Best Routers for Streaming 2023
* out of 5 points
LPT: You can set up a free VPN server on your router to watch Netflix as if you are at home
Most home routers have a built-in VPN server which you can enable. This allows you to connect to your home network from anywhere and use services like Netflix as if you were at home. This will also bypass the requirement to check in from your home network once a month when it is implemented. Because it’s using a residential IP and not a data center like a commercial VPN, Netflix cannot detect it.
Here are instructions for the most popular router brands:
To connect to the server you will need to download the OpenVPN client on your phone/laptop:
One thing to keep in mind is that the speed of the VPN will be limited by the upload speed of your home network. Most cable internet connections have very limited upload speed, but it should be enough to stream video. If you have a fiber connection it will be much faster.
Best Routers for Streaming 2023
We tested more than a dozen routers and handpicked the best for streaming music, video, and games.
Best overall
TP-Link Archer AX90
- $199.99*
- Basic parental controls
- Three bands
- Antivirus subscription
Best for budgets
TP-Link Archer AX20
- $84.98*
- Built-in VPN tools
- USB storage support
- Limited stream count
Best for livestreaming
NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200
- $433.69*
- Best long range
- Multi-gig internet support
- Hefty price tag
Best for heavy streaming
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
- $349.99*
- Real gaming tools
- Free security
- Annoying antennas
Best for mesh
TP-Link Deco X55
- $89.99* †
- Low price
- Attractive design
- Paid premium features
*Amazon.com prices (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
† Price for one unit.
Our pick: Which router for streaming is best?
The TP-Link Archer AX90 is our top router for streaming. It has great speeds for the money, multi-gig internet support, three Wi-Fi bands, and eight streams to handle all your streaming needs. The only drawback is HomeShield, TP-Link’s security suite, locking the most notable features behind a subscription.
How we test routers
We vigorously test routers to see how well they stack up against the competition in speed and range. We also evaluate the setup process and dig into the web and mobile apps to see if they’re easy or difficult to use. Check out our methodology section for more information.
Jump to:
- Best routers for streaming
- What to look for
- Best overall
- Our verdict
- Methodology
- Other routers we tested
- FAQ
The 5 best routers for streaming
- Best overall: TP-Link Archer AX90
- Best for budgets: TP-Link Archer AX20
- Best for livestreaming: NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200
- Best for heavy streaming: ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
- Best for mesh: TP-Link Deco X55
Compare router speeds and prices
| Model | Max throughput | Tested speed @ 40 ft.† | Price* | Order online | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | TP-Link Archer AX90 | 6,600 Mbps | 530Mbps | $199.99 | View on Amazon |
| Best for budgets | TP-Link Archer AX20 | 1,800 Mbps | 470Mbps | $84.98 | View on Amazon |
| Best for livestreaming | NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200 | 11,000 Mbps | 691Mbps | $433.69 | View on Amazon |
| Best for heavy streaming | ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 | 11,000 Mbps | 642Mbps | $349.99 | View on Amazon |
| Best for mesh | TP-Link Deco X55 | 3,000 Mbps | 339Mbps | $89.99 † | View on Amazon |
* Amazon.com Prices (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST) Read full disclaimer.
† Price for one unit.
What should you look for in a router for streaming?
You can use just about any router for streaming—you don’t need a lot of speed to do so—but we suggest ones with four or more streams on a single band. The higher count ensures your wireless devices have a better chance of seeing their full real-world speeds. We also suggest routers with Wi-Fi 6, as it’s the most common specification today and provides better speeds and data management than other Wi-Fi versions.
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Best overall—TP-Link Archer AX90
Best overall
The best well-rounded router for streaming
Score:
$199.99*
* Amazon.com Price (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
Expand for product details and ratings
| Category | Score* | Summary |
| Performance | 4 | Achieved some of the best speeds we’ve tested to date. |
| Features | 3 | Prioritizes traffic for better per-device streaming. |
| Design | 4 | Supports 4 wireless devices at full speed or 8 at half speed. |
| Setup | 4 | Takes no time to get your Wi-Fi network running. |
| Ease of use | 3 | Lacks parental controls, QoS, and security controls in the web interface. |
* out of 5 points
What we like about it: The Archer AX90 has some of the best speeds to date in our tests and handles our streaming test beautifully. We love that it gets you ready for multi-gig internet and includes features like a built-in VPN server and client and three bands for better traffic management.
