

The Archer A8 will work with all your current Wi-Fi devices, including smart-home cameras, smart speakers, media streaming boxes, phones, and laptops. Spending twice as much buys small improvements for few people, and spending only half as much would mean, for most people, giving up a lot.

When considering both features and our test results, we looked for “ the best for the most for the least.” Right now, paying around $125 buys you excellent performance and features that offer real benefits. But we don’t consider the cheapest or the fastest to be the best.

The things we like to see that justify spending more for a router include link aggregation, built-in security utilities, extra Ethernet and USB ports, VPN connections, and parental filtering.
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At least four Ethernet ports: A free Ethernet port gives devices such as TVs, streaming boxes, and gaming consoles the benefit of unfettered access to the internet bandwidth you’re paying for.A great router minimizes that wait even if the network is busy serving other devices. Low latency test results: Slow internet sucks, and latency-or lag-is the time you have to spend waiting for the next thing to happen.We tested each router from up close and from far away to confirm whether it will allow you, for example, to stream high-quality videos on the far side of your living space. Good range test results: You should be able to connect to a well-placed router from anywhere in an apartment or a small house.
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In our tests, network speed, or throughput, varies from “This YouTube video will never finish loading” to “You can download a video game in an instant.” Generally, we looked for the routers that performed above average, and we dismissed the slower routers. Good speed test results: Speed claims on the box don’t mean much in the real world.Any phone or laptop you buy today or may have bought in the past few years uses the new standards, and having more than one band makes it easier for your router to manage traffic around any slower, Wi-Fi 4 devices on your network.

The cheapest routers-which cost as little as $20 or $30-use a single band, or frequency, of the Wi-Fi standard that came out in 2009 (802.11n, rarely referred to as Wi-Fi 4).
