Rite Aid offers a wide range of household appliances, including cooking, cleaning, and comfort. Customers can save up to 20% on their purchases every day. To find the best Wi-Fi router for their needs, consider factors such as speed, Wi-Fi standards, band and channel compatibility, ports, and security standards. The TP-Link Archer BE550 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router with 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands.
In response to retail theft at a Compton store, Rite Aid has locked up all its products. To choose the best wireless WiFi router for your budget, consider factors like internet speed and online activities. It’s important to know your internet speed and online activities when shopping for the best home Wi-Fi router.
Rite Aid stores also offer a wide variety of freezer and off-the-shelf products, as well as health and wellness products, prescription medications, and more. The company operates over 2,400 stores across 18 states, providing a wide range of health and wellness products, prescription medications, and other items.
Rite Aid provides hardware and software technical support for its stores, including routers and APC battery backup units. The hacker only stole data for purchases between June 6, 2017, and July 30, 2018, resulting in some devices being limited in connection.
Rite Aid stores also offer a wide variety of products, including routers, sheet and blanket sets, shower curtains, and door mirrors. Customers should be aware of the potential risks associated with using their Wi-Fi routers and consider the security standards of their devices.
📹 STOP using your ISP provided router! – ASUS RT-AX86U AX5700 WiFi 6 Router Showcase
It’s been a wee bit since we unboxed a router at Linus Media Group, but it’s fairly important to your home networking, especially if …
📹 How to Choose the Best Router for your Smart Home
With so many options like Wifi 6, Wifi 6E, HomeKit routers, mesh, tri-band, etc…it’s all very confusing…!! What does all this …
Been using this for the last couple months. So far, it’s exactly what I need and even more than I hoped for. Just the one router provides full-home coverage without any “mesh” additions, and I’ve had precisely zero connection drops for any of my devices. Security is easy to setup and quite robust, configuration options are plentiful, and speed is a big step up over what I had before.
UK viewer and TalkTalk customer here. I use the Asus AC68U because the ISP modem/router (a) is not configurable, so it’s ISP settings or go hang. (b) has poor Wi-Fi range and speed. (c) throttles torrent usage to dialup speeds except in the wee small hours. The Asus interface is clear and as simple as possible given that its extremely comprehensive and configurable. I love it. 😀
Went from a Netgear AC1900 combo router/modem to this router plus a MB8600 and it was night and day difference for coverage in my house and not getting 2x day drops while I am trying to work. Definitely overkill for my current internet package, but glad I made the upgrade, especially for in-home streaming it is better than the powerline adapters I was using. May grab another for AImesh in a year or so.
My old Linksys was crapping out after only 2 years, so I switched back to Asus a month or so ago and settled on this router. It’s pretty fantastic with the feature set it has. Yeah it’s a lot more expensive than the run-of-the-mill routers, but at $250 it has most of the features that the $500+ top-end boys have. Plus AI Mesh looks pretty nifty if you have a big living space. Only thing that I REALLY don’t like about it is that its traffic analysis feature is handled by a 3rd party, and you have to agree to hand all of your logs over to a 3rd party if you want in-depth analysis. No thanks.
As some one who has been taping off the lights on all my electronics, being able to turn them off is a super underrated feature. My routers and switches were set up in my bedroom as it doubled as my office and you may not think those little leds are that bright but when trying to sleep they are like the sun rising.
It’s ok, if your ISP allows you to use another router, with sky, we had to use wireshark to capture the login details, as the “generic” details do not work either. Then if your internet has a disconnection at the PCP, you have to plug in the old router otherwise they will discount the disconnection (even if I use a TDR to prove the disconnection).
I have 3 of these routers (in a mesh). I had to manually upgrade the signal strength via command line to 170% to get a useable connection between them. The strength limit is based on FCC (I think) restrictions, which Europe doesn’t have. I used the same tools as Linus recommends (WiFi analyzer) and to be honest I couldn’t beat speeds over the auto mode by defining it manually.
Thank you @shortcircuit Linus! I bought this router and just finished setting it up. Man is it fast compared to my ISP router! I have Verizon gigabit, and their new CR1000A router is total garbage. But this ASUS router blows it out of the water. Setup was super simple too. Thank you so much for your article! It helped me a lot to prepare of what to expect. Cheers!
3:29 I wish more devices had this. It’s anoying to cut out the lights in the bedroom just to have these indicator LEDs shining. When your eyes adjust to the dark and they’re the brightest thing, they’re extremely distracting. Also, if I cut off the lights in the living room and sit down to watch a movie, I have LEDs I’ve put tape over for the same reason.
My isp provided router from sky has terrible reception, after seeing this i finally decided to buy an asus router. One problem though linus …this is just a router, the isp provided equipment is a both a modem and router with no bridge mode. Now I’ve the massive pain in the ass of trying to get a modem (that hardly anybody in the uk uses anymore and there is limited market for) and the tedious task of trying to configure it for an isp that hates people using 3rd part equipment and makes life difficult to do so. Thanks for opening a massive can of worms for me.
I bought an RT-AX86u yesterday. The web interface and and features are a huge improvement over my Quantum Gateway G1100. I am disappointed the speed tests from wireless clients aren’t as fast, especially upload speeds that are around 250 mbps instead of 400+. Hopefully I can tweak the settings to improve network performance.
Another giveway from Linus that’s country-limited (US and Canada only) – a critical fact yet again not stated either in the article or description (or in the pinned comment either). This is very poor form, Linus! BTW, my Asus router has ludicrously bright multiple lights that can’t be turned off – I ended up putting black masking tape over them because they drove me mad when the room lights were off!
