When you are hooking up your Internet in your apartment, you will naturally want the best router for apartment to get you started.
Using a generic wireless router might seem easy, but you also could be getting one that is not as powerful as you really need it to be.
When you think about the type of WiFi router for apartment that your space really needs, consider what your apartment size is, what your WiFi needs are, and think about how many people are living with a router that they despise.
Don’t feel pressured, however. There are lots of router options available to you to choose from.
Factors To Consider When Choosing A WiFi Router For Apartment
Apartment Size
When choosing the right router for your apartment, you will need to think about the size of your apartment. Some spaces might be smaller than others, but even with the size, you will need to think about how many rooms are within your apartment and how many walls the signal needs to reliably travel through.
Open apartments have fewer barriers than crowded apartments do. Likewise, larger apartments will need a larger coverage area than smaller apartments.
WiFi Interference
Living in an apartment complex can interfere with your wireless signal. If you think about it, if each apartment has its own WiFi coverage, there will be a lot of traffic along the most common band, which is 2.4GHz.
That is why it is better to get a dual-band router when you live in an apartment. Because even if every apartment has dual-band WiFi, there are 23 channels within the 5GHz band, reducing the amount of interference you will get from your neighbours.
Number Of Connected Devices
Another factor to consider when shopping for a router for your apartment is how many devices will be connected to it. You should also think beyond your own devices and consider any roommates or family members who are also using your WiFi.
The more devices that you have connected, the higher performance you need your router to be in order to keep speeds as high and reliable as possible.
5 Best Routers For Apartment 2022
Device | Speeds | Ports | Rating | Check Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. TP-Link Archer X21 Editor's Choice | 1800 Mbps | 4 Ports | 100% | |
2. Netgear R8000 High Performance | 3200 Mbps | 4 Ports | 99% | |
3. Motorola MR2600 Budget Friendly | 2600Mbps | 4 Ports | 96% | |
4. Google WiFi System Advanced Coverage | 1200 Mbps | 4 Ports | 97% | |
5. TP-Link Archer A7 | 1750 Mbps | 4 Ports | 93% |
1. TP-Link Archer AX21 WiFi Router
Best Wireless Router For Apartment (Editor's Choice)
Our choice for the best router for an apartment is the TP-Link AX1800 Archer AX21. You might think that just about any router would work well for an apartment, but this is not the case. You really need to get a router that will give you the best reception and signal possible.
Design
Let’s start with the design of the router. The Archer AX21 is a horizontal router with four high-gain antennas that can be moved to hone in on the location that you would like to have the best signal possible.
The router uses USB Easy Sharing, which includes a USB 2.0 port that will enable easy file sharing within your network. This is kind of like having your own private cloud network that has the ability to be accessed by any connected device within your network.
The security for the router is an advanced WPA3 type of security. This also uses the most recent security technology to keep your devices and your entire network as safe as possible.
Performance
The Archer AX21 comes with a lot of great performance features, including the OneMesh WiFi System.
This system will use your router and range extender to create a mesh Wi-Fi network. The only downside to this is that there is not a lot in the way of customer support for the OneMesh system if you happen to run into any trouble using it.
The router itself can get speeds up to 1.8 Gbps, so long as your internet provides will allow it. Regardless, you can plan on enjoying a smoother and more stable network. This makes the router ideal for streaming, gaming, and even downloading largest files. You can expect to get up to 1200 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 574 on the 2.4 GHz band.
The AX21 is a Wi-Fi 6 router, which means that it is the latest technology that you can get from a router. This will allow you to connect more devices as the router allows multiple devices to be streaming at the same time across the network.
This kind of consistent speed is something that gamers dream of. Combined with the Beamforming tech to give you a better signal, and this router will make your network unstoppable.
2. Netgear Nighthawk R8000-100NAS
High Performance WiFi Router For Apartment
If the network in your apartment requires something a little more high performance than you can get from the TP-Link Archer X21, take a look at the Netgear Nighthawk R8000-100NAS. The Nighthawk series in general is impressive in all of the features that it offers and this router is no exception.
Design
This router boasts a sleek, black design. It is meant to lay flat on a table or counter and has six performance antennas included to help give you boosted and a more direct signal throughout your network.
The Nighthawk is designed to give you the highest performance imaginable from a router, making it hard to see any flaws that you might come with a router of this calibre. It is made with Smart Connect as well, which will automatically select the best WiFi band and channel for each of your devices to intelligently keep your devices up and running.
Performance
This is the ultimate router for performance. The Nighthawk is a tri-band router, which you might not even have known existed. Tri-band means that you get one 2.4GHz band and then two 5GHz bands, giving you three channel options in total. This is incredibly helpful if you are in a large apartment complex and getting your devices on a clear channel is more difficult than a smaller area would be.
Combine the channels with the six antennas and you have a signal that is practically unstoppable. The Nighthawk comes with a 1GHz dual-core processor with three offload processors, which will further boost the router’s performance.
The Nighthawk also offers you ReadySHARE, which is an automatic backup for USB storage as well as the memory of your router as well. There is a Nighthawk app available that you can use to help you not only setup your router, but it will allow you to keep track of what is happening within it, giving you extra peace of mind and security.
3. Motorola MR2600 Wireless Router
Budget Friendly
Just because you are on a budget does not mean you should settle for a router that will not be able to keep up with your needs. For that reason, we suggest the Motorola MR2600.
