Find out the best wireless routers to help improve your speed and coverage
If your Wi-Fi connection is constantly dropping, or if Netflix keeps juddering and buffering, the culprit is probably your wireless router. Choose from our selection of the best wireless routers, however, and you can improve your wireless coverage and ensure you’re getting the most out of your broadband connection.
There are plenty of options for you to choose from. Below, you’ll find our buyer’s guide, followed by a selection of the best wireless routers on the market, from low-cost models to the latest superfast Wi-Fi 6 speed-demons, alongside links to our full length, in-depth reviews.
Best wireless router: At a glance
- The best budget Wi-Fi 6 wireless router: Honor Router 3
- Wi-Fi 6 on a budget: D-Link EXO AX1800 (DIR-X1860)
- The best budget all-rounder wireless router: D-Link EXO AC2600 (DIR-882)
- The router you can turn into a mesh system: D-Link EXO AC1900
- The best 802.11ax router: Asus RT-AX88U
- The best-value wireless router: TP-Link Archer VR2800
- The best mid-range 802.11ax router: Netgear Nighthawk AX8
- The best router for gamers: Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700
- The best router for small businesses: Asus BRT-AC828
- The best ADSL router: Asus DSL-AC68U
- The fastest ISP router, bar none: TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub
How to buy the best wireless router for you
Before investing in a new router, check whether it will work with your internet connection. If you have an old-style ADSL connection, you’ll want a router with an ADSL2+ modem built-in; if you have fibre broadband, you probably need a router with VDSL2 support.
In some cases, all you need is an external WAN port. If you’re a Virgin Media fibre customer, for example, you can switch the supplied router into modem mode and connect it to your chosen router with an Ethernet cable. And some routers support both ADSL and VDSL, which could be very handy if you’re planning to switch providers in the future.
READ NEXT: The best mesh Wi-Fi routers for the ultimate in coverage
Should I upgrade to Wi-Fi 6?
Wi-Fi 6 – or 802.11ax, to give it its proper technical name – is the new wireless standard that gives you a faster connection, plus better penetration so that all corners of your home or office can get a decent signal. And since it’s designed for the connected age, it gets bogged down much less than 802.11ac when lots of devices want to connect at once.
Sounds great, huh? However, 802.11ax is still quite new, and despite quite a few new models being available you’ll pay a premium for a router that supports it. And, perhaps more to the point, once you have your sparkly new router, you won’t see the full benefit until you upgrade your devices as well.
All 802.11ax routers will work with older clients over 802.11ac, but if you’re not ready to replace your smartphone and laptop it might make sense to hold back for now and wait until 802.11ax hardware comes down in price.
What’s the difference between dual-band and tri-band?
All modern routers can transmit and receive on two radio bands at once. The 5GHz band is fast, but some older devices don’t support it; the 2.4GHz band is slower, but it has a longer range so it can be good for big old houses with thick walls.
So far so good, but when multiple clients try to connect to the same radio, contention and interference can slow things down. A tri-band router contains two separate 5GHz radios, allowing twice as many devices to communicate simultaneously at full speed – so it might be a smart investment if you have a house full of Wi-Fi devices.
Note, though, that this mostly applies to 802.11ac: as we’ve mentioned, 802.11ax copes more elegantly with simultaneous connections, so tri-band technology is becoming less necessary as the world gradually shifts to the new standard.
What’s the difference between a wireless router and a mesh system?
A mesh system does the same basic job as a router, but alongside the main unit it comes with additional “satellites”, which you place around your home to help distribute the wireless signal more widely. A mesh kit will be more expensive than the average router, but if you’re struggling to get a decent connection in the far reaches of your home, it could be the perfect answer. If that sounds good, check out our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems on the market.
What speeds can I expect to see?
Router manufacturers advertise some very fast transfer speeds, but these are theoretical maximums: you’ll never get close to them in real life.
They also have a misleading habit of adding up the speeds of different radios to come up with a total data rate. For example, if a router has a 2.4GHz radio that supports speeds up to 400Mbits/sec, plus two 5GHz radios rated at up to 867Mbits/sec, the manufacturer may tot these up to advertise a total speed of 2,134Mbits/sec. In reality, no single device will get a connection faster than 867Mbits/sec, and the real-world transfer speeds you see will probably be less than half of that.
Don’t get too hung up on extreme speeds: it’s nice to be able to quickly copy big files around your personal network, but when it comes to downloads and video streaming, the limiting factor is usually your internet connection rather than the router.
READ NEXT: The best Wi-Fi extenders to buy
How many wired Ethernet ports do I need?
