Our search for the best Wi-Fi 6 routers has determined that the NETGEAR RAX80 is one of the best choices around. Simple to use and scalable at will, well equipped in features and, above all, very powerful, it is probably the one that will be able to satisfy the greatest number of users. Its many accessories allow it to be adapted to any situation so that you benefit from the best possible network coverage.
To experience a high-speed connection, you need a fastest wifi 6 high speed router. A good WiFi 6 wireless router not only provides reliable connectivity, but also has impressive and outstanding features to ensure that you will not experience any interference when you are playing games, playing videos in HD or 4K format, or doing remote work.
So there are so many best wifi 6 routers on the market, which one is the best? Here is an inventory for everyone.
Moreover, because of the home office, when choosing 802.11ax routers, in addition to high-speed performance, you should also consider the security performance of the router. After all, there are so many smart devices connected to the router, such as mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, and even smart home appliances. These are all connected to the Internet via WiFi, so there are certain security risks.
This is also the reason why enterprise routers on the market have surged during this period. These include VPN routers (used to provide more secure Internet access for your work) and network switches (used to enhance control capabilities). And, because the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard protocol is stricter, the latest Wi-Fi 6 routers tend to be more secure.
Fortunately, most brands now attach great importance to safety. And many routers have built-in security control functions that can monitor network usage around the clock.
List of Best Wifi 6 Routers
These are the best wifi 6 routers buyer reports & ratings 802.11ax routers, also we included fastest wifi 6 gaming routers, and fastest wifi 6 high speed router in 2021.
- NETGEAR Nighthawk 8-Stream AX8 Wifi 6 Router (RAX80) (Fastest WiFi 6 Router)
- ASUS RT-AX88U AX6000 Dual-Band Wifi Router (Best WiFi Router For Home)
- NETGEAR Orbi AX6000 Whole Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (Best WiFi 6 Router For Business)
- NETGEAR Orbi AX4200 Whole Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK752) (Best WiFi6 Mesh System)
- Asus AX5700 Dual Band RT-AX86U Fatet WiFi 6 Gaming Routers (Fastest WiFi 6 Gamin Router)
- D-Link EXO Smart AX1560 Router
1. NETGEAR Nighthawk 8-Stream AX8 Wifi 6 Router (RAX80)
NETGEAR RAX80 is the fastest wifi 6 high speed router, with DoS attack protection.
Speed: 802.11ax (WiFi6) | Connectivity: 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN, 5 LAN | Features: 802.11 i, 128-bit AES encryption and PSK; automatic firmware update; guest network access; vpn support.
The Eagle Wing router from Netgear looks a lot like Batman. You can use this router to protect your wireless network.
The router can not only achieve high-speed file transfer speeds of up to 6Gbs, but is also equipped with eight Wi-Fi streams, which can provide simultaneous connections for more than 30 devices. In terms of network security, it provides WPA2 encryption, DoS attack protection and dual firewall functions. In addition, the Nighthawk App that comes with Netgear allows you to set up parental controls, remotely access the network and suspend the Internet connection.
2. ASUS RT-AX88U AX6000 Dual-Band Wifi Router
Speed: 802.11ax 5GHz: 4,804 Mbps, 2.4GHz: 1,148 Mbps, 802.11ac 5GHz: 4,333 Mbps | Connectivity: 8 x Gigabit LAN, 1 x WAN, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 | Features: MU-MIMO, link Aggregation, traffic analyzer, adaptive QoS, 1GB RAM.
If you are looking for a high-speed router for home use, this model from Asus will be your best choice with its dual-band 802.11ax standard.
The router also supports MU-MIMO and OFDMA. If you own the latest smartphone (such as the Galaxy S10), you will enjoy extremely high transmission speeds-even on the older 802.11ac bands, the transmission speed will be greatly accelerated.
This ASUS router also has the AiProtection network security feature supported by Trend Micro, a commercial-grade security feature that prevents Internet security threats from any device connected to the network.