I’m sure other commentators have pointed this out, but anyway 160Mhz websites isn’t new with 802.11AX, 160MHz websites were introduced with 802.11AC Wave2. If you look at Ubiquiti their UAP-AC-HD, UAP-AC-SHD, UAP-AC-XG, and Mini-HD all support 160MHz websites. Also yes there are client devices from the AC wave 2 gen that can do 4×4 1700mbps look at the Asus PCE-AC88, (BTW a tip they can do 1700Mbps with only an 80Mhz website, so in theory they can do 3400Mbps with a 160Mhz website. Also the TP-Link RE650 which can be a 4×4 80Mhz client and thus reach 1700Mbps) The TPlink Re650 has the hardware to do 160Mhz websites, but the firmware splits so it will only do 80Mhz. Though 802.11AX does add non-contiguous website support and if its WiFi6E also 6Ghz support making 160Mhz websites more viable.
Pretty sure this is the router I just bought. Was having ethernet connection issues where my internet would cut out all the time then reconnecting again and again. It was the cheap router. This fixed my issue. And yes.. I tried to turn off the Energy efficient ethernet settings, but I didn’t have the option.
I would really love to dump my ISP’s router. I’m on Frontier FiOS, originally Verizon FiOS before they sold their lines to Frontier. Eventually, I upgraded from the MI424WR (Rev I) to the Quantam FiOS G100 router (purchased from eBay). Honestly, I hate it. One major drawback for me is that WOL will not work with this router. Also, the firmware does not support the use of attached USB storage. Two major drawbacks. Also, the router in general is weak. I actually disabled the WiFi in it, purchased a second router (to act as an AP), plugged it in LAN-to-LAN for a better Wi-Fi signal and more processing power. This second router (ASUS RT-AC87R…the retail version of the ASUS RT-AC87U) handles the WiFi and USB attached storage, as well. I’ve got a USB hub plugged into it, and into that, are two portable WD 5TB Game drives, for backup. To get it to work, I had to change the CACHE size to 16K when formatting the drives to NTFS, otherwise my router wouldn’t recognize them. I could go the route of connecting my ASUS Router directly to my ONT if I ran an ethernet cable, but the problem with that is that I’ve already taken advantage of the MoCA network, as I have access points in other rooms. One other reason for needing the Actiontec router still is because of FiOS TV, it won’t work without it. I do not know if there’s actually a way around that or not. I do know that they make MoCA adapters, but I do not know if they provide the functionality needed for FiOS TV. I actually use TiVo (with a CableCard) for the most part, but I do have a Frontier DVR just in case my TV goes down, I have a secondary method to test it.
@8:06 Not sure if someone else has mentioned this but that IP structure does what Linus is talking about. The subnet is 255.255.255.0 so IP addresses are in the range of 192.168.50.1 to 192.168.50.255 with .255 being the broadcast IP address and .1 being the gateway. Just in this case you using 192.168.50.x rather than 192.168.1.x.
Oh, nice. Might actually upgrade at some point just so I can use AIMesh with my Asus RT-AC86U. I don’t know what the heck is in my walls because it feels like I’d kinda need a little range even though the RT-AC86U should be enough but my bedroom seems to be a damn bunker with bad reception. It feels stupid though as I only have a 100Mb connection 😀
”STOP using your ISP provided router”, hmm… Linus you didn’t say why? I’m having issues with my Shaw provided router, as it seems most ISP’s are now locking the routers so you don’t have and control of your WiFi (like website, security and a few other settings) so your forced to use the AUTO settings, which from my experience. doesn’t work as everyone in the neighborhood is stuck on the same WiFi website. so yep I’m looking for a wifi-router and just use the ISP modem/router in bridge mode. recommendations? how about range with WiFi 6? can you use WiFi 5 devices with WiFi 6 enabled?
My WiFi is AC. According to WiFi Analyzer, in my apartment, there are 26 SSIDs near me all sharing just two non-overlapping-channels of 5Ghz because they are all doing the 80MHz website crap. So WiFi from the living room to the bedroom, like 20 feet away, only gives me about 10Mbps speeds. I have to be line of site with the router to get around 80Mbs, which is still shy of my rated internet speed of 150Mbps. I really wish manufacturers would include something to tell people, “hay you’re in a WiFi congestion area, we are not allowing 80Mhz websites because you’ll screw your neighbors and you’ll all suffer”.
I ditched ASUS routers a couple years ago when my RT-AC86U firmware (and subsequent upgrades) essentially killed my 2.4 GHz network, which had an effect on older devices (e.g., my kid’s Kindle and her older Android phone) as well as my smart doorbell from working. A google-search pretty much confirmed that this was an ongoing issue with ASUS firmware, at least at the time. Any word if this has been fixed with more recent firmware updates? Maybe I might be willing to return to ASUS again, if nothing else for the AI-Mesh feature?
I’ve never upgraded my router/modem before – I only use the one we get from our ISP. We’re having more connectivity issues here lately – If I upgrade to this, I’m assuming I’ll still use the ISP modem and then just go from it to the router with a ethernet cord? Our house is wired with a coaxial to the modem – so this doesnt replace the modem just the wifi aspect of it, correct?
I doubt this device will do inner-vlan routing. I know most people would never care about this, but if you are a network security guy, it would make more sense. Let’s say you have an internal network with 192.168.0.1/24 and a different network 192.168.1.1/24, or even 10.0.0.1/24. Most commercial routers WILL NOT ROUTE to multiple subnets. The only router that I found that does this, is the Verizon G1100/AC1750.
