
And if you’re feeling really flush, there’s an AX6000 version that costs twice as much.

It’s expensive, but if you’re in a particularly wide or tall house, or maybe a castle, and desire a solid wireless signal in every room, then this is the way to go. It’s the only unit on the test to have its own power supply, the only one to have four-gigabit ethernet ports and a USB 2 port, and the only one to address three wireless bands (one is kept as a dedicated link to your router). A black slab of plastic that’s effectively a router in its own right and moves us from Wi-Fi extender to mesh router territory. Indicator lights on the front of the extender tell you if you’re getting a good wireless connection, so it’s simple enough to try a few sockets and see which is best.īest mesh router kit | Best gaming laptops | Best gaming motherboards There’s no power passthrough so that you will lose a plug socket, but it’s not using Powerline, so anywhere on an extension strip will do.

With no external antennas, the range is limited, and therefore positioning is vital.

A clever feature to maximize the speed you get is Full Speed Mode, which connects to the router exclusively using the 5GHz network, then uses the 2.4GHz channel to connect to laptops, phones, lightbulbs, etc. Its ethernet port is a 10/100 model, so you’re not going to get the full benefit of the Wi-Fi 5 speed there either. There are always overheads, of course, but with something like 4K streaming taking perhaps 15Mbps of bandwidth, you’re still not going to struggle too much, and its ability to eliminate dead spots is as good as all the rest. How much network speed do you really need? If you’re using your Wi-Fi extender to pass through internet access and don’t need fast file transfer, 433Mbps on the 5GHz channel is enough for most broadband providers.

We've been through and tested a wide range of extenders (pun intended) for signal strength, stability, and, keeping cost efficiency in mind, these are the best options available right now. I mean, how fast does a lightbulb need to be, really? The congested 2.4GHz band can then be left for smart home kits. 5GHz Wi-Fi can still improve your network speed over previous generations, and though they don't penetrate walls as easily as 2.4GHz signals, all that extra speed gives it an advantage. We're up to 6GHz Wi-Fi extenders now, which we'll be adding soon, but check your device's capabilities before buying-only select devices can make the most of Wi-Fi 6. You could get one of the best gaming routers and have an exhausting fight with an ethernet cable, but the other option is to make use of the latest Wi-Fi versions what offer speed and stability to rival that of ethernet connections. Ethernet is still more reliable, but who want's to spend a weekend hanging wires through the stair rail when you can go wireless.
