The 10 Good Routers For Streaming, Tested And Researched

Dan Simmons By, Dan Simmons
Updated
Good Routers For Streaming
Good Routers For Streaming

The Rundown

1. Best Overall: NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router

The NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router is the perfect solution for large households and busy networks. It is recommended for up to 30 devices, allowing you to easily and reliably stream videos, play games, surf the internet, and connect smart home devices without interruption. Read Review

2. Runner Up: TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Router

The TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Router provides next-generation WiFi speeds up to 1.8Gbps. It's equipped with the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, which offers greater capacity and efficiency to provide faster speeds for more devices. Read Review

3. Best Efficient: Linksys EA8100 Gigabit WiFi Router

The Linksys EA8100 Gigabit WiFi Router is the perfect solution for powering your home's wireless network. Equipped with advanced MU-MIMO technology, it covers up to 1,800 sq. ft and can handle up to 15plus devices. Read Review

4. Best Quality: TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router

The TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router is designed to provide you with boosted WiFi coverage and a long range connection. This powerful router features Beamforming technology, which enables it to deliver a highly efficient wireless connection. Read Review

5. Best Design: ASUS AC1200 WiFi Router

The ASUS AC1200 WiFi Router is a powerful and reliable router that provides maximum range of up to 3000 sq ft. It offers fast wireless performance with dual-band speeds of up to 300 Mbps (2.4GHz) and 867 Mbps (5GHz) for smooth streaming and responsive gaming. Read Review

Streaming media has become a way of life for many people, and having a good router that can handle streaming cannot be overstated. With so many options, however, knowing which router is best for streaming can be difficult. You want a router that can handle the bandwidth demands of streaming while providing reliable coverage throughout your home. Fortunately, routers are well-suited for streaming media, offering fast speeds and a reliable signal.

In this article, we will discuss some of the best routers for streaming, including what features to look for and which ones to avoid. We'll also provide some tips on getting the most out of your router so that you can enjoy streaming media without interruptions or slowdowns. So, if you are looking for a router that can handle your streaming needs, read on to discover the best options available.

After extensive study and analysis over a few hours of research, we think the good routers for streaming is NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router. It is recommended for up to 30 devices, allowing you to easily and reliably do your activities. You can consider TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Router as an alternative if you're still undecided. Other suggestions on this list are worth considering, and we've put up a useful shopping guide to help you decide!

Our Top Picks

TOP Choice #1 NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router
Our Score:
9.7
NETGEAR

This router is recommended for use with up to 30 devices, making it an excellent choice for streaming, gaming, internet browsing, and connecting smart home devices. It offers 4 x 1 gigabit Ethernet ports for easy connection to nearby wired devices, ensuring faster speeds. The router boasts advanced technology, including a powerful dual-core 1GHz processor, three amplified antennas, Beamforming+, MU MIMO, Dynamic QoS, Smart Connect, Amazon Alexa Voice Controls, and more.

Furthermore, it has a convenient 1 x 3.0 USB port that allows sharing a storage drive or printer with any connected device or creating personal cloud storage accessible from anywhere. For parents, there are Smart Parental Controls with various functionalities such as pausing device internet access, monitoring site history usage, filtering websites, setting online time limits, scheduling device internet access, and more. Additionally, it provides NETGEAR Armor, a comprehensive security feature that ensures top-notch security for your network and connected devices. Nevertheless, the router's user interface may be a bit confusing.

TOP Choice #2 TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Router
Our Score:
9.5
TP-Link

Upon installing this WiFi 6 router, your home will enjoy enhanced speed, performance, and capacity, enabling seamless data handling and device management. With impressive speeds of up to 1.8 Gbps and a powerful CPU, you can expect buffer-free 4K/HD streaming and gaming experiences even with multiple smart home, mobile, and electronic devices connected to the network.