I got a killer deal on this router. It’s amazing. I also picked up a couple of cheap older Asus routers on Ebay and set up AIMesh. Everything works perfectly, I’m super happy and I highly recommend it over those super expensive dedicated mesh bundles. I agree that the GUI is great, I’m so happy it’s not super gamer-y and ROG-themed, rather it’s clean and very intuitive. If only the router didn’t have that red accent, but I can live with it. Going from the ISP modem/router to this was like night and day, there is no excuse to use a crappy ISP router. I’ll probably use this router for 10 years honestly.
The router is the backbone of your digital home. People don’t understand how pathetic the supplied routers are (or the cheap ones you can buy yourself). If all you do is check your email and watch Netflix or Youtube on your Chromebook, then stop reading here, but if you do anything more then you owe it to yourself to upgrade to at least a medium grade router. The router needs to organize and manage the communication between all your devices as well as their connection to the internet. It takes almost nothing to bog them down and once they do, they can’t even make full use of even extremely limited WAN connections.
I just went from a Ubiquiti AP-AC Pro to an Asus RT-AX88U AX6000 router and man…I’m telling you…routers have come a LONG way. lol I have an old Asus router that I use to run a few security cameras and I put the new one a bit too close to it. The new one is so powerful that it COMPLETELY killed the old one…all the cameras…even the ones that are relatively close…gone. I was like, “ooops.” Pretty happy with the new one though. I just wish the WiFi 6 “AiMesh” stuff wasn’t so expensive…
I can’t. ISP’s in my region no longer use username/password to login on DSL. They use Auto connect via their Router’s hardware ID. Every other device (router) that you try to connect will be denied acces to internet. Only way is to connect 3rd party router through ISP provided router… ISP won’t let me use my networking equipment. Only way is to put ISP’s router to BRIDGE MODE and connect my router throug it… but it sucks…
I’ll probably take to Reddit for some advice but figured I’d comment while here, thinking of going from my home’s ISP provided modem/router combo to a XR500 Nighthawk for Ethernet and the main wifi point, then setting up my old eero’s provided by my ISP to be a mesh network off of the Nighthawk. Also if needed I will hook a gigabit switch to the Nighthawk for more wired connections. Is this a properly set up “setup” (haha pun)
Hey buddy great review I’m knot very tech savvy and yes I’m still using my ISP modem/router…and I need too put into modem only mode so i can set up an IP security camera.would you give me some of your knowledgeable advice of the best way to go about this plz it’s only for the one camera which i want too set up on the outside of my home so it would be going through a brick wall.It would be really appreciated if you would. Thank you 👍
Its true that a ISP can’t force customers to rent their routers and other hardware, but they still can force customers to pay monthly fees to hook up privately owned routers. Example, with Comcast I can rent their cable modem for $15 per month, or pay a $25 monthly fee if I want to use my own router. This sucks. Good thing Comcast does not rent TVs or computers. Pay $25 to rent one of their TVs vs pay $35 per month if your own your own TV.
160MHz websites aren’t that special and aren’t exclusive to WiFi 6. My ITX PC with B450 I Aorus Mobo (which is AC only) or Lenovo Yoga C740 (which is AX) both support 160MHz websites with my MikroTik WiFi-AC router (RB4011-somethingsomething). If it wasn’t a MikroTik, it could have been a pretty fast WiFi, but because it is a MikroTik, wireless transfer is limited at +-600Mbps, achievable via 80MHz website… BTW this Asus is a child’s toy compared to RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN. It also doesn’t have such a cool name and wouldn’t provide that much fun, as you’d probably have it fully set up in under a minute…
So bottom line, it has Printer Server, WEP (Shared Key Only), SMB, Ext2/3 support, FTP, dynamic DNS, iTunes server, and a bitorrrent client. but NO telephony and NO VPN server, and NO GSM 5G failover. Sorry I need the phone and the VPN. So yes I would have to continue using the ISP Router. Also fancy having WiFi 6 and choking it with QOS or WEP.
I recently RETURNED my Asus rt-ax55 due to bad service/support. I’d wanted it to work with MOCA, and certain models support both IPTV and IGMP Proxy at same time, others do not. Support and presales could not give me a straight and truthful answer. I switched to a Netgear which worked. Asus looks pretty, but the Netgear got it done.
I used an ASUS RT-AC86U for a long time. Then my ISP stopped provinding a fiber modem with ethernet bridging and rolled out their crappy ‘all in one’ routers that don’t support bridging. I can get networking going with the ASUS router I have and with some vlan settings, also TV. But the phone service is encrypted AF (probably because they are the former state monopoly) so it’s impossible to get that without using their router and they seem to support a Fritzbox model with phone services of all things…. So… for now I’m stuck and my ASUS router sits idle…
The issue of course is that for us Americans with the worst ISP ever, Comcast, they won’t let you put their craptastic devices in modem-only mode, because they want to sell some of your bandwidth to other people with their universal “XFINITY” wifi. My ISP doesn’t provide a router/modem/thing. It’s fiber: Here’s a gigabit uplink. You get one IP address, get a router if you want multiple devices, have a nice day. But everyone else is stuck with Comcast.
I have my router still in place:S with wifi disabled and another router directly behind it for the WIFI and actual local area network and firewall settings: The provider router (NL EU) requires the support of multiple VLAN for the horrible “provider router lock in” requiring multiple VLAN settings for TV and internet and special ‘hidden’ credentials&settings for connecting to your ISP.; and they dont hand them to you in general unless you pay or keep banging on their door for weeks, til a tech finally hand your personal info to input.. Because they still do dynamic IP on IPv4 .. IPv6 thats only for special business and .. will give issues …
So I can connect an ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX1100 directly to my ISP provider’s WAN port, anywhere in my home, setting it up via Asus Router app as main router and then connect two ASUS RT-AC86U elsewhere in the home, or must they be connected via the main router? No need setting up network key password, other then your main router in your AiMesh system? I’m planning to connect multiple devices on these routers using internet cables. Only the main router is going to be used as WiFi.
