Don’t think that WiFi routers haven’t changed much over the years. You might be surprised by just how much more responsive can your smartphone or laptop become when you replace your old router with one of the current best wireless routers on the market. Best of all, even the best wireless router isn’t unattainably expensive, especially when you consider for how long it will likely last you.
If you want to be absolutely sure that it’s time to replace your WiFi router, we recommend a WiFi analysis and surveillance app like NetSpot. Before you spend money on a new router, you want to first check whether your existing router doesn’t perform poorly because of interference caused by nearby wireless networks and other electronic devices.
NetSpot can quickly discover all nearby wireless networks and display all the information you need to determine whether they might be causing issues. That means examining on which channels the networks transmit and ensuring that your own wireless router transmits on a channel with as little traffic as possible.
Also, NetSpot can create an easy-to-understand visual map of your wireless network, highlighting where the signal is the weakest and where it is the strongest. You may discover that your router actually provides a decent coverage apart from one or two areas. In that case, you could simply move the router elsewhere and use NetSpot to check whether the coverage has improved.
If NetSpot reveals that your router is really holding you back from enjoying your Internet connection to its full potential, it’s time to look for a replacement.
The most important thing is to know what you need. Are you a gamer who plays online competitive games? Do you like to stream high-definition movies and TV shows from the Internet? Or do you just want faster Internet speeds without paying for features you may or may not use?
Once you understand your own needs, it’s time to pick a few models that fit the bill and read WiFi router reviews to discover their pros and cons. Keep in mind that tech reviews are a picky bunch who likes to point out flaws that will go completely unnoticed by the average user. Use your judgment to separate valid critique from frivolous remarks.
After your new WiFi router finally arrives at your doorstep and you set it up, use NetSpot to measure how much have your Internet download and upload speeds improved and how strong the signal has become.
We have selected top 3 best WiFi routers to save your time when selecting a replacement for your aging router. Each router on this list deserves to be called the best WiFi router for slightly different reasons, which is why we’ve settled on three distinct subcategories: best for gaming, best budget, and best for 4K streaming.
If you consider yourself to be an avid gamer, the ASUS GT-AC5300 is the router you’ve been looking for but didn’t know it exists. This tri-band gaming router has been designed to meet the needs of both competitive gamers who demand the lowest latency possible and live-streamers with huge bandwidth requirements caused by 4K streaming.
Inside the GT-AC5300 is a desktop-grade processor that manages the tri-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and eight Gigabit LAN ports for wired devices. Gone is the typical uninspired web user interface because ASUS has replaced it with the ROG-themed Gaming Center interface, which offers an easy point-and-click control over every feature the router has to offer, such as the built-in intrusion detection system powered by Trend Micro technology.
As you might expect, the ASUS GT-AC5300 is an expensive router, but its steep price is well justified, and its performance is utterly impressive. Will you use all of its features? Probably not. Will you enjoy the edge the router can provide in online games? Absolutely.
ProsThe TP-Link ARCHER C9 is an unassuming router with three detachable antennas that provide an excellent signal strength and the support for beamforming, which allows the router to increase the signal strength to a chosen direction.
For less than $150, the ARCHER C9 can rival many routers that cost over $200. It has a dual-core processor clocked at 1 GHz, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports for printer and file sharing, the ability to simultaneously broadcast on 2.4 and 5 GHz, as well as the support for the 802.11ac standard.
Thanks to the elegant design of the router, you won’t feel the need to hide it behind a curtain. Unfortunately, the router can’t be mounted on the wall, but it’s best to avoid placing routers close to large obstacles, anyway.
ProsWith a name like Nighthawk, it’s not hard to make a good first impression, and the Netgear Nighthawk X10 certainly doesn’t disappoint even when you get to know it better. This router is perfect for streaming fanatics because it comes with an integrated Plex media server, allowing users to enjoy movies, TV shows, music, videos, and photos from anywhere, across devices.
The Nighthawk X10 is powered by a fast quad-core processor that can provide network performance up to 7.2 Gbps and easily handle both 4K streaming and virtual reality gaming. The Nighthawk X10 is the first home router with a 10 Gigabit fiber port for fast NAS access. It also supports 60GHz 802.11ad WiFi, which is a future-proof WiFi standard that offers both impressive speeds and an excellent transmission range.
The router is by no means cheap, but it represents the cutting edge of home networking, and it’s guaranteed to perform exceptionally well under all circumstances.
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