Wi-Upgrade Wi-Fi?

With so many people working (and playing) from home these days, having a solid wireless home network is a must. But many previous-gen routers simply aren’t up to the task. While it may seem like you should leave well enough alone once a network is up and running, a lot has changed in terms of broadband service and home WiFi demands over the past few years.

If you have high-bandwidth requirements, such as 4K streaming, video conferencing, or game streaming, it’s probably time for an upgrade. There’s plenty of new networking technology to take advantage of, and the latest products have advanced by leaps and bounds both in terms of performance and features.

What’s New?

For the Summer 2021 edition of this guide, we have plenty of great next-generation WiFi 6 products listed, which have reset expectations for the performance that WiFi can deliver. Technically known as 802.11ax, it has been given the friendlier “WiFi 6” name to help push consumers to adopt it, and frankly, we think it’s a great idea. It was hard enough for the average consumer to keep track of whether 802.11n or 802.11ac was faster, and 802.11ax sounds cool and all, but it doesn’t tell us much about performance.

Well, WiFi 6 is the fastest standard yet, and most importantly, was built from the ground up to serve multiple clients, which is what modern households undoubtedly have. Whether its multiple users, or just multiple smart devices, it’s almost impossible to find a home where there isn’t more than one device pinging the network at any given time!

We’re also excited to report that you can upgrade your desktop PC to WiFi 6 with a PCIe-based adapter, which we list in this guide. There still aren’t options in the USB form factor (it requires too much power at this point), but for any gamers and content creators out there who want to finally take advantage of their Gigabit+ fiberoptic or cable service without buying a new PC with WiFi 6 built-in, you now can! Speaking of cable, we also list our top pick among cable modems in this guide, which is how you can get out of paying monthly rental fees, while taking advantage of true Gigabit broadband service!

What If I’m On a Budget?

There’s still a place for 802.11ac devices (now known as WiFi 5). For mainstream users, these still very-fast products will be more than sufficient… heck, consumers were happy with them for a decade! Given that most older client devices (i.e., any PCs, TVs, phones, or Smart Home devices that are more than a year old) still don’t use WiFi 6, the budget-conscious shopper is going to want to stick with 802.11ac.

What If I’m Tired of Dropping the Signal Across My Home?

If you have a medium to larger home (say, over 2000 sq. ft.), speed ratings won’t tell you all you need to know about network performance. This is when it’s time to think beyond a single router (or node) sitting on one side of your house, and move to multi-node “mesh” network!

A system like the Orbi pictured here will fill those dead spots faster than you can say “where’s my signal?!?” With that said, gamers and streamers living in apartments and small homes should probably go with a single high-powered router at the same pricepoint. You get more straight-line speed at the expense of range.

One last thing: we utilize Amazon links throughout this guide, and your use of these links helps support future development of the guide!