Best 10 Router NAS Options: Add Some Cool Storage to Your Wi-Fi Today!

You probably already know how a router hosts a home network and delivers Wi-Fi to multiple devices at a time. But there are also “router NAS” option where a USB-enabled Wi-Fi broadcaster can work as a mini NAS (Network Attached Storage) server. All you need is an external drive.

So, if you want to dabble into network-attached storage, using a good Wi-Fi router is the best way to start. I detailed the process in this post on how to get the most out of a Wi-Fi router’s USB port.

In this piece, you’ll find a list of the current 10 best candidates for the job. I’ll update it as I review more.

Popular Wi-Fi router NAS options in numbers

Almost all Wi-Fi routers with a USB port can work as a mini NAS server, at least for simple file sharing.

What decides if one is good at this job, however, is the performance of this port. In other words, when it comes to network storage, the throughput speed is the king.

That said, below is the chart of NAS performance of (almost) all of those I’ve tested. They are popular USB-enabled routers, in alphabetical order — you might find yours here.

Note: This chart is updated each time I review a new USB-enabled Wi-Fi broadcaster. It includes router NAS options that don’t make it to the top list below.

I tested each broadcaster using a wired Gigabit connection. With those that feature a multi-gig port, I tried that out, too.

As for storage devices, I’ve always used SSD-based portable drives for the testing. The actual drive used for each router might vary, but they all are much faster than the router’s wired network port.

Note that the scores on the chart are in megabyte per second (MB/s), which is eight times the megabit per second (Mbps) measurement generally used for network connection speed.

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Best Wi-Fi router NAS solutions: The list

Again, any routers on the chart above will work as a mini NAS server. But you’re on the market for a new USB-enabled router; find my recommendations below.

These are routers that deliver the best performance or have a great feature set when hosting external storage or both. I’ve personally used them all.

This list is sorted based on the NAS read performance using the fastest wired connection each router supports. In my opinion, the read throughput is more most important than the write one when it comes to network-attached storage.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see how their NAS numbers stack against one another’s.

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1. Asus RT-AX89X

The RT-AX89X is the top-tier dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router from Asus, and it’s the first router on the market that has not one but two 10Gbps network ports. That plus two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports means it can deliver ultra-high-speed router NAS performance.

Like all Asus routers, including the RT-AX86U, GT-AX11000, and RT-AX68U below, the RT-AX89X can deliver all storage-related applications you can consider, including local and cloud-based data sharing, PC-less download app, Time Machine backup, and a lot more.

By the way, the storage-based feature set is the same across all Asus routers released in the past few years. And that also applies to other Asus routers on this list.

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2. Netgear Nighthawk RAX120

This router is the latest from Netgear and has the fastest network storage speed, by far, thanks to its 5Gbps port. But even when you use its regular Gigabit connection, the NAS performance is still outstanding.

Like most Netgear routers, when hosting an external drive, the RAX120 is all about sharing that storage space in as may way as possible. You can share that locally or via the Internet using Netgear’s ReadyShare software. The router also supports local backup for Windows and Mac’s Time Machine.

[P_Review post_id=8189 visual=”full”]

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3. Netgear Nighthawk RAX200

The RAX200 is a tri-band router that shares the same storage feature set as that of the dual-band RAX120 above. It also has a multi-gig network port, but it caps at just 2.5 Gbps, so it’s not as fast as its cousin, but still, it’s speedy.

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4. Asus RT-AX86U

The Asus RT-AX86U is currently the best Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 router on the market. There are many things about this router but the stellar NAS performance when hosting a portable drive sure helps elevate it to this status.

As for features, like other Asus routers, it delivers all you can ask for in terms of what you want to do with the USB ports.

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5. Asus GT-AX11000

The GT-AX11000 is the tri-band Wi-Fi 6 router from Asus. It’s also a powerful router, and like its cousins above, it has everything when it comes to network storage.

Again, like other Asus routers, its USB ports can host printers, storage devices, or cellular modem, and deliver a ton of storage-based features. On top of that, it also has a 2.5Gbps network connection to deliver fast NAS performance.

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6. Asus RT-AX68U

The Asus RT-AX68U is the last entry-level Wi-Fi 6 router and shares similar NAS features as its older cousins mentioned above. However, it’s noticeably more affordable.

Without a multi-gig port, this router is not the fastest in any way, but its router NAS function virtually maxed out the speed of a Gigabit connection in my testing.

The RT-AX68U deserves a spot on this list for a nice combo of excellent features, fast performance, and friendly pricing.

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7. TP-Link Archer C5400X

This massive and ostentatious Wi-Fi router is quite impressive in terms of USB-based NAS performance. Despite having no multi-gig network port, it delivers fast NAS performance via its regular Gigabit ports.

The router supports sharing storage locally as well as over the Internet. It can also work as a media server, casting content to network streamers, and an Apple Time Capsule alternative.

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8. Linksys MX5 Velop AX

The Linksys MX5 is the latest Wi-Fi router of Belkin’s Linksys Velop mesh family. It’s part of the Linksys MX10 mesh system, but you can also get it as a standalone router.

Unlike some other Wi-Fi 6 routers below, the MX5 doesn’t have a multi-gig port, so its NAS performs caps at 1Gbps. And that was almost the speed it delivered in my testing.

The router’s USB port doesn’t offer anything more than local storage sharing — there’s no personal cloud streaming features. Interestingly, it does support Time Machine backup despite the fact Belkin says it doesn’t.

By the way, if you get the MX10 mesh system, keep in mind that you can also use the USB port of the satellite unit, meaning you can host more than one drive in your network.

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9. Synology MR2200ac

The MR2200ac‘s NAS feature isn’t exactly fast, as you can see on the chart above. However, thanks to the advanced firmware, it has, by far, the best NAS feature set, similar to that of a Synology server.

Hopefully, Synology will release a more powerful Wi-Fi router in the future with similar storage functions. For now, the RT2600ac also offers the same NAS feature set. Other than storage, you can also use the MR2200ac’s USB port to host a cellular modem.

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10. TP-Link Archer AX11000

The TP-Link Archer AX11000 is the Wi-Fi 6 of the C5400X above. It’s a newer and much better router overall. But in terms of NAS performance, it’s behind its older cousin. The two share the same storage feature set, however.

Despite other advanced networking features of a Wi-Fi router, the comparatively slow read NAS speed when hosting a storage device lands it at the bottom in this post.

Best Wi-Fi routers with built-in NAS features: The performance

Find below the NAS performance charts of my recommended routers above. Again, I test them all using a weird Gigabit connection. And for those with a multi-gig port, I also tested them using that with my 10 Gbps adapter.

It’s important to note that I performed the tests with just one client connected to the Wi-Fi router. When you have multiple clients writing or reading from the router’s connected storage, the speed will reduce accordingly. But that’s the case of all NAS servers.