Ethernet ports are far from obsolete. Many “smart” home devices come with low-power hubs that need to be wired into your router, and if you plan on adding a NAS drive to your network at any point, that’s also going to occupy a port. We’d suggest you look for a model that has at least four ports – although if need be, you can buy a low-cost Ethernet switch to attach more wired devices to your router.
Some high-end routers let you aggregate two ports into a single 2Gbits/sec connection, or may even have special high-speed ports rated as high as 10Gbits/sec. In practice, you’re not likely to find much use for these abilities: sure, you can give your NAS box a super-high-speed link to your router, but when you want to actually access your files, the connection from the router to your laptop will act as a bottleneck.
What other features should I look out for?
If you have kids, you might want to choose a router with built-in parental controls. Some let you restrict access to the internet on a per-device basis at certain times of day, or limit it to a certain accumulated amount of time; some even provide category-based web filtering. There are software packages that can do the same thing, but router-based controls are easier to keep on top of and administer.
Finally, a USB 3 socket makes it easy to share a hard disk or flash drive with your whole network. It’s a cheap alternative to a NAS drive for easily sharing files, although it won’t give you the security of a properly configured RAID array. USB 2 works too, but it’s a lot slower.
Looking for more advice on extending and improving your Wi-Fi signal? Check out our guide to increasing wireless speeds and fixing problems
The best wireless routers to buy
1. Honor Router 3: The best budget Wi-Fi 6 wireless router
Price: £50 | Buy now from Amazon
The Honor Router 3 is an amazing deal: a bona fide Wi-Fi 6 router for well under £100. Its sleek, compact design will slot elegantly into any living room, and it’s easy to manage using either the straightforward web interface or a friendly downloadable smartphone app.
Predictably, the Router 3 isn’t as feature-packed as the most expensive routers. Its parental controls are quite basic, and there are no fancy online services like home security or dynamic DNS. The most important features are present and correct, however, including a secure guest network.
Similarly, the Router 3 won’t win any medals when it comes to speed but, for most households, it’s more than fast enough. In our tests, it provided good, strong connections to Wi-Fi 5 clients all over the house, and gave Wi-Fi 6-compatible devices an extra boost of up to 35%. It adds up to a very tempting proposition for anyone seeking a practical, forward-looking router that won’t break the bank.
Read our full Honor Router 3 review for more details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6); Stated speed: 3,000Mbits/sec; USB ports: None
Honor Router 3
£49.99 Buy now 
2. D-Link EXO AX1800 (DIR-X1860): Wi-Fi 6 on a budget
Price: £106 | Buy now from Amazon
Low-cost Wi-Fi 6 routers are beginning to appear but, so far, there still aren’t that many about. The absolute cheapest is the Honor Router 3 (above) but it’s rather basic in the features it offers. The D-Link EXO AX1800 is still basic but at least offers a more rounded feature set, albeit at a slightly higher price, with firewall and VPN support as well as 4×4 MIMO and dynamic DNS. It isn’t the fastest over Wi-Fi 6 but it is reasonably priced and puts in an impressive performance over Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac).
Read our full D-Link EXO AX1800 review for more details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6); Stated speed: 1,800Mbits/sec; USB ports: None
D-Link DIR-X1860 EXO AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Router with Gigabit Ethernet Ports, MU-MIMO, Band Steering, 1024 QAM, OFDMA, Firewall, Parental Controls and Speedtest. Works with Alexa/Gooogle Assistant, Black
£105.99 Buy now
3. D-Link EXO AC2600 (DIR-882): The best budget all-rounder wireless router
Price: £125 | Buy now from Amazon
If you need a serious router on a strict budget, the EXO AC2600 is hard to fault. It’s a dual-band router with full support for 802.11ac, and four antennae which deliver good (if not exceptional) coverage.
Four Gigabit Ethernet ports support wired connections, and there are both USB 2 and USB 3 connectors for sharing external drives across your network. There’s no printer support, mind, and only limited parental controls – but for this little, it’s very hard to complain.
Read our D-Link EXO AC2600 review for more details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 2,600Mbits/sec; USB ports: USB 2, USB 3
D-Link DIR-882 Dual Band Wireless AC2600 MU-MIMO Wave 2 Wi-Fi Router with 4-Port Gigabit Ethernet
£124.94 Buy now
4. D-Link EXO AC1900: The router you can turn into a mesh system
Price: £102 | Buy now from Amazon
The D-Link DIR-1960 might look an unassuming lump of plastic but it’s actually one of the best routers we’ve tested in recent times. Not only does it perform well but it’s easy to use and packed with useful features as well, such as a simple to set up QoS system that lets you easily prioritise certain types of network connectivity.
