The Best Wireless Networking Buyer’s Guide – Fall 2024
Wi-Upgrade Wi-Fi?
With so many devices relying on wireless networking these days, having an up-to-date home network is a must. That’s because many previous-gen routers simply aren’t up to the task of supporting multiple high-speed devices. While it may be tempting to 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.
Simply put, if you have high-bandwidth requirements, such as 4K streaming, video conferencing, or game streaming, it’s probably time for an upgrade. The same is true if you have multiple smart devices in the home, such as smart speakers or a security system. In short, there’s plenty of new networking technology to take advantage of, and it will be put to good use in the modern home environment.
What’s With All the WiFi Standards?
For the Fall 2024 edition of this guide, we list products from three generations: 802.11ac (WiFi 5), 802.11ax (WiFi 6/6E), and 802.11be (WiFi 7). All have their place (and their pricepoint), and we’ll walk you through the benefits of each. To kick things off, we’ll just say that the cheapest (and slowest) is WiFi 5, but it’s still plenty fast if you’re on a lower-tier Internet service provider (say under 100Mbps), and the price makes it a very easy purchase.
Moving on, we have 802.11ax, which was given the friendlier WiFi 6 name, and a later iteration was called 802.11axe/WiFi 6E. The simplified numerical branding was intended to help consumers know what they were getting (and WiFi 5 was retroactively applied to older 11ac products, despite the name being introduced many years later). The thought was that consumers couldn’t keep track of whether 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax was faster (although 802.11ax certainly sounded cooler!). In case you’re wondering, the mid-generation WiFi 6E unlocked extra performance by using the 6GHz band (all previous WiFi standards used 2.4GHz or 5GHz). It’s a bit confusing that WiFi 6 doesn’t use 6GHz and only WiFi 6E does, but in truth 6E wasn’t fully embraced by manufacturers, and we never recommended it.
At this point, if you want serious speed, you go next-gen: 802.11be/WiFi 7. It adds the 320MHz channel on top of the existing 6GHz band from WiFi 6E, which is confusing but translates to one thing… speed! How much speed do you ask? Well, while 6E topped out at 4800Mbps, 7 can hit 11500Mbps, or nearly 2.5x faster. That is simply mind-blowing, and you know you want it. But… be forewarned: WiFi 7 is strictly for early adopters, given the cost and the fact that very few client devices (i.e., your wireless gear) use WiFi 7. But if building a network for the future is your goal, WiFi 7 is what you need.
Speaking of client devices, if you’re a desktop PC user as many of our readers are, you have the option of upgrading your WiFi, including to WiFi 6 or even 7 with a PCIe-based adapter, which we list in this guide. There’s now even a USB option for WiFi 6E, which means you can update older laptops, although it is a bit bulky. You can learn more later in this guide.
One last thing: you’ll need fast Internet service to take advantage of the speed of any of the offerings in our guide, and that means cable or fiberoptic. The latter always has proprietary modems, but for cable you can buy your own cable modem, and we offer our recommendation in this guide, getting you out of paying monthly rental fees, while getting you into true Gigabit broadband service!
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 Netgear 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. And anyone who wants the best of all worlds can actually pair two Asus-branded routers using the innovative Asus AIMesh system to create a truly out-of-this-world mesh network that has extreme speed and extreme range!
One last thing: we utilize Amazon links throughout this guide, and your use of these links helps support future development of the guide!
Routers
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The High-End 802.11ac Router –
TP-Link Archer A7
$60If you want to get the most from your fleet of older 802.11ac devices, this is the perfect option. It’s a cost-conscious choice for a multi-user household that isn’t using bleeding-edge PCs or smart TVs. And TP-Link offers one of the best prices on an AC1750-rated model, which offers up to 1300Mbps on the 5GHz band, and 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band.This router includes a USB 2.0 port that allows you to set up file sharing via a USB drive.
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The Mainstream 802.11ax Router –
TP-Link AX72 Pro
$150Ready for a blast of speed for all your current devices? Then jump on board with the AX72 Pro from TP-Link, which offers speeds up to 4800Mbps on the 5GHz band, while still being backwards-compatible with the old 2.4GHz band that legacy devices require. At this point, unless you’re on a very serious budget, there’s no reason to not to get 802.11ax (WiFi 6) tech.This is a fantastic pick for an apartment of a smaller home, and will have amazing performance over shorter distances. For larger homes, we suggest the mesh system below, which while not any faster over short distances, can cover a much larger area.
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The Mainstream Mesh System –
TP-Link Deco X55 3-Pack
$170Back in 2016, a few small players entered the WiFi market with a unique solution: bundling multiple routers into a single, sleek package, branded as “wireless mesh networking.” But those early devices were rough around the edges, being hard to set up and somewhat unreliable. Wow, how far we’ve come, and TP-Link is the undisputed leader in value. This model will provide access across your entire home (3 nodes are good enough for 6500 sq. ft and an amazing 150 devices), allow you to manage your whole home’s network via your smartphone, and set limits on individual users (i.e., kids!) by device, so all their connected products are cut off at dinner time or bed time. And thanks to its use of WiFi 6 (802.11ax), it can provide speeds of up to 2400Mbps to the latest devices.A lot of readers have asked us over the years about WiFi extenders, and whether mesh is the same thing. It most definitely is not, and at this point we no longer recommend extenders, which provided more range at the expense of vastly-reduced performance. If you need more range today, simply replace your old router with a new mesh system like this one.
