If you’re living in a large home and want to get connected throughout the house with maximum performance in every corner of your house, you should look for the best Wi-Fi routers for long-range.
I know most modern routers and manufacturers claim their routers to be great at performance and coverage. However, they can’t provide a good range.
Here are the two most essential qualities of a great long-range router:
- It reaches broader distances with excellent performance in every corner of your house.
- It provides a consistent, stable, reliable, and secure signal.
So without taking any more time of yours, let me give you a list of three best long-range routers for 2021
| Long-range Router | Best For | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Asus RT-AX88U | Best Overall | 4.9 |
| Netgear Orbi Home Wi-Fi System | Long-range Mesh Wi-Fi System | 4.8 |
| TP-Link Archer AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 | Best For Speed | 4.8 |
3 Best Long-range Routers Review Of 2021
1. Asus RT-AC88U 8 Stream– Best Overall
Key Highlights:
- Wireless 802.11ax standard
- Wi-Fi speed up to 6Gbps.
- 8x LAN ports
- AiMesh compatible
- AI protection
Overview:
The Asus RT-AX88U is one of the best routers on the market that offers an ‘ax’ wireless standard. The next generation of Wi-Fi standard designed, of course, to handle the next generation of devices that support Wi-Fi 6. It also supports backward Wi-Fi standards, such as 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, etc.
The RT-AX88U is a combination of two advanced technologies: OFDMA and MU-MIMO. As a result, it handles multiple devices with 4x higher network capacity. Asus is also taking care of your devices’ batteries by giving you a feature called Target Wake Time.
When it comes to range and coverage, The RT-AX88U features OFDMA technology known for increasing overall Wi-Fi signal range and coverage. In other words, it divides router’s each channel into sub-channels.
Pros & Cons:
I like:
- The security is next level and commercial-grade with the feature called AiProtection powered by Trend Micro.
- It offers eight gigabit LAN ports, thus connecting multiple wired devices becomes effortless.
- The router supports the AiMesh feature for creating a whole-home Wi-Fi system.
- The adaptive QoS and Wtfast feature ensures smoother online gaming and streaming.
- Easy setup and installation.
I don’t like:
- A bit pricey.
Verdict:
The Asus RT-AX88U performs really well in terms of range. It offers easy-setup, great throughput, and consistent, and excellent security for your entire home network. So I recommend this router if you’re living in a large home.
2. Netgear Orbi (RBK50) AC3000 – Best Home Wi-Fi System
Key Highlights:
- Wi-Fi coverage of up to 5,000 sq. Ft.
- Tri-band
- Smart connect
- Beamforming & MU-MIMO
- Netgear Armor Security
Overview:
The Netgear Orbi is a whole-home mesh Wi-Fi system. The type is different than typical routers as it’s a pack of two units: one router and one satellite. Both units ensure an excellent Wi-Fi coverage of up to 5,000 sq.ft. Moreover, you can extend the coverage up to 2,500 square feet by adding another satellite to it.
It features tri-band backhaul — a dedicated band between the satellite and the router. It measures 8.8×6.7×3.1 inches (HWD). With six internal antennas, it can deliver maximum Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1,2600Mbps theoretically. Being a tri-band router, its 2.4GHz band ensures 400Mbps and the 5GHz band up to 866Mbps. The third dedicated band reaches maximum speeds of up to 1,733Mbps.
Pros & Cons:
What I like:
- Its coverage of up to 5,000 sq.ft with excellent performance.
- Support of tri-band backhaul makes multiple devices connections very smooth with excellent stability.
- It works with all ISPs, including, Comcast, Verizon Fios, AT&T, and others.
- Setup is quick and easy, possible with the Orbi Wi-Fi App.
- It works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
I don’t like:
- A little bit heavy.
Verdict:
These mesh Wi-Fi systems are designed to provide a vast range to huge homes. The Netgear Orbi (RBK50) is an ideal option for those who’re living in a large house with so many dead zones around your home.
However, a Mesh Wi-Fi system costs you more than a typical router because of a combination of router and satellite. So you should definitely try this multi-unit hotspot for your giant home.
Related: Best routers for Verizon Fios, Best routers for charter spectrum, Best routers for comcast
3. TP-Link Archer AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 – Excellent wi-Fi Speed
Key Highlights:
- 802.11ax Wireless Standard
- 1.8GHz Quad-Core processor
- 2x USB 3.0
- Up to 6Gbps Speed
- 8 External Antennas
Overview:
The Tp-Link Archer AX6000 is the second router on the list that offers the lastest next-generation IEEE 802.11ax wireless standard. It is powered by a powerful quad-core processor 1.8GHz, 128Mb of flash memory, and 1GB of RAM. Unlike Netgear Orbi RBK50, It is a dual-band router but offers more streams — four streams for each band, a total of eight streams.
The Archer AX6000 measures at 2.4×10.3×10.3 inches (HWD) and looks a bit large compared to the Asus RT-AX88U. It has eight high-gain external non-removable antennas with 1024 QAM and OFDM. Therefore, boosted coverage with 3x faster speed and up to 4x more extensive multiple devices connectivity become easier with the router.
