The Best VPN Routers for 2020

In the remote work era, your Wi-Fi router is piling up some serious overtime, doing a lot more than just helping you stream movies and play games. Home Wi-Fi routers keep millions of people working, and they’re also connecting an ever-growing range of smart home devices. That means picking one that does the best job for both you and your wallet is trickier than ever, especially now that we’re seeing more Wi-Fi 6 devices becoming available.

We’ve outlined below our top picks among home and office Wi-Fi routers we’ve tested. Read on for our labs-tested favorites, followed by the buying basics you should know when buying a router. Also note: At the very end of this article is a detailed spec breakout of our top router choices.

You Can Trust Our Reviews

More About Our Picks

TP-Link Archer AX11000 Next-Gen Tri-Band Gaming Router

Best Wi-Fi Router Overall

Bottom Line:

The TP-Link AX11000 is one of the fastest Wi-Fi 6 routers we’ve tested, and it’s loaded with features, too, including a gamer-centric user interface, numerous ports, multi-gig WAN support, and anti-malware tools.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Lots of gamer-friendly settings
• Numerous ports
• Multi-gig WAN. Link aggregation
• Lifetime malware protection
• Solid parental controls

Best Mainstream Wi-Fi 6 Router

Bottom Line:

The Reyee RG-E5 is a reasonably priced dual-band router that uses Wi-Fi 6 technology to deliver seriously fast 5GHz throughput speeds with wide-ranging wireless coverage.

Pros

• Reasonably priced
• Easy to install
• Excellent throughput performance
• Strong signal performance

Cons

• No USB ports
• Lacks multi-gig WAN/LAN
• Does not support WPA3
• Lacks 160MHz channel bandwidth

Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000

Best Wi-Fi 6E Wireless Router

Bottom Line:

The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 is a hard-to-justify $700, but this Wi-Fi gaming router delivers all the tasty goods: excellent throughput performance, 10Gbps wired Ethernet connectivity, and support for Wi-Fi 6E.

Pros

• Fast throughput speeds in our tests
• Support for Wi-Fi 6E
• Three multi-gigabit ports
• Comes with network-security and parental-control software
• Can be expanded into a mesh system with additional units
• Gamer-friendly settings

Cons

• Very expensive
• Huge footprint
• Middling file transfer and 5GHz signal range performance

TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX3000) Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router

Best Budget Wi-Fi 6 Router

Bottom Line:

The TP-Link Archer AX50 is an affordable midrange Wi-Fi 6 router that delivers speedy throughput and comes with lifetime malware protection and parental controls.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Solid throughput and signal strength performance
• Strong parental controls
• Anti-malware protection
• Link aggregation

Cons

• Doesn’t support WPA3
• Middling file-transfer performance

Linksys EA6350 AC1200+ Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Wireless Router

Best Budget Wi-Fi 5 Router

Bottom Line:

The Linksys EA6350 is a dual-band router that offers blazing 5GHz throughput speeds, four Gigabit LAN ports, and a fast USB port. And it rings up for less than $90, making it our top pick for budget Wi-Fi routers.

Pros

• Nice price.
• Blazing 5GHz throughput in testing.
• Easy to install and manage.

Cons

• Middling file-transfer speeds.
• Non-removable antennas.

Best Wireless Router for Gamers

Bottom Line:

The Asus ROG Strix GS-AX5400 is a well-equipped Wi-Fi 6 router that delivers speedy throughput and comes with lots of features designed to enhance your online gaming experience.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Fast throughput performance
• Strong anti-malware and parental control software
• Gamer-friendly…