The router is the center of your home network. Routers of 400 euros or more are no exception these days. You can also buy a router for less than 60 euros. But what do you actually get? We've tested the best cheap Wi-Fi routers to find out.
For a top model WiFi router you sometimes pay 400 euros or more. This concerns devices with many antennas that sometimes support up to eight transmission and reception channels and use the latest techniques to achieve the highest possible wireless transfer rates. That power is certainly useful in an environment with many wireless devices that frequently and simultaneously use the Wi-Fi network. In normal situations, however, it is 'overkill'. For example, most laptops, smartphones, tablets and streaming devices only have one or two transmit and receive antennas. A router with more transmission and reception channels will not help. Such a powerful Wi-Fi router, of course, simultaneously serves several wireless devices with the highest possible speed. But if you normally only have a handful of wireless devices running at a time, a less powerful, cheaper router will suffice. Think of a home office, small house, apartment or student room.
Not always 5 GHz
When you buy a router, 802.11ac is the most common technology that uses the 5GHz band, such routers also support 802.11n on the 2.4GHz band. Meanwhile, 802.11ac has also penetrated the budget category. There are also cheap routers that only support Wi-Fi 802.11n on only the 2.4 GHz frequency. That is not always a disadvantage. First, the 2.4GHz band has a significantly greater wireless range than the faster 5GHz band. Secondly, the Wi-Fi chip of cheaper smartphones, tablets and laptops often only works on the 2.4 GHz frequency. If you only have 2.4GHz clients, then a dualband router is of no use and you save money with a 2.4GHz singleband copy.
The usefulness of multiple antennas
To achieve higher wireless throughput speeds, routers combine multiple antennas. Two simultaneous data streams is sometimes referred to as 2x2 for the number of data streams that can be transmitted and received simultaneously. Transmitter and receiver must have the same number of antennas to achieve the maximum speed. They also obviously use the same Wi-Fi technology: 802.11-n (2.4 or 5 GHz) or 802.11-ac (5 GHz). 802.11-n has a theoretical base speed of 150 Mbit/s. With 802.11-ac this is 433 Mbit/s. With two channels you can double that to 300 Mbit/s and 866 Mbit/s respectively. The specified speeds indicate the maximum connection speed between the transmitter and receiver. In practice, your wireless connections are a lot slower. How slow? We tested that in this article.
Fast vs Gigabit Ethernet
Affordable routers often have fast instead of gigabit Ethernet ports from which your wired network equipment such as a NAS or media streamer hangs. Keep in mind that these types of network ports work ten times slower (100 MHz). If you do not use any wired network equipment that supports gigabit, that is of course no problem.
A problem can be the speed of the WAN Ethernet port to which your internet modem is connected. In practice, Fast Ethernet does not achieve more than about 90 to 95 Mbit/s. If you have a faster internet connection, it is best to invest in a WiFi router with a gigabit WAN port, which achieves up to 900 Mbit/s. Otherwise, your cheap WiFi router will be a bottleneck for your internet connection. A router with a gigabit WAN port usually also has gigabit ethernet ports, so that you can also use the faster internet connection on your wired PC, for example.
Where there are usually only a handful of wireless devices active at a time, a cheaper router will sufficeTest justification
We test the effective throughput using IPerf 3 in the supported Wi-Fi frequencies (5 GHz and/or 2.4 GHz) and on a Gigabit Ethernet port. We perform a total of four speed tests of thirty seconds each with ten parallel data streams in the transmit and receive direction, ignoring the results of the very first second. We also perform a range test on the 2.4GHz frequency, in total at six locations that are in a 3D star shape around, above and below the tested router. For the routers with a USB port, we measured the USB speed on an NTFS-formatted Seagate external drive connected to the fastest USB port on the tested router. All test results are converted into weighted scores for functionality, wireless network speed, wired network speed, wireless range and USB speed. We convert all this into one overall score: this assessment is shown with a maximum of five stars and we use it as the basis for the Best Tested quality mark.
