Fast 802.11ac-based Wi-Fi goes boom at CES 2014 (pictures)

The new Linksys WRT1900AC resembles in design the good old WRT54G that came out more than a decade ago. It's very powerful, running on a 1.2GHz processor.

The Linksys WRT1900AC is the first home router that comes with an eSATA port, a USB 3.0 port, and a USB 2.0 port.

The RTA30 High Power AC1900 Wi-Fi Router from Amped Wireless features eight Wi-Fi radios, four high-gain, dual-band antennas, and 16 high-power amplifiers, and is supposed to offer incredible range.

The REA33 High Power AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender, also from Amped Wireless, is very similar to the RTA30 in terms of Wi-Fi capability but it's not a router and only works with an existing network.

The TEW-818DRU is the first AC1900 router from Trendnet and it's very promising. Equipped with a 1GHz processor, it ranks among the most powerful routers on the market.

The new D-Link Wi-Fi AC750 Portable Router and Charger (model DIR-510L) is not only the first 802.11ac mobile router, it's also a juice pack with a 400mAh internal battery. The tiny router, just about the size of a candy bar, comes with two USB ports for charging and also to host storage and/or 3G/4G cellular modem to share with its connected Wi-Fi clients, on the go. The DIR-510L is slated to be available in January with an estimated cost of about $100.

The Buffalo AirStation Extreme AC 1900 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router (model WXR-1900DHP) is a top of the line 802.11ac router that offers up to 1300Mbps of Wi-Fi on the 5GHz band and up to 600Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band. It's powered by a 1Ghz process and is slated to cost around $200 when it's released in the second quarter of this year.

The AirStation AC433 Wireless Travel Router is a bus-powered (via an USB port) compact 802.11ac router. The tiny device support the single-stream standard of both 802.11ac and 802.11n to offer up to 433Mbps on the 5Ghz band and up to 150Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band at the same time. It comes with one Network port to connect to an existing wired network to share its Internet. The router is said to be available in the second quarter of 2014, at a cost of $60.

The Buffalo AirStation AC 1200 Dual Band Wireless Router (model WHR-1166D) is a dual-stream 802.11ac router. This means it offers up to 866Mbps on the 5Ghz band when used with AC clients and up to 300Mbps on the 2.4Ghz when used with 802.11n clients. The router is slated to be out in early 2014. The cost? About $90.

The Asus RT-AC68U has been on the market for a few months but you sure will find it at CES 2014 at many a demo. It's currently one of the fastest routers on the market.

Similar to the Asus RT-AC68U, the Netgear R7000 is also one of the fastest and most powerful routers on the market. There's no doubt it'll be used at Netgear's CES booth, to say the least. See more CES 2014 coverage.