With Black Friday right around the corner, many people are likely on the lookout for deals to upgrade their wireless network. Wi-Fi 7 is the current standard for consumer routers, and luckily, there are plenty of discounts available for those who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars. One of them is the TP-Link Archer 3600, which is currently selling for $86.99 at Amazon, with a $5 instant coupon dropping the price to just $81.99.
The Archer BE3600 is one of our top picks for best Wi-Fi routers, and it's even cheaper today. The dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router offers surprisingly strong 2.4 GHz performance and class-competitive 5 GHz performance. Since this is a dual-band router, you don't get the higher-performing 6 GHz band, but that's to be expected at this sub-$90 price point (we saw over 1.1 Gbps on the 5 GHz band).
With that said, the router features one 2.5 GbE WAN port, one 2.5 GbE LAN port, and three 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a single USB 3.0 port, making the port arrangement quite commendable for such a cheap router.
Amazon is also discounting the dual-band Asus RT-BE58U, which is down 35 percent to just $97.99 for Black Friday. You'll get 4K QAM and MLO support, which are part of the Wi-Fi 7 standard, even if you don't get the third 6 GHz band.
The port lineup is plentiful, with a 2.5 GbE WAN/LAN, 1 GbE WAN/LAN, and three 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a USB-A port on the back that can be used to tether to a smartphone. With this functionality, you can use your smartphone's cellular connection to provide internet connectivity to your entire home if your home's broadband/fiber connection goes offline.
The final standalone dual-band router on our plate today is the Netgear Nighthawk RS90. The router usually carries an MSRP of $129.99, but just barely squeaks under the $100 mark today at $99.99 from Amazon. Like the other routers, the Nighthawk RS90 features a 2.5 GbE WAN port and four GbE ports for your wired clients.
The Nighthawk RS90 uses internal antennas (unlike the TP-Link and Asus offerings), giving it a more streamlined appearance. That said, Netgear says it provides coverage up to 2,000 square feet.
Although our coverage has so far focused on dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers, since they are the cheapest around, we've also included a tri-band router: the Netgear Nighthawk RS280S. It retails for $249.99, but is currently on sale for $170.97 at Amazon.
While the Nighthawk RS280S looks similar to the RS90, it includes the higher-performing 6 GHz band. With the 6 GHz band, all of your modern laptops, smartphones, and tablets will be able to take advantage of the faster network speeds. Netgear claims the Nighthawk RS280S covers up to 2,500 square feet and has upgraded ports compared to the Nighthawk RS90. You'll find a 2.5 GbE WAN, two 2.5 GbE LAN, and two 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a single USB-A port for adding network storage.
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