The Best Wi-Fi Routers We've Benchmarked in 2026

Your Wi-Fi router is at the heart of your daily computing experience, so choosing the best Wi-Fi router is critical to your overall performance. We've tested a tremendous number of the best Wi-Fi routers on the market in our custom testing environment, creating an in-depth router benchmarking suite that measures performance in both home and office settings. We also test the new mesh routers in a demanding environment to ensure these new types of Wi-Fi networks undergo the most rigorous tests. In fact, we even benchmark a router's ability to reach devices outside your home, too, to better measure how your device will work on your porch, deck, or by the pool.

If your router is less than ideal, you will leave real-world performance and usability on the table for any device not connected via Ethernet. Even if your internet connection is 300 Mbps and your router claims to be capable of 1,200 Mbps, you may not get full speed. That's why it's critical that you select the best Wi-Fi router possible. This also means that you need a solid analysis based on comprehensive historical pricing data to ensure you're spending your hard-earned dollars in the best possible way.

View Details

Keep in mind that Wi-Fi 7 routers are currently the gold standard for consumer-grade routers, but Wi-Fi 8 is on the horizon. Wi-Fi 8 promises to improve real-world speeds by up to 25 percent and enhance performance in low-signal areas.

Don't worry — we've got you covered for your current and future hardware needs. Fortunately, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to purchase a router that’s more than adequate for even a mid-sized home. Below, we’ll list the best Wi-Fi 6E and 7 routers based on our in-depth testing, and some of these cost less than $100.

Quick List of Best Wi-Fi Routers in

Best Wi-Fi Routers You Can Buy in

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Best Wi-Fi Router in

The TP-Link Archer BE is the best Wi-Fi router out of the tremendous number of units that we've benchmarked exhaustively. Now that Wi-Fi 7 products have been on the market for a few years, prices have dropped significantly from their initial highs. You can grab a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router like the TP-Link Archer BE for less than $100. However, if you want a tri-band router that fully encompasses the entire Wi-Fi 7 feature stack, you can grab the Archer BE at a street price of $200.

There are standalone Wi-Fi 7 routers that are faster overall, and there are Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers that will give you better coverage, but the Archer BE hits the absolute sweet spot when it comes to wireless performance and features. Lurking beneath the unassuming, black exterior with six moveable antennas is a router that delivers solid performance across the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

It’s not class-leading performance, but it’s right in the same ballpark and more than sufficient for everyday users. Where the Archer BE shines, however, is with its 6 GHz performance. Here, we saw the router crack the 2.5 Gbps mark at close range.

As if the wireless performance wasn’t enough, TP-Link also delivers on the wired front. You get a single 10 Gbps WAN/LAN port and four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. That 10 Gbps port should come in handy if you have an ultra-high-speed fiber connection at your home, or if you just want to use it as a LAN connection for your gaming desktop. There’s also a USB 3.0 port on the side of the unit for connecting storage devices (Time Machine is even supported for Macs).

When it comes to delivering good overall performance for most people, the Archer BE is hard to beat. And with a price tag of under $200, it’s also priced right.

Read: TP-Link Archer BE Router Review

Best Budget Wi-Fi Router in

The TP-Link Archer BE is the best budget Wi-Fi router, providing exceptional value for the money. For the past few years, Wi-Fi 6 routers have been the sweet spot for value for price-sensitive consumers — it’s easy to find them for around $100 or less. However, TP-Link is turning that notion upside down with its Archer BE, which is a Wi-Fi 7 router with a price tag of $99.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we should temper your expectations by mentioning that it is a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router, meaning that it lacks the speedy 6 GHz band. This is what allows TP-Link to hit sub-$100 pricing for the Archer BE. However, you do still get support for Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and 4K-QAM.

Once you get past the lack of the 6 GHz band, 5 GHz performance is quite strong for this budget router. Our review unit was able to surpass 1 Gbps on the 5 GHz band, and it even topped 200 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band at 6-foot and 25-foot distances in our extensive benchmarks.

Besides the respectable wireless performance, the Archer BE also comes equipped with a pretty stout (for its price) assortment of ports on the back. You’ll find one 2.5 Gbps port for WAN and one 2.5 Gbps port for LAN, plus three 1 Gbps LAN. There’s even a single USB 3.0 port for sharing your external storage wirelessly over a network.

Read: TP-Link Archer BE Wi-Fi 7 Router Review

Best Gaming WiFi Router in

The TP-Link Archer GE800 is the best WiFi router for gaming: If you're looking for a dedicated, gaming-centric router, look no further than the TP-Link Archer GE800. At first glance, the router's design resembles something out of Star Wars, featuring twin vertical blades that join the main body. And given its gaming roots, it has RGB located around the body to spruce up the design and offers several lighting patterns.

When you get to the actual hardware, TP-Link also delivers with four 2.5 GbE ports, one of which is designated as a gaming port. TP-Link automatically prioritizes game traffic to your connected device when using this port. The Archer GE800 also has two 10 GbE ports, a single 10 Gbps SFP+ port, and a USB 3.0 port for storage. That last port can be used to set up a Time Machine backup for Macs. There's also some powerful software onboard, including automatic QoS controls to optimize online gaming, game port forwarding, and game server acceleration via GPN.

For devices that won't physically connect to one of the Archer GE800's ports, the router also delivers stellar tri-band Wi-Fi 7 performance. In our extensive benchmarks, we saw over 2,800 Mbps on the 6 GHz band and nearly 1,900 Mbps on the 5 GHz band at a distance of six feet, with relatively small performance falloff when moving out to 25 feet.