What we wish it did better: We’re not a fan of subscriptions. The AX90 is one of the few TP-Link standalone routers requiring one for antivirus.
Why do we recommend it? You get great Wi-Fi speed for the price. Plus, it sets you up for mesh networking if you want whole-home coverage.
Tested speeds at a glance
| 5 GHz max speed | 2 feet | 40 feet | 120 feet |
| 1,200 | 860 | 530 | 252 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using a Wi-Fi 6 client and an 80 MHz channel.
Best for budgets—TP-Link Archer AX20
Best for budgets
Decent Wi-Fi 6 speeds at an affordable price
Score:
$84.98*
* Amazon.com Price (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
Expand for product details and ratings
| Category | Score* | Summary |
| Performance | 4 | Has decent Wi-Fi 6 speeds for the price. |
| Features | 4 | Includes a built-in VPN server and a USB port for sharing files. |
| Design | 3 | Supports 2 wireless devices at full speed or 4 at half speed. |
| Setup | 3 | Takes you longer to get going than the competition. |
| Ease of use | 4 | Provides a better, more streamlined experience in the Tether app. |
* out of 5 points
What we like about it: It performed as expected in our testing, providing baseline Wi-Fi 6 speeds. But for the price, there’s a lot to love, including media and file sharing via USB, parental controls, and built-in VPN features.
What we wish it did better: There are many things we wished the router did better—more streams and wired multi-gig speeds, for example—but you can’t expect a lot at this price.
Why do we recommend it? The AX20 is a great router for under $100. It’s suitable for two people with a handful of devices, and it sets you up for mesh networking.
Tested speeds at a glance
| 5 GHz max speed | 2 feet | 40 feet | 120 feet |
| 1,200 | 809 | 470 | 244 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using a Wi-Fi 6 client and an 80 MHz channel.
Best for livestreaming—NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200
Best for livestreaming
One of the fastest routers you can get
Score:
$433.69*
* Amazon.com Price (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
Expand for product details and ratings
| Category | Score* | Summary |
| Performance | 5 | Outpaces all gaming and non-gaming routers we’ve tested to date. |
| Features | 3 | Requires subscriptions to use the parental controls and security fully. |
| Design | 4 | Includes a third band and multi-gig internet support. |
| Setup | 4 | Has one of the fastest setups we’ve endured. |
| Ease of use | 3 | Provides a better experience in the app than the web interface. |
* out of 5 points
What we like about it: The RAX200 has the speeds you need (and then some) based on our tests. There’s plenty of wireless connectivity too, along with real-world wired speeds of up to around 2,370Mbps. It’s perfect for a fiber internet plan of 2Gbps or faster.
What we wish it did better: We’re not a big fan of added expenses, and the RAX200 stacks them up. We wished NETGEAR offered free security and parental controls as seen on competing TP-Link routers.
Why do we recommend it? The RAX200 has the best speeds in our tests, but what really sells this router is the wired multi-gig speeds, the three Wi-Fi bands, and the 12 streams. It’s perfect for a home full of content-hungry devices.
Tested speeds at a glance
| 5 GHz max speed | 2 feet | 40 feet | 120 feet |
| 1,200 | 880 | 691 | 285 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using a Wi-Fi 6 client and an 80 MHz channel.
Best for heavy streaming—ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
Best for heavy streaming
The slower alternative to the Nighthawk RAX200
Score:
$349.99*
* Amazon.com Price (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
Expand for product details and ratings
| Category | Score* | Summary |
| Performance | 4 | Falls short of the RAX200 in Wi-Fi 6 speed but is one of the fastest we’ve tested. |
| Features | 5 | Includes free antivirus, parental controls, and a built-in VPN server and client. |
| Design | 4 | Supports 6 wireless devices at full speed; 12 at half speed. |
| Setup | 4 | Takes longer due to all the extras you normally don’t get on a standard router. |
| Ease of use | 4 | Provides a better experience in the web interface than the mobile app. |
* out of 5 points
What we like about it: This router definitely has a lot to love. Its biggest selling point is capacity: three bands and 12 streams. The free antivirus, parental controls, and VPN components also sweeten the deal.