Upgraded the cable broadband connection to 1Gbps this week. Just to find out the Asus RT-AC1900P router been using for the last 7 years could not handle the 1Gbps broadband connection. Once speeds reached around 650Mbps the router started to struggle and internet speeds was not stable at all. Ended up getting a Dynalink WiFi 6 AX3600 Router off Amazon for 80 dollars. It has a Quad Core processor and has 1GB of RAM and says it supports up too 200 devices. But I don’t own that many devices to test out that last part. lol The Dynalink WiFi 6 AX3600 Router does however handle the 1Gbps broadband connection like a champ.
“Elligible countries: Canada, USA.” While I am not surprised, could you at least mention that the give-away is not world-wide somewhere outside the Terms&Conditions? So dumb all give-aways are NA only; even the lttstore(dot)com giveaway landed when it was between 0:00 and 8:00 in most of Eurasia or Africa, limiting it to early birds in Australia or people from America (where it was something like between 15:00 – 21:00, which is the time of day people are online). I guess LTT(&co) will never do a global giveaway…
It’s not always a choice though (although by the looks of it it has gotten better over the past few years). Am surprised Linus, being canadian, didn’t at least mention it. Or…is the whole “really late on allowing customers to do bridge mode” just an Ontario thing? Like, compared to the US, where some ISPs even allow you to buy your OWN standalone modem from amazon and use it, the situation is not ideal at all, though it has started to get much better over the last few years…Last I looked, for example, Bell would simply not allow me to put their router in bridge mode, especially if I wanted to use their TV services as well. There is a bit of a hack people use (it’s not REAL bridge mode, your personal router will still not see a public IP). Because bell uses PPoE which gets even more complex if you have their Fiber and are using their TV services (which, last I checked, used the same fiber cable to deliver the TV stuff so the settings need to be exact to get both TV and internet over the one line). Rogers, the other BIG ISP here in Ontario does allow Bridge mode nowadays at least, but again, it’s not ideal (though from what I hear at least their TV services works properly now).
Though in the U.S.A. one has choices, we in most foreign countries do not have the option of changing router’s. In Mexico, the routers are provided based on the service one pays for. Only by increasing or decreasing ones service does one get a different router. Mexico and others internet abilities are extreme antiquaited. We are subject to utilizing any and all the old technology from the countries that are able to upgrade to newer tech. For the past 7 years due to my place of residence in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. I’ve had to deal with a connection speed at best only 500k not K download speed and 50k not K upload. And a ping rate which at best was 250. A month ago much to my surprise they updated to a fiber optic system in which there isn’t any “LAST MILE”. Playing on line article games utilizing multi-play is now available. Though there are a number of choices. I now have 259M down load, 500 upload and a ping rate of 2. But as I said, one still only can utilize the router they issue when choosing a package.
Ive been playing $20 extra to spectrum for their “ultra internet” for about a year and a half TODAY right this minute, I just found out the modem ive been using doesnt support up to 400mbps that the plan offers…. lolol Spectrum tells me the modem im using (modem i kept from having their previous service) is only limited to 150mbps waahh wahhh wahhhhhh
I have the AC2600 which is even more expensive than this model. I purchased it for its dual wan capabilities. I had a Peplink dual Wan router for years but it became obsolete when the throughput maxed out at 150MB and my ISPs started offering 600MB and 1000MB respectively. I looked for a cheaper solution (Peplink’s Balance Two costs over 1200€) so I went with the Asus. It constantly had issues with the throughput speed which was supposed to be 1000MB, and it didn’t properly route traffic to the assigned ISP. Asus made me change firmware several times and it never made the situation better. After weeks of troubleshooting with them they told me to return it as it was defective. When I contacted the seller, they had this “we have to test it for about a month before we can return your money” policy. So I waited about a month myself till I could afford to buy a substitute from another brand, and then ship the Asus router back. Although my ISPs tend to be good, when they go down, it takes days to fix, hence having two connections. So I couldn’t afford to have my security cameras disconnect as there are constant issues with break ins or things disappearing from in front of your house in the area. Needless to say, I called the seller up to let them know that I was ready to ship it back, and I was told to toss it in the garbage, and they would be refunding me as the model had given them plenty of trouble. When I looked up customer comments for the router in the article I found similar comments.
Just got this one a few weeks ago. I’m surprised my TP-Link Tapo 2k camera can now connect to this router on the 2nd floor of the house with thick walls in between with much better signal than on my router on the first floor which I moved much closer for it to received better 2.4ghz signal, but apparently wont now connect to this because my camera now connects to the asus router. Love it. My IPCameras are now much stable than ever, great for viewing high quality footage on 2-3 phones without lag. 😊
Didn’t watch the article but I am an extreme advocate for solely the article title. I worked for comcast between 2015 and 2019 and recommended to as many customers as I could about not using the provided equipment. The list is enormous but the few easy reasons are: 1. the rental fee of the equipment. The rental fee doubled during the time I worked for comcast and is still increasing. Modems and routers… ya they aren’t really getting more expensive so buying your own equipment pays for itself because you no longer have the rental fee. 2. The gigabit gateways (modem and router in one device) comcast specifically provides only give you 2 ethernet ports to work with. 3. If you absolutely need phone service and that is your ‘reasoning’ behind renting equipment, arris has come out with a gigabit docsis 3.1 telephony modem so you don’t have to use the comcast equipment to get phone service and decent internet speeds. These are just the tip. I didn’t even watch the article so my bad if you mention any of the above in the article. *EDIT: I watched the article and you recommended someone (aka: Riley) just keep using the isp provided device and turn off the routing capabilities. While that does work, I really don’t recommend going that route as its still not worth the rental fee and anyone who is planning to use their own router should purchase a separate modem along with the separate router. A decent modem only costs about $50 and not having the rental fee will pay for it in 5 months (last time I checked, the gateway rental fee is $12/month).