The combination of beamforming and four antennas optimizes WiFi, directing stronger signals to your devices, resulting in reliable and robust coverage. With groundbreaking OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology, the Archer AX21 efficiently communicates data to multiple devices simultaneously, allowing the whole family to connect without experiencing slowdowns. Setting up the Archer AX21 is quick and easy, whether you prefer the intuitive Tether App or the robust web interface. The only drawback of this device is its less user-friendly interface.

TOP Choice #3 Linksys EA8100 Gigabit WiFi Router
Our Score:
9.4
Linksys

The Linksys Internet Router is designed to offer excellent coverage and high-speed connectivity for both homes and offices. It can cover an area of up to 1,800 square feet, ensuring a reliable WiFi signal throughout the space. With the ability to handle 15 or more devices simultaneously, it is perfect for households and work environments with multiple connected devices.

This router provides lightning-fast WiFi speeds of up to 2.6 Gbps, allowing smooth streaming, online gaming, and quick file downloads. The router can easily handle everything, whether you're streaming in 4K resolution or engaging in bandwidth-intensive activities. Its standout feature is the MU-MIMO technology, significantly improving speed and efficiency. Communicating with multiple devices simultaneously can deliver up to two times the speed of non-MU-MIMO routers, ensuring a seamless experience for all connected devices. Unfortunately, its user interface could be improved.

4 TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router
Our Score:
9.2
TP-Link

This Wave 2 wireless router delivers fast and reliable internet connections, offering 600 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5GHz band. The MU-MIMO gigabit technology optimizes device performance by improving communication efficiency. Its Beamforming technology ensures efficient wireless connections and extends coverage, providing uninterrupted streaming, gaming, and browsing experiences throughout your home.

Furthermore, the router features full gigabit ports, including 4 x Gigabit LAN and 1 x Gigabit WAN, ensuring fast and reliable wired connections for your PCs, Smart TVs, and gaming consoles. TP-Link's parental controls offer peace of mind by allowing you to block inappropriate content and set daily limits on your children's online time, enabling you to monitor and protect their online activities from potential threats. Being OneMesh-compatible, TP-Link provides an ideal solution for your home WiFi network, though it may require occasional resetting for optimal performance.

5 ASUS AC1200 WiFi Router
Our Score:
9.0
ASUS

This Asus wireless router is a great option for those seeking reliable, high-speed wireless connectivity for their homes or small offices. A coverage area of up to 3000 square feet ensures uninterrupted and fast wireless performance throughout most homes. The router operates on dual-band Wi-Fi, supporting speeds of 300 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5GHz band, making it suitable for activities like streaming and gaming.

Moreover, the router features four Gigabit LAN ports, providing connections up to ten times faster than standard Ethernet, ensuring smooth connectivity for multiple devices. The presence of a USB 2.0 port allows convenient local and remote file sharing using the ASUS AiDisk network file-sharing feature. The user-friendly ASUSWRT dashboard UI makes setting up the router easy, enabling simple management. The four external antennas enhance coverage and performance for multiple devices. Nonetheless, the router's instruction manual may not be very helpful.

6 NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi 6 Router
Our Score:
8.8
NETGEAR

Unleash lightning-fast internet speeds with the NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi 6 Router, delivering up to 6Gbps of speed across a coverage area of up to 3500 square feet. With the latest WiFi 6 technology, you can enjoy streaming movies, playing games, video chatting, and transferring files simultaneously with no interruptions. The router is also compatible with any internet service provider, including cable, satellite, fiber, DSL, and more, making it an excellent replacement for your existing router.

Moreover, setting up and managing the router is a breeze with the Nighthawk app, which allows you to customize your WiFi settings at the device and network levels. You can also test your internet speed, view speed history, and monitor data usage from the app. Furthermore, this router comes with 2 x 3.0 USB ports, which allow you to share a storage drive with any connected device and create personal cloud storage that can be accessed from anywhere. Unfortunately, this device may need a reset to activate usually. 