What we wish it did better: We found the antennas problematic—at least on the model we purchased. No matter how hard we screwed the antennas into place, some of them fell over time.
Why do we recommend it? The GT-AX11000 is a great router for gamers—or anyone for that matter. You get free antivirus, decent parental controls, multi-gig internet support, and VPN tools to keep you safe online. It’s ideal for households with lots of devices if you can handle the price.
Tested speeds at a glance
| 5 GHz max speed | 2 feet | 40 feet | 120 feet |
| 1,200 | 848 | 642 | 260 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using a Wi-Fi 6 client and an 80 MHz channel.
Best for mesh—TP-Link Deco X55
Best for mesh
A good whole-home system for streaming anywhere
Score:
$89.99* †
* Amazon.com Price (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
† Price for one unit.
Expand for product details and ratings
| Category | Score* | Summary |
| Performance | 4 | Supplies decent Wi-Fi 6 speeds even on different nodes. |
| Features | 3 | Lacks a third band for increased bandwidth and better device management. |
| Design | 4 | Supports 2 wireless devices at full speed; 4 at half speed. |
| Setup | 3 | Has a lengthy setup and requires a TP-Link ID account to use. |
| Ease of use | 4 | Provides easy controls in the Deco app once you learn the layout. |
* out of 5 points
What we like about it: The Deco X55 is an attractive, affordable kit. You get a few extra wired connections and decent Wi-Fi 6 speeds for the money. It does a good job handling multiple streams too.
What we wish it did better: The X55 would benefit from a dedicated Wi-Fi band for node-to-node communications to increase the bandwidth for client devices. Plus, TP-Link should ditch HomeShield for HomeCare.
Why do we recommend it? The X55 is a decent kit for the money. You can’t expect tons of speed, but there’s plenty for a few devices. The extra Ethernet ports come in handy if you want better speeds for streaming.
Tested speeds at a glance
| 5 GHz max speed | 2 feet | 40 feet | 120 feet |
| 1,200 | 739 | 339 | Not tested |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using a Wi-Fi 6 client and an 80 MHz channel.
Router for streaming specs and features
Technically, you can use any router to stream video and music to your devices—you don’t need a lot of speed to do so, either. But there are a few factors to consider when you want the best router for streaming.
Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi 6 isn’t the latest spec, but it’s the most commonly used in today’s routers, and for good reason. It supports more devices, provides better speeds, and manages data more efficiently than previous wireless tech like Wi-Fi 5. Plus, most modern Wi-Fi devices now support it, so choosing a Wi-Fi 5 router just slows you down.
Streams
The number of data streams a router supports is essential. Think of them as digital cargo ships cruising along on a sea of radio waves. Devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops can handle two at a time one way. So, if you have a router with just two streams on a single band but you have three laptops connected, you get higher latency and slower speeds per device. All three laptops have to share those two streams. A router with six or more streams is ideal in this scenario.
Quality of service (QoS)
You want a router that lets you prioritize traffic received from streaming services. NETGEAR routers, for example, have a Downstream QoS setting you can toggle on to prioritize streaming traffic and lower the priority of all other internet traffic.
Our verdict
The TP-Link Archer AX90 is an excellent router for streaming, hands down. It provides great speeds at a great price, plus plenty of connections to improve your streaming experience. It has a handful of other great features too, like built-in VPN tools, Amazon Alexa support, and more. The HomeShield subscription requirement is the only drawback, but you may not even need it.
Related content
- Best Long-Range Routers for Extended Wi-Fi
- Fastest Routers We’ve Tested
- Best Mesh Wi-Fi Systems and Routers
- Best Gaming Routers
- Best Wi-Fi 6 Routers
- Best Wi-Fi Routers
Methodology
We test router speed by setting up each router in an office and connecting it to a local test server. Then, we transmit test data between our wireless devices and the server, taking numerous measurements to account for fluctuations in Wi-Fi speeds.
The first tests occur close to the router, without obstructions—so the Wi-Fi is as strong and fast as it’s gonna get. We repeat the process straight out at 10, 20, and 30 feet, with only a glass door obstructing our view of the router. The same glass door and an exterior door blocks our path when we test outside at 40 and 50 feet.
