Which of These 3 Routers Do You Recommend?

[Poseidon]

Looking to replace my Netgear AXE router. Currently looking at 3 options within my price point ($500 ish):

-Asus ROG RT-AXE16000
-TP-Link Archer AXE300
-TP-Link Archer GE800

ISP: 1 gig down. 50 Mbps up

Many connected devices (mostly Apple/ios) and all TV devices (4) streaming so I need something reliable with good range and wireless performance. Also several IoT smart home devices. 6Ghz is a must. Thanks

 

[microchip]

This forum is very ASUS-centric so you'll most likely get lots of suggestions to go with ASUS. Personally I'd recommend the TP-Link GE800 as TP-Link has done a lot of strides in improving its firmware. Their products are also most of the times a bit cheaper and from personal experience, rock solid. No, TP-Link does not have spyware or backdoors or trackers. That's mostly claimed by a small group of people with little to no experience with its products and a paranoid dislike or bias against Chinese brands.

 

[Tech9]

From newer BCM4912 Asus models ZenWiFi ET12 Pro and GT-AXE16000 for some reason still don't have Asuswrt 5.0 firmware. I don't know if Wi-Fi 6E is the reason, but there are firmware delays for the two quite expensive models. I would say wait for more mature Wi-Fi 7 routers and then upgrade.

 

[Clark Griswald]

Amazon (US) has sold the GT-AXE16000 new $400. I agree with Tech9's suggestion of waiting. I'm not cheap, I'm frugal.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I could never recommend TP-Link due to the nasty games they play with their customers by releasing new hardware version with very minor changes and drop support for the previous hardware version like a hot potato. Quite often, that older hardware sits around on store shelves for years later, so you can buy what you think is new hardware, that already lost support a year ago.

 

[Tech9]

They obviously play the game quite well. Qualcomm hardware Archer BE550 with 5x 2.5GbE ports is around USD200 equivalent here in Canada. I see an offer for Amazon Prime Day. Archer AXE75 is popular with gamers because it just works and comes down to USD100 on sale. Archer AX55 is perhaps the most popular AX3000 class home router for under USD100, often on sale around USD70. Most people are interested if it works and what's the price. TP-Link is literally killing the competition around and the product feedback is positive. They perhaps sell more home routers and mesh systems than all the other companies on the market combined. Omada business line on top with wide range of compatible products. Quite impressive, actually.

 

[Poseidon]

Picked up the TP-Link GE800 (WiFi 7) on sale for $450 (regularly priced at $600). Great reviews and I prefer the look to the Axus ROG “drone spider” with the external antennas - not to mention its $250 cheaper for nearly identical hardware and performance. Also only $70 more than the AXE300 TP-Link offering that’s 2 years old.

 

[Tech9]

I prefer the look

You must be Start Wars fan. May the force be with you!

 

[TheLostSwede]

They obviously play the game quite well. Qualcomm hardware Archer BE550 with 5x 2.5GbE ports is around USD200 equivalent here in Canada. I see an offer for Amazon Prime Day. Archer AXE75 is popular with gamers because it just works and comes down to USD100 on sale. Archer AX55 is perhaps the most popular AX3000 class home router for under USD100, often on sale around USD70. Most people are interested if it works and what's the price. TP-Link is literally killing the competition around and the product feedback is positive. They perhaps sell more home routers and mesh systems than all the other companies on the market combined. Omada business line on top with wide range of compatible products. Quite impressive, actually.

Because people aren't aware of the shenanigans the company pulls. Most people never update their router firmware, as you well know. Good luck to them and don't complain when your router is part of a botnet or you get hacked. The industry on a whole needs to do better.

 

[Tech9]

shenanigans the company pulls

The reality on the consumer market. Folks who purchased Asus ROG Strix GS-AX3000/AX5400, TUF Gaming AX3000/AX5400, ZenWiFi XD4/XD6, etc. are in the same boat. Asus official estore offers EoL models regularly, just checked and there are many. It doesn't say a word about support. Get the deal:

The industry on a whole needs to do better.

Agree.

 

[Poseidon]

Because people aren't aware of the shenanigans the company pulls. Most people never update their router firmware, as you well know. Good luck to them and don't complain when your router is part of a botnet or you get hacked. The industry on a whole needs to do better.

I appreciate the warning but by the time TP-Link discontinues support/firmware updates for this router, I will most likely have already moved on to a different model/brand. Also considering this router just hit the market, I doubt it will be abandoned anytime soon.

 

[Tech9]

This model is not even available yet in my country. Coming soon. I see it was released in the US in July. Hopefully Darth Vader inside is friendly.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I appreciate the warning but by the time TP-Link discontinues support/firmware updates for this router, I will most likely have already moved on to a different model/brand. Also considering this router just hit the market, I doubt it will be abandoned anytime soon.

So you're only planning on using it for a year? As that's how soon some models are replaced and then no longer get firmware updates.
I bought one of their at the time, current range extenders, turned out the version was EOL already and never got a single firmware update, but the three new versions got them for about six months do a year before each one got replaced. I saw new ones in the stores last year, all without support from TP-Link. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[TheLostSwede]

The reality on the consumer market. Folks who purchased Asus ROG Strix GS-AX3000/AX5400, TUF Gaming AX3000/AX5400, ZenWiFi XD4/XD6, etc. are in the same boat. Asus official estore offers EoL models regularly, just checked and there are many. It doesn't say a word about support. Get the deal:

View attachment 60353View attachment 60354



Agree.

Yeah, not defending any company doing this kind of crap. That Blue Cave thing was a POS and I guess the support went out the door as soon as Intel sold that BU to MaxLinear.

 

[Poseidon]

So you're only planning on using it for a year? As that's how soon some models are replaced and then no longer get firmware updates.
I bought one of their at the time, current range extenders, turned out the version was EOL already and never got a single firmware update, but the three new versions got them for about six months do a year before each one got replaced. I saw new ones in the stores last year, all without support from TP-Link. Good luck with your purchase.

I’m new tech junkie and generally replace new electronic equipments every 1-2 years.

 

[Tech9]

current range extenders

As long as it works properly - good enough. Extenders are inside the LAN, no routing there.

 

[TheLostSwede]

As long as it works properly - good enough. Extenders are inside the LAN, no routing there.

That's not true though. Yes, it's a much lower risk, but this was around the time when the WPA2 encryption was compromised, although they had released an update for that. The device seems to still be on sale, last firmware for the most recent version is three years old.

 

[Tech9]

If you look at every single detail with every single probability even in extremely low % you better go off-line or at least move to business equipment market. There is no cheap and full happiness. Disappointment comes when you buy expensive and still expectations are not met. This most expensive AX-class router GT-AXE16000 still doesn't have the firmware showcased >1 year ago. GT-AX6000 had no firmware update for 1 year. It is what it is.

 

[Poseidon]

Update: TP-Link GE800 would not detect the Internet. Tried for multiple hours, tried all ports and used many different ethernet cables. Packaged it up and sent it back. Picked up the Asus GT – BE98 pro. Hoping to have better luck with this one.

 

[Tech9]

Update: TP-Link GE800 would not detect the Internet.

Modem port incompatibility most likely. Issues like this were reported for other routers with >Gigabit WAN ports.