5 Of The Fastest Wi-Fi Routers Available In 2024

The COVID pandemic changed how and where we work, with Forbes reporting that about one in eight full-time workers work exclusively from home and about 28% have a hybrid work situation, working at times in an office and others at home. That shift coincided with an uptick in video streaming, according to Play Today, as home video streaming jumped from 10% of all viewing in 2018 to 19% in 2019. In fact, today 77% of viewers aged 18 to 34 prefer watching streaming programming to traditional cable TV.

All of this meant more users needed access to high-speed internet than ever before. In 2020, Broadband Now estimated that 56% of residents in the United States had access to internet service with speeds of 1 GB or more, enabling multiple users in a home to work, watch videos, and play games simultaneously. 

To do so requires a router with the ability to handle the speeds a fiber optic or other fast connection offers, and major brands have stepped up to provide dozens of affordable wireless routers. Sifting through them can be overwhelming, though, so Slashgear has sorted through all the currently available home wifi routers to find five of the fastest.  

Netgear has been producing network hardware for nearly three decades, and its Nighthawk RAXE500 router offers speed and a robust feature set to go along with its sleek, bat-like appearance. The RAXE500 sells for $437 at Amazon, and for that investment, you get speeds of up to 10.8Gbps thanks to a 1.8GHz quad-core processor. This router operates via the Wi-Fi 6E standard and can connect as many as 60 different devices over a 3,500-square-foot coverage area.

It has two USB 3.0 ports, four gigabit LAN ethernet ports, and a gigabit WAN port to connect it to your ISP's modem. It also comes with a 30-day free trial of Netgear's Armor home security software and a full suite of parental controls, which you can manage using the Nighthawk smartphone app. In addition, the Nighthawk has eight built-in antennas. 

These features helped it win the 2021 Tom's Guide award for best Wi-Fi router. In addition, PC Magazine praised this router's speed, coverage, and advanced features, reserving its only words of criticism for the relatively steep price. "Wi-Fi 6E client devices are few and far between," the review explained, "but if you're an early adopter looking to future-proof your network, the RAXE500 won't disappoint." 

ASUS is another hardware maker with a long history, as the Taiwan-based company was founded in 1989 and now ranks as the world's top motherboard manufacturer. Its ROG Rapture Wi-Fi 6 router sells for $346.65 at Amazon and can deliver speeds up to 11,000 Mbps. It has a 64-bit 2.0 GHz quad-core processor, 256 MB of flash memory, and 1GB of DDR3 RAM, specs that would blow away many PCs of the bygone days of dial-up internet. It is also optimized for gaming with a dedicated 2.5 GHz ethernet port for connecting the router to a server.

The ROG Rapture also has a gigabit WAN port and four gigabit LAN ports, as well as AIMesh compatibility for extending its coverage area. The ROG Rapture was a top pick this year by the editors at CableTV, and PC Magazine named it the best router for gaming. They wrote, "This tri-band Wi-Fi 6 router carries a hefty price tag, but you get your money's worth in terms of performance, high-speed network ports, and features including game-enhancing settings and parental control, traffic monitoring, and network security software."

One of the more affordable 6E Wi-Fi routers is the Linksys Hydra Pro Axe 6600, which usually retails for $279.99 but can be found on sale for $229.99 at Best Buy. 

This router has a range of up to 2,700 square feet and can support more than 55 devices simultaneously at speeds up to 6.6 GB per second. It can be connected with other Linksys devices using the Intelligent Mesh system, and you can manage your home network and devices with the Linksys smartphone app. It has a 5 GB WAN port, four gigabit LAN ethernet ports, and a USB 3.0 port. Inside is a 1.8Ghz quad-core processor and 512 MB each of flash memory and RAM.

CNET thought the Hydra Pro was a bit overpriced but praised its robust signal strength and consistent delivery of data at high speed, concluding that it is a "pretty tempting pick for medium-sized homes in need of a better, faster Wi-Fi signal."  

The best value in terms of maximizing speed for your money is the Acer Predator Connect W6. This router sells for just $149.99 at Walmart and delivers speeds of up to 2.4Gb per second on the  6 GHz Wi-Fi band. It also operates at 5GHz and 2.4Ghz for longer range at maximum speeds of 4.8Gb per second and 600 Mb per second, respectively. It has a 2.0GHz quad-core processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and 4GB of eMMC storage on board along with a setting that optimizes bandwidth for NVIDIA GeForce Now video cards. It also has a 2.5GBps WAN port, four gigabit LAN ports, and a single USB 3.0 port.

You can configure some of the router's settings via the Predator Connect smartphone app, but VPN, firewall, and port forwarding settings can only be managed via the web browser console. Yahoo found the setup easy and the speeds and latency impressive, ultimately deciding that "There's quite a lot to like about the Acer Predator Connect W6, whether it's the cloud gaming optimisations, the bundled security software, the USB-A 3.0 port that lets you connect storage to your network, or the antenna signal configuration utility." 

One of the most consistently high-rated routers available today is the Archer AX-110000 from TP-Link, although it is a bit on the pricier side at $349 from Amazon. 

This tri-band router provides potential throughput at speeds over 10 GB per second through the eight external antennae, as well as eight gigabit LAN ports to go along with the 2.5 Gbps WAN port and two USB 3.0 ports. Inside is a 1.8 GHz quad-core main CPU along with three co-processors to keep things running smoothly. A Bluetooth interface allows you to easily connect to TP-Link's Tether smartphone app to manage router settings, and it comes with a free lifetime subscription to TP-Link's HomeCare service, which includes antivirus software and parental controls.

Tom's Hardware was impressed by the speed of this feature-rich router, but was disappointed by the number of dropped frames experienced while putting it through some tests. The review concluded, "The strong points include the integrated 8 port switch, the 5 GHz throughput, the integrated TrendNet security, and the ease of setup. The weaknesses are the bulky size, weak 2.4 GHz throughput, the large number of dropped video frames in our congestion testing, and the high price."