In short, this wifi router is perfect if you want a high-end product that offers the best performance at the moment and that you won’t need to change for many years. Whether you need it for gaming, for work, to manage VPN connections or large connections, this router will give you the best performance you can expect today.
3. NETGEAR Orbi AX6000 Whole Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System
Netgear’s Orbi embeds the latest security standards in addition to Wi-Fi 6. Orbi’s Wi-Fi thus benefits from the latest wireless security protocol: WPA 3 . This new standard concretely guarantees that it is much more difficult to crack the password of a Wi-Fi access point (with a dictionary attack for example) and guarantees that in the event of hacking, the confidentiality of communications. past is not compromised.
The Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 router is the manufacturer’s most advanced Mesh Wi-Fi router. It offers the best compromise between performance, simplicity and design. Indeed no unsightly antenna is visible, so it can be placed on a shelf or a chest of drawers without swearing. Above all, it is very easy to install.
Once out of its box, all you have to do is connect the main module to its box, then the satellite to an electricity outlet and finally launch the dedicated application on your smartphone to start the configuration. In less than half an hour, you will then have set up a mesh Wi-Fi system with a Wi-Fi name only throughout your home, the possibility of having a view of the connected devices and you will be able to monitor from near the quality of the Internet connection thanks to the application.
4. NETGEAR Orbi AX4200 Whole Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK752)
Launched shortly before the summer, the Orbi RBK852 duo (including router and satellite) offered a high-end Wi-Fi 6 mesh for your home or small business. With its new Orbi RBK752 and RBK753 packs, Netgear wants to repeat this success, but with a more digestible price.
Netgear announces a new Wi-Fi 6 mesh router supported by a satellite: the RBK752 tandem, which is hitting the market for under $500 dollars. As a reminder, the Orbi RBK852, more sophisticated, is for its part offered at 799.99 dollars. The price difference between the two products is justified by the lower performance displayed by the new pack from the American manufacturer. These services are certainly more modest, but which will suit the vast majority of individuals or small structures wishing better Wi-Fi 6 coverage in their homes or in their premises.
For 300 dollar less, the RBK752 indeed displays a speed classified Wi-Fi AX4200 (instead of AX6000) offering 600, 1200 and 2400 Mbps in Tri-band. The RBK852 for its part offers 1200, 2400 and 2400 Mbps, while having faster WAN and LAN ports on the router, as on the satellite.
Another difference is the number of devices supported by the two products: up to 40 simultaneously for the RBK752, against a maximum of 60 for the RBK852. For the rest, Netgear offers us a similar experience in terms of coverage (up to 350 m2 advertised) and frequencies.
There are thus 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz bands (but in 2 × 2 on the RBK752 and 4 × 4 on the RBK852), for the frequencies reserved for client devices, against a 5 GHz band in 4 × 4 dedicated this both to the exchanges between the router and its satellite.
5. Asus AX5700 Dual Band RT-AX86U Fatet WiFi 6 Gaming Routers
A well-specified, high-performance router that’s targeted at gamers find broader appeal. Asus has been kicking goals in the land of Wi-Fi 6. The company offers some of the best high-end routers, some of the best budget routers, some of the best Wi-Fi mesh systems and some of the best gaming routers. The RT-AX86U is Asus’ latest of the latter and first impressions were good.
Unlike many siblings and rivals, this high-end unit doesn’t look like an ostentatious, spiky spaceship that takes up heaps of desk space. Only three external antennae protrude from the top of the relatively discreet, vertically- oriented chassis.
These combine with a 1.8GHz quad-core processor plus 1GB RAM to achieve theoretical dual-band speeds of 5,700Mbps. We used our usual test methodology to establish its real-world performance by downloading large files from our Synology DS1019+ NAS to a Dell XPS 15 OLED laptop in a three- story Sydney townhouse with the router on the ground floor.
Up close it managed a stonking 799Mbps transfer rate – the fastest Wi-Fi speed we’ve ever seen. This dropped to a (still-impressive) 311Mbps one floor up, before managing 104.3Mbps two floors up. While the performance drop-off is significant, it’s far from slow and you can use other Asus AiMesh-technology equipped products to boost long-range performance.