7 ASUS RT-AX1800S WiFi 6 Router
Our Score:
8.7
ASUS

The ASUS RT-AX1800S is a cutting-edge WiFi 6 standard router that offers lightning-fast WiFi speeds and improved efficiency. It supports the latest 802.11ax standard, featuring MU-MIMO and OFDMA technology, which ensures faster and more efficient wireless connections. With 1024-QAM support, the router provides significantly faster wireless connections, making it perfect for activities like browsing, streaming, gaming, and downloading. The advanced technology efficiently allocates channels and allows communication with multiple devices simultaneously, enhancing capacity and efficiency.

Furthermore, the router is equipped with five Gigabit ports, including one Gigabit WAN port and four Gigabit LAN ports, which are ten times faster than 100-Base T Ethernet, enabling rapid data transfers. The device also prioritizes security with AiProtection Classic, powered by Trend Micro, ensuring protection against online threats for your home network. Additionally, ASUS Instant Guard provides a one-click secure VPN when you're away from home. The router's network can easily be extended with AiMesh-compatible routers, allowing seamless roaming and expanded coverage in your home. Unfortunately, some of its functions may require registration information.

8 Linksys Hydra Pro Mesh WiFi 6E Router
Our Score:
8.6
Linksys

ULTRA HIGH SPEED 6E WIFI: Unleash multi-gigabit internet speeds and extremely low latency for the most stable connection when livestreaming, VR gaming, or streaming video across multiple devices

MESH WIFI THROUGHOUT YOUR HOME: The Hydra Pro 6E mesh wireless router has a dedicated 6 GHz band to bring ultra-fast data streaming and connections between devices across your entire home, from the kitchen all the way to the guest house

EASY SETUP & CONTROL: Wireless routers set up in minutes with the free Linksys App, allowing seamless management of your mesh network system from home or on the go

9 NETGEAR Nighthawk AC2400 Router
Our Score:
8.4
NETGEAR

4 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports—Connect more wired devices for faster file transfer and uninterrupted connections Nighthawk App—Easily set up your router and get more out of your WiFi. Includes access from anywhere to manage your network away from home USB 3.0 for up to 10 times faster access to your stored media than USB 2.0 Free backup software for Windows based computers to automatically safeguard your files Airtime Fairness prevents network lag when slower devices connect

Key Features Extreme WiFi speed for gaming—Up to 2400Mbps MU-MIMO—Simultaneous streaming of data for multiple devices Advanced QoS for lag-free gaming & uninterrupted video streaming Extreme range with high-power amplifiers & external antennas for best connectivity Beamforming+ for improved WiFi range & performance across both 2.4 and 5GHz devices Powerful processor—Dual-core processor ensures smooth 4K UHD streaming & gaming

Technical Specifications R7350 (600Mbps 2.4GHz + 1733Mbps 5GHz) Simultaneous dual band WiFi --Tx/Rx 3x3 (2.4GHz) + 4x4 (5GHz) Implicit & explicit Beamforming Powerful dual-core processor Memory: 128MB flash and 256MB RAM Downstream & Upstream QoS automatically recognize & prioritize applications ReadySHARE USB Access—Share & access your USB hard drive IPv6 Support (Internet Protocol Version 6) On/off LED lights option

Broader Coverage - 6× high-performance antennas, Beamforming, and high-power FEM combine to ensure vast coverage

VPN Server and Client: Archer AX75 Supports both VPN Server and VPN Client (OpenVPN/PPTP/L2TP)

Super-Fast Tri-Band WiFi 6 Router - Up to 5400 Mbps WiFi for faster browsing, streaming, gaming and downloading, all at the same time(5 GHz: 2402 Mbps;5 GHz: 2402 Mbps;2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps)¹

Powerful Quad-Core Processing - Equipped with a 1.7 GHz Quad-Core CPU to handle huge throughput and eradicate latency

Connect More, Stay Fast—Tri-Band makes most of the available spectrums for transmission and connect devices with separate bands to reduce interference

Works with all internet service providers, such as AT&T, Verizon, Xfinity, Spectrum, RCN, Cox, CenturyLink, Frontier, etc.( a modem is required for most internet service providers)

OneMesh Supported – Creates a OneMesh network by connecting to a TP-Link OneMesh Extender for seamless whole-home coverage.