does the router have multigig Ethernet out ports or is it like other companies that only give you 1gb lan ports to go with the ~800mb wifi 6 downloads you’ll actually get from other manufacturers? cause from what I’ve seen is that wifi6 is faster than wifi5 by more than double ~200-300mb actual download speed from a wifi5 router. i am looking to invest in a 10gb switch and 10gb Ethernet card for my pc to get more than the max 1gb i see over gigabit lan. that way I’m “future proofed” for awhile while the rest of the tech catches up consumer side. i have 2gb fiber (currently the fastest available for my area) and it has a single 10gb port on it so I’ll have to consider a switch to maximize the split to Ethernet devices and my stand alone tp link 3000ax router which only has 5 one gigabit lan ports. i don’t like all the deception nin the marketing for wifi6 but i will vouch that it is a massive improvement over wifi5.
I don’t ge these, yes they are amazing, but why would i throw away my ISP router when literally anything wi-fi in my house doesnt require absurds of bandwidth or latency. 4k netflix works FINE on my tv and that’s the most i’d ever need out of a wireless setup. Anything that matters is, and should be cabled.
Won’t do me any good. My telcom/Internet provider has now ported my landline service through my router. Any aftermarket routers out there that have RJ11 ports for standard POTS telephones? I don’t really like using the providers equipment. There have been security issues with their router equipment. Basically they have a back door to easily setup a blank router once you get it within your home. I want the ability to setup my own device and maintain security of my network.
I have Charter Spectrum cable internet. I have a Linksys WIFI 6 dual-band mesh router. I loved it. However, Spectrum decided to place Linksys on a non-compatible router list. UGH! We tech savvy dudes and ladies should be asking ourselves “Does an ISP have the right to block a customer’s router. It’s on a non-compatible list claiming radiowaves interfere with their service. I say that’s alot of BS…
I personally found buying a wifi 6 router to be a waste of money. I bought asus xt8 wifi 6 routers (2 devices in mesh) in july this year and saw no difference in performance over my current orbi mesh system so decided to send them back to amazon. I admit, there are only few people in my house and we’re not using 20 devices at the same time but still i would expect at least SOME improvement but nop. Heres hoping the WIFI 6e is different.
I use my ISP router cause I’m lazy and buying cheap routers got more expensive constantly replacing them. I should just get one good one but the cost is a bit high when I just need some lazy setup but I would like that extra power. For 200+ though it’s hard for me to justify it with just one or two users. If only it had an extra use like doubled as a smart clock. Oh hey a contest! Entered! Don’t believe I have good chances but good luck to all who entered.
I did upgrade from the router the ISP provided to an RT-AX86U and noticed no performance improvement. That may be because the ISPs generally provide standard routers, albeit on the lower end of the range, rather than custom or deliberately crippled models. It does mean that for us a router that costs 25% as much as the RT-AX86U is good enough.
I still loved the AC68U I bought 3 years ago to replace that admittedly shitty stock ISP routers I have used for over the last decade, with issues ranging from poor Ethernet switching to just slowdowns or even disconnections. Currently it is running as a router/switch/AP because the ONT (yes, optical internet for days) cannot act as a router and switch. Can’t be bothered to run downtown to get replacements I decided to pull the trigger and obtain the AC68U, with the intention of offloading the wireless AP duties to a dedicated solution like Ubiquiti’s in the future, that was until WiFi 6 started to become more popular and now I’m waiting for their AX APs to be officially out here. Until today, I have been really happy and even better ZERO hitches during usage, and for 3 years I still haven’t broke the streak of calling my ISP for anything that had to do with a router, except for the time when my optical network terminal died and asked me to go down to a much nearer location to get it replaced. But to be fair, it was 6-7 years old and it definitely had to be replaced at some point.
5000+Mbps…. aaaaaaand 2.5gbps ethernet. Womp womp. When can we get 10gig as a standard port? We don’t need a lot of them, but 1 for the home server, and 1 for the workstation. The rest of the plebs in the house are fine with gigabit. Personally waiting for a ubiquiti wifi 6 unit to replace the main unit in the house, and the one it is replacing will go outside.
How good is the coverage of the wifi signal from this router? I live in an apartment that is pretty long (multiple rooms with a long hallway – 9m+ connecting the rooms). Would it be strong enough if it was installed near the entrance door, which is over 9 meters away + some walls from all the important wifi clients (TVs / Consoles etc) ? Or would I need extenders or something ?
I dont know about NA or Canada, but over here most of the ISPs actually ship pretty decent models just with special firmware. If you look into it, you can flash manufacturer firmware and have access to everything. What Asus calls fancy names, I have been doing for years already. And not only with routers of the same manufacturer. Newer models have modes to do just that, and for the oldest one in use I found openWRT to set it up as a repeater/access point
160Mhz is cannel width increases crosstalk in dense places with competing WiFi routers like large apartment buildings but makes better more stable connections to clients if you live in an area that’s more open with less routers competing for air. Hell, even lowering your RX/TX on your router can (and does) greatly reduce crosstalk and make connections much more stable.