Asus’ well-featured phone app offers quick-and-simple set-up, decent monitoring options, plus access to the most important settings. There’s also an ‘innovative’ one-click Mobile Gaming Mode though we couldn’t detect it making a significant difference. This is the type of feature-packed device that’s worth using a full, desktop web browser to access the full complement of firmware features.
Aside from excellent QoS and parental controls, there’s the usual (for Wi-Fi 6 routers) Trend Micro-based network security. We particularly liked the port forwarding section which, finally, has an extensive list of games (and platforms) ready for one-click optimization.
Other features make use of the hardware ports. Here a Gigabit WAN can be combined with one of the four Gigabit LAN ports to provide a 2Gbps, dual internet connection that you can connect to via the additional 2.5Gbps Ethernet port. Alternatively, you can use the 2.5Gbps port as an internet source.
There are also two, USB-A 3.2 Gen ports which can be configured to work in multiple ways: storage devices can be transformed into a file server or media server (including iTunes), it can also be used as a print server, 4G internet fall-back, Time Machine backup and even a PC-free, Bittorrent compatible download manager.
It all amounts to a very well featured, very fast, gaming-oriented router, but at a hefty $519, it won’t be for everyone. If you just want Wi-Fi 6 beamed around your house with a single router, TP-Link’s similarly priced Archer AX6000 offers better performance at long range, albeit at the expense of blistering, close-up pace and the gaming-oriented bells and whistles.
If you want the features and the range, Asus’ own colossal, ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 can now be found for under $700. However, if you want to save money, while maintaining decent Wi-Fi 6 performance, Asus’ budget friendly (and budget-looking) RT-AX3000 can be had for under $400.
6. D-Link EXO Smart AX1560 Router
The D-Link EXO Smart AX1560 is the cheapest Wi-Fi 6 router that we’ve yet seen. However, there are compromises at this price.
TP-Link dazzled us with its boring-looking Archer AX50 Wi-Fi 6 router which offered speedy 802.11ax wireless technology in an uninspiring box that cost under $300. Up to that point, the Wi-Fi 6 market had seen Asus and TP-Link seeking to out-do each other by offering increasingly powerful UFO- lookalike devices for nearer $1,000. But the market is maturing and now here’s D-Link (finally) with a Wi-Fi 6 router that can already be found under $200. Should you buy it?
First up, this really is dull- looking. All effort has gone into the function-based value proposition with little attention being paid to form: it’s an unattractive, dual-band, Wi-Fi 6 black box with four spindly antennae.
Set-up is very simple thanks to the D-Link Wi-Fi app and a QR code (in the box) which walks you through the connection. After you choose the network name and password (the 300Mbps 2.4GHz band and 1,200Mbps 5GHz bands are combined into one) you choose a device administrator password and you’re up and running.
If you log-into an optional D-Link cloud account you can set up Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice commands which enable you to disable connectivity, check login credentials and reboot the system.
The app is simple to use and allows you to easily see which clients are connected, enable guest Wi-Fi, turn off the four, bright, status LEDs, update the firmware and set parental controls. The latter lets you set-up different profiles which enable different devices to access the internet at different times of the week.
We were pleased that it allowed us to make the choice in 30-minute increments as the commonly-used hour-long delimiters frequently aren’t compatible with small-children’s bed time routines.
This is all standard fare for Wi-Fi 6 routers. In fact, this is the first such device we’ve seen without built-in Network security but then there’s got to be some compromise at this price. So, what about performance?
We ran our standard suite of Wi-Fi tests, which involve downloading large video files from a Synology DS1019+ NAS to a Wi-Fi-6-equipped Dell XPS 15 OLED laptop in a three-storey Sydney Town House. Up close it achieved the second fastest transfer rate we’ve ever registered: 735.3Mbps!
