Are Wi-Fi 7 Routers Worth the Cost Versus Wi-Fi 5, 6, & 6E?

Last updated: March 27, 2024 No Comments

Wi-Fi 7 Routers are Here

If you blinked, you may have missed the news that new Wi-Fi 7 router technology launched earlier this year. The new technology promises some fairly big upgrades over Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E routers, and the ISPs (at least) are jumping on board quickly. Xfinity, for example, announced that later this year, they will be launching a gateway device with a DOCSIS 4.0 modem and Wi-Fi 7 router technology in the 2nd half of 2024. But, for those in favor of owning their own modems and routers to save on the outlandish monthly ISP modem and router rental fees, is the new Wi-Fi 7 router technology worth the upgrade cost?




This article will dig in to the technological capabilities and compare Wi-Fi 7 versus previous generation Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 5 technologies, in an effort to determine if a Wi-Fi 7 upgrade is worth the cost of the upgrade for your household. Additionally, I’ll highlight some of the best Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5 routers and compatible modems that are currently for sale to help you upgrade your speeds at the best price for the Wi-Fi needs in your household.

Before we get to those comparisons, back to Xfinity and ISPs for a minute. Xfinity currently charges $15/month ($180/year) for a modem/router rental (and they periodically raise their modem rental fee, which is fairly standard for an internet service provider these days. A little known secret is that you can replace your Comcast Xfinity modem with your own in order to get rid of your Xfinity modem rental fee and lower your Comcast bill. This is a particularly effective bill lowering strategy for those who don’t enjoy negotiating with Xfinity. If you’re with another internet service provider that charges for a modem/router rental, you can also replace your ISP’s modem and router with your own to cut the fee – and they often pay for themselves within a year or 2, at most. Sorry, had to get that off of my chest.

On to the Wi-Fi tech comparisons. Let’s start this off by doing a quick overview of Wi-Fi 5 technology and work our way up to Wi-Fi 7.

Wi-Fi 7 routers

What is Wi-Fi 5?

Wi-Fi 5, also known as 802.11ac Wi-Fi, was adopted in 2014 and offered speed enhancement and additional device connectivity capabilities versus its predecessor, Wi-Fi 4, or 802.11n (which was adopted in 2008 and added the faster 5GHz band). Wi-Fi 5 can use both a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz band, with maximum real-world advertised router speeds typically around 500mbps for the 2.4GHz band, and 1300Mbps for the 5GHz band.

Wi-Fi 5 speeds can technically go up to 6900Mbps (6.9Gbps), but those speeds are rarely seen in real-world router use or available from internet service providers. Wi-Fi 5 also boosted the number of connections (devices) that a router can communicate with simultaneously from 2 in the previous generation to 4.




The Best Wi-Fi 5 Routers

If you are looking to buy a Wi-Fi 5 router, most will have “AC” in the model name. Below are my picks for the best Wi-Fi 5 routers for the price, however, due to them becoming obsolete through their connection limitations, I would avoid purchasing a new Wi-Fi 5 router:

  1. TP-Link AC1900: up to 1900Mbps (1300Mbps on the 5GHz band + 600Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)
  2. TP-Link AC1750: up to 1750Mbps (1200Mbps on the 5GHz band + 600Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)
  3. Linksys AC1750: up to 1750Mbps (1300Gbps on the 5GHz band + 450Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)

What is Wi-Fi 6?

Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax Wi-Fi was adopted in 2019 and offered speed enhancement and additional device connectivity capabilities versus its predecessor, Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 both utilize a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz band, but real world advertised router speeds are typically around 575Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, and 2400Mbps on the 5GHz band (versus 500mbps for the 2.4GHz band, and 1300Mbps for the 5GHz band for Wi-Fi 5). Wi-Fi 6 speeds can technically go up to 9608Mbps (9.6Gbps), versus 6900Mbps (6.9Gbps) with Wi-Fi 5, but those real world speed enhancements will vary rarely be seen.

More importantly, Wi-Fi 6 boosts the number of connections (devices) that a router can communicate with simultaneously up to 8, from 4 in Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 also offers a stronger security standard (WPA3) versus WPA2 with Wi-Fi 5. It’s also been claimed that Wi-Fi 6 allows for better battery life than Wi-Fi 5, by offering more efficient router communications with devices.

The Best Wi-Fi 6 Routers

If you are looking to buy a Wi-Fi 6 router, most will have “AX” in the model name. Here are my picks for the best Wi-Fi 6 routers for the price:




  1. TP-Link AX3000: up to 3000Mbps (2402Mbps on the 5GHz band + 575Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)
  2. Netgear Nighthawk AX1800: up to 1800Mbps (1200Mbps on the 5 GHz band + 574Mbps on 2.4 GHz band)
  3. TP-Link AX1800: up to 1800Mbps (1200Mbps on the 5 GHz band + 574Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band

What is Wi-Fi 6E?

Wi-Fi 6E, which shares the 802.11ax Wi-Fi moniker with Wi-Fi 6, was adopted in 2020. Notably, Wi-Fi 6E opened up a 3rd radio frequency band (6GHz) for use from the router, in addition to the previous 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Theoretically, the new band will reduce congestion and produce higher real-world speeds (at the expense of range, however, as the wider 6Hz band has a smaller range).

There is technically not a max data speed increase from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6E – both are technically capable of reaching 9608Mbps (9.6Gbps) – though real-world speeds will likely be higher if there are 8+ simultaneous high-speed connections to a router device (only likely in larger number households). Wi-Fi 6E also boasts 21 total channels in various frequencies (vs. 11 for Wi-Fi 5 and 12 for Wi-Fi 6). In theory, this will reduce interference with your neighbors.

