Archer AX21 AX1800 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router

This might be obvious to a lot of people, but replacing the Spectrum router with [a TP-Link router](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H8ZLKKK) made my life so much better. The issues I faced before I switched router, that are now gone: * Losing Wifi on mobile devices: Sometimes just disconnected and forced me to reconnect with the password again. Quite frustrating with a longer password. * Sonos disconnecting: Very often my Sonos speakers struggled to connect, lost connection, or just didn't show up on the system * TV not connecting when waking from hibernation: Often had to fully restart the smart TV to get a proper connection to the wifi * Chrome cast lagging: Casting video from my computer to the TV ended up showing the video on the TV in slow motion. I tried to resolve many of these issues by optimizing which units are on which bands etc, but never really got it working well, until I bought a new router that just solved all of this without any additional setup. If you're having struggles like these, I really recommend investing $60-80 in an okay router. Nothing fancy needed, just get something off Amazon and you'll be very happy you did!

Just a basic TP-link Archer Ax21. The one that came with Google Fiber is okay but I really needed one that allowed me to control DNS because I'm using a Pi zero 2 with Pihole on it for DNS.

Nah dude, you don’t need to waste money on one of those “network security plans.” Most consumer routers are fine right out of the box as long as you tweak a few settings. If you grab something decent in the $100–$150 range (TP-Link Archer AX21, ASUS RT-AX57, Netgear, etc.), just do this after setting it up: • Change the default admin login. • Use WPA2 or WPA3 for Wi-Fi security. • Turn off WPS and remote management. • Keep firmware updated. That’s honestly 90% of what those “security subscriptions” do anyway, minus the upsell. When the tech installs that Cat6 wall jack, you’ll just plug your new router into it and you’re good. You’ll save cash over time and still be plenty secure.

I have a 2700sqft house with bedrooms on the second floor and router in the basement. I recently upgraded to an Asus RT-BE88U from a TP Link ax-21. Have no issues getting connection in bed room from the router to handheld and streaming devices. Though if you have any gaming or desktop equipment you may need to set up APs and get a hard wire. But the router alone is perfect for me, where before I was considering MoCa for the top floor and now I’m not sure it’s necessary

TP-Link AX23. Setup as access point mode to work with most primary routers.

Been using Tplink AX20 since around Wifi 6 (ax) was kinda new, was around 18k back then & have served really well so far apart from rare occasional quirks. AX23 which is currently available in your budget is probably the same model with minor changes. Specs are good (quad core with enough ram) and dual band is definitely 100% 'not just marketing'. You get high link speed with wifi 6 devices. I get upto 1200Mbps link speed between wifi 6 PC & the router (depends on distance) and have played competitive multiplayer game on wifi with similar experience to Ethernet. If you ever end up transferring files over local network (between laptop & PC for example) you get good transfer speeds due to stable and higher link speeds. Large files can be transferred over network & there's also option to stream content over wifi within your local network. If you have an android tv box connected with wifi (or get one in future), it better be supporting 5Ghz for it to stream HD over wifi and a dual band router is needed in that case (when you don't wanna run an Ethernet cable) I have it connected to a line interactive sine wave UPS though, and probably that's the way to do it or you are just risking your router. It did survive Karachi heat so far. The more expensive AX50 version was known for overheating so I would still avoid AX53/AX55 unless they have fixed those issues. Also with tplink routers, for stability, it's a good thing to set them to auto reboot daily or at minimum weekly at some hour when no one is likely using internet.

i have a ge800 from tp link and i use the ax21 from tp link as a router ethernet back hall and i get better ping and latency (not overall speed) but its still better than the ge800 where speeds next to that router are above i gig but ping is 20 while next to the ax21 its 11 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️