We also run tests in a hallway to the left of the TV room and office—where there’s a glass door, three walls, and an air handler unit blocking our view of the router. The dining room, another testing point, sits to the right of the kitchen, TV room, and office—two walls and a glass door block the path in this test.
To test video streaming, we connect a fast storage device to the router and stream a 4K video to six wireless devices simultaneously—two phones, three tablets, and a laptop—connected to the same wireless band.
Client devices used in testing
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi specification | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 5 |
| Stream configuration | 2 x 2 | 2 x 2 |
| Max 5 GHz speed (AX) | 1,200Mbps | – |
| Max 5 GHz speed (AC) | 866Mbps | 866Mbps |
| Max 2.4 GHz speed (AX) | 195Mbps | – |
| Max 2.4 GHz speed (AC) | 195Mbps | 144Mbps |
| Wi-Fi specification | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Google Pixel 3 | Wi-Fi 5 |
| Stream configuration | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 2 x 2 |
| Google Pixel 3 | 2 x 2 |
| Max 5 GHz speed (AX) | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 1,200Mbps |
| Google Pixel 3 | – |
| Max 5 GHz speed (AC) | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 866Mbps |
| Google Pixel 3 | 866Mbps |
| Max 2.4 GHz speed (AX) | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 195Mbps |
| Google Pixel 3 | – |
| Max 2.4 GHz speed (AC) | |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 195Mbps |
| Google Pixel 3 | 144Mbps |
Router benchmarks
Here are the average 5 GHz speeds recorded for each router. Wi-Fi speeds fluctuate significantly, so these numbers reflect at least three tests taken at each 10-foot interval.
TP-Link Archer AX90
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 feet | 860 | 642 |
| 10 feet | 818 | 534 |
| 20 feet | 764 | 464 |
| 30 feet | 692 | 359 |
| 40 feet (porch) | 530 | 281 |
| 120 feet (across street) | 252 | 146 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using an 80 MHz channel.
TP-Link Archer AX20
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 feet | 809 | 620 |
| 10 feet | 741 | 540 |
| 20 feet | 653 | 415 |
| 30 feet | 542 | 327 |
| 40 feet (porch) | 470 | 200 |
| 120 feet (across street) | 244 | 92 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using an 80 MHz channel.
NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX200
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 feet | 880 | 703 |
| 10 feet | 864 | 671 |
| 20 feet | 833 | 538 |
| 30 feet | 750 | 511 |
| 40 feet (porch) | 691 | 464 |
| 120 feet (across street) | 285 | 184 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using an 80 MHz channel.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 feet | 848 | 652 |
| 10 feet | 827 | 644 |
| 20 feet | 755 | 529 |
| 30 feet | 729 | 462 |
| 40 feet (porch) | 642 | 308 |
| 120 feet (across street) | 260 | 169 |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using an 80 MHz channel.
TP-Link Deco X55
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | Google Pixel 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 feet | 739 | 611 |
| 10 feet | 680 | 573 |
| 20 feet | 613 | 509 |
| 30 feet | 565 | 443 |
| 40 feet (porch) | 339 | 262 |
| 120 feet (across street) | Not tested | Not tested |
* Speeds in megabits per second (Mbps) using an 80 MHz channel.
Other routers we tested
We tested over a dozen standalone routers and mesh kits to determine which routers are ideal for streaming music, video, and games. Here are the tested models we do and don’t recommend.
Other routers we recommend for streaming
| Model | Summary | Price* | Shop online |
|---|---|---|---|
| TP-Link Archer AX11000 | Provides faster speeds than the Rapture GT-AX11000 at a lower price. | $235.78 | View on Amazon |
| TP-Link Archer AX6000 | Lacks the third band and extra streams seen with the AX11000 model. | $249.99 | View on Amazon |
* Amazon.com Prices (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.
Other routers we don’t recommend for streaming
| Model | Summary | Price* | More details |
|---|---|---|---|
| TP-Link Archer A10 | Uses the older Wi-Fi 5 spec and is hard to find new at a reasonable price. | $59.99 | View on Amazon |
| NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 | Lacks parental controls and free security features. | $299.00 | View on Amazon |
* Amazon.com Prices (as of 3/31/23 07:53 MST). Read full disclaimer.