How we test

The routers in this month’s Labs are (with one exception) designed for domestic use, so we’ve tested them in a real-world home – a threebedroom terraced maisonette with a total floor area of around 90m2.

For each router, we’ve installed the latest firmware and placed the unit in a fixed location in the study at the front of the house. For mesh systems, the second node goes at the far end of the adjacent bedroom.

We then connect a NAS drive to the router via Ethernet and connect to it on the 5GHz band from a laptop. Next, we measure speeds by copying a series of large files to and from the NAS from five locations: a desk in the same room; the living room directly below; the bedroom adjoining the study; the downstairs kitchen; and the bathroom at the back of the house.

To measure each router’s performance over both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 5, we carry out these tests twice, first using a 2020 HP Elite Dragonfly laptop equipped with a 160MHz Wi-Fi 6 card, and then with a 2018 HP Pavilion x360 system with a Realtek 802.11ac adapter. The download speeds recorded from each router are shown next to each review and you’ll find the full set of results from p92.

As ever, we need to emphasise that wireless networking speeds are affected by all sorts of environmental factors, so the absolute speeds we saw may not be replicated in your home. However, our results give a good indication of the relative performance of each system: the products that worked best for us are highly likely to do well for you too.

Alongside performance, our reviews also take features and value for money into account, from which we arrive at a star rating out of five.