6 Best WiFi Routers for Large Homes in 2023 [Strong Coverage]

WiFi dead zones are common occurrences in large homes. Reasons might be a lot of thick walls, you are furthest away from the router, or you have a big family that uses the internet a lot. The possibilities are many, but the solution is one: a powerful & efficient router with a long range.

Over the years, I have deployed and set up numerous routers for various settings. I know how difficult it can be to find the best WiFi router for a large house. You need to consider many factors, evaluate models against each standard, and stay updated with the latest technologies.

Not anymore as I’ve tested 15 different routers and selected the 6 best options for 2023:

1. Best All-Around: Netgear RAXE500
2. Best Runner-Up: TP-Link Archer AX90
3. Best for Gaming: ASUS RT-AX86S
4. Best Value for Money: Linksys MR9610
5. Best Mesh Router: TP-Link Deco XE75
6. Best Budget Option: ASUS RT-AC67P

6 Best WiFi Routers for Large Homes in 2023

All of the 15 routers were tested for several aspects like signal quality in different rooms and distances, internet speeds, security features, and more, and then got shortlisted.

Additionally, I have tried to include models with different feature sets & varied budgets. So, everyone gets an ideal routing device for their big home. Without further ado, let’s go!

1. Best Overall: Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500

Looking for a tri-band router for your big house that’s between 2,500-3,000 Sq Ft? The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 is my favorite pick. It also comes with the latest WiFi 6E standard and can support upto 60 devices at once.

If you are a professional gamer and slow internet and weak coverage are hampering your gaming experience, then this incredibly high-performance router is your ultimate solution. Its powerful quad-core processor works harmoniously with WiFi 6E.

Besides, Netgear has taken a leap forward from its previous model, the Nighthawk RAXE7800, in terms of processor, bands, and performance.

Why is it suited for large homes?

Boasting a powerful 4 antenna setup, Netgear RAXE500 delivered solid signals in my 3-bedroom apartment, and performance does not degrade between me and the router. I even got two signal bars in my garage, which sums up its range to 3,200 Sq Ft.

Furthermore, the device incorporates MU-MIMO and OFDMA technologies, which allow signals to be transmitted in a single line rather than spreading all over the place. In other words, you get powerful signals irrespective of the number of devices you connect to.

The maximum number I could achieve was 45, and I played multiplayer games without getting kicked out of the lobby. Now other than coverage, the device excels concerning the speeds, wireless or wired. With a maximum throughput capacity of 10.8 Gbps and courtesy of an additional 6 GHz band, the speed output was pretty good.

On the 5 GHz band, I downloaded large-sized games like Call of Duty: Warzone (around 150GB) with Xfinity 2 Gbps plan at 1.85 Gbps, and it took around an hour for it to complete. The uploads, on the other hand, moved forward at 785 Mbps. While the respective speeds were decent on the 2.4GHz band, valuing at 1.1 Gbps and 450 Mbps.

Barring wireless speeds, the 2.5 Gbps multi-gig port would feed your consoles with a few extra Mbps, taking the maximum download and upload speed output at 1.95 Gbps. With such high speeds at your disposal, forget latencies and lags.

Security Features

Basic features like WPA3 and VPN passthrough are the only things this router gives out for free. Others, like malware protection, firewall formation, and blocking any dangerous websites, come at $5.99 per month with a premium subscription. Check the features of Netgear Armor and decide accordingly.

Conclusion

All in all, Nighthawk RAXE500 is a wireless router with best range and performance. Its 2.5G multi-gig port adds a few extra brownie points to its score. But the router comes at an exorbitant price, which is justified concerning each feature apart from security. To learn more, check out my in-depth Netgear RAXE500 review.

2. Best Runner-Up: TP-Link Archer AX90

Every list of best routers is incomplete without a device by TP-Link, so here, Archer AX90 is the one. It’s primarily a souped-up version of Archer AX73, which has a lot in common aside from some distinctive WiFi specs. You get better performance from AX90 courtesy of an additional 5GHz, greater throughput capacity, and better antennas.

Why is it suited for large homes?