TP-Link HomeShield – TP-Link's premium security services keep your home network safe with cutting-edge network and IoT protection. Free features: 1. Network Security Scan 2. Basic Parental Controls 3. QoS 4. Weekly/Monthly Reports 5. IoT Device Identification, HomeShield Pro paid service ads more robust protections and features for, 5.99/Month, 1-Month Free Trial²

Product Images, Product Titles, Product Highlights from Amazon Product Advertising API

Factors Related To good routers for streaming You Should Focus On For The Most Efficient Purchase

good routers for streaming will be discussed in-depth, and all of its characteristics will be closely investigated so you can determine whether or not it is ideal for your needs. It will save you time and effort since our guide to the best can assist you as much as possible.

Please read the following guide for easier select good routers for streaming in 2024:

App-Based Management

Every new router comes with apps meant to simplify the task of setting up and making adjustments to your WiFi network. The apps make it easier than ever before to monitor which devices are connected to your network and adjust which devices get priority. These apps can also alert you when an update is available for your router.

WiFi Standards

As of early 2021, the tech world is starting to transition away from the WiFi standard known as WiFi 5 and towards WiFi 6, which is faster and boasts better support for more devices connected at the same time. Older, WiFi 5-certified devices like smartphones and laptops can still be used with WiFi 6 routers, but you won’t receive the full benefits of WiFi 6 unless the device you are using is certified for the new standard. For more information on WiFi 6, be sure to read this article.

Quality Of Service

Wireless Routers offer a great way to optimize the performance of your computer. You can change the router's settings to work best for streaming videos, making Skype calls, playing games, or streaming music. This will give those applications more of the bandwidth—so, for example, your Netflix movie doesn't pause and rebuffer because someone in your house is downloading a large file.

Security

To secure your router, you should use the latest available encryption standard. This is likely WPA2 or WPA3, depending on the age of your router. You’ll need to enter the password just once into each wireless device you use; afterward, the device will remember it.

LAN Ports

Many internet-connected smart home devices, such as Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings products, require a LAN port-connected hub to function. If you need more LAN ports than the router has, you can expand the number available by adding an Ethernet switch. This is sort of like a power strip that adds open Ethernet ports.

Booster Club

When it comes to wireless routers, most ISPs offer several tiers of service. If you’re ever in a situation where you need more speed for streaming or gaming, you can always upgrade your service. A connection speed of around 200 megabits per second should be able to handle a family’s worth of activities like this.

USB Ports

USB ports on a router are used for connecting to a flash drive, an external hard drive, or a USB printer if the router has a built-in print server.

FAQs

What is a router?

A router is a device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers connect networks and enable devices on one network to communicate with devices on another.

How do I set up my router for streaming?

First, you should ensure your router is current with the latest firmware. You can then configure the router settings to prioritize streaming traffic over other types of traffic. This usually involves setting up Quality of Service (QoS) rules in the router’s configuration. Additionally, ensure the router is positioned away from interference sources, such as walls and other electronic devices.

How do I troubleshoot streaming issues with my router?

Start by checking your connection speed to ensure it is fast enough for streaming. You can use a tool like Speedtest (speedtest.net) to test your connection. You may need to upgrade your internet service if your relationship is slow. Additionally, ensure all your router settings are configured properly for streaming. Finally, if you are still having issues, try rebooting your router.

Conclusion

The considerations outlined in this blog post should demonstrate that good routers for streaming is worth the money and then some. If you want a different model but still want performance, the long-lasting investment which provides you with years of enjoyment, you have no choice but to check D-Link Eagle Pro Ai WiFi 6 Router that is available.


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About Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is a writer who loves home theater and HiFi audio. As the editor of TheAudioInsights, he has helped countless people enjoy the best possible sound quality in their homes. He is an audiophile who takes great pleasure in helping others find the perfect audio equipment for their needs. When he's not writing or editing, Dan enjoys listening to music and spending time with his family.