Linus, being able to turn off all lights on electronics is GREAT if you live in a small apartment with a child or children and your electronics are in your bedroom. This is my current situation and I actually have gorilla tape covering my router’s excessively bright blinking lights that would otherwise keep my wife and I awake at night. My computer’s also in there, and there are so many stupid lights in it that I can’t turn off. I wish all electronics could have their lights off. The only light I want from electronics is the screen backlight, and only when it’s on. The lights make it so the bedroom can’t ever get super dark.
I recently purchased a Ubiquiti Alien mesh Router. I wanted to future-proof my purchase, gave me the option to expand to a mesh network later on if I need to, and it cost half as much as Netgear and Linksys Routers that had the same stats. Bonus points because it doesn’t look like a robotic spider. 😍 Australian ISPs only offer 100mbps max to consumers (which I have via fibre to my home). Using my new router I was able to clock 104mbps over wifi (not wired). This router also allowed me to name/identify each device that connects to my router (eg. each light in each room) as I add them, so that I can see what’s connected and what’s not connected via the router’s app. Also means that if I had kids, I could turn off their specific devices if I needed to. Hopefully Ubiquiti add in HomeKit support at some point. But it’s not a deal breaker for me at this stage. 🤞
Thanks Shane….complex subject with no easy..”buy this and you’ll be future proof” answer. I have been using google nest wifi….good mesh system, but not the latest and I agree about not buying Google or Amazon Wifi in the future…for me at least. People need understand there is no “buy once, cry once” answer and the technology is constantly advancing…..which can be intimidating and frustrating…but it’s also exciting for consumers. I had a friend that called me and asked if he needed to change his mesh wifi to the latest version….I asked if what he had was not working properly and he said it was working fine….I told him to relax and buy only if/when he was having issues….and not to over think it. I have ATT Fiber optic….it works 👍🏻….sorry to ramble…Thanks again
G’day Shane! I’ve been meaning to say a massive HELLO and THANK YOU to you mate! What an awesome, insightful and well-crafted website. Love your work! I’ve recently gone down the HomeKit route for my home. – A mixture of — x16 LIFX – Bulbs ( I love the luminance on them ) — x6 NanoLeaf Essential – Bulbs — x7 Phillips Hue – Sensors — x6 Phillips Hue – Dimmer Switches — x2 Eve – Aqua Switches — x1 Eve – Weather — x1 Eve – Room — x3 Eufy Security 2k Indoor Pan & Tilt Camera — Router – Netgear Orbi RBR50 (AC3000 – Triband Router) – 1 Main + 1 Satellite — x1 Apple TV – 4D HDR — x4 Apple HomePods OG — x2 Apple HomePod Minis —– WHEW! As you can see, I’ve gone all-in. My wife particularly loves the sensor and light in the pantry – Such a simple solution but she LOVES it 🙂 Now to my question. As with my MANY other people. I’m intermittently getting the ‘No Response’ error – super frustrating. Every day, I’m power cycling either the switches or the router. There seems to be no pattern to the ‘no response’. Additionally, I’ve utilising a wi-fi analyser and picked the least busy 1, 6, 11 on the 2.4ghz network. Your article I was hoping, would offer a suggestion as to what ‘might???’ work from a router perspective, hahaha! My router is coming up to 4 years old. I look with interest at the new routers and wonder if a new mesh network will help fix my ‘no response’ issues. Sorry for the ramble, my friend! If you have any ideas, that would be awesome. Keep that awesome content coming.
Great article, Shane. One thing you might want to mention is the reason why companies are using the 2.4 GHz bandwidth for their IoT devices. The longer wavelengths don’t have as much issue going though objects and the range is longer without using as much energy to produce said wavelengths. I currently have a combo router/modem from Spectrum as I am using Apple Extreme Base Stations in Bridge mode to create a pseudo-mesh network. I also run a home business out of my home and one of my bedrooms has been converted to an office where the Spectrum Internet access comes into my house. I have a network rack already in my office that had some rack mounted computers on it. I have decided to replace my Spectrum Router/Modem combo with just a modem and install an Ubiquity Dream Machine Pro in my rack along with a 24 port Cat6 patch panel and Ubiquity UniFi Switch Pro 24 PoE and then put in a couple of their PoE access points, including one for outside. Then later I plan on adding their UniFi Protect with external cameras. I may even switch over to their VoIP phone system instead of using Spectrum VoIP phone system. I just need to make sure I can keep my land line phone number that I already have as it is my business line. I have decided to go with the UniFi system as it allows me to create multiple VPN’s and assign different devices to each and to create Firewall rules for each VPN. It also has a bunch of security features and gives me a much better view of what is exactly going on with my network.
it would be good to also note that even though you don’t pay for gigabit speeds from your ISP, if your router and devices support wifi 6, you will see those fast speeds in data transfer between devices. For example streaming movies from a home PC to your TV, or transferring files between two computers over wifi. That’s where you’ll take full advantage of your routers high speed capabilities.
We were torn between the Velop and the Ubiqiti Networks options when we moved to our new house. We opted to go with the Unifi stuff because we wanted the in-depth app and configuration ability. I will say this came with a multiple access point HomeKit broadcast issue that just seemed to get solved with the latest firmware that just came out two weeks ago. We have also struggled with getting the Meross Garage door opener to work, but I think we solved it and we have that setup/review coming in a article next week. I’m was glad to hear your experience with the Velop so far. At the end of the day, the Power of Ethernet setup really sold us on Unifi. Great work!