TP-Link AX90 boasts a premium look with high-quality plastic material and a refined design, besides being bulky and heavy to accommodate 8 external antennas. These antennas boast beamforming technology to deliver clearer signals to the client devices kept far away from the router.

At a stretch, the emitted signals could cover an area of up to 2,000-2,200 Sq Ft, the size of a 2-bedroom apartment. Aside from that, integrating technologies like MU-MIMO and OFDMA lets you connect to up to 30 devices.

Pairing it with the Xfinity Gigabit Pro plan got me around 1.75 Gbps and 325 Mbps as download and upload speeds on the 5GHz band. And respective speeds on the 2.4GHz band were 1.05 Gbps and 179 Mbps. The speeds might drop as you move away from the router, but there won’t be any potential lags or hiccups.

Courtesy of a 2.5G port also makes the router capable of conveying multi-gigs of speeds to the connected devices. You can expect a maximum throughput of 2.05 Gbps and 417 Mbps for downloads and uploads, which should satisfy the bandwidth hunger of any device. Now, with such speeds at my disposal, I could easily complete any internet-bound tasks.

Security Features

Archer AX90 comes with WPA3 standard right away, but it would be rendered useless if you don’t possess a compatible device. There’s a Homeshield security suite that adds a few basic features like weekly scans and providing a VPN server.

Regarding parental controls, WiFi pausing and tracking online status are only a few features you get for free. And the features available with the subscription are extremely robust and give you a ton of control options.

Conclusion

Overall, TP-Link’s Archer AX90 is the best runner-up large home WiFi router that offers stability and high performance at a great price. The additional 5GHz band helps you add a few more devices, and clearer signals are delivered.

3. Best for Gaming: ASUS RT-AX86S

Are you a professional gamer facing frequent lags due to high latency? Looking for a router that boosts your gaming experience? Asus RT-AX86S is a great choice. With gaming-specific hardware and software features like 1024-QAM, OFDMA, etc., you are sure to get a much better performance than its previous model, RT-AX82U.

Why is it suited for large homes?

As a gamer, I need a lot of data transfer speed in my 2-room apartment, and this router delivers. Its 4 trapezoidal antenna makes it a suitable router for a 2,500 Sq Ft house.

At most, I could connect over 45 devices, play games, attend video calls, stream movies, and do more. Kudos to MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and more for delivering this level of performance.

Speeds are equally as important when playing HD games, and this router didn’t disappoint. Connecting the 5GHz band to the 2 Gbps Xfinity plan, the maximum download speed reached 1.75 Gbps, and the uploads took place at 249 Mbps. And respective speeds for the 2.4GHz band raked out at 987 Mbps and 115 Mbps.

These speeds are enough for running any sized or bandwidth-requiring games and applications on your gaming consoles. Besides that, there’s enough bandwidth left for you to stream 4K movies, attend Zoom calls, and perform other light tasks like sending emails, browsing social media, etc.

RT-AX86S also offers a decent selection of Ethernet ports, including 4 GigE LAN and 1 GigE WAN. Considering the wireless performance you get, there’s practically no need for extra pace. But if there’s still a requirement, get your devices plugged in and get speeds up to 1.95 Gbps and 367 Mbps.

Security Features

Security is the standout feature of this router, and compared to my previous recommendations, it gets you the best premium security features for free. With the Asus AiProtection Pro, you can protect your devices and home network from any type of substance alien to them and prevent potential cyberattacks.

It also ingrains a few smart parental controls you won’t find in previous devices. These include manual website blocking, monitoring online activities, and others, thereby serving as a good device for digital mothers.

Conclusion

To sum up, RT-AX86S is a powerful gaming router that blends powerful hardware with its latest wireless standards to deliver a strong performance. Besides, its free security suite is powerful enough to keep your network and devices safe. But the lack of an additional band and a 2.5G port is why it’s in the third position.

4. Best Value for Money: Linksys MR9610

Next, presenting to you a budget-friendly dual-band WiFi 6 router that delivers faster 5GHz throughput and file transfer speeds. It’s equipped with a mesh tech that works with another router to create a mesh network and deliver faster speeds throughout your large space.

