If you're in need of a new wireless router and don't want to spend a whole lot, you can still get a Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) model—Netgear's 4-stream AX1800 (RAX20-100NAS) can be had for just $56.21 on Amazon right now. That's way down from its $149.99 list price.
The router is on sale for $66.21, which is a good deal in and of itself. However, there's a $10 coupon available. You just have to check the coupon box on the product page (it's underneath the sale price) and you should be good to go with the added discount.
Granted, the AX1800 is not Netgear's top model, and it's not going to dethrone the best gaming routers money can buy. But it does leverage the Wi-Fi 6 protocol. There are several reasons why gamers should care about Wi-Fi 6, such as more bandwidth and less latency.
One of the main benefits, however, is that Wi-Fi 6 was designed specifically to handle multiple connected devices at the same time. To that end, it makes use of MU-MIMO (or multiple-user, multiple input, multiple output) like Wi-Fi 5, and also OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access), which Wi-Fi 5 lacks.
OFDMA allows the router to partition a channel to handle traffic from multiple devices at the same time. It can also serve up the whole block to a single device, depending on the situation. To take advantage of this, you need a Wi-Fi 6 router and devices with Wi-Fi 6 adapters, both of which are becoming more common.
As for this Netgear model, it is a dual-band router that serves up speeds of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,200Mbps on the 5GHz band. It also features a built-in gigabit switch with four wired LAN ports.
There's no USB port on this model, so if that's something you absolutely need (to share a non-wireless printer or a storage device on your network), you'll want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, this is your affordable ticket to Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.
