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I talk to people every day about computers and electronics. From friends and family, to business colleagues, to vendors selling equipment. There is one statement I hear constantly and it drives me crazy. “The Wi-Fi [here/there/at home/at work] sucks!” This is so frustrating because in this day and age (it is now 2021 after all) Wi-Fi should just work. There is no excuse to not be using one of the best Wi-Fi access points on the market rather than the garbage most people install. Even the best Wi-Fi access points are affordable these days.
If you’re looking to upgrade the Wi-Fi experience in your home, office, or even at your friend’s house follow along as I list the top Wi-Fi access points available Feb 2021.
If you want to skip straight to it our top pick for the best Wi-Fi access point of 2021 is still the Ubiquiti 802.11 DUAL AC PRO. It’s still packed with all of the latest features, and Ubiquiti has continued to refine the firmware and software suite for them (and all of their products).
Before we list them off, let’s talk about something very important! A bad install of a good Wi-Fi access point won’t solve connectivity issues, and might even make them worse. Yes, a bad install will make the best AP suck!
The most common misconception we see is that “all you need to do is add another access point somewhere in your home” and let it wirelessly talk to the one your ISP installed at the other end of your home. This is a terrible idea, and often makes the situation even worse and resulting in even poorer connections for those connected to the wireless “repeater”. Garbage in garbage out is true here too!
Consider this: If you’re laptop has trouble connecting to your main access point from the far end of your home, then why would you expect a wireless repeater to have better luck? All you’ve accomplished is adding a middle-man between your laptop and your main wireless AP. This adds additional latency and slowness.
“But my laptop now has four bars signal strength! Before it only had one bar!!!” Of course it does! It has four bars to the repeater. You just moved the one bar connection to the repeater middleman! Lipstick on a pig!
Always direct wire all of your access points. Yes, this means running a CAT5 Ethernet cable from your router to the second (or third) access point in your home. In some cases this might mean a wire up the wall and through the attic. A qualified cable installer will generally do this for less than $100. This is the key element that most people are missing. Another fantastic option is to use my favorite powerline network kit. This kit will transmit an internet signal over your home’s electrical wiring.
So now that you understand some basics of how not to make the best Wi-Fi access point into the worst performer, let’s list our top pics for wireless access points in 2021 (updated). Note: None of these access points are WIFI6. We’ve purposely not picked WIFI6 access points as the technology is still fairly new and all of the kinks have not been worked out. Our pick for the best WIFI6 access point would be the Ubiquiti Unifi6. And as that market evolves will likely replace our top pick here.
The Ubiquit Unifi Dual AC Pro is still hands down our top pick for 2021. Ubiquiti has been developing wireless products for business and home use for some time now, but the equipment was first tested for carrier grade applications for long range transmission of data from cell towers. These devices are rock solid and provide dual 802.11AC radios, MIMO technology, power-over-Ethernet(PoE), and many other enterprise class technologies that can be used at your home and/or small business.
If you choose to go with the Unifi and also like tinkering with the
Netgear has really stepped up their game recently. For a while it seemed every product that left their assembly line was simple cheap low quality junk. Well times have changed! The old Netgear is back and we couldn’t be more excited about it. The Netgear R6700 Nighthawk AC1750 is a very well rounded high performance Wi-Fi access point and router combo.
One of the best things to come out of this update is the App. You can now configure your AP, check speed, troubleshoot connectivity and packet loss all from the screen of your smartphone. You can even set parental controls, limit kids access to screen time, and more. All at the tip of your fingers.
Additionally, all our speed tests have been rock solid and reliable with this device thanks to its dual band wireless capabilities. This Linksys is a win folks!
The TP-Link Archer C1200 Dual Band Wireless AC1200 Gigabit Router finds its way at number three on our list. TP-Link has been making rock solid gear for several years and has become one of the products I can reliably recommend to friends and family. Their APs don’t have as many features, but they are reliable and generally easy to setup.
Sometimes you just need a reliable access point that’s affordable. If you’re on a budget, but still want a rock solid reliable access point then the TRENDnet N300 2T2R is the probably your best option. In our test it was rock solid reliably, albeit much slower than the access points listed above due to its lower specs.
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17 Responses
Agreed! The Ubiquit gear is the best in town!
I installed Unifi in my home when I built it last year. My network has been rock solid. I’d totally recommend them as well. The management console is pretty neat too. All kinds of info you can get out of it.
I decided to go with TP-Link gear because I have a TP link router.
Ewww.. UBNT is way better.
What about the Ruckus APs? The Home builder, Lennar, is using the Ruckus devices in all their new builds.
What about mesh wi-fi?
5
As many have attested, the Ubiquiti access points are the best on the market. Period! I like them better than Cisco, and many of the super high end professional aps. They work, and they work well. And at a price point that makes them a no-brainer!
Ruckus blows!
+1 for UBNT products. They just work.
the ubiquiti access points are now my new favorite. i had to come back and tell you thanks. they just work and are super easy to setup if you have any technical skills at all.
Netgear was never owned by Cisco. That would be Linksys..
Yep. You are correct. Thanks for that!
3
I’ve recently invested in Ubiquiti APs, and it is worth mentioning that the latest APs are the HD line (nano HD, In Wall HD). They are a bit more expensive but support Wave 2 and are higher performance in all regards in my testing. They are about $40 more. The Pro line preforms well, but is a bit older and slower.
Ubiquiti access points are the best on the market. Period! I like them better than Cisco, and many of the super high end professional aps.
What is the coverage range of the UBIQUITI UNIFI DUAL AC PRO?
I currently have a Google Nest setup with multiple (probably too many) points. But I have rock solid connection throughout both floors of my home and the basement. We just did an addition of 1800 sq ft and it is covered as well.
But the network is constantly freezing/crashing in the last couple months and I’m looking into a PfSense box for routing/firewall and then Ubiquity for wifi.
I have gigabit FIOS service.