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The High-End WiFi 7 Router –
Asus RT-BE86U BE6800
$330No, it’s not cheap, but honestly, given the performance the Asus RT-BE86U provides versus previous-gen routers, it’s an absolute bargain. With maximum speeds of 5764Mbps on the 5GHz band and 1032Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, for a rated total of 6800Mbps, it’s a solid upgrade over both WiFi 6 and 6E, yet costs less than many of those routers did when they launched. We particularly like that this model is unique among nearly all high-end routers in being vertical, giving it a much smaller footprint then competing models. And note that while there are cheaper WiFi 7 models that offer similar speeds on the 6GHz band, this is not an advantage – most client devices don’t use the 6GHz band, and 6GHz has shorter range than 5GHz. So all else being equal, you want the same speed on the lower band.As with other Asus models, the BE86U allows you to pair additional Asus routers together using the AIMesh system to create a powerful mesh network in your home. They don't even have to be the same model of router, although two BE86U models will work great together!
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The Ultra-High-End Mesh Network –
Netgear Orbi RBK852
$400What if you absolutely must have it all? Tremendous speed, fantastic range, extra features, and the simplest setup?!? Then you get the Orbi RBK852 from Netgear. It offers the absolute maximum throughput available on WiFi 6 thanks to its 4×4 radios and dedicated backhaul between nodes (meaning the communication between the router nodes doesn’t eat into the connection to client devices). It’s rated up to a range of 5,000 sq ft and 60+ simultaneous device connections.This is a massive step up from other WiFi 6 mesh offerings, thanks to its dedicated backhaul and 4x4 streams. Most others get by with 2x2 and no dedicated backhaul. This is the reference device for serious mesh performance out of the box! And if you have a really large home (up to 7,500sf) or more than two floors, you can add a third node, available on the same product page.
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The Extreme WiFi 7 Router –
Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro
$787With the ROG Rapture BE98 Pro, Asus takes everything that made its previous AXE models great and gives them the WiFi 7 treatment. This is seriously the ultimate router! It offers a shocking 30Gbps of total wireless bandwidth, including a 5GHz radio at up to 5764 Mbps and dual 6GHz radios pumping out 11529 Mbps each. It’s those 6GHz radios that really tap into the power of WiFi 7, and to be honest, drive up the cost as well – this router is not cheap, but it cannot be compared to WiFi 7 models that cost half as much, because they don’t have 6GHz radios and therefore do not provide the full benefit of WiFi 7.So here's the deal: while there are pre-boxed slimline WiFi 7 mesh systems that sell for more than this router, we don't recommend them. If you want the fastest, you have to go big literally and figuratively - pair two of these beasts up with Asus AIMesh, and run the fastest mesh network on the planet!
Adapters
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The WiFi 5 USB 3.0 Adapter –
TP-Link Archer T3U
$20 The Guru’s TipWe've found that wireless adapters that use only internal antennas typically don't have quite the same range as adapters with external antennas, but they're much more convenient to use with a laptop. Also, anything stuck on USB 2.0 will actually be a bottleneck to the average home wireless system, so be careful about off-brand options.
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The WiFi 6/Bluetooth PCIe Card –
TP-Link Archer TX55E
$29 The Guru’s TipBy adding Bluetooth capability to this card, TP-Link has made it a true 2-in-1 solution!
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The WiFi 7/Bluetooth PCIe Card –
TP-Link Archer TBE550E
$70 The Guru’s TipIf you have the extra cash to spare, we definitely suggest you go with this option over the AX-based model above for the sake of future-proofing!
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The WiFi 6E USB 3.0 Adapter –
Netgear Nighthawk AXE3000 WiFi 6E USB 3.0 Adapter
$75 The Guru’s TipIt's no mean feat to pack this much speed into a compact adapter, so don't trust off brands to get the job done.
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Cable Modem –
Netgear Nighthawk CM2000 Cable Modem
$220 The Guru’s TipNote that there is a newer CM3000 model, but it's essentially the same modem with a slightly different configuration, and both sell for the same price, at least as of our latest update.
Routers
- The High-End 802.11ac Router – TP-Link Archer A7 ($60)
- The Mainstream 802.11ax Router – TP-Link AX72 Pro ($150)
- The Mainstream Mesh System – TP-Link Deco X55 3-Pack ($170)
- The High-End WiFi 7 Router – Asus RT-BE86U BE6800 ($330)
- The Ultra-High-End Mesh Network – Netgear Orbi RBK852 ($400)
- The Extreme WiFi 7 Router – Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro ($787)
Adapters
- The WiFi 5 USB 3.0 Adapter – TP-Link Archer T3U ($20)
- The WiFi 6/Bluetooth PCIe Card – TP-Link Archer TX55E ($29)
- The WiFi 7/Bluetooth PCIe Card – TP-Link Archer TBE550E ($70)
- The WiFi 6E USB 3.0 Adapter – Netgear Nighthawk AXE3000 WiFi 6E USB 3.0 Adapter ($75)
- Cable Modem – Netgear Nighthawk CM2000 Cable Modem ($220)