It's not in the same hardware class as the (Est. $255), but the TP-Link Archer C7 (v2) is a compelling value. It can stumble a little if tasked with maintaining too many broadband connections at once, but for typical home networks, it delivers the fastest throughput of any router under $100. That means more than enough speed for for everyday life online, including more than enough bandwidth for streaming video, even 4K. ![]() Best budget TP-Link Archer A7 TP-Link's Archer A7 has two Wi-Fi bands, one 2.4 GHz at 450 Mbps for 802.11a/b/g/n devices and one 5 GHz at 1,300 Mbps for 802.11ac devices. It's also highly customizable, though a clunky interface can make that a little bit of a chore. Types of Wireless Routers These routers comply with the 802.11.ac Wi-Fi standard. They use the 5 GHz band and support faster speeds and more connections than previous-generation routers. They also use the 2.4 GHz band for backward compatibility with older devices. If you have multiple devices that connect simultaneously to the Internet, or if you regularly do things such as competitive online gaming or streaming video on multiple devices, a wireless-AC router is your best choice. For those with minimal connectivity needs, and with older gear that does not support the wireless-AC standard, a wireless-N (802.11n) router can make sense and save some money. Most wireless-N routers support both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, though some super-cheap legacy routers that only support 2.4 GHz remain available. Wireless-N is slower than wireless-AC (by about a factor of 3), however, and supports fewer simultaneous connections. What about wireless-AD routers? Wireless-AD (802.11ad) is the latest Wi-Fi standard and adds support for signals in the 60 GHz band. These routers offer the fastest speeds of all (on the 60 GHz band) and are backward compatible with older wireless protocols. That's a good thing because the 60 GHz band has a very short range compared to the other Wi-Fi frequencies and its signals won't penetrate walls at all. However, if you need to move tons of data between devices in the same room, they are worth considering. That said, there currently are only a handful of wireless-AD routers available, and relatively few compatible client devices such as laptops, tablets, etc. Because of those factors, we don't think that wireless-AD routers make sense for typical users, at least at this time, so they are not covered in this report. Building a home wireless network To build a computer network in your home or office without running wires everywhere, you need a wireless router to create a Wi-Fi access point. Wi-Fi clients such as laptops, tablets and smartphones can connect via radio signals from anywhere within the router's range to share data. Attach the router to a modem, and those same clients can also wirelessly access the Internet. Wireless routers usually have Ethernet ports, so they can simultaneously support hard-wired networking, and some have USB ports for sharing a printer or an external hard drive over the network. Many factors can interfere with your wireless network, including nearby electronic devices, other Wi-Fi networks and even the layout of your house. Manufacturers don't take these real-world scenarios into account when touting a router's performance, and experts say the best routers deliver about half of their claimed throughput. Another factor that can slow performance is the large and growing number of devices that can connect wirelessly to the internet. All modern wireless-N and wireless-AC routers support MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology, but only to one device at a time.
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