But it’s not too good to be true: you really can get a decent Wi-Fi 6 router for this little money. When we first received a Router 3 for review, we couldn’t quite believe the price. The white design sets it apart from other routers and makes it more living-room friendly, despite those protruding antennae. This budget Wi-Fi 6 router is identical regardless of which brand you buy it from, except that the Huawei version doesn’t have the debossed Honor logo on it. You probably know Honor and Huawei from the smartphones and wearables the companies make. The AX50 may not give you whole-home coverage like a mesh system, but it’s impressive value nonetheless. Unlike some Wi-Fi 6 routers, it supports 160MHz channels, which will improve speeds for compatible phones, laptops and other devices. Performance, considering the price, is very good, with Wi-Fi 6 speeds of almost 1200Mbps in our tests. There’s even Alexa integration, allowing you to control certain router features with your voice although, admittedly, you’ll probably never do that. You can also use it to manage those parental controls, antivirus and other features such as quality of service (QoS). Talking of apps, TP-Link Tether runs on your phone and makes setting up the AX50 extremely simple.
Best router 2021 software#
One the many features is built-in TrendMicro antivirus software and another is the decent parental controls, though neither are good enough to completely replace dedicated apps.
When we reviewed it, the AX50 was around £150, but now costs almost a third of that. TP-Link is well known for making great-value networking kit and the Archer AX50 is no exception. Even the interface you see in a web browser is decent, but the app is handy for some settings, such as prioritising up to three devices on your network to get the best connection speeds. Like other modern routers, the Linksys has an app which makes it easy to set up and manage.
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However, there are plenty of affordable mesh systems that can replace your existing router’s Wi-Fi for not much more money than the Hydra Pro 6, and they are a better choice if your priority is huge Wi-Fi coverage but not outright speed. The option to expand the Hydra 6 Pro’s coverage using Linksys Velop mesh Wi-Fi units might appeal to some, especially those that can’t afford the upfront cost of such a system right now. That’s in the UK, at least, because it’s considerably more expensive in the US for reasons unknown to us. It also has a lot of useful features and, though more expensive than the AX55 above, still represents good value for money. Unlike its identical-looking predecessor, the MR7350, this is an AX5400 router which should equate to better performance.Īnd the Linksys Hydra Pro 6 does offer good performance. It may not be the cheapest Wi-Fi 6 router, but there’s a lot to like about the Hydra 6 Pro. The AX55 isn’t the last word in performance, but at this price, it’s great value. You’re better off buying a mesh system now and turning off the Wi-Fi on your old router. But it’s not cost-effective to buy the AX55 first, then add more nodes later.
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For one thing, there’s Wi-Fi 6 support plus a great companion app that makes it a breeze to set up the router when you first get it.Īfter that you can use it for checking what’s connected to the network and for basic parental controls, such as defining when Wi-Fi is available to certain devices.īuilt-in TrendMicro software scans for viruses right on the router, but this isn’t a substitute for running antivirus software on your PCs or Android phones.Īs it supports Asus AiMesh, you can use any compatible Asus routers alongside the RT-AX55 to form a mesh network.
There’s a lot that’s changed behind the scenes, though. Not in looks, probably, as the black plastic finish and insect-like antennae make it virtually indistinguishable from the many similar-looking routers we’ve reviewed over the years. If you have an older Wi-Fi 4 router, the RT-AX55 should be a noticeable upgrade.
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