However, this isn’t uncommon for the cheaper routers at short-range: the persistent issue is that of signal degradation over distance and this was the case for the D-Link. One floor up, transfer speeds collapsed to 61Mbps and even that took two attempts to achieve (the first effort managed 30Mbps). Two floors up it was scored just 22.5Mbps which is in keeping with mediocre wireless AC-technology devices of a few years ago.
But you can’t have everything. The RRP of the DIR-X1560 is just $250 and it can be found online for just $189 already. If you want no frills, fast Wi-Fi on the cheap, and aren’t too fussed about range, it’s a great buy. However, TP-Link’s slightly dearer, Archer AX50 will appeal to those who need better performance at range while still on a budget.
Do I need to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6?
As new 802.11ax routers begin to appear on shelves you might be tempted to upgrade, but Wi-Fi 6 has been designed to achieve a few specific goals and they may not benefit everyone just yet.
Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of wireless network communication protocols and since it’s been in existence for a couple of years now it’s probably something you’ve heard of at this point. Yet with the first routers really only becoming available at the start of 2020 there’s a good chance you don’t actually know what Wi-Fi 6 really is, why it was created, and whether it’s worth upgrading to yet.
If you’re anything like us you’ve accumulated a lot of smart home tech over the years, but even if you’re not into installing smart speakers in every corner of your home, chances are you have a TV that can stream Netflix or a printer that’s Wi-Fi only.
Between the smart lights, Wi-Fi scales, smartwatches, and network connected gaming consoles there’s likely to be a lot more tech connected to our local networks these days and the trend doesn’t look like it’ll slow down anytime soon.
For those running full smart light arrays off a home router you’ve probably already noticed that it can impact the bandwidth you get on your smartphone, gaming PC or TV, even if you have a top notch multi-antenna MU-MIMO router.
Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) was kind of a stop-gap solution for 802.11ac that prevented congestion when many devices connected to the same network by partitioning the total available bandwidth into multiple streams.
This 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4 segmentation meant that multiple connected devices could access the router simultaneously. While this reduces wait time, it means the router needs to divide the max theoretical speed among the total number of available streams.
802.11ac is theoretically capable of carrying a lightning fast load of 3.5Gbps, but once you divide that by 12 (4×4) you’ve only got about 36MB/s left of transfer speed per stream, which is about the rate of a USB 2.0 connection or just under a third of a HDD write speed.
Even the best Australian NBN speeds give you only 100Mbps (12.5MB/s), so there’s no need to chuck out your current multi antenna router just yet. However, it’s pretty clear that you wouldn’t want to constrain that 36MB/s max speed further by adding even more channels.
Which brings us to the need for Wi-Fi 6, since 12 connected devices isn’t really all that many any more (two smartphones, two laptops, one PC, one TV, one printer, two smart lights, two smart speakers and a smartwatch are enough to break it).
Wi-Fi 6 ups this total speed throughput to 9.6Gbps, but as you may have guessed this speed boost is used to allow for more device connections rather than bolster maximum throughput speed per device. These MU-MIMO connections have also been opened up to allow both uplink and downlink communications, which facilitate access points handling even more devices than current MU-MIMO routers.
802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) runs over the newly opened up 6GHz bandwidth and offers either seven or 14 channels to network over. This new 6GHz range offers the potential for reduced latency, faster transfer and a less congested network.
Other than this there’s really just a few minor future proofing improvements, which means Wi-Fi 6 isn’t a major protocol transformation that offers massive benefits over existing 802.11ac solutions. Most people will be fine using their current network for at least a couple of years, or at least until you have a handful of Wi-Fi 6 capable devices.
If you’re planning on buying up a tonne of Wi-Fi 6 smart home devices when they eventually land (we haven’t seen any yet), then it could be worth doing the groundwork for a future proof Wi-Fi 6 network, but it’s still a bit early to need it.
Best Wifi 6 Routers Black Friday Deals 2021
We have created a list of the most discounted cheap and best Wifi 6 Routers Black Friday deals and Wifi 6 Routers Cyber Monday deals for this year’s holiday season 2021.