This tri-band router (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) has been delivering dependable Wi-Fi to my entire house for the previous couple of weeks. Video calls, film streaming, and gaming have been silky clean. Stability has been rock stable, with a single firmware replace that took a couple of minutes being the one downtime to date. The RT-AXE7800 blew away many of the competitors for pace and latency at shut vary on each the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands, and it turned in respectable outcomes over longer distances. Performance on the two.4-GHz band was common.
Range is a weak point of the 6-GHz band, as Wi-Fi 6E has restricted energy, so it tends to drop off sharply with partitions and different obstacles. But even with these limitations, the Asus RT-AXE7800 matched or bested most different Wi-Fi 6E routers I’ve examined, together with mesh programs just like the Nest Wifi Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) and Wyze Mesh Router Pro. It most carefully matched the efficiency of the dearer Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 (7/10, WIRED recommends).
One attainable weak point I discovered with the Asus RT-AXE7800 was file switch speeds, a check the place I copy a 2.2-GB file from one PC on the community to a different. It constantly took greater than 4 minutes to finish this switch, which was barely under common. The final system I examined, the Eero Pro 6E, averaged a minute and 14 seconds.
Cost Control
There’s a lot to consider when buying a router, so let’s drill into who the Asus RT-AXE7800 is for. Mesh programs could also be tempting, however a single router usually makes extra sense for people with modest properties. The RT-AXE7800 provided sooner speeds throughout most of my 1,600-square-foot house than nearly all of mesh programs I’ve examined. It can’t compete on vary, however I had to enter my yard to really feel that.
While the Wi-Fi 6E support ought to solely tempt you you probably have units able to connecting on that 6-GHz band, it might show very helpful in case you reside in a congested space. In smaller houses or house blocks the place your neighbor’s routers might trigger interference, connecting on that 6-GHz band might supply large jumps in pace and stability. If you work at home with a Wi-Fi 6E-capable laptop computer or cellphone and sit near the router (ideally in the identical room), the Asus RT-AXE7800 is an efficient purchase.
Far too many routers and mesh programs these days require costly subscriptions if you would like parental controls or community safety. The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is an efficient instance, the place it prices $170 a yr to get each. Asus supplies stable parental controls, enabling you to schedule downtime, filter inappropriate content material, and block particular actions. There’s additionally AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro to ship across-the-board safety, together with a firewall, safety scans, intrusion prevention, malicious web site blocking, and extra. Asus contains each totally free for the lifetime of your RT-AXE7800 router, which is nice.
If you’ve a bigger property, it’s possible you’ll choose one thing from our Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers information, although it’s price noting that the AiMesh help right here makes it straightforward to attach Asus routers to kind a mesh. If you do go this route and use the RT-AXE7800 as your principal router, a wired backhaul is suggested, as you don’t need the routers utilizing your 5-GHz band to attach with one another.
Folks content material to attend a bit of longer for Wi-Fi 7 ought to contemplate a less expensive Wi-Fi 6 stopgap from our Best Wi-Fi Routers information. While the RT-AXE7800 is kind of dear, it performs nicely, provides greater than equally priced Wi-Fi 6E options, and harbors no hidden charges.
