Best Wi-Fi routers: the best ways to boost your browsing and speed up your surfing

Mobile connectivity is king, and to ensure that your smartphone, laptop, or tablet isn't being held back, you need to ensure you've got the best WiFi router possible. If you're still using the standard box that your internet provider sent you, there's a good chance that you'll be able to get a significant speed boost by ditching it in favor of a newer and more advanced one.

The wireless world can be confusing, however, with a huge variety of choices and a range of different standards and connection types to try and get your head around. That's why we've assembled this range of different Wi-Fi routers to find the options that we think will suit you best. We've rated them based on connection speeds, signal strength, range, and coverage, as well as ease of use, visual design, and any extra features.

Read on to find out our thoughts and, for more on getting the finest speeds out of your internet, head over to our guide to the best Wi-Fi dongles.

The best Wi-Fi routers in 2024

Best router for smart home enthusiasts

Google’s unassuming little lozenge of Wi-Fi goodness also graces our roundup of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems. It works equally well as a standalone router, thanks to capable (if not outstanding) performance and a heap of smart software features that make managing your network an absolute breeze. One of our favorite features is the one that sends a notification to your phone if your network goes offline. Allowing you to address the problem immediately, this function makes the Nest one of the best routers, for sure.

These software integrations are particularly handy if you’re invested in Google’s Nest ecosystem of smart home devices already - although be warned that if you’re just buying the main hub as a standalone unit without any satellite nodes, you won’t get the smart speaker functionality built into those smaller hubs.

Best router for speedy connections

You don’t necessarily need to spend vast sums of money to get good Wi-fi, but if only the very best will do, then you really do get what you pay for. Enter Netgear’s Nighthawk RAX80, a router whose blistering speed is matched only by its eye-watering price. On the other hand, however, you are getting a heap of advanced features for your cash and best-in-class performance.

We’re also rather taken by its design, which looks like a stealth bomber as designed by Apple’s Jony Ive. The large wings may make it rather conspicuous on a bookshelf, but it’s almost appealing enough to act as a conversation piece in and of itself.

Best router for cheap Wi-Fi 6 connections

Honor may be best known for making affordable mid-range smartphones (if you’ve heard of the company at all), but it also makes other forms of technology, such as this delightfully affordable Wi-Fi 6 router. The simplistic, blocky design may have a somewhat Fisher Price-esque look to it, but don’t be fooled: the Honor Router 3 delivers where it counts.

The range is broad enough to cover an average-sized home comfortably, and the speeds are fast enough to support activities like 4K streaming or online gaming. It doesn’t lead the pack in any one technical area, and you won’t get a whole lot of extra features for your money - but when the price is this attractive, it’s hard to argue.

Best router for overall value

Router manufacturers often have a tendency to over-design their products, and that’s certainly the case here; in stark contrast to the discreet Google Nest Wifi above, the blue LEDs and sharp angles of this machine look like they’d be more at home in an episode of Battlestar Galactica. 

Look past the somewhat garish design, however, and you’ll find an outstanding router that combines phenomenal speed and range with a number of useful (albeit nonessential) software features. Best of all, while not quite as pocket-friendly as Honor’s Router 3, the Asus RT-AX82U is ridiculously good value considering the performance. If you can stomach the design, you won’t be disappointed.

Best all-round router

Occupying something of a halfway-house between the flashy exuberance of top-end Wi-Fi 6 routers and comparatively understated examples like the Honor Router 3, D-Link’s DIR-X1860 nonetheless offers a happy medium across the board. At just over £100, it comes in at the lower end of the price range, but its speeds are sufficient to keep up with an average household’s demands - especially on older devices that can’t take advantage of the very latest connection standards.

Similarly, its visual design also occupies a middle ground, with a few aesthetic flourishes that liven up an otherwise plain-looking plastic blob without veering into the kind of tackiness that leads to gleefully gluing fins and LEDs to every square inch. There are a handful of software features to add a little more flexibility, but for those wanting a fuss-free device that comfortably covers the basics, this reliable little router is an excellent choice.

How to choose the best Wi-Fi router for your home

How we picked the best Wi-Fi routers in this guide

The entries on this list were chosen through comparing user reviews, tapping into team Livingetc's breadth of knowledge in the home tech realm, and digging down into the specs and design elements of the most popular models across a range of price points.

While we attempt to have direct experience with and independent reviews for everything we include in our guides, this is unfortunately not always possible, so some of our guides are put together using the writer's research and existing expertise. We will return to this guide regularly to update the models included, whether due to the latest releases and moves in the industry or the opportunity to test the best Wi-Fi routers in person and judge them accordingly.

Models we have tested will be clearly signposted within the article, so you can trust us to be transparent with our choices. You can head to our dedicated page to learn more about our review process.