Whether or not your router still gets updates depends a lot on the manufacturer. A week ago, I replaced a 5 year old ASUS RT-AC68U. It was getting firmware updates every few months until the end. The updates include tweaks and security updates - the security updates are especially important. My ASUS router was set to auto-update it's firmware.Your WiFi router is old and probably no longer getting updates. Agree with people saying to look to replace in the three to five year time frame after the device has been released. It depends on what the manufacturer states their support lifetime is.
While WPA 2 personal isn’t exactly considered insecure. There are known vulnerabilities which can’t be fully mitigated. You should plan on moving to WPA 3 personal as soon as possible
https://www.diffen.com/difference/WPA2_vs_WPA3
(Previously, I had a TP-Link router. It worked well, but had one firmware update in the year it was released, then no more - none! This seems strange to me now.)
My old router was getting a bit flaky (it recently started "dropping out" occasionally) after five years. So I a agree with previous recommendations on the 3-5 year router replacement cycle. (I believe this is a router thing, not a brand-specific router thing.)
My new router is a ASUS RT-AX3000. This is a "previous series" Wi-Fi 6 Router. (The newer series are Wi-Fi 6E & Wi-Fi 7.) But, the new router is still much faster than my current available ISP speeds. And, most importantly because it's an ASUS router, it has the latest firmware and software features. It uses the ASUSWRT interface which is very nice. (It has a newish VPN Fusion feature I plan to try out soon.)
The ASUS RT-AX3000 cost me about $110 (with taxes & delivery) direct from the ASUS store. (Which is $30 less than I paid for my ASUS RT-AC68U 5 years ago.) The original price of the RT-AX3000 was about $200 a few years ago. A "bigger, badder" (and much more expensive) router isn't going to do me much good now - I don't have the incoming speed, nor Wi-Fi devices capable of making full use of it.
My new ASUS router does have the more secure WPA3 Personal security setting. But, again, few of my current Wi-Fi devices are capable of using it. For now, a good, long WPA2 password should do the trick. (And be sure to change the Router Login Name and Router Password from the Admin defaults.)
So, hopefully my new router hardware will give me solid performance again for 3-5 years. Then, as my incoming ISP speeds increase and my Wi-Fi devices get replaced/upgraded, today's $300+ Wi-Fi 7 router will then be a "previous series" $150 router that will serve me well for another 3- 5 years.
Statistics: Posted by Cyan — Sun Mar 02, 2025 2:29 am — Replies 17 — Views 1240