The Archer GE800 carries an MSRP of $599, and when we tested the router in September , it was selling for just under $400. Today, the Archer GE800 still sells for around $499, but regularly falls to $349 on sale, so keep an eye out for those drops.

Read: TP-Link Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router Review

Best Mesh WiFi Router in

The Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro is the best mesh router. This is the overachiever in the Wi-Fi 7 router world, thanks to strong performance across the board, especially on the 6 GHz band. You, of course, get access to the full Wi-Fi 7 spec, including MLO, 4K-QAM, and support for 320 MHz channeling.

We observed over 3.5 Gbps in throughput on the 6 GHz band at 6-foot distances, which dropped to around 1.9 Gbps at 25 feet. Those are the fastest wireless speeds we’ve seen yet from a wireless router in our benchmarks. Even 5 GHz performance saw speeds reach over 1.6 Gbps.

You get a router and one satellite in the box, both featuring one 10 Gbps WAN, one 10 Gbps LAN, and three 1 Gbps LAN. We would have liked to have seen those 1 Gbps LAN ports upgraded to 2.5 or 5 Gbps, given the $1,100+ price tag of the mesh system. With that said, Asus packed the ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro with a wealth of features, including Dual WAN capabilities, MLO aggregation for the wireless backhaul, wired backhaul support, and even cellular internet support via a connected smartphone via the USB 3.0 port. Throw in Asus’ comprehensive AsusWRT 5.0 software platform and you have a winning combination for a fast, full coverage Wi-Fi 7 mesh network.

With a street price of over $1,100, the ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro is aimed at enthusiasts who want the most out of their wireless network, and you won’t be disappointed.

Read: Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Review

Best Budget Mesh WiFi Router

TP-Link’s Deco BE63 is the best budget mesh router. The Deco is a value-priced Wi-Fi 7 mesh router that should provide more than enough performance for most general consumers. For just $299 for a two-pack, and with ongoing discounts that can bring the price down to as low as $240, you’d be remiss to leave the BE63 off your radar.

We benchmarked a BE63 two-pack, but you can also purchase a three-pack if you need additional coverage. The two-pack covers 5,800 square feet, while the three-pack boosts that coverage to 7,600 square feet. Each BE63 node comes with four 2.5 GbE ports and a USB 3.0 port for storage. You can also control 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands (across primary, IoT, and guest networks), access a comprehensive set of parental controls, and integrate a VPN via an easy-to-use smartphone and tablet app.

While the 2.4 GHz performance of the BE63 was slightly lower compared to its competitors, its 5 GHz and 6 GHz performance ranked near the top of the class. We achieved nearly 2,000 Mbps download speeds at close range, both with uncongested and congested traffic on the BE63.

Overall, the BE63 is an excellent bargain among tri-band Wi-Fi 7 routers, especially considering its sub-$300 pricing.

Read: TP-Link Deco BE63 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Review

Best 5G Wi-Fi 7 Mobile Hotspot

If you're looking for a mobile hotspot to provide connectivity for your devices on-the-go, it's hard to beat Netgear's Nighthawk M7. It's a tiny device with the same overall shape and weight (0.53 pounds) as a portable battery bank. However, its tiny frame houses a 5G cellular modem that fuel the dual-band Wi-Fi 7 hotspot.

5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 7 bands are supported, and the Nighthawk M7 can provide internet for up to 32 simultaneous wireless connections. You can even connect the Nighthawk M7 directly to a desktop or laptop using the included USB-C to USB-C cable, or you can use a USB-C to Ethernet cable for an alternative "hardwired" connection method.

However, the most useful feature of the Nighthawk M7 is the Netgear eSim Marketplace, which allows you to purchase and download an eSIM for dozens of countries around the globe. So if you're on a family vacation and need to share an internet connection with multiple people, or on a work trip and need to hook up multiple devices, Netgear has you covered. There are multiple plan (size) options, and payments can even be handled using Apple Pay or Google Pay.

We saw average download speeds of around 250 Mbps using the device, although your speeds and coverage will vary based on the local carrier that you choose.

There's little downside to the Nighthawk M7, which can last up to 10 hours per charge, other than its price. With an MSRP of $499, it's aimed at only the most diehard world travelers.

Read: Netgear Nighthawk M7 5G Wi-Fi 7 Mobile Hotspot Review

Best Travel WiFi Router

Although the overwhelming focus in the consumer router market is for stationary hardware that sits on your desk or shelf and is never moved, there's also demand for travel routers. These routers are compact, power-efficient, and provide secure wireless connectivity to multiple devices almost anywhere.

The TP-Link TL-WRBE is one of the best examples currently available; it's a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 travel router that easily collapses and slips into a laptop bag. Measuring 5 x 3.7 x 4 inches and weighing just half a pound, it won't take up much space alongside your other travel accessories.

The router includes a 2.5 GbE WAN port, a 1 GbE LAN port, and a USB-C port dedicated to power. That USB-C port is important, as the TL-WRBE can be powered using a garden-variety USB power bank. In my testing, the router drew just 3.5 watts under load.

TP-Link offers a variety of operating modes, allowing you to connect to a hotel (or an airline) Wi-Fi and share that single connection with multiple devices, connect via Ethernet to a cable, DSL, or fiber modem, tether to a smartphone via USB, or connect a cellular modem via USB. This versatility makes it a handy companion in just about any possible environment, including while outdoors (when using a USB power bank).

Although the TL-WRBE is by no means a performance demon, we saw upwards of 750 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, which should be more than sufficient for users looking to spread some Wi-Fi love while on the go.

Read: TP-Link TL-WRBE Travel Router Review

Other Wireless Routers We Tested in