Best decently priced router?

Macgomes

Hello everyone,,

There are quite a few options out there, and it really depends on what your focus is. Do you have multiple 802.11 AC devices, or are most still on the N band? Do you game, and if so, do you plan on doing so hardwired or wireless (obviously I recommend wired if you can, but not everyone has this option)? How large is your living space, and are you in a house with few wireless points around or in an apartment with tons of wireless congestion around?

For everyday use that will serve you well all around with solid 802.11AC performance, I'd recommend the Asus RT-AC68U. FYI on this one, Amazon currently has it listed for WAY above what most retail shops are at. I've seen them recently as low as $115-130. Probably worth surfing around for a better price (FYI - if you have a Micro Center near you, they have it on sale right now for $140).

If you game heavily, and it is a big part of your daily life, the Netgear R7000p Nighthawk router is well worth the additional cost. I've seen this go as low as $140 in the past, but its far more often closer to the current price of $180.

Finally, if these are too far out of your price range, that's totally understandable. For a budget pick, the TPLink Archer C7 is an excellent all around router especially for the low cost. The major downsides of going with a budget router is the lack of good QOS (quality of service) tools to manage bufferbloat and latency for gaming, and slower processors that can harm large file transfers over a network or multiple devices at the same time. It all depends on your usage.

One final note - Comcast's device is often a modem AND router in one. Do you have a Docsis 3.0/3.1 modem already that you will be using with this, or do you need to purchase one of those as well? You can not use one or the other, you must have both (unless only hardwiring to one PC, with no wifi).


#Others_May_2019