Design
The design of the Motorola MR2600 is admittedly a little like a drone that you might buy to play with. But remember, this router is not built to fly, but it is built to help you with your internet. The MR2600 comes with four adjustable external antennas. The antennas we meant to provide you with concurrent performance across both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz bands.
Even though this is on the cheaper side of routers, it is not built cheaply and does not look cheap. This is still a high quality router even if Motorola is giving users a nice price break on it. This router is admittedly tricky to set up, but it does use Motorola’s setup wizard that can help you get through the process easier than if you didn’t have it.
Performance
This budget-friendly router actually has the MU-MIMO technology that you need for online gaming. Combine this with the implicit and explicit Beamforming, which is like a signal boost in the direction the antennas are pointing and, as a result, you will have lightning quick speed and awesome range, giving you impressive performance for a budget friendly router.
Even though this is considered budget friendly, the AC2600 also will give you a USB3.0 port, Smart QoS support, a fire wall, parental controls, and so much more. The Gigabit Ethernet ports will allow you to hardwire in any device that you need to be sure doesn’t lose signal throughout your apartment.
You should be able to get consistent and reliable speeds throughout your apartment by using this router. The upload speeds on this router are about average when compared to other routers, but since you are getting this one at such as reasonable price, you know there will be some concessions.
4. Google WiFi System
Advanced Coverage
In some apartments, the standard range of WiFi just simply isn’t enough; you might want to consider more of a modern mesh system, such as the Google WiFi System. You might be surprised by the setup, but it will not disappoint.
Design
The Google WiFi System comes in white, giving you a sleek and easily concealable appearance that is very different from all of the other routers on the market. These have no visible antennas, keeping your router looking attractive and functional.
This Google WiFi System comes with a single WiFi point to be placed in any dead spot around your household. You can always purchase more points if this is not adequate to meet your needs.
Performance
This WiFi system can cover up to 1,500 square feet. If you think that you need more power from your internet, you can actually buy more of the points to give you more reliable speeds and far fewer dead spots. The more WiFi points that you have, the better range you will get, which might not matter in your apartment, but doesn’t hurt to think about it.
The Google WiFi system has a simple setup using their app. The app also works to control who and what is connected to your network, including pausing children’s devices. The settings allow for prioritized coverage, so the devices that need the most signal will continue to receive it as needed.
The devices act as LAN ports as well as WiFi points, so you will have 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports per point. What this means is that wherever you place the point, you can wire in a device if you need to. This is essential for spaces where you have more than one device that needs to be wired in to function.
5. TP-Link Wireless Router Archer A7
For Small Apartments
The last router that we are going to look at is the TP-Link Archer A7.This is proof that quality routers do not need to cost an arm and a leg since this is a budget friendly router as well.
Design
This router has a stand that is designed to easily accommodate all of the cables in the back while still helping keep your router as cool as possible, but it does mean that the router looks differently than other routers that you might have already seen. As long as you don’t care about appearances, this factor shouldn’t matter to your hunt for the best router for apartment.
With multiple ports, one of the best things that you can do is that you can wirelessly access one of the USB ports, which can be handy when you are not in the same room as the router. The design of the Archer A7 includes three high-gain antennas, which will increase your Wi-Fi signal to reach every corner of your home.
Performance
The Archer A7 is designed to boost signal throughout homes up to 2500 square feet, which should work for most of us out there, especially those of us in apartments. In some cases, you might still find that you have a signal even when you are outside.
The Archer A7 will help out in households especially that have been competing over the bandwidth. The dual band speeds can reach up to 1750 Mbps, providing 3X faster Wi-Fi than other traditional routers do. For heavy-streaming households, the Archer A7 should be able to stream in 4K without any issue.
An added perk, there is a TP-Link app that will allow you to access the Archer A7 even when you are not at home. This allows you to adjust any settings or security concerns that you might have remotely.
Where To Place The Router In Your Apartment For Best WiFi
A decision on your router that you might not have considered is where the router should go in your apartment. There are several considerations that you should make when you approach this question.
- Put it in a central location: You get better signal.
- Don’t put metal objects near it: Metal can interfere with your signal.
- Avoid having it against concrete or brick walls: Concrete and brick are hard for WiFi to pass through.
- Don’t put it near a microwave: Microwaves can interfere with your WiFi signal
- Place it as high as you can: Radio waves spread downward. Having it up high gives better coverage.
- Position the antennas toward the devices that use the most bandwidth: The antennas are there to point the signal where it is needed most.
- Keep it away from spaces where people convene: Human bodies are also a big barrier that can interrupt the WiFi signal.
Final Words
When it comes down to it, there is no reason to not expect to have the type of wireless connectivity that you really need. So many of us are reliant upon our wireless devices that we need to make sure that the type of router that we have is made to handle the activity along our network.
Internet in apartments is tricky. There are a lot of interference possibilities or change in coverage risks. Knowing what your router can do for you will open your eyes to all of the options that are available and can help you be sure that the router you go will meet all of your needs.
Generally, we recommend the TP-Link Archer AX21 as the best router for apartment overall. It really does have just about everything you could have thought of from a router. If you really want something more high powered, take a peek at the Netgear Nighthawk R8000.