Best Budget Wireless Router Showdown (ASUS, Cisco, D-Link, TP-Link)
The best router in terms of signal strength is not the easiest thing to find since in order for you to know its strength and weaknesses you need to purchase it first. Not like when buying a smartphone or other peripherals that you can test it out first before purchasing but for a Wireless router you can’t do that while availing the product.
So in this video we showcased 4 known routers in the market and put to the test which of this devices has the best signal strength and also these wireless routers are budget friendly and even some of them claims they are good in paper, so without further ado here is the results of the showdown.
A clear winner is the ASUS RT-N12HP which cost Php 2,550 locally followed by DLINK DIR-605L — Php 2,300 then TP-Link WR841HP — Php 1,850 and last position is the Cisco Linksys E1200 — Php 1,999.
If you watch the video the main components why we choose ASUS is the stability of the signal strength if you will notice. TP-Link and D-link also produce a fairly decent strength signal. but if you will look closely on the signal is quite unnatural the signal goes up high then suddenly goes down. which means unstable when you are already connected. But for the ASUS you will notice the length of the signal is pretty straight forward not huge peaks and sudden drop of signal unless we move to another location.
In our real-world test, we have chosen 6 locations the first one is my workstation area followed by beside the routers around 1 meter away. our third choice is outside of our home office then going down to the stairs then the last location is in the first floor of the building.
Here are some of the screenshots of the results:
All of the routers have their own unique form and build features for the ASUS it has a customizable firmware for advanced users. it also comes with a very long 9dbi Omni-directional antenna for better signal coverage. The D-link has a portable body type and among the 4 wireless router this is the smallest and also have a cloud app. Now the TP-Link has an 8dbi antenna but I kinda don’t like the they put a password on the WiFi by default since for some they only configure their devices using just their mobile and laptop with the use of wireless connection.
but for the TP-Link you need to plug it via the LAN cable just for you to access the admin panel and as a default. the WiFi has a unique password which is really weird, but I know for security purposes those are better, but again not all users want to configure their routers using a desktop and not all laptops have ethernet ports. and lastly the Cisco router which actually was my bet on initial because base on history they provide a reliable product for SME’s and usually for BPO company they choose Cisco.
But after the testing I was surprised of the result, that never judge a product by the way they looked yes to be honest the Cisco router is very sleek-looking since it’s simple and not to router alike.
Overall ASUS proved that they are still top-notch in terms of wireless components and in this challenge they totally swipe the competitors from features, stability, and support.
Feature — the dedicated ASUS UI for their routers is easy to use and you will not get confuse in case you upgrade to another version of their products since it has the same UI/UX experience
Stability — WiFi strength is stable which means to a better transfer and connection experience.
Support — 3-year warranty is a big deal for this kind of products, and the support for customization is a big plus for the ASUS routers.
Hopefully, this WiFi range test helps you on deciding which router you are the best in terms of signal range for a budget conscious people 🙂