The DIR-1960’s most eye-catching feature, however, is the ability to turn it into a mesh Wi-Fi system by adding mesh access points, should you want to boost speeds and reliability in farthest reaches of your home or, perhaps, the garden.
The router is an 802.11ac model rated at 1,900Mbits/sec, which is split across 1,300Mbits/sec on the 5GHz network and 600Mbits/sec on the 2.4GHz network so it isn’t the last word in modernity or outright speed. Note, too, that it doesn’t have an ADSL/VDSL modem built-in, either. However, it is a good, solid option at this price and it’s nice to have the flexibility of extending it, too.
Read our D-Link EXO AC1900 DIR-1960 review for details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 1,900Mbits/sec; USB ports: 1 x USB 3
D-Link DIR‑1960, EXO AC1900 Smart Wi‑Fi Router, Dual Band, 802.11 AC Wave 2 with MU-MIMO, Alexa Compatible, Built-In McAfee Protection, Black
£101.99 Buy now
5. Asus RT-AX88U: The best 802.11ax router
Price: £300 | Buy now from Currys PC World
It’s not cheap, but if you’re eager to embrace Wi-Fi 6, this Asus router is your best option. Tested with an 802.11ax-compatible laptop, it gave us incredible wireless speeds topping 70MB/sec – equivalent to 560Mbits/sec. Performance over 802.11ac is naturally slower, but the connection was still fast and powerful enough to stream 4K Netflix even at the furthest reaches of our home.
The feature set is impeccable too, with eight Gigabit Ethernet ports and USB 3 ports at both the front and back. The web portal, meanwhile, includes a VPN server, and you can use Alexa and IFTTT to automate basic tasks. A superb router that sets a high bar for future 802.11ax rivals.
Read our Asus RT-AX88U review for more details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ax; Stated speed: 6,000Mbits/sec; USB ports: 2 x USB 3
ASUS RT-AX88U Wireless-AX6000 AiMesh Dual Band Gigabit Router, OFDMA + MU-MIMO tech, 1024 QAM, Range Boost, Trend Micro AiProtection Pro, WTFast GPN, Dual WAN Support, 3G/4G Support
£290.11 Buy now
6. TP-Link Archer VR2800: The best-value wireless router
Price: £150 | Buy now from Amazon
The TP-Link Archer VR2800 is a great value router. It ticks all the important boxes, including 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi, it works with ADSL2+, VDSL2 and cable connections – and it even supports Sky Fibre and ADSL connections, which is unusual (although getting your username password details can be a bit of a challenge).
Performance is impressive and the router is a doddle to set up, maintain and configure. We particularly like the straightforward parental controls. If you’re looking to replace your ISP-supplied unit with something a lot more capable, this TP-Link router does a great job at a very reasonable price.
Read our TP-Link Archer VR2800 review for more details
Key specs – Modem: VDSL2/ADSL2+ (plus dedicated cable WAN port); Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac Wave 2; Stated speed: 2,800Mbit/sec; USB ports: 2 x USB 3
TP-Link AC2800 Dual Band Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit VDSL/ADSL Modem Router for Phone Line Connections (BT Infinity, TalkTalk, EE and PlusNet Fibre, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, UK Plug (Archer VR2800))
£149.99 Buy now
7. Netgear Nighthawk AX8: The best mid-range 802.11ax router
Price: £294 | Buy now from Amazon
Netgear has a full range of Wi-Fi 6 routers on its books and, believe it or not, the Nighthawk AX8 isn’t the most expensive. Nonetheless, it still performs very well offers huge amounts of potential bandwidth, promising up to 1.2Gbits on the 2.4GHz band and up to 4.8Gbits/sec over 5GHz.
In our tests, it performed well, and not just for more modern devices supporting Wi-Fi 6. It was fast for older 802.11ac devices as well, ensuring fast connectivity no matter what you have hooked up to your home network.
You also get a healthy feature set, including five Gigabit Ethernet ports instead of the usual four, two USB 3 ports for sharing USB storage devices over your home network and the ability to run backups to those devices via Time Machine, File History or Netgear’s own free backup software.
All in all, the AX8 is a mighty router; a tad expensive maybe but not as expensive as the most cutting edge of home networking products.
