Routers from Top Broadband Providers Ranked

When you sign up for a broadband package, you’ll receive your ISP’s branded router in the post, often with vague assurances that it’s “superfast” and “reliable.” But how well does your default router actually work?

The good news is that ISP issued routers have improved in leaps and bounds in recent years. Broadband users are no longer contending with subpar pieces of kit, the routers of a decade ago which required frequent rebooting, often couldn’t handle multiple devices, and wouldn’t let some gadgets connect at all.

Today’s routers get the job done, broadcasting fairly reliable home WiFi networks, and most households don’t venture to Currys for an alternative. But that doesn’t mean all customers are satisfied—Which’s survey of broadband users found that faulty routers were one of consumers’ top complaints—or that all ISP-issued routers are created equal.

ISPReview has cut through the advertising jargon and empty promises to compare the specs and reputations of routers from eight of the UK’s biggest broadband providers: BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Sky Broadband, Zen Internet, Hyperoptic, Vodafone, and KCOM. But before we review their findings, getting into the nitty gritty of the hardware, let’s run down what you should look for in a router, and learn your LAN ports from your WAN.

What to Look for in a Router

• WiFi specification: look for a router which offers 802.11n (supports theoretical speeds of 600 Mbps and actual speeds of 100 Mbps) or 802.11ac (theoretical speeds of 1300 Mbps and actual speeds of 200 Mbps). 802.11ax, which will be introduced in 2019, will reportedly support up to 14Gbps of speed.
• radio spectrum band: look for a router that supports both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum bands. Older models may only accommodate the 2.4GHz band, which is slow and crowded.
• LAN ports: you use these ports to connect devices like computers and printers to your router via an ethernet; check the number and the speed they support: 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps are common
• WAN ports: you use these ports to connect to other routers and public devices to your router; check the number, as many ISP-issued routers come without them
• USB ports: Consider how many the router comes with and what version (v3.0+ are fastest)

Router Comparison

ISP has compiled a list of the specs of routers from the following ISPs.

It’s important to remember that these are just the features of the routers. ISPreview hasn’t conducted any real world tests on them and can’t vouch for their performance in our home.

For the complete rundown of the data, check out ISPReview’s site.

 

BT

• router name: Smart Hub, Smart Hub X
• release date: 2016 (2017-18 for the X)
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 7
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1917 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 0
• USB ports: 1 (v2.0)

Sky Broadband (also NOW TV)

• router name: Sky Q Hub
• release date: 2015
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 5
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1600 Mbps
• LAN ports: 2 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 0
• USB ports: 0

 

Virgin Media

• router name: Hub 3.0
• release date: 2015
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 5
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1600Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1
• USB ports: 0

 

TalkTalk

• router name: Wi-Fi Hub
• release date: 2018
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 7
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac Wave 2
• peak WiFi speed: 1950 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1
• USB ports: 0

Zen Internet

• router name: FRITZ!Box 3490
• release date: 2015
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 6
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1750 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1
• USB ports: 2 (v3.0)

Hyperoptic

• router name: HyperHub
• release date: unknown
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 2
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1200 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1
• USB ports: unknown

Vodafone

• router model: Huawei HHG2500
• release date: 2015
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 5
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: around 1600 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1 (1000 Mbps but disabled by default)
• USB ports: 2 (v2.0)

KCOM

• router model: ZyXEL VMG3925-B10B
• release date: 2015/16
• radio spectrum bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
• number of WiFi antennas: 5
• WiFi spec: 802.11ac
• peak WiFi speed: 1600 Mbps
• LAN ports: 4 (1000 Mbps)
• WAN ports: 1
• USB ports: known

Conclusions

BT and TalkTalk seem to offer the routers with the best specs. The others are tightly grouped, with little differentiation in their offerings. Only Hyperoptic’s router seems to lag behind the pack, which is somewhat at odds with their delivery of Gigabit cable full fibre internet.

However, most ISPs don’t seem to have updated their router models in a few years. Most of the routers ISPreview assessed were first released in 2015. So while 2019 will see the introduction of the next generation WiFi spec, 802.11ax, don’t look for it from your standard ISP-issued kit for a few years. You’ll have to use a third-party device to be at the cutting edge of router tech.