Need a new router? Don’t want to spend a ton? Check out our six picks for the best wireless routers under $100.
If you’re looking to upgrade your home or business’ wireless performance but you don’t have a huge budget to get a high-end router, fortunately, you still have a lot of solid options to choose between. In fact, for under $100 you can land yourself a solid router that will give you an improved wireless experience.
And, in this guide, we’ve taken a look at six of the best wireless routers under $100 and rated and reviewed them based on the price they come in at and the performance they offer. So, if you’re in need of a cheap wireless router that will boost your wireless connection, keep reading to see our recommendations.
Table of Contents
1. Quick-Look: The Best Routers Under $100
2. Best Overall: TP-Link Archer C9
3. Budget Pick: ASUS RT-ACRH13
A Quick Look at the Best Routers Under $100
If you want a quick look at our top three picks for the best budget routers under $100, the table below showcases our picks for the best option under $100 overall, a solid budget-friendly option, and a sub-$50 option, too.
| | NAME | SPECS | RATING | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOP PICK |  | TP-Link Archer C9 |
| /10 | |
| BUDGET |  | ASUS RT-ACRH13 |
| /10 | |
| UNDER $50 |  | TP-Link Archer C50 |
| /10 |
*You can read our full overviews on each of the routers above by clicking on the “Read Review »” link. You can also keep scrolling down to find our Honorable Mention picks.
Best Router Under $100:
TP-Link Archer C9
The TP-Link Archer C9 is one of the most well-regarded routers under $100. In fact, we chose it as our Best Budget Router in our guide on the Top Gaming Routers. And, it takes our top honors in this post on the best routers under $100.
The Archer C9 offers above-average speed and range and delivers a very reliable connection. The interface it comes with is also easy-to-use so that setting it up and using its advanced features is a relatively simple process.
Overall, if you have right at $100, the Archer C9 will be your best option overall. However, if you’re working with a tighter budget you might want to consider the Archer C7 as it offers similar performance and comes in at quite a bit lower of a cost. Of, if you need to save even more, the ASUS RT-ACRH13 listed below is a decent option at just a little under $60.
Budget Pick Under $60:
ASUS RT-ACRH13
If you have a lower budget and you’re looking for a cheap router that will offer decent Wi-Fi performance and give you a handful of LAN ports to support multiple hardwired devices as well, then the ASUS RT-ACRH13 might be the option for you.
It comes with four LAN ports, a dual-core processor, and VPN support. In terms of wireless connections, this device isn’t going to be viable in larger homes or workplaces and probably won’t be ideal for households (or businesses) that have a lot of users. However, in a smaller home or apartment with only a couple of users, the budget-friendly ACRH13 will be a very capable option.
If you want to spend even less, though, you might want to consider the TP-Link Archer C50 as it is another decent option for less-demanding users and it comes in at ~$10 less.
Best Router Under $50:
TP-Link Archer C50
If you just need a cheap router option that will work well in smaller homes with fewer users, the TP-Link Archer C50 is a decent router that comes in under $50.
It is an AC1200 dual-band router that comes with four LAN ports, a dual-core CPU, and has VPN support. Like the TP-Link Archer C9 (and C7) the easy-to-use interface is also a plus on the C50. This router comes with a 2-year warranty as well.
Ultimately, if you just need a decent option to use in a non-demanding scenario (low number of users on the network and/or a smaller house), or you just need a cheap option that can hold you over until you can afford a higher-end model, the C50 will be worth considering.
Honorable Mention #1:
TP-Link Archer C7
The TP-Link Archer C7 is an AC1750 dual-band router that comes with four LAN ports, a single-core processor, and support for VPNs. For the most part, it will perform on par with the Archer C9 and it comes in at ~$25 cheaper, too.
The C7 doesn’t have as strong of a processor (it has a single-core CPU compared to the C9’s dual-core CPU), though, and that will hurt its performance in using advanced options like VPNs, QoS, or in using 3rd party firmware, too. But, if you just need a basic router and won’t be using those advanced features, the single-core CPU should still perform on par with the C9’s CPU for the most part.
So, the bottom line is that, for quite a bit less, you can get the C7 over the C9 and as long as you just need a basic router, you’ll still get a pretty similar experience overall.
Honorable Mention #2:
NETGEAR R6230
Another affordable option and alternative to the TP-Link Archer C50 is the Netgear R6230. It is an AC1200 dual-band router that comes with four LAN ports, a dual-core CPU, and it has support for VPNs and comes with dynamic QoS as well.
It does come in at about ~$10 more than the Archer C50, though, and for the same price, we’d recommend choosing the ASUS RT-ACRH13 instead. However, if you can find the R6230 on sale, though, it might be worth considering over the C50 and RT-ACRH13.
Ultimately, while the R6230 is a solid router overall, for the price it comes in at, we feel like the RT-ACRH13 is a slightly better option and the C50 would be a better budget pick.
Honorable Mention #3:
NETGEAR R6080
Another ultra-cheap router option is the Netgear R6080. It’s an AC1000 dual-band router that has four LAN ports and comes with a dual-core CPU. At just a little over $50, it is the second cheapest option on this list.
However, while the R6080 will provide solid performance in smaller houses and in less-demanding use cases, for about ~$5 less you can get the slightly better TP-Link Archer C50 and for just a little more you can get the ASUS RT-ACRH13.
So, just like the Netgear R6230, the main thing holding back the R6080 is the price it comes in at.
Which Affordable Router is Best for You?
While the budget-friendly routers listed above aren’t high-end options by any means, for the vast majority of users who are just looking for good Wi-Fi performance and a reliable connection in non-demanding situations, they should get the job done. If you’re looking to take advantage of more advanced features, though, or want higher-end performance while gaming, you’ll likely want to spend more.
Ultimately, though, if your budget is under $100, the six options above represent our picks for the best cheap routers across a variety of price points and feature sets. So, if you need a decent router at an affordable price, one of the options above should work for you.