Compared to my previous recommendation, Linksys MR9610 has got greater coverage, device capacity, and a greater throughput capacity at 6000 Mbps.

Why is it suited for large homes?

MR9610 is powered by an Intelligent Mesh technology to give out a maximum range of 3,000 Sq Ft. Although this value stands true in ideal settings, it was able to spread signals in an area of around 2,400-2,600 Sq Ft. The devices are separated by three walls also worked fine, so any mid-sized apartment should be an ideal hot spot for this router.

Like my previous recommendations, beamforming and MU-MIMO support let you connect with more devices concurrently without any speed drops. The maximum the router could accommodate was 25, which includes devices like laptops, mobile devices, smart TVs, smart lights, and others.

Now the speed scores were great with WiFi 6 support and a maximum throughput capacity of 6000 Mbps. With a Cox Gigablast plan, I got download speeds of around 967 Mbps, and uploads happened at around 154 Mbps over the 5GHz band. Although its range performance took a hit by 30%, the speeds were the highest in the Linksys router series.

The MR9610 delivered a speedy internet performance when I tried to download a 35GB folder containing video, photos, music, and other office documents. The process merely took a few seconds, while time spiked up to 2-3 minutes when the router was placed far away.

Aside from wireless capabilities, the presence of 5 GigE LAN and WAN ports contributes towards a speedy wired performance. You can attain a maximum of 1012 Mbps as download speed, along with 210 Mbps for uploads, which is very handy.

Security Features

Security features aren’t a forte of this long range WiFi router, and it has only a VPN server and WPA3 encryption to keep your datasets secure. Besides, similar is the case with parental controls where you have features like monitoring online time and pausing WiFi. There also isn’t any option to pay something extra to get some additional premium security.

Conclusion

Linksys MR9610 is the best Wi-Fi 6 router for large home owners who don’t want to spend much yet want a reliable, future-proof device. It performed exceedingly well on 5GHz close range and connected with multiple devices concurrently but struggled in my long-distance throughput tests.

Besides, there aren’t any premium and advanced security features on offer, thereby in the fourth position.

5. Best Mesh WiFi System: TP-Link Deco XE75

Do you live in a very large house with thick walls or a lot of physical obstructions? Establishing a mesh network makes sense.

TP-Link’s Deco XE75 is one of the top WiFi 6E systems that balance the features, price, and utility. The new 6 GHz band fosters the delivery of clearer signals. These, combined with powerful hardware, deem for a much more powerful performance than Deco X60.

Why is it suited for large homes?

Mesh WiFi systems are ideal for any house with an area greater than 2,500 Sq Ft, and its 4 high-performance beamforming antennas could cover my entire 3,700 Sq Ft two-story house with powerful signals. None of the above-featured routers could do that, making it the best mesh router for a big house.

Its roaming capability is probably the strongest out there. With an AI-Driven roaming algorithm and 802.11k/v/r fast roaming technology, you are always connected to your devices when you walk around the home. Besides, MU-MIMO and OFDMA take its device connection capacity to around 80.

The router also delivers a decent performance in terms of speed. Paired with the Xfinity Gigabit plan, download raked at 875 Mbps and 425 Mbps for 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands. Similarly, upload speeds for respective bands were around 148 Mbps and 56 Mbps. I didn’t notice any dropouts or freezes when gaming, streaming or video calling.

The 5 GigE also contributes towards faster-wired capability. Speeds for uploads and downloads can clock to a maximum value of 995 Mbps and 180 Mbps, respectively. This provides you with some additional bandwidth to exploit.

Security Features

Similar to my previous recommendation, with this, there isn’t much available for free. Out of the box, it comes with WPA3 encryption, which brings a lot of upgrades over WPA2, and keeps your datasets more secure. However, parental controls are a bit advanced with features like content filtering and usage limitation.

Conclusion

Priced at around $250 for a 2-pack variant, TP-Link Deco XE75 is the best mesh WiFi router for big homes. You can install it in any space without worrying about dead zones. Its performance with respect to speeds is also decent. Barring such good aspects, it offers lesser speed output than my recommendations, hence the position.

