Connecting to the NBN is a minefield of providers, plans and technologies. One area where you don’t get much choice though, is in what internet gateway you get to use. Most ISPs give you a basic unit with your plan, but you’ll have to pay extra for an upper-range model.

We measured and ranked the internet connection performance of each unit, as well as its home network performance, both wireless and ethernet. We also compared the ease of set-up and use and the features of each unit.

Our expert testers give every modem-router a thorough workout to help find the models that:

• deliver the internet connection speed
• provide the best local Wi-Fi speed
• have the best local ethernet (wired) network speed
• are the easiest to use

Our interactive comparison tool helps you find out which modem-routers have the best connection speed outside your home to the internet and which have the best within your home network on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. We also tell you which have key features such as support for guest users and parental filter controls, and the types of ports they have for connecting other devices.

By Steve Duncombe