Routers do not wear out. They stop getting security updates, fall two Wi-Fi generations behind your phones, and quietly become the slowest thing in the house.
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Replace a router every four to six years, and sooner if the manufacturer has stopped shipping firmware for it. Age alone is not the trigger — security support ending is, because an unpatched router is the one device in your house that faces the internet directly.
Why four to six years rather than “when it breaks”
Routers rarely break. They do three other things instead, and all three are invisible until you go looking:
Firmware support ends. Consumer networking hardware typically receives security updates for a few years after it stops being sold. After that, published vulnerabilities in its software stay open permanently. This is the reason that matters most and the one nobody checks.
It falls behind your devices. Wi-Fi generations arrive every four to five years — the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 in January 2024 — and your phones and laptops get them before your router does. A Wi-Fi 5 router serving Wi-Fi 6 and 7 clients wastes efficiency features those clients could be using.
It becomes the bottleneck for your plan. A router with gigabit ports caps a gigabit plan in practice, and anything above that is money you are paying and not receiving.
Age of router
Likely standard
What to do
0-3 years
Wi-Fi 6, 6E or 7
Keep it. Fix coverage with placement or a node instead.
4-6 years
Wi-Fi 5 or early Wi-Fi 6
Check for firmware updates and port speed; replace if either fails.
7-9 years
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Replace. It is almost certainly out of support and gigabit-limited.
10+ years
Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)
Replace now. It is slowing every modern device in the house.
A rough age guide. Treat the right-hand column as the decision, not the age.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
The five signs it is actually time
No firmware update in over a year, or a support page that no longer lists your model. This alone is sufficient reason.
You pay for more than a gigabit. Gigabit WAN and LAN ports cannot deliver it, no matter what the Wi-Fi does.
Daily reboots. A router you power-cycle to make it behave is a router with a memory or thermal problem that will not improve.
Wired speed next to the router is well below your plan. That is the router, not the Wi-Fi, and it is the cleanest test there is.
It cannot hold your device count. Modern houses run dozens of clients; how many devices a router can handle explains what actually gives out first.
This usually backfires
Do not replace the router to fix a dead zone
A new router in the same bad position covers the same floor area. If your problem is one cold corner or an upstairs room, the fix is placement, a node or a wired access point — not a purchase in this category. Do I need a new router separates the two cases, and will a new router be faster is the honest answer for most houses.
If you rent your router from your ISP
Then the replacement question is also a money question, and it usually answers itself. A rental fee of a few dollars a month is tens of dollars a year for hardware the provider will not upgrade until it suits them. Buying your own typically pays for itself inside two years, and you get firmware support from a company whose business is networking. Replacing your ISP's router has the payback math and the bridge-mode steps, and router versus modem explains which box you are actually allowed to replace.
What to replace it with
Buy for the plan you have, plus the ports you will want in five years. In practice that means a Wi-Fi 7 router if the price difference is modest, with at least one 2.5 Gbps port and mesh capability so your next upgrade can be an added node rather than another replacement. If you want the generation argument settled first, read is Wi-Fi 7 worth it and Wi-Fi 6E versus Wi-Fi 7.
We do not run a test lab. Rankings here are built from the manufacturers' published specifications, measurements taken by independent outlets that do have labs, and the structural reasoning on this site about what a given house or job actually needs. Every product was checked as currently sold before it was included. Where a figure appears it is attributed and linked in Sources; where we have no basis for a claim, it is left out. Our methodology sets out exactly what we will and will not assert.
Quick picks
Ranked by our published scoring rubric (longevity, firmware support, wired ports, value). 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
ASUS RT-BE86UWi-Fi 7, ASUS's full firmware with no paywall, and AiMesh so the next upgrade can be an added node rather than a new router. Longevity is the whole argument.
TP-Link Archer BE550Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 with 6 GHz, multi-link operation and 320 MHz channels, plus 2.5 Gbps ports. Measured over 3 Gbps on 6 GHz at close range in testing.
TP-Link Archer BE3600Dual-band Wi-Fi 7 under about $100, tested to cover a 3,500 sq ft home consistently. If your old router is simply old rather than inadequate, this is enough.
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 · The replacement most likely to last
ASUS RT-BE86U
ASUS · Premium
ASUS's mainstream Wi-Fi 7 workhorse and the replacement for the long-serving RT-AX86U Pro: adjustable antennas, deep firmware, no subscription.
Key specifications
Standard
Wi-Fi 7
Position
Replaced the RT-AX86U Pro in ASUS's range
Processing
Roughly 30% faster than the model it replaced
Mesh
AiMesh — add nodes later without replacing it
Score 9.0/10
Longevity9.5
Firmware support9.5
Wired ports8.5
Value8.5
What it gets right
+External adjustable antennas, which is a real advantage across two floors where sealed internal antennas give you no control
+AiMesh means a coverage problem later is an added node rather than a new router
+Security, parental controls and VPN features included rather than subscribed
+ASUS keeps firmware coming for its routers for an unusually long time
What to watch for
−The settings depth that makes it good also makes it the wrong pick for someone who wants an app and nothing else
−Premium pricing for a single box
−Physically large with visible antennas, which matters if it has to live in a living room
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Common questions
How often should you replace your router?+−
Every four to six years for most households, and sooner if the manufacturer has stopped issuing firmware updates for your model. Age by itself is not the trigger: the real triggers are security support ending, gigabit ports capping a faster plan, and the router being two Wi-Fi generations behind your devices.
Do routers get slower over time?+−
Not through wear. They get slower relative to everything around them — your plan gets faster, your devices get newer standards, and your device count rises — and some develop genuine faults that show up as needing a reboot every few days. A router you restart regularly is telling you something.
Should I replace my router and modem at the same time?+−
Only if both are limiting you. They are different jobs: the modem converts your provider's signal, the router distributes it. A modem is worth replacing when your plan exceeds what it supports or when you are renting it; a router when it is out of firmware support or behind your devices. Replacing both at once is common but not required.
Is it worth upgrading from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 7?+−
Yes, if your router is Wi-Fi 5 it is likely seven or more years old, out of firmware support, and gigabit-limited — all three are good reasons on their own. You do not need the top of the Wi-Fi 7 range to benefit; a mid-price tri-band model with 2.5 Gbps ports is the sensible landing spot.
Illustrative
