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Run these five tests before you spend anything. Between them they distinguish a genuinely tired router from a badly placed one, from a house that needs more radios, from a slow internet plan. They take about fifteen minutes and they are the difference between fixing the problem and buying something that does not.
The five tests
Test 1: the wired test
Plug a laptop into the router with an Ethernet cable and run a speed test. This is your line speed with Wi-Fi removed.
Well below your plan? The problem is the line, the modem or the plan. A new router changes nothing. On cable, check whether your modem is DOCSIS 3.0 or gigabit-limited — the modem page.
Close to your plan? Everything from here is inside your house. Continue.
Test 2: the standing-next-to-it test
Now test over Wi-Fi standing beside the router.
Much slower than the wired result? The router's radio is the limit. This is the clearest signal that you do need a new router, and it is most common on hardware predating Wi-Fi 6 or on an ISP gateway a few years old.
Close to the wired result? The radio is fine. Continue.
Test 3: the walk test
Test in the rooms that annoy you.
Good at the router, poor two rooms away? That is coverage, and a new router will not fix it. You need a radio closer to those rooms — dead zones.
Poor everywhere, including beside the router? Back to test 2.
Test 4: the reboot test
Reboot the router, wait five minutes, then repeat tests 2 and 3.
Dramatically better after a reboot? The router is tired — it is leaking memory or has drifted onto a bad channel. If the improvement fades over days or weeks and you find yourself rebooting regularly, replace it.
No change? Whatever is wrong is structural, not a software drift.
Test 5: the age test
Find the model number and look up which Wi-Fi generation it supports.
Your router
Verdict
Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) or older
Replace. It cannot carry a modern plan and lacks WPA3
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), plan under 200 Mbps
Fine, if coverage is adequate
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), plan over 300 Mbps
Replace. This is the most common real case
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Keep, unless you have a specific congestion problem
Wi-Fi 6E or 7
Keep. Your problem is elsewhere
An ISP gateway more than about 4 years old
Replace, and stop the rental fee while you are at it
Rough guidance by generation. Age alone is not a reason to replace something that works.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Try this first
Before you buy: move it, and re-run the tests
Placement is free and it is the largest single variable in most houses. Take the router out of the cupboard, put it centrally and high, and run tests 2 and 3 again. A meaningful improvement means you had a placement problem rather than a hardware one — and you have just saved the cost of a router. The placement rules.
Ranked by our published scoring rubric (if you do need one, value, expandability, wired i/o). Tap any row to jump to the full write-up, or go straight to the retailer from the right-hand column. How we score.
#
Product
Best for
Score
Price
1
Illustrative
TP-Link Archer BE3600The cheapest current-generation router worth owning, and it covered a 3,500 sq ft test home consistently.
Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen. Scores are our editorial assessment from published specifications and independent testing by named outlets — not our own lab results. What we do and do not test.
The picks in full
Illustrative
#1 · If the answer is yes, on a normal plan
TP-Link Archer BE3600
TP-Link · Budget tier
The cheapest Wi-Fi 7 router worth owning, and it covered a 3,500 sq ft test home with more consistency than its price suggests.
Key specifications
Standard
Wi-Fi 7, dual-band
Tested coverage
A 3,500 sq ft home, consistently
Price class
Under about $100
Score 8.0/10
If you do need one8.5
Value10.0
Expandability6.5
Wired I/O6.0
What it gets right
+Wi-Fi 7 efficiency features at a price that used to buy basic Wi-Fi 6
+Covered a large test home consistently, which is the metric that matters
#ad We do not publish a price we cannot verify, so the button opens Amazon's own listing. How we are funded.
Common questions
How do I know if my router is the problem?+−
Compare three numbers: wired speed at the router, Wi-Fi speed standing beside the router, and Wi-Fi speed in the bad room. If wired is good and Wi-Fi beside the router is much worse, the router's radio is the limit. If both are good and only the far room is bad, it is coverage and a new router will not help.
How often should you replace your router?+−
Not on a schedule — on evidence. Wi-Fi 4 hardware should go now. Wi-Fi 5 is worth replacing if your plan is above about 300 Mbps. Wi-Fi 6 and newer are worth keeping unless you have a specific congestion problem. An ISP gateway more than about four years old is usually worth replacing, partly to end the rental fee.
Does rebooting the router mean I need a new one?+−
If a reboot reliably fixes things for days or weeks and then the problem returns, yes — that pattern points specifically at a router leaking memory or drifting onto a bad channel. Interference and coverage problems do not care when you last rebooted.
Illustrative