Read our full Netgear Nighthawk AX8 review for details
Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ax; Stated speed: 6,000Mbits/sec; Ethernet ports: 5 x Gigabit; USB ports: 2 x USB 3
NETGEAR Nighthawk 8-Stream AX8 Wifi 6 Router (RAX80) – AX6000 Wireless Speed (Up to 6 Gbps) | 2,500 sq. ft. Coverage 30+ Devices
£287.99 Buy now
8. Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700: The best router for gamers
Price: £400 | Buy now from Amazon
The Nighthawk XR700 isn’t like other routers. In place of the usual general-purpose firmware, it runs the specialist DumaOS, designed specifically to offer gamer-friendly features that you won’t find elsewhere. Geo-filtering, for example, helps ensure you get connected to a local server, to keep latency low, while anti-bufferbloat ensures that other home devices can’t eat up your bandwidth and interfere with your gaming experience.
No doubt about it, the price is steep. But for the money you get not only all the goodness of DumaOS, but also excellent 802.11ac performance, with download speeds close to 20MB/sec in all areas of our test home. There’s even a socket for a 10GbE adaptor for insanely fast wired connections: whatever your ambitions, the XR700 will keep up with them.
Read our Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 review for more details
Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 4,266Mbits/sec; USB ports: 2 x USB 3
NETGEAR XR700-100EUS Nighthawk Pro Gaming Wifi Router (AD7200 Mbps), Black
£400.47 Buy now
9. Asus BRT-AC828: The best router for small businesses
Price: £259 | Buy now from Amazon
Asus’ BRT-AC828 is perfect for a small business, or a busy home office. It has a generous eight gigabit Ethernet ports, a hardware VPN server and a pair of Gigabit WAN ports – so it can automatically switch to a backup internet connection if your main line goes down. It can even set up and host a branded customer Wi-Fi hotspot, with a captive portal for user name and password entry.
We found that the BRT-AC828’s overall performance was excellent too. In our home tests, it distributed high speeds all around the house at speeds close to what you’d get from a mesh system. It’s overkill for your average household, but for a small business or sole trader, it’s a great choice.
Read our review of the Asus BRT-AC828 for more details
Key specs – Modem: None; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 2,500Mbits/sec; USB ports: 2 x USB 3
ASUS BRT-AC828 AC2600 Dual-WAN Wi-Fi Router, Up to 200 Concurrent Users, IPSec VPN, VLAN, Captive Portal, Facebook Wi-Fi, Intrusion Prevention, Teaming Ports, 3G/4G Support, M.2 SATA
£251.99 Buy now
10. Asus DSL-AC68U: The best ADSL router
Price: £140 | Buy now from Amazon
The Asus DSL-AC68U comes with a built-in ADSL modem, so it can completely replace your current underperforming router. However, you can also configure one of the four Gigabit Ethernet ports as a WAN connector and use it with an external modem, so you can switch to cable in the future should you wish.
While the Wi-Fi provision is only dual-band, performance is great, especially considering the unit’s compact size, and the USB 3 port at the back can be used to share a printer or storage. You can also connect a 3G/4G USB mobile internet adapter as a fall-back option if your home broadband goes down. At this price, it’s a superb package.
Read our Asus DSL-AC68U review for more details
Key specs – Modem: ADSL2+/VDSL2; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 1,300Mbits/sec; USB ports: 1 x USB 3
ASUS DSL-AC68U AC1900 Dual-Band Wireless VDSL/ADSL 2+ Gigabit Modem Router (USB 3.0 for Media Server for Phone Line Connections – BT Infinity, YouView, TalkTalk, EE and Plusnet Fibre)
£139.99 Buy now
11. TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub: The fastest ISP router, bar none
Price: £30 (for existing customers, including delivery); free to new fibre customers | £74 from Amazon
TalkTalk’s latest router delivers wireless speeds up to a claimed 2,200Mbits/sec; in our tests, it managed to keep up with the fastest, most expensive third-party routers, both close-up and at long-range – and its distinctive, attractive design means you won’t need to hide it away.
The compromise is that the feature set is quite basic; for example, there’s very little in the way of parental controls, and no support for VPNs. And even if future firmware updates add those features, there’s nothing that can be done about the absence of USB connectivity.
Still, if you’re a current TalkTalk customer, it’s very hard to complain about getting this sort of speed for £30. For customers of other ISPs the £75 Amazon price tag is a bit less irresistible, but if performance is your priority it’s still a great deal.
Read our full TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub review for more details
Key specs – Modem: ADSL2+, VDSL2; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ac; Stated speed: 2,200Mbits/sec; USB ports: 0; Wall mountable: No
TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub – Enjoy a Fast, Strong, Reliable Wi-Fi Connection in Your Home
£74.99 Buy now