What I like:
Pros:
- It is equipped with BSS Color technology to ensure stable Wi-Fi connections.
- Fast File sharing, excellent performance throughput, and stable connection.
- The design is fantastic with beautiful eight antennas.
- Setup is easy, simple, effortless, and hardly takes five minutes.
- A wide range of connectivity options: 2x USB 3.0 ports (One type A & One type C), 8x Gigabit LANs, and 1x Gigabit WAN.
Cons:
- It doesn’t support WPA3.
Verdict:
I compared the router with other Wi-Fi 6 compatible routers; the TP-Link Archer AX6000 comes out with better throughput, range, and overall performance. It is an excellent choice for the long-range because of its Wi-Fi 6 compatibility. However, it doesn’t support the latest internet security protocol WPA3, which, I think, might not be an issue for most people.
The Ultimate Buying Guide: What factors should I consider while purchasing the best long-range Wi-Fi router?
As I said, the best wireless router for the long-range can cover a larger area of your house with a reliable Wi-Fi, secure, and consistent Wi-Fi connection. We can’t expect a steady internet Wi-Fi connection from any cheap routers or a rented unit from our ISP. Instead, we need a router that is capable of handling multiple devices simultaneously and should be future-proof.
Related: Best cheap Wi-Fi routers
Since we are looking for a router that should be good at range, we have to consider some of the crucial factors directly related to the range of a router. Therefore, I’ve included a buying guide down below, which is consists of many considering factors, such as MU-MIMO, Beamforming, antennas, bands (dual-band or tri-band), extended range, wireless standards, router limits, security, and Quality of Service (QoS).
Moreover, I’ll share some of the Wi-Fi range boosting devices with you, including Repeater/Extender, Mesh Networks, powerline adapter, and many others. These devices can improve your existing router’s range and performance drastically.
Wireless Standards
As you already know, there are many wireless standards, such as ac, n, g, b, and, of course, the latest one ‘ax.’ You can also call them radio wave spectrums. These radio waves are either measured in Megahertz (MHz) or Gigahertz (GHz).
You should also understand that higher frequencies are always considered better when it comes to data transfer speeds. However, they’re not suitable for long-range as higher frequencies can’t pass through solid objects.
On the other hand, the 2.4GHz band offers better range and smoothly pass through any solid obstacles. So, before you buy any long-range router, make sure it provides an excellent range and performance on both the bands.
Range
As I said before, long-range routers are designed to be covered in a larger area. Additionally, the Wi-Fi connection should be reliable, consistent, and stable. Therefore, it will be more reliable when it comes to businesses and homes.
Let’s say your home is over 2,500 square feet; a standard router will struggle while delivering a Wi-Fi signal to the corner of your house. On the other hand, a long-range can quickly eliminate all dead spots and reach with consistency.
So, the question is how much range you can expect from a long-range router? An excellent long-range router can reach and provide you the coverage of 3,000 to 10,000 square feet. However, it also depends on how you configure it.
FAQs: Most commonly asked questions about long-range routers.
1. Why should I get a long-range router?
Most of the time, we blame our internet service, but we forget that our router can cause slow internet and unstable Wi-Fi connection. Therefore, it is better to have an excellent long-range router so that the issue can be resolved.
Furthermore, these routers (long-range routers) are designed to provide excellent coverage throughout our homes. It means we don’t even have to think of installing any Wi-Fi extenders or repeaters in every corner of our home to get rid of dead zones.
Even though your house is full of smart Wi-Fi devices, a long-range router can take care of them as it offers advanced technologies, such as MU-MIMO and beamforming, to handle them at the same time.
2. How to choose the best long-range router?
I can say that long-range routers are usually expensive than average routers. But, you have to understand that these routers are primarily designed to serve large homes. Therefore, they are feature-packed and offer high-grade security with a wide range of advanced network management tools.
However, the more the features a router includes, the more confusion it creates. So in order to choose the perfect long-range router, read the ultimate buying guide above.
3. Which router’s manufacturers make good long-range routers?
All the popular manufacturers, such as Netgear, TP-Link, Linksys, and Asus, keep launching high-end routers to affordable routers. However, Netgear is famous for launching expensive routers — primarily, its Nighthawk series — and they produce excellent long-range routers.
On the other hand, TP-Link and Linksys are quite affordable brands, and they produce budget-friendly and mid-range routers. At the same time, Asus is known for making gaming routers and other gadgets, such as gaming laptops and PCs.
In other words, you can say that Asus specializes in making gaming components; thus, it becomes easier for Asus to make excellent long-range routers.
4. A number of users can decrease the strength of a long-range router?
One of the top qualities of long-range routers is that they can handle more devices and users simultaneously. Even most high-end routers support hundreds of devices at once. However, I can’t avoid the fact that connecting more devices to the network slows down the speed. It is because each device shares data and uses bandwidth as per its needs. So, yes, a number of users can decrease the strength of your router.
Conclusion: Should you buy a long-range router?
After going through this article, you might have noticed that long-range routers are expensive and offer advanced technologies and features. They also provide high-end security features and other network management Apps.