what to look for in a wireless router 2019

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The all-time wireless router gives you the fastest performance for your devices at the uttermost possible range. It's an piece of cake formula, right? Simply it tin be deceptively difficult to figure out when you need a new router—and fifty-fifty trickier to purchase the right one. Afterwards researching tons of routers and testing nine finalists over four weeks, we think the best for most people is the D-Link AC1900 DIR-878.

It'due south fast, easy to fix up, offers enough range for even a large home, and should hold upwards for years to come. However, y'all (or your family unit) own a lot of bandwidth-hogging devices, or you need a router that's packed with as many features as possible, the Asus tri-band RT-AC3200—or a mesh WiFi organisation—may be a amend fit.

ane. Best Overall Router: D-Link DIR-878

Whatever wizardry D-Link congenital into its DIR-878, information technology'south practically Tolkienesque. Nosotros were blown away by this AC1900 router's wireless-air-conditioning performance, especially at range. The DIR-878 is the router to become if you merely desire great speeds for minimal fuss—and cost.

Compared to other routers' 5GHz or single-SSID Wi-Fi networks, the DIR-878 accomplished the best combined performance across all of our test locations on our wired file transfer test. At our toughest, long-range exam location, the DIR-878 had the best combined read and write throughput—and well-nigh double the speed of the next-fastest router.

Ability users volition find the DIR-878 a scrap dull, merely its heart-opening functioning for its similarly surprising price makes D-Link'southward router a must-buy for most. If y'all accept more strenuous networking needs, like devices numbering in the double-digits that are all trying to perform bandwidth-heavy tasks at the same time, you might need a better-equipped tri-ring router like Asus' RT-AC3200. Otherwise, the DIR-878 is a swell friction match for most users' typical needs.

Get the D-Link DIR-878 from Amazon for $124.92

ii. Best Advanced Router: Asus RT-AC3200

If y'all're tired of dealing with routers that only ever give y'all half of what y'all desire, it's time to plunk downwardly some cash for Asus' RT-AC3200, a tri-band router that has nearly everything you need for a higher $200 cost. It's fast and fully featured, and Asus focuses less on future-proofing the router in favor of features you can actually accept advantage of right now.

The RT-AC3200 is a "tri-ring router," which means it gives you a single 2.4GHz network and two 5GHz networks to selection from. In practice, you'll want to separate your wireless-air conditioning devices betwixt both 5GHz networks, as having too many devices doing likewise many things on a single network can impact the speeds of connected devices. The RT-AC3200 can assist yous manage this with its Smart Connect feature, band steering that you accept to manually enable within its web-based configuration. All the same, we constitute our devices generally performed ameliorate without it.

The RT-AC3200's setup process was incredibly uncomplicated. Nosotros loved that the router prompts you to update its firmware at the decision of the setup process, but nosotros hated that its default wireless networks are completely open—no countersign needed. While it's unlikely that you have a neighbor waiting to run across you power up a new router and admission its open up network before you can, we'd however prefer Asus to provide a unique password for the router'south initial wireless networks.

Get the Asus RT-3200 from Amazon for $179

iii. TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750

Typically hovering around $80, TP-Link'south Archer C7 is one of the least expensive ways to outfit your home with wireless-ac coverage—or at least, a portion of it. While it'due south rare to find some other AC1750 (or amend) router that beats the Archer C7 on cost, in that location are enough that are faster than TP-Link's router, especially at range.

The Archer C7's web-based configuration screen contains a lot of options, more than than well-nigh users will probable be familiar adjusting (if they'll even need to adapt them at all). We dearest that the router comes with an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-set access point style, in case you already take a pretty great router and want to use the Archer C7 to extend wireless-ac connectivity to a different area of your house.

Get the TP-Link AC1750 Archer from Amazon for $57.99

4. Nighthawk Netgear X4S

This creature of an AC2600 router tin can deliver incredible speeds for all the 4x4 and MU-MIMO devices yous currently own—which, for about people, is a whopping zero. We'd rather accept better long-altitude functioning.

Netgear does a great job walking you through the router's initial setup procedure, but we were a lilliputian bellyaching with Netgear's many requests during the setup process, similar request users to download the accompanying Genie app and sign upward for a Netgear account. We appreciate that Netgear prompts y'all to update the router'south firmware to its nearly recent version.

We also honey that the router comes with "Basic" and "Avant-garde" tabs in its web-based configuration screen, which helps go on router novices focused on the key settings they need to know. It'southward easy to access the router'due south parental controls, ReadySHARE settings for USB-attached storage or printers, and built-in BitTorrent downloader, although one of its about useful settings for those who already own a router—admission point mode—is a little buried on the Advanced tab.

Get the Netgear Nighthawk X4S from Amazon for $189

5. Trendnet AC2600

Trendnet's AC2600 TEW-827DRU is overkill for virtually people'southward needs, though it'due south does win a few points for being 1 of the most inexpensive 4x4 MU-MIMO routers we've yet seen. Don't autumn for the future-proofing though; by the time plenty devices arrive that can actually make use of this router's capabilities, you'll probably exist able to purchase something that performs fifty-fifty ameliorate.

We had a fleck of trouble setting upwards the TEW-827DRU. The setup wizard that supposedly helps users out past checking the condition of your Internet and LAN connectivity kept knocking our wireless connection offline. We were able to bypass the setup wizard and conform the router'south settings manually—not a trouble for experienced users, only a frustrating event for those who just desire an easy manner to fix up their routers for the first time.

Additionally, the router's firmware updating feature indicated that the router's as-shipped firmware (November 2016) was its most current, even though new firmware was available equally of July 2017 on Trendnet's website. That'due south not great for router security and performance, since well-nigh people—if they update the router's firmware at all—are much more likely to trust what their routers are telling them than to go to the manufacturer's website to check.

