I think most people should buy this affordable Wi-Fi 6 router. The glossy black finish is attractive, and there are four antennas to direct Wi-Fi to every corner. (It’s worth tweaking and testing different locations.) In my two-story, 1,600-square-foot house, performance was solid, with a slight dip in the back garden. After a few weeks of testing, stability was excellent, hitting the upper-mid range in my speed and range tests. The router also ticks all the boxes for the features you want (MU-MIMO, beamforming, WPA3 — we explain many of these terms in our how to buy a router guide). It has four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, a Gigabit WAN port, and a USB 3.0 port on the back, which is more than enough for most people.
I’m a fan of TP-Link’s Tether app, where you can view traffic, split bands, create guest networks, schedule reboots, set up automatic updates, and even tell LEDs to turn off at night. TP-Link’s basic free HomeShield tier provides network scanning, QoS (Quality of Service) for device prioritization and basic parental controls so you can filter and blacklist websites. If you want more perks, like time limits for apps, downtime, and real-time security, you’ll need to upgrade to HomeShield Pro ($6 a month or $55 a year).
★ Another option: The TP-Link Archer AX50 ($110) is very similar to the AX55, but may be prone to overheating. The AX50 also lacks OneMesh support, which allows you to add extenders to create a mesh network with the AX55. The AX50, on the other hand, has HomeCare, a service that predates HomeShield and includes excellent parental controls that don’t require a subscription.
