GROUP TEST
WIRELESS ROUTERS
Take to the airwaves with these high-speed networking wonders
By Ian Evenden
Wi-Fi routers may not be the most exciting hardware ever to grace these pages, but the chances are every one of us has one, whether it’s the latest high-speed model or some junk sent to us by our ISP.
Increasingly, we’re seeing models advertised as ’gaming’ routers, not because they’ll run Doom—though as you can play that on a printer they probably can—but because they detect and prioritize gaming traffic so that your family’s Netflix habits don’t interfere with your Destiny 2 addiction.
Whether you really need the latest networking equipment depends on your device collection, and how you connect to the internet. Sharing a multi-gig fiber connection may require expensive Wi-Fi 7 and fast Ethernet, but with the average internet hookup well below this, getting a new router is a balancing act between features and cost.
Archer GE800
TP-LINK $590
Pretty fly for a Wi-Fi
1
Simply the best router
we’ve tested, the Archer GE800 offers Wi-Fi 7,
fast Ethernet, easy setup and the kind of looks that have you wondering if you’ve seen The Last Jedi too many times. If you’re setting up a network with lots of client devices, some Ethernet-appreciating items like home servers, a really fast internet connection and a gaming PC, then it’s going to fulfill all your needs for the next five years at least.