Get the TRENDnet AC2600 MU-MIMO from Amazon for $99.99

vi. Netgear Nighthawk R7000P

Netgear's R7000P is an AC2300 router that shares many of the same neat attributes as the visitor'south AC2600 R7800 router. For case, both have quality-of-service features that allow you to prioritize bandwidth for different devices in your network, besides as the same readySHARE access to continued USB storage and printers, a super-handy BitTorrent downloader built in, and guest networks—for the three of you that actually run a guest network.

Netgear has additional the parental controls in the R7000P by integrating Disney's Circle service, which allows you to set access limits by device, filter websites based on your kids' ages and interests, and monitor what websites your kids are looking at and what services they're using. Your kids will detest you, only the comprehensive access limits are a big step above Netgear's standard OpenDNS-based limits (which it also includes).

On our latency tests, the R7000P delivered the fastest response times on 2.4GHz, only worse latency on 5GHz. On average, effectually one-fourth of our 5GHz requests took longer than 400ms to complete.

Get the Netgear Nighthawk R7000P from Amazon for $177.93

seven. Linksys EA7500 AC1900

Nosotros were generally impressed by the functioning of Linksys' EA7500, fifty-fifty though this $160 AC1900 router costs a bit more than we'd prefer, probable a outcome of the time to come-proofing MU-MIMO capabilities Linksys has congenital into the device.

Setting upwards the EA7500 was elementary, though we constitute it a chip odd that the EA7500 automatically enables guest networks as part of its initial setup. This isn't a huge security outcome, since users nonetheless need a password to connect to them, but the onslaught of SSIDs could be confusing for router novices. We love that Linksys speedily asks new users to install firmware updates for the router as role of the setup procedure, and enabling automated checks for new firmware is easy within its web-based configuration—though you nonetheless have to log into the interface to actually install the update.

Linksys' router comes with a decent number of features, including parental controls, a "media prioritization" feature for prioritizing bandwidth among connected devices, and even a built-in network speed exam (if your browser has Adobe Flash installed). The EA7500 also works well with Linksys' mobile app, which provides an like shooting fish in a barrel style to view and edit the router's settings.

Get the Linksys EA7500 AC1900 from Amazon for $133.98

How We Tested

Nearly The Tester

How-do-you-do! I'm David Murphy. I have tested way, way too many wireless routers in my decade-plus career as a technology journalist. I've spent plenty of hours coming upward with not bad, real-world testing scenarios around my 2,563-square-foot house, and I've either researched or benchmarked almost all of the major routers you can buy nowadays. No joke: I'm pretty certain I've irradiated myself (and/or ruined my neighbors' wireless signals) from my deep love of helping people find the best Wi-Fi router for their needs.

About The Tests

We put our router contenders to the test by approximating a number of existent-world scenarios. Nosotros gear up each router at the same, southernly position in a 2,563-foursquare-foot house. Nosotros so set up upwards four testing points: one within the same room as the router; one 44 feet away from the router but within its line of sight; one in an bordering room (with a wall and some piece of furniture in between); and one 44 feet away from the router with walls and furniture in the style (no line of sight).

We used each router'southward settings as shipped, under the assumption that most people exercise little more than run through a router's default setup utility and call it a day. Nosotros tested each routers' wireless networks separately—2.4GHz and 5GHz—or only the unmarried SSID for routers that shipped with ring steering enabled. We conducted four primary tests for each router at each of our four examination locations:

Fast.com: We loaded fast.com v times at each examination location and averaged each effect. Nosotros so compared the how a router's speed at each test location compared to the average speed of a desktop organization connected direct to the router via Gigabit Ethernet—the fastest and most stable connexion a person could have.

LAN Speed Test (Wired):We fired up Lan Speed Test Server on our Gigabit Ethernet-connected desktop PC, and Lan Speed Exam on our customer MacBook. We then read and wrote 100 packets to the test server, each 1MB in size, to gauge a typical series of file transfers. We recorded the average read and write speeds for each test, and combined them to become a sense of a router's overall performance at our dissimilar test locations.

LAN Speed Test (Wireless):We continued a 2017 MacBook Pro (3x3 connectivity) to the same wireless network as our examination client, placed it between our first and second wireless testing points (inside the router's line of sight), and ran the aforementioned LAN Speed Test equally before. Since the MacBook Pro tin't run LAN Speed Test Server, we opened up a network share and directly targeted a folder on the MacBook Pro from LAN Speed Test on our MacBook Air.

Latency Test:This one gets complicated. Nosotros re-enabled Lan Speed Test Server on our desktop PC, still continued to the router via Gigabit Ethernet. We also used a program called Fenix to launch a separate spider web server on the desktop PC, which we used to host a 128KB PDF file. To begin our test, nosotros fired up a long 1440p YouTube video on our desktop PC. After that, we ran over to our MacBook Air in test position #3—the long-altitude, no-line-of-sight location—and began a LAN Speed Test using 1000 packets each 1MB in size.

We then ran over to our MacBook Pro, at present moved to test location #two—long-distance, line-of-sight—and fired up a 4K YouTube video. Finally, we ran to test location #4 and used some other 2014 MacBook Air to run NetBurn, a benchmark tool from Ars Technica's Jim Salter. We used this to simulate a typical web browsing session by downloading the 128KB PDF file at random times across a 300-second test. NetBurn tracks the latency of all the requests, and returns the results as averages, medians, and percentiles.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published only may change over fourth dimension.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2019/10/16/best-wifi-routers-best-ways-improve-your-internet/3995426002/

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