ASUS RT-AC53
The ASUS RT-AC53 is not much bigger than a hefty man's hand, with three long positionable, fixed antennas at the back. It is a dual-band router with separate Wi-Fi chips for the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. The 2.4 GHz chip, with a theoretical maximum throughput of 300 Mbit/s, can transmit and receive simultaneously on two wireless channels. The 5GHz chip has one channel, with a maximum speed of 433 Mbit/s. All ports are in the back: two yellow gigabit ethernet ports (plain lan) and one blue wan port. On top of the box there are six status LEDs for the LAN and WAN ports, the two WiFi frequencies and the power. A sticker at the bottom lists the login details.
The management is in English. When you first access the web interface, the router immediately prompts you to choose a unique password for the admin account. That's the way it's supposed to be! If you followed the connection instructions correctly, the internet will normally work immediately. If you have a different type of connection or if it doesn't work, you can still run the Quick Internet Setup wizard in the management. Also check first in the management menu whether there is no new firmware available. You can apply these automatically; the upgrade process takes about three minutes. The management is adapted to mobile browsers and is divided into menus, tabs and icons. The ASUS Router mobile management app includes some additional features that are missing from the web interface, such as a security scan that shows you point-by-point how to improve the security of your router. Unfortunately, this app does not speak Dutch either.
ASUS RT-AC53
Price€ 60,-
Website
www.asus.nl 8 Score 80
- Pros
- Extensive options
- Good performances
- Security scan mobile app
- Negatives
- No Dutch software
- Only two lan ports
- No USB port
D-Link DIR-809
This small router has three large, fixed positionable antennas. It is a dual-band router that uses two separate Wi-Fi chips just like the ASUS device. The 2.4GHz chip supports two simultaneous transmit and receive channels. For 5 GHz, this is limited to one channel. The theoretical maximum throughput is the same as ASUS. The D-Link does have four LAN ports (colored black), in addition to one yellow colored WAN port. It is certainly confusing for beginners that those colors are not standardized within this product group. Unfortunately, they are slower fast Ethernet ports. On top there are eight status LEDs, including LEDs for each LAN port. The standard login details can be found at the bottom.
A colorful A4 sheet visually guides you through the commissioning. In addition, the complete manual is included on CD. Unfortunately, the admin interface doesn't force you to change the empty admin password to something unique. Many users will leave this blank, which is extremely unsafe. Also curious: the extra secure SPI (stateful packet inspection) firewall that acts as an extension to the normal firewall is disabled by default. Via a wizard you can configure the internet, wireless and network settings. The management is still the classic management such as D-Link has in many network equipment, with text menus on the left and at the top, and information and input screens in the middle. This router doesn't have the visually prettier management of recent D-Link WiFi routers. Unfortunately, the handy D-Link WiFi app cannot handle this DIR-809 either. Short tips appear on the right side of the administration window for each configuration option. Unfortunately, everything is in English, as is the rest of the web interface.
D-Link DIR-809
Price€ 42,-
Website
www.dlink.nl 6 Score 60
- Pros
- Three antennas
- dual band
- Negatives
- Fast Ethernet only
- Slow 5GHz performance
- No USB port
Linksys E1200
Partly due to the lack of external antennas, the E1200 is very compact: not much bigger than a large man's hand. Only the 2.4 GHz frequency is present, with a maximum throughput of 300 Mbit/s. There are four blue fast ethernet (lan) ports and one yellow wan port. On the bottom you will find a wps pin code, but all other login and configuration information is only in the quick start guide. Unfortunately, the installation instructions say no more than to insert the supplied CD into your PC and follow the instructions. Inconvenient at a time when a CD player is becoming a rarity. Fortunately, you can also just download the Linksys Connect installation software. When downloading, also choose the correct hardware version, as there are three of them. We tested version 2.0 of the E1200. You will find that information at the bottom next to the model number. Knowledgeable users can manually install the E1200 by clicking on the message “Continue with an open and unsecured network (not recommended)” at the bottom of the welcome page. Unfortunately, Linksys doesn't force you to change the default login credentials to something more secure. If you use the more user-friendly, more visual management environment Linksys Connect (which is also Dutch), as recommended, you must choose a secure password. For all advanced settings, the Connect software simply refers you to the classic web management. Firmware updates must also be installed manually, but make sure you flash the correct hardware version!
Linksys E1200
Price€ 30,-
Website
www.linksys.nl 6 Score 60
- Pros
- Compact
- Cheap
- Negatives
- Singleband Router
- Fast Ethernet only
- No USB port