For about 6 months I suffered through using Xfinity’s X1 Gateway modem/router device. It really should have been a nice piece of hardware, but it ended up being a piece of (something else). Bottom Line: We experienced frequent router connection hard resets. For streaming and surfing, it wasn’t really an issue, but it completely and utterly disconnected us from Zoom and Teams meetings. We had to reconnect to the meetings from scratch to recover. And during the 18th support call, the tech said I needed upgrade to faster Internet. I balked, returned the X1 Gateway, bought an Orbi mesh, and been smoothly sailing ever since.
Hi Shane. Another useful article. What about using HomeKit routers (as Eero) vs traditional routers in terms of security options that it offers to not HomeKit devices? Has it all the advanced features that traditional router have? I think for example to MAC address filter or creating more WiFi networks or to build firewall rules or to make said hidden (ok this is a controversial feature in terms of security) and so on. Thanks.
Excellent article as always. I have been nervous about switching routers due to how many hubs, bridges and devices I have. I am scared to move the IKEA tradfari that does my smart blinds so much as an inch because it is so finicky. Have you thought about doing a article on all the 3rd party HomeKit apps mentioned at the end of this article? I have been curious if there is anything better than HomeKit for managing HomeKit.
Note about Modem/Router combos – if you are on Fiber, such as AT&T you don’t generally have an option to replace the combo as the unit is doing the translation from fiber. For these you can either disable the router or use an IP Passthrough setup. Check your service for details. Personally I use Eero on AT&T and I just had to setup my AT&T box to IP Passthrough.
Great article! I use a Ubiquity Amplifi mesh system for my smart home. Easy setup and gives lots of control. One thing that really helped was setting up new HomeKit devices that need 2.4 ghz, if the device couldn’t “see” the 2.4 then I could toggle my 5ghz off so smart devices connect the turn 5ghz back on with no interruptions! The mesh extenders have a signal strength on them and the antenna is adjustable so you can get good signal. The base unit looks like small alarm clock so if it’s sitting in your living room it doesn’t look like a router 😁
Well, I just pulled the plug on a Linksys wifi5 unit. I cannot trust Linksys ever again. This thing would drop all the settings if the power failed. Clients would time out, I even had problems with the admin account just not working; Lots of hit and miss as to whether or not it work. I went to Best Buy today and after reading and perusal reviews, I decided to give the eero Pro 6. But there I could only find 2 systems that were “works with HomeKit” eero and Linksys.
Hi Shane. Great article 😉 I would ask you if it could be possible to mix the velop router Wi-Fi 6 with other velop Wi-Fi 5…than my second question is about coverage of your Wi-Fi 6 router…do you see an improvement towards the orbi? Actually I own an AMPLIFI HD. I’m quite satisfied but it has not a such great coverage…seen that I’ve built a brand new building section and I’ve to purchase other “nodes” I need to understand if continuing with AMPLIFI or pass to linksys….please help me giving me an advice….Thank you 🙏
Great article and topic, Shane! So, I mayyyy be using my ISP provided modem/router 😐. I use Bell FIbe (Fibe is amazing, hope you get it soon) and it’s been pretty fast and reliable so far but I may look into upgrading now. Sometimes I have issues with personal requests on my HomePod because it’s on 5GHz and my iPhone is on 2.4, which I think a better router could solve for!
Great article, thanks Shane. It used to be simple to swap out Wi-Fi Routers by keeping the same SSID and password but no more. It became a problem for the same reason people sometimes have trouble connecting a 2.4GHz device to a network with the same SSID on 2.4 and 5GHz networks. IoT devices often use and store the MAC address passed to them by, for example, your iPhone and not the SSID to identify your network. That means if your iPhone is connected to 5GHz, it’ll pass the 5GHz MAC address and the IoT device can’t connect to 5GHz! And when you swap out your router, you’ll be changing MAC addresses, so even if you use the same SSID some devices won’t connect automatically. PITA.
Decided to ditch more consumer based router and went with UniFi. One Dream Machine and my whole home is covered, if I decide to want better network outside I can add an AP. The downside is they’re not as user friendly since they’re not made for consumers. Luckily for me I’m a system admin and know how to configure firewalls and networking, but they’re not for everyone. Lastly.. my new house is fiber and I have a 400/400 speed for about $50. It’s crazy. Love it.
Best router? A little patience and UniFi haha. It is important to note that if you go with UniFi, please get the older USG routers and not the new DreamMachines. MDNS is missing an option needed to create an IoT (secure “HomeKit Device Network”) network, and even on the older USG you have to dig in and figure out how to manually modify files that are not in the main user interface.
In your example at the first – it’s actually 100 megaBIT not BYTE. If you see a lowercase b it’s bit, uppercase B is byte. 1 Gbps = 1 Gigabits Per Second and 1 GBps = 1 Gigabytes per second. There are 8 bits in a byte. So in your example, if it were in reality 100 Megabytes down, that would actually be 800 Megabits or approximately 0.8Gbps. Typically Network transmission speeds are measured in Bits Per Second. The volume or size of the data (e.g. file size) being transmitted is almost always measured in Bytes. Either Megabytes or Gigabytes.
Some good information here for sure but I feel you introduced a concept that is far more complicated than you let on. If you add another router to your ISP’s provided router you must bridge one of them or you’ll create the Double NAT which can create all sorts of issues. Some ISP’s won’t let you bridge their router so you have to bridge your new third party router which can limit effectiveness. Sometimes you can ask your ISP (Or maybe do it yourself) to remove it’s unit’s router capability, thus turning your modem/router into just a modem. Might be worth a further explanation or link to a article you think would explain this well.
