Fastest AP/router under $100

[AtotehZ]

Hello guys,

I'm sharing the net with my neighbor. I trust the guy(known him 2 decades and his net use) so I'm fine with him being on my network.

I want a setup similar to this:

It's the new ap/router I need advice on.

What would you buy under $100 if it must have at least 1 Gigabit LAN and WAN port each and as fast as possible wifi?

I tried an Ubiquiti airCube AC, but its speeds were abysmal. Only 80Mbit max on wifi.

 

[bbunge]

Asus RT-AC66U_B1. Can run Merlin firmware. Has AiMesh 2.0. $95.00 at B&H Photo https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._b1_dual_band_3x3_ac1750_wifi.html?ap=y&smp=y
I had one before moving up to an AC86U. The AC66U_B1 is now serving a not so small not for profit as the root AiMesh router.

Would be best to run an Ethernet cable to the neighbors. Using WIFI for backhaul will cut the WIFI speed in half.

 

[AtotehZ]

I might actually have the one for the job...

I have an AC66U already, just not B1. I'm not so held up on it needing AiMesh or Merlin firmware(AC66U is no longer supported afaik). He doesn't have huge requirements.

Sold it to my mom when I set up their net, but it's looking more and more like she doesn't need it.

She's using a TP-Link Deco M9+ mesh instead. They have a huge place(over 5000sqft), so being able to add on more units to cover wifi is a big plus for them.

Just gotta figure out how to return the aircube then -.- Not sure the company I bought it from will like it.

 

[sfx2000]

What would you buy under $100 if it must have at least 1 Gigabit LAN and WAN port each and as fast as possible wifi?

Believe it or not - Linksys WRT1900AC

Second hand they're pretty cheap, and while somewhat limited on the stock firmware, they're solid on WiFi performance, and running OpenWRT, they're stout on the routing side.

If you have an older RT-AC68U, they're also a very good choice, and probably better supported community-wise on the forums here - for your use case, don't really need B1 or later - and RMerlin builds, IIRC, are still supporting that device...