FIVE OF THE BEST

The best gadgets for improving your home network

AirPort Extreme £169

apple.com/uk The AirPort Extreme is very easy to use, but it’s only an 802.11ac Wave 1 router, so it’s due for a Wave 2 update soon. It doesn’t include a modem, either, so you need to hang on to your existing modem or router in order to connect the AirPort to the internet.

BT Smart Hub £50

bt.com

The new Smart Hub costs just £50 for existing BT customers, so it’s a good upgrade for people who have one of BT’s older Home Hubs. The hub includes dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and no less than seven antennas hidden inside it to ensure a strong, reliable signal.

Devolo dLAN 500 duo £35

devolo.co.uk

The dLAN 500 duo is an affordable PowerLine starter kit for the tricky spots that your Wi-Fi network can’t reach. The pair of adaptors provides speeds of up to 500Mbps, and each adaptor has two Ethernet ports so you can take two wired devices online.

D-Link EXO AC1750 £125

dlink.com/uk

The EXO AC1750’s big, fat antennas look really clunky, but they have special signal amplifiers to ensure max range and speed for your Wi-Fi. It has dual-band 802.11ac too, and features such as QoS to prioritise gaming and video, and a guest network for visitors.

Nighthawk X4S R7800 £220

netgear.co.uk

This router looks as cumbersome as its name sounds, but it’s seriously fast, designed for gaming and streaming video. It’s a bit pricey, but it crams in all the latest ‘Wave 2’ features, including dual-band 802.11ac, MU-MIMO and speeds up to 2.53Gbps.