RT-AX53U (AX1800)

I got an Asus RT-AX53U on special for $89 and I can get 400Mbps with my phone on WiFi.

As an owner of an RT-AX53U, I can tell you to steer elsewhere. This thing can't push more than 150mbps without freaking out every time I move. Wasted money.

I am pretty happy with my ASUS RT-AX53U so far. It costs around €50 right now. Do note I immediately flashed OpenWRT to it so I can't vouch for the ASUS firmware. I use multiple of these as access points for a single network with a wired backhaul. It has been very stable. If you need more routing performance or memory you can look at the RT-AX59U.

6E is definitely not a must, I use an RT-AX53U as the only router for the whole house, not dedicated vr only router, and I haven't had any issues with networking or wireless connection

ASUS RT-AX53U Cheap, mainline OpenWRT support and does 1 gig + has 5G WiFi 6 support now! Running this for about a year so far with no issues, absolute bang for the buck!

i used to use my TP archer c7 with openwrt as travel router, now do i use a asus rt 53Ux(the name could be different) and just connect to the wifi via lucie. if you connect to a wifi via join network will it do everything for you like setting up wwan and fw rules to make it work. then do i use a device to do a captive portal if the network has one and then do i turn on wireguard. to then use other services do i need a extra vpn connection on the clients. btw wireguard may not work on all networks because some block udp ports that are above like 200. choosing a low port is not recommended but will guarantee to work in more networks. sftp and ftp ports are great but others in the low port ranges that support udp could help.

I've had both: ASUS RT-AX53U (AX1800) <- Served me for 1.5 years with minimal tinkering running Openwrt, before I replaced it. 6 devices via wireless with VLANs/Network segmentation/MWAN3. For gaming, I get 2-3ms in LoL (before PHL server was migrated) worth it. TP-Link Archer AX23 (AX1800) <- sold it a week after using with Openwrt. not worth it. for the others. I don't know.