice controls using an Alexa device.
TP-Link Deco M5 Mesh Wi-Fi System (3-Pack)
TP-Link’s Deco M5 Mesh networking devices have a small physical footprint, and this kit includes three of them to cover an area of 5,500 square feet. TP-Link says these routers can handle up to 100 devices connected at a single time and they also feature support for Alexa voice controls.
Which Wi-Fi router network is best?
Wi-Fi 6 (or 802.11ax) is the latest mainstream standard for wireless internet, which brings faster speeds and more power efficiency for connected devices. This relatively new standard is just as ideal for wireless mesh networks as Wi-Fi 5, if not more so. Our current favorite Wi-Fi 6 wireless mesh system for most people is the TP-Link Deco W7200 Mesh, which brings people into this next generation with effective performance at a decent price.
Which router is best and cheap?
As for our favorite affordable Wi-Fi router, it actually still has the latest Wi-Fi 6 connectivity for an eminently affordable price of $99.99: the TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX3000). We’ve bestowed it with an Editors’ Choice award for its easy installation, reliable signal strength, and strong parental controls, among other features.
What should I see before buying a router?
Before buying your next Wi-Fi router, you should definitely consider the latest core technologies, like the currently available Wi-Fi 6E standard. This is an expansion of the technology that broadens support for the newly-established 6GHz spectrum with lower latency, but it will require specifically 6E-supporting hardware (both client devices and router). Likewise, the first routers with Wi-Fi 7 are due to land in early 2023, which will bring up to four times faster speeds than this generation. So, if you’re just curious about upgrading from Wi-Fi 6, you might want to hold off until mid-2023 to see whether Wi-Fi 7 is for you, or if your existing model will suffice.
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