Budget AX Router under £60 / $80

[cohen87]

Dear Colleagues,

I’ve taken on board previous advice, and have £60 / $80 for the best bang for the buck AX router, virtually all of my seven clients (some have AC adapters, virtually all N adapters, including TV for streaming) will be in the same room as the AX router, and have narrowed it down to the following:
1) Tp-Link AX23 Version 1 (Mediatek 7621 chipset) with open-wrt. Can use hardware acceleration on open-wrt with this Mediatek chipset.
2) Netgear RAX20 (Broadcom chipset), excellent review on smallnetbuilder for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz throughput. I will be using Netgear stock firmware. This is currently top of the list for my budget. My only worry is the quality of the hardware components.
3) D-Link DIR 2660 (Mediatek 7621) (second user price).
4)) Any AC router under $80 bucks that uses the Mediatek 7621 chipset, that supports hardware acceleration.
I am open to other suggestions (including second user on flea-bay) and alternative firmware.
Thank you.

 

[L&LD]

I wouldn't be looking at any of those if the following is still available (and available in your area).

[NEWEGG] AX68U $74.99

AX68U $109.99+$35 Newegg gift card. So it's $74.99. You can have $35 gift card per unit. eg) 2 AX68U, 2 of $35 gift card. https://www.newegg.com/asus-rt-ax68u/p/N82E16833320482

www.snbforums.com

 

[cohen87]

Dear L&LD,

I’m from the home of chips-dips, Mary Poppins and bad weather - England.
I won’t be able to get those discounts or prices in the UK.
Can I ask what your opinion is about the above routers ? - I’m being offered a hardly used Boxed Netgear RAX20 for about $30 dollars.
( I hope to save up in the future for a top ranking Wi-Fi 6/7 Asus Router, but right now, it’s beyond my budget).

 

[L&LD]

For $30, take the NG for a test spin (in your environment).

 

[SeriousFamily]

would you rather not go with a low budget asus router? the 68u is pushing £150 here that i can find.

the ax57u is pushing under 100 at £93

Amazon.co.uk

 

[sfx2000]

A little bit out of your range, but an excellent device based on OpenWRT...

GL.iNet GL-AX1800(Flint) WiFi 6 Router -Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router | 5 x 1G Ethernet Ports | Up to 120 Devices | Amazing OpenVpn&WireGuard Speed | WPA3 Security | MU-MIMO | 802.11ax​

Amazon.com

 

[cohen87]

A little bit out of your range, but an excellent device based on OpenWRT...

GL.iNet GL-AX1800(Flint) WiFi 6 Router -Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router | 5 x 1G Ethernet Ports | Up to 120 Devices | Amazing OpenVpn&WireGuard Speed | WPA3 Security | MU-MIMO | 802.11ax​

Amazon.com

Thank you for the recommendation.
I’ve never heard of ‘Flint’ - which is a problem in regards to reliability.

 

[cohen87]

Dear Colleagues,
Have narrowed down the search to the following two routers, which I have bought:

1) Netgear RAX20 Wi-Fi 6 Router - Stock firmware ( Broadcom chipset ) - AX1800
2) Tp-Link C2600 Wi-Fi 5 Router with open-wrt firmware ( Atheros chipset) -AC2600

After testing the two, the Tp-Link has better signal strength and speed than the Netgear RAX20 - even after adjusting the settings.

Most of my clients are N, with a few AC, but I am still surprised how better the performance is on the Tp-Link with open-wrt , considering that the Netgear is Wi-Fi 6 and supposed to have a better RF design.

In regards to throughput and signal strength on AC, the Tp-Link is better than the Netgear. Do the numbers AX1800 and AC2600 have any bearing on this?.

Which one should I keep ?.

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

An AX class router isn't guaranteed to have a modern/superior RF design.

Use the router that performs best in your environment and your expectations.

 

[cohen87]

What surprises me is that my friends Netgear R7800 performs better on AC than the RAX20, but about the same as my Tp C2600.

I think there is an element of marketing hype with regards to AX Wi-Fi 6 routers.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, there is an element of hype (and more so at the lower end of the scale).

But when you can obtain a 'best in class', the latest models almost always do better. (Otherwise, they wouldn't be best in class!).

Is Wi-Fi 6 Worth It

Wi-Fi 6 Pt 2

 

[cohen87]

Yes, there is an element of hype (and more so at the lower end of the scale).

But when you can obtain a 'best in class', the latest models almost always do better. (Otherwise, they wouldn't be best in class!).

Is Wi-Fi 6 Worth It

Wi-Fi 6 Pt 2

I would have at least expected marginal better throughput on the AC channel by the Netgear RAX20, compared to the Tp-Link C2600.

The only advantage in terms of spec on the RAX20 is a larger memory : 512 Ram compared to the C2600 with 256 Ram

 

[L&LD]

I wouldn't (at these price points).

 

[sfx2000]

What surprises me is that my friends Netgear R7800 performs better on AC than the RAX20, but about the same as my Tp C2600.

I think there is an element of marketing hype with regards to AX Wi-Fi 6 routers.

The R7800 is an AC2600 class device - and it's very well regarded...

RAX20 is an AX1800 - it's a nice device, but the R7800 for most folks is the better performer.

 

[Tech9]

512 Ram compared to the C2600 with 256 Ram

Archer C2600 v1.x based on IPQ8064 has 512MB RAM.

 

[cohen87]

Thanks Tech 9.
Can someone tell me, if the Netgear is AX1800, does this mean it will have an equal throughput or better on the AC channel when compared to the Tp-Link C2600?, meaning can the Netgear reach 1300Mbps, the same as the Tp-Link AC2600 on AC?.

 

[L&LD]

While they may sometimes line up, marketing numbers are not comparable for actual performance possible. They may want you to think that. But only testing, in your network environment, will determine if that is true or not.

 

[Tech9]

Can someone tell me

Archer C2600 is 4-stream router, AX1800 class routers are 2-stream. Most AC client devices are 2-stream though and will have up to 866Mbps link speed to both with throughput up to about 600Mbps. C2600 may have better range. In reality there will be little to no difference.

 

[cohen87]

I presume that Netgear ‘stock’ firmware will have better hardware acceleration, but this doesn’t appear to translate to better throughput or range, in comparison to the open-wrt firmware?.

 

[cohen87]

Have just been offered a new Asus RT-AC86U for £65 - but according to the SNB forums, this is the router that has an unpredictable life-span, it could die suddenly within a month to a year. Not worth the risk, so have declined.