For a more detailed look, read my dedicated, Deco XE75 review.

6. Best Budget Option: ASUS RT-AC67P

Moving on to my final product in this list of long-distance routers is Asus RT-AC67P which, despite doesn’t cost much, delivers an excellent WiFi range. Alongside, there’s WiFi 5 support which offers a consistent throughput throughout the day.

Why is it suited for large homes?

A router’s coverage might vary based on the structure of a house. But, costing much less than $100, it boasts a decent 3-antenna setup that sends signals to an area of up to 3,000 Sq Ft, on par with many top models on my list. You can sit out on any part of your two-bedroom house and enjoy stable signals on your devices.

Despite boasting a longer range, ASUS RT-AC67P disappoints in the maximum device support aspect. The maximum limit, as dictated by various factors, should get to a maximum of 15-20 devices. However, I didn’t experience any lags on those devices as such.

Next, speeds aren’t great with this router, and on the 5GHz band, with Cox 500 Mbps plan, downloads happened at 453 Mbps, while speeds were 45 Mbps for uploads. And the 2.4GHz band had respective speeds of 145 Mbps and 15 Mbps. The speeds might not seem much, but there’s a whole lot you can do with it, be it streaming, online gaming, or video calling.

Besides, the 4-port setup on the rear panel provides full gigabit bandwidth to the client devices, so there are no concerns here.

Security Features

Security is also an area where this Asus RT-AC67P majorly lacks. There is not much aside from six layers of advanced network security to let you enjoy reliably safe and high-speed wireless internet. Other than that, there’s WPA2 encryption that provides basic-level security to your datasets. But there are no premium and advanced security features on offer.

Conclusion

Overall, ASUS RT-AC67P is a low-cost router to use in a large house. It comes with adequate features to meet any family’s mid-tier network requirements. Its speed output is adequate for most of your tasks. Nevertheless, its device connection capacity and lesser speeds than most models have pushed it down the list.

How To Choose a Router for a Large Home?

1. Make sure the coverage area mentioned in the router’s specifications is at least 15-20% more than your actual coverage area. For instance, if you live in a 2,000 Sq Ft apartment, then ensure that the router’s coverage area is around 2,300-2,500 Sq Ft.
2. A large house also means, more smart devices, and more people, so make sure that the number of devices supported by the router you are getting is almost 30% higher than the actual number of devices. This would make your setup perform optimally.
3. Place the router in a central location, this way the signals would reach all areas and will penetrate through walls. However, if you’re not able to place it at a central location for some reason, then I’d recommend you get a mesh WiFi system.
4. Get a dual-band or a tri-band router, that way there’ll be less network congestion and the quality of the signal will be better across the entire house. Read the differences between Dual and Tri-Band routers.
5. Make sure that router you are picking is capable of handling the internet plan you’re subscribed to. There’s no point in getting a 300 Mbps router for a 1 Gbps connection similarly getting a gigabit router for 300-400 Mbps won’t make sense unless you’re planning to upgrade to a faster plan.

For more such tips, read my comprehensive guide on buying a router.

Frequently Asked Questions

Verdict

That’s it for my recommendations on routers good for large houses. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and can make a better purchase decision. But if you still are stuck, here’s my curated list of the best options.

• If you’re after a high-end router and don’t want to compromise on its features, then Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 should be an ideal option. It boasts the latest WiFi 6E and an additional 6 GHz band to give out clearer signals on the connected devices.
• If you have a constrained budget and need a reliable and efficient router, ASUS RT-AX86S is a decent option. Although it boasts dual-band WiFi 6 support, the ingrained technologies and gaming-related customizations make it a viable choice.
• Lastly, if you want a good router for a large house but don’t have much to spend, ASUS RT-AC67P should be the ultimate choice. Its 3,000 Sq Ft maximum range is the maximum you get in this price range.

Please tell me in the comments below which router you have gone for or if you’ve any queries or suggestions. With that, I’d sign off.