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Product Information

First thing’s first: the Asus Rapture GT-AXE11000 is Asus’ highest-end router in its Republic Of Gamers (RoG) line. So if you’re looking for something affordable, you should probably look elsewhere – the Asus TUF Gaming AX5400, which is on this list, might be a better option for you.

It does have its share of limitations – namely, it’s dual-band only and it doesn’t have 2.5G Ethernet connectivity on hand – but it’s more than enough for most households’ needs. In fact, if your budget is a little more flexible and you can pay a little more, we recommend getting this one over our budget choice. As you'll see below, Wi-Fi mesh systems can be even more expensive. Remember that those prices typically reflect you buying not just a single router, but one or two mesh nodes, too.

Synology WRX560

Most VPN routers offer a lot of power and flexibility, but can take a while and some technical knowledge to set up. If you’re in a hurry, or just prefer an easier life, ExpressVPN’s Aircove is refreshingly different: you’ll probably have it up and running in under ten minutes, even if you’ve no VPN expertise at all. If that isn’t enough, it supports Asus’ AiMesh technology, which allows it to work as a mesh router in conjunction with other Asus routers. This means that if you ever need to expand your network coverage, you can easily add a ‘node’ instead of replacing this existing router. Lastly, while most devices are wireless or support a wireless connection, you’ll want to use ports for some of them. Maybe someone in your household is a gamer and needs the fastest speeds possible. Being able to connect that PC or console directly via an ethernet port is going to be much more vital than for general internet use. And, if you have an older PC or printer, you’ll probably need to physically connect that to the router as well. How we test Wi-Fi routers

Make sure to evaluate the router's speed and connectivity options, along with additional features like parental controls, gaming optimization, and voice control. Wi-Fi 6E, with support for the 6GHz band, is the latest standard. It's not significant enough an improvement to merit its own 802.11 designation, however, instead operating under the same 802.11ax designation as 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi 6 transmissions. And as mentioned above, 6E routers are just starting to hit the market and currently can't operate at full power on the 6GHz band. Wi-Fi 6E clients are still few and far between, but if you want to make sure your network is ready for 6GHz data transmissions, the ZenWiFi ET8 is an excellent choice. It uses two nodes to cover homes of up to 5,550 square feet, installs in minutes, and comes with free lifetime anti-malware software and parental controls that let you monitor internet usage, apply age-based web filters, and pause internet access with the touch of a button. You will need a separate ExpressVPN subscription to connect, but once that’s set up, Aircove’s well-designed, jargon-free dashboard ensures it’s even easier to operate than most VPN apps.The Asus RT-AC86U may not have quite the leading-edge technologies of other routers in this list, but it’s less than half the price of some, yet still offers enough power for many users, and that seems like a great deal to us.