Hi Shane! As usual, great content!! Currently have FiOS Gigabit internet that came with their modem/router combo. Will need to research how to use my own router like one of the examples you provided with FiOS ONT. Like you, I live in Apple’s ecosystem so while I want to future proof, a router w/HomeKit support is highly desirable. New to FiOS, love the fiber and speed, but with the ONT I need to figure out how to incorporate my own router. FiOS extenders are less than ideal. Thanks again Shane for the great content! v/r – Don
So if I got one of the new 6 or 6E routers, but have the odd older devices or home automation products, would they still work with the new router??? Fair enough they may not be able to take full advantage of the capabilities of the 6 or 6E, but would they at least still work??? Great vid with heaps of info to consider. Thanks 🙏.
Very helpful. I’ve got 500 down/500 up fiber service with these speeds verifiable using Ethernet connection to the ONT, yet I am experiencing extremely slow speeds to my Apple TV 4K and major stuttering (buffering) of audio to my OG HomePods stereo pair when set up as default audio for the ATV. I’ve been working with my ISP to figure this out for weeks (they see significant interference) and have even removed all of my Hue lights (approx 25 of them) and tried three different routers—the AirTies I had been using for years, the router built into the ONT, and now anEero router with no satellites—all to no avail. The Eero is giving really lousy throughput. If adding a satellite to the Eero system doesn’t help, I’ll definitely be getting a new router from a third party, since I will have exhausted the options available through my ISP. This article will be invaluable in selecting a new router.
Great information, if you have to stay with your provides combo box due to wifi cable boxes, will these still work if connected to the ethernet port of the provides combo box? Is it as easy as just connecting it by ethernet and setting up a new wifi network? Probably as simple question for some but some like myself, no idea if that would work? May make a good article?
Hey Shane, real quick I have enjoyed all your articles. I’m in the market for a new Router, I have a large house and I’m using the old Linksys WHW1001 x 3 I’m having issues with slow spots and it seems to struggle some days I have spectrum 1gb plan. I’m looking at Orbic Ax4200 or upgraded Linksys Velop? Any suggestions
Hello, do you recommend the Linksys Velop 4200 or the Eero 6 pro for a 1,500 sq for home? The office is on one side of the house and is the only room with a hoax and ethernet ports. I was thinking of just getting one router since my current Eero 6+ two pack setup doesn’t support HomeKit. I also noticed the wireless backhaul Eero 6+ in the living room gives me slower Wi-Fi speeds of 270 mbps using wireless backhaul Eero 6+ in living room vs. 420 mbps using ethernet wired office Eero 6+ Wi-Fi speeds.?
Good stuff Shane. I seriously wish my experience with ‘WiFi Upgrade’ was as smooth as yours was. 2nd WiFi 6 Mesh system…and 7-weeks of inconsistent performance later…still having random problems. * Also. Just an FYI. Your claims of Linksys Tech Support being good sounds amazing. My experience with both TP-link and Asus Support has been FAR less than ideal. Keep the articles coming.
I have a modem/router combo from my ISP. We have fibre optic in my neighbourhood and I pay for the best internet im afforded by the ISP. Would bothering to change the combo system really matter? When would I know that changing should be considered? Slow response on my devices? Other factors? Thanks in advance. Keep up the great articles as they’ve convinced me to change eco systems.
hi shane, and guys out there- i’m 77 yrs old i live in a 1000 sq feet, single story condo in florida. i dont do any games, dont care about hooking up home newtw. just use my iphone 13, 2020 apple tv, 4 yr old smart samsung tv, and 2 macs fr 2017; i have 150mbps from comcast for tv/internet. i have an apple time capsule since 05 and its doing still doing ok but would like to sample the new technology and get a new router; i do light music recording on imac, downloading music, moving music files; would love to see itunes not thinking so long when i play music from my ext dr if thats possible; i would love something i can walk into my bedroom and bathroom and not experiance slowness. i do like good phone suoort like linksys; any recommendations? 250-350 price range.
Hi Shane, Thank you for this (again) great article and thank you so much for all the previous one too ! I actually have the Orbi AX6000 (RBK852 : Router+Satellite) that has replace an Asus RT-AC88U (which didn’t meet my needs at all…) and it’s fantastic ! I bought NETGEAR Orbi because I knew you had Orbi too before (and because you seemed happy with it for your HomeKit setup). It seems that my Orbi and your Linksys have the same CPU, Flash and RAM… I guess they are very similar (beside specific brand functionality). What make you choose Linksys over Orbi ? And again, thanks for reading me… and until next time 😉. A French fan.
The link in the description for the Linksys WiFi 6 router is actually for the HomePod, could you update this if possible? I’ve been looking for a mesh system that will allow me to separate the bands with two different SSIDs, when you said that particular system had that ability I was intriguedd and want to read more about it
So, the reality is that mesh routers are nothing more than an off the shelf main router with redressed wifi extenders. The biggest problem when people try to duplicate a mesh system is that they chins out and don’t put the money out for the higher quality extender. Really, $600 for a mesh system with one or two modules? Just buy a realy good base system and then buy a good quality extender. In good quality base systems one can just increase the transmission power whereby you will not need a mesh system. What manufacturers need to do is incorporate a function whereby the router will not allow the system software to be accessed after a certain (user defined) failed attempts of the password. This will stop Brute force hacking. As much as you think you can justify phone access to the router, it is the most stupid thing you can do. If someone where to clone your phone, where is the security?