Looking for very budget router advice

[Grothmog]

Hello, recently I discovered that my friend uses some very old 1 antenna tplink with g standard. Internet speed he claims that is 50 Mb/s (but it's max that this device is capable off so i'm not sure). I'm looking for cheap budget device as birthday present (price around 40$).

Right now i'm considering:
tp-link archer c50 v2 or v3/4
asus rt-ac51u
asus rt-750
Currently leaning towards tp-link archer c50 v2 becouse of qualcomm chip.

Or maybe should I drop ac and buy better quality n router?

 

[psychopomp1]

A refurbished Netgear R6300-v2 is available for $39.99 on Amazon which is far, far better than any of the routers you've listed. If you don't mind refurbished that is the one to go for at that price point...

 

[Grothmog]

Thanks for tip, I will ask seller if it's EU or US version (I would need EU) and consider it. Still as a present I would go probably for safer but crappy new router. It will still be way better then current g router (tp-link WR340G) and I will avoid risk of it stopping working after month or two.

 

[ColinTaylor]

What country is he in? Are you in the same country (I'm thinking about ordering and delivery issues/costs).

The RT-AC51U and RT-AC750 appear to be the same device. Those and the TP-Link devices have almost identical hardware, except the TP-Link's have 2 stream 5GHz radios whereas the Asus only have 1 stream. So the TP-Link's are better in that respect. But the Asus' have 16MB of flash memory whereas the TP-Links only have 8MB. All have 64MB of RAM.

They all use a MediaTek MIPS 24KEc processor @ 580MHz apart from the Archer C50 V2 (only the V2) which has an Atheros MIPS 74Kc @ 720MHz.

I've not used a TP-Link so I don't know how it compares in terms of software features. But just looking at the hardware specs and given the person it's intended for I'd be inclined to agree with your preference for the C50 V2. (Although it doesn't appear to be available in the UK as it has been replaced by the V3)

It's also worth remembering that these are 10/100Mbps devices which will limit his WAN and LAN speeds, just in case he's planning on upgrading his internet service.

 

[System Error Message]

recycle an older PC, buy a 2nd hand quad port Gbe intel server NIC, pfsense, then even a tp link AC1200 or ubiquiti's cheap AC AP.

 

[ColinTaylor]

recycle an older PC, buy a 2nd hand quad port Gbe intel server NIC, pfsense, then even a tp link AC1200 or ubiquiti's cheap AC AP.

Doesn't fit the criteria in post #1.

 

[System Error Message]

Doesn't fit the criteria in post #1.

well a raspberry pi 2 with a wifi adapter makes a better router too .

For $40 that is a very tight budget, thankfully you can buy used and refurbished.

 

[sfx2000]

tp-link archer c50 v2 or v3/4

Probably the best choice - considering the other options..

 

[sfx2000]

well a raspberry pi 2 with a wifi adapter makes a better router too .

No - it doesn't...

SW side - nice, HW side, nope... Rpi2 needs a wifi adapter, and most off the shelf don't work very well, even in client side...

 

[System Error Message]

No - it doesn't...

SW side - nice, HW side, nope... Rpi2 needs a wifi adapter, and most off the shelf don't work very well, even in client side...

some actually do, however when one is on a super tight budget, and your region doesnt provide reasonably priced used/refurbished decent routers, its one route to go with.