It supports QoS too but you have to manually choose which devices get prioritized. It supports useful functions like parental controls, guest networks, DoS, firewalls, and VPNs. This router is highly configurable, making it a great choice for the power user who likes to control how their home Internet traffic functions. It can also host two NAS devices as well with its dual USB 3.0 ports. The last two ethernet ports support link aggregation so you can reach multi-gig file transfer speeds across your local network. It has a 2.5Gbps WAN port and four 1Gbps ethernet ports. That is enough to cover a medium-to-large home, not factoring in physical impediments like walls and interference from neighboring devices. The Nighthawk RAX80 has eight high-powered antennas that can broadcast to a total area of 2,500 square feet. This router supports MU-MIMO for up to 8 devices, which virtually eliminates any local web traffic. It is a technology that allows a router to split its bandwidth between multiple devices simultaneously rather than rapidly alternating between them. If you don’t already know, MU-MIMO stands for multi-user multi-input, multi-output. Though in practice, this behemoth of a router may actually be overkill for anything other than a coven of gamers.

On paper, this router has the widest MU-MIMO support out of any device on the market. If you are upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 so that you can upgrade the number of concurrent streams on a network, then the Netgear Nighthawk RAX80 should be your top choice. You can buy this ASUS router on Amazon or at Best Buy.įind more EDITOR'S CHOICE: Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 information and reviews here. Looking for even more power? Asus also makes a router that supports 10 Gb Internet. If you are looking for a high-end router with comprehensive administrative settings then the GT-AX11000 is a great choice. And because it wouldn’t be a gamer router without some RGB lights, this router is compatible with the Asus AuraSync software. This is actually a fairly useful feature if you are gaming, as you can bypass your own VPN to connect to game servers while still browsing privately on other devices. The VPN Fusion software, for example, supports multiple simultaneous VPN server connections. Many of these settings, like the Gamers Private Network, have preset modes that are meant for gaming use and some are actually quite handy. It is basically a QoS (Quality of Service) setting. Gamers Private Network Mode allows you to dedicate one of the router’s two 5GHz bands specifically for gaming. AiMesh allows you to connect other compatible Asus devices to create a mesh network (although it is very limited in scope). AiProtection Pro is a basic firewall bundled with some basic parental controls. The only confusing part about it is that Asus uses some proprietary names for features you might otherwise recognize. One of the best parts of this router, though is actually its UI, which provides a user-friendly menu system to access the standard features a good router should have. For the technologically-disinclined, you can take all this to mean that you will definitely be maxing out your Internet connection with the GT-AX11000. This is expected to be fixed in a future firmware update. It also incorporates both OFDMA and 4 x 4 multi-user MIMO, though only for downstreams and not for upstreams. It has a long signal range that is suitable for most large homes. It can reach 1.2Gbps speeds with WiFi 5 devices and up to 4Gbps with WiFi 6 devices. Marketing fluff aside, though, this is still a high-performing router. The claim makes more sense when you add in the one 2.5Gbps LAN port and four 1Gbps LAN ports, but those are all for wired connections within your local network. Considering this router only has a 1Gbps WAN port, Your Internet speeds will be instantly bottlenecked there.

But-surprise, surprise-that claim is pretty far removed from the reality of the situation. The GT-AX11000’s big marketing claim is that it supports an absurd cumulative 10Gbps download speed.

And while you don’t have to be playing competitive online gaming to reap the benefits, it certainly helps you get the most out of this high-end router. As is to be expected from most products bearing the Republic of Gamers brand, the feature-packed Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 takes Wi-Fi 6 performance to the absolute extreme.

Best router 2020 for multiple devices