Cheap Routers To Avoid At All Costs, According To Consumer Reports

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Wireless routers can be found across price segments, with high-end models often featuring the latest Wi-Fi generation and a ton of good-to-have features. On the other hand, budget or cheap models are often left with older-generation Wi-Fi or just the essentials. As not everyone has a big budget to spare for a Wi-Fi router, some of us have to opt for the more affordable models. However, picking up a cheap Wi-Fi router can be a tricky endeavor, as you are already making compromises by limiting your budget. So you need to be extra careful to ensure you're not buying a router that's known for poor performance.

Fortunately, the folks at Consumer Reports (CR) — a portal known for its trusted and unbiased reviews of products and services — have reviewed a wide range of Wi-Fi routers to help you with your purchase decision. Here are four cheap routers that have performed poorly in CR's testing and are best avoided. Instead, you can consider picking up any of the best Wi-Fi routers or one of the better-ranked Wi-Fi mesh systems according to user reviews.

The Nighthawk RAX41 from Netgear is a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router that supports up to 25 devices and is marketed for up to gigabit internet connections. It has four gigabit LAN ports and one WAN port. It also features a USB 3.0 port to connect storage devices, like a USB flash drive or an external hard drive. Other highlights include support for Netgear's Armor security solution. However, you only get a 30-day trial for free. You can control your Wi-Fi using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, and the router costs $80 on Amazon. 

These definitely seem like solid features. In its testing, though, CR found that the RAX41 had below-average wireless speeds for long and mid-range distances and poor speeds for near-range distances. Basically, it doesn't perform as well as it should, given its specifications, and you can get better performance from other Wi-Fi routers with similar features. Moreover, the Amazon product page of the RAX41 indicates that it's a frequently returned item, suggesting that buyers are also not happy with its performance.

The R6120 is another affordable Wi-Fi router from Netgear. However, unlike the RAX41, it's limited to Wi-Fi 5 and 20 devices. While it claims to offer up to 900Mbps data speeds over the 5GHz Wi-Fi band and 300Mbps over the 2.4GHz band, the four included LAN ports and the single WAN port are only capable of 100Mbps, meaning it's only suitable for up to a 100Mbps internet connection. You also get a USB Type-A port onboard for storage drives, but the data transfer won't be very fast as it's limited to USB 2.0 speeds. It's priced at $75 on Amazon. 

Although CR liked the ability to set up the R6120 using a mobile app or web interface, it found the lack of Quality of Service (QoS) options disappointing. The QoS options let you prioritize internet traffic by use case, such as gaming or video conferencing. The router also performed pretty poorly compared to other routers tested by CR. This, combined with Wi-Fi 5 support and a 100Mbps WAN port, makes the R6120 worth skipping if you are in the market today for a good budget Wi-Fi router.

TP-Link has some pretty solid Wi-Fi routers in its portfolio. However, if the Archer AX10 is in your purchase shortlist, it's worth a second look. It's a budget dual-band router that supports Wi-Fi 6 and is marketed as a router capable of taking full advantage of up to gigabit internet connections. It also supports Amazon Alexa and has four LAN and one WAN port, all of which are rated for gigabit speeds. Other helpful features include QoS support and EasyMesh compatibility.

Unfortunately, if you are someone who likes to plug a hard drive into your router for easy access on all your devices, you're out of luck with the AX10, as it lacks USB ports. However, it carries a low list price of $80 on Amazon and is often discounted to as low as $50. While its low price is a positive, its performance leaves a lot to be desired, as CR found in its testing. It delivers below-average performance in close-range and average performance at longer distances. As a result, it was ranked pretty low in all the routers tested by CR.

Although the TP-Link Archer BE3600 is a Wi-Fi 7 router, it's best avoided because of its poor speeds for longer distances and average performance in areas closer to the router, according to Consumer Reports. Another not-so-great thing about the Archer BE3600 is that it's a dual-band router, so you won't be able to enjoy all of the Wi-Fi 7 benefits with it, including the superfast 6GHz Wi-Fi band.

Otherwise, the router has a reasonably decent set of features, including one 2.5 Gbps WAN port, one 2.5 Gbps LAN port, and four gigabit LAN ports. It also supports EasyMesh to build a mesh network with other Wi-Fi routers that support the same feature, and has a USB 3.0 port to plug in an external drive. However, these features don't add much value if the core functionality of the router itself is lacking. Hence, it's recommended to skip the BE3600.

There are tons of affordable Wi-Fi routers on the market. However, not all of them perform equally, and it helps if you know which routers to avoid. We consulted the extensive database of Wi-Fi routers tested by Consumer Reports to pick the cheap routers that don't perform as well as their peers. We focused on traditional router models that can be purchased in 2026 and are typically sold for less than $100. All our recommendations leave a lot to be desired in their real-world performance, and it's best to skip them.