The Best Wi-Fi 6E Routers

If you are looking to buy a Wi-Fi 6E router, most will have “AXE” in the model name. Here are my picks for the best Wi-Fi 6E routers for the price:

  1. Asus AXE7800: up to 7800Mbps (2402Mbps on the 6GHz band, 4804Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
  2. Netgear Nighthawk AXE 7800: up to 7800Mbps (2402 Mbps on the 6GHz band, 4804Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
  3. TP-Link AXE5400: up to 5400Mbps (2402 Mbps on the 6GHz band, 2402Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
  4. TP Link Deco AXE5400 Mesh: a mesh system with up to 5400Mbps (2402 Mbps on the 6GHz band, 2402Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)

What is Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7, which shares the 802.11be Wi-Fi moniker, was adopted in 2024. Wi-Fi 7 operates across the same 3 frequency bands as Wi-Fi 6E (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz). The big Wi-Fi 7 upgrade is that maximum channel bandwidth doubles from 160 MHz to 320 MHz on the 6 GHz band, which will theoretically allow for 2X higher data throughput versus the prior generation. Wi-Fi 7 data speeds can technically go up to 46120Mbps (46.120Gbps), versus 9608Mbps (9.6Gbps) with Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, but those real world speed enhancements will vary rarely be seen.

Among other new features, Wi-Fi 7 also:

  • Enables more device connections: Wi-Fi 7 increases the number of streams from 8 on Wi-Fi 6 (4 upload, 4 download) to 16 (8 upload, 8 download). This will allow for more devices to connect simultaneously at higher speed and with less latency.
  • Enables Multi-Link Operation: Wi-Fi 7 allows devices to transmit and receive data simultaneously over multiple links for increased throughput, reduced latency, and improved reliability

These 3 enhancements will result in faster speeds, reduced latency, and higher reliability for Wi-Fi 7 versus prior generations – so it’s a fairly significant upgrade.

The Best Wi-Fi 7 Routers

If you are looking to buy a Wi-Fi 7 router, most will have “BE” in the model name. Here are my picks for the best Wi-Fi 7 routers for the price (it’s still pretty early, but TP-Link has jumped out to a big lead in offerings and prices):

Wi-Fi 7 vs. Wi-Fi 6E vs. Wi-Fi 6 vs. Wi-Fi 5 Spec Comparison Chart

In the simplest terms, here’s a comparison chart breakdown of the technological spec differences between Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, and Wi-Fi 7:

Router Technology:Year Adopted:Radio Frequency Bands:Max Channel Bandwidth:Max Data Throughput:Simultaneous High-Bandwidth Device Connections:
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)20142.4 GHz, 5 GHz160 MHz6933Mbps4
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)20192.4 GHz, 5 GHz160 MHz9608Mbps8
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)20202.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6GHz160 MHz9608Mbps8
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)20242.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6GHz320 MHz (on 6 GHz band)46120Mbps16

If Upgrading to Wi-Fi 7, Make Sure that your Modem Can Handle Higher Router Speeds

There is no point in only upgrading a functional router to a higher speed technology if you are going to pair it with an outdated modem with slow max speeds (e.g. 150Mbps). Upgrading your modem may give you even better results. Below are a few of the top-selling modems on the market at the moment, to pair with your router. Each has the latest DOCSIS 3.1 technology and near or higher than 1Gbps speeds:

  1. Arris S33: up to 2330Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1
  2. Netgear CM2000: up to 2330Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1
  3. Netgear CM1000: up to 1000Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1
  4. Arris SB8200: up to 957Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1

If you’re looking for a modem with VOIP (e.g. Xfinity Voice) capabilities, check out the following:

  1. Netgear CM2050v: up to 2330Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1
  2. Arris T25: up to 949Mbps, DOCSIS 3.1

Is Wi-Fi 7 Worth the Upgrade Cost?

According to speedtest.net, the median broadband internet speed in the U.S. is 242Mbps. While that number has been increasing rapidly in recent years, you can see by the table above that there is still a lot of room for internet service provider capabilities to catch up to modern router technology, from a speed standpoint. Some of that could be the cost of higher tier ISP plans – 500Mbps+ speeds can get fairly pricey.

Are the highest speeds truly necessary? Netflix recommends a minimum internet speed of 15Mbps to stream in Ultra 4K quality. Online gamers, those who upload and download large data files, and households that stream multiple high bit rate applications at the same time will want faster speeds than that, but are 10Gbps or even 1Gbps+ speeds truly necessary? Probably not. From a speed standpoint, you can see where upgrading from a Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-6E to a Wi-Fi 7 router probably doesn’t make the most sense.

Where Wi-Fi 7 router technologies could be worth the upgrade cost is in their ability to handle more high-speed connections at the same time. Most households are rapidly increasing the number of devices that are connected to routers at any given moment – multiple phones, laptops, video game consoles, tablets, streaming devices – it all adds up! Deloitte found that the average number of connected devices in a given household is 21 – and that will only rise in future years. While only a handful of those devices may actually require a high-speed connection simultaneously, you can quickly see where larger families may need more than the 4 simultaneous high-speed connections that a Wi-Fi 5 router can comfortably handle or even the 8 that a Wi-Fi 6 router can handle.

I think that’s the main benefit of Wi-Fi 7: more devices connected simultaneously at higher speeds and with reduced latency. The current price, limited router choices, and lagging ISP bandwidth reduce the real-world value of Wi-Fi 7 routers for all but very connected households (over 4 devices simultaneously using high-speed downloads). This will probably change as more ISPs increase their bandwidth levels and Wi-Fi 7 router competition decreases prices. Still, if you’re in the market for a new router, it doesn’t make much sense to opt for prior generation tech when the new tech is already under $250 (TP-Link BE9300).

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