
I’ve gone with this model anyway as the price difference down to the base hEX is marginal, and it’s nice to have the extensibility in case you need it later. SFP is something most home setups won’t need, but small business may find it useful for upstream connectivity as it allows for a variety of different connection modules to added. Nonetheless, having these extra features on a unit at this price point is a bonus. PoE out requires a separate power injector, however, as the provided power supply doesn’t have the capacity for most PoE applications. The Mikrotek hEX S gigabit model is the latest small wired router from the company and expands upon the original hEX model by adding an SFP port (Small Form-factor Pluggable module) and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) for both powering itself and passing power to other networked devices like access points and cameras. If you just want to get the benefits of a wired only network, or need more wired ports, then disabling the WiFi on your existing router and adding a simple unmanaged network switch may be a simpler, and potentially cheaper option. If you’re looking to get more control and visibility over your internet traffic, improve security through a more powerful firewall, add a gateway device to manage multiple internal networks, or you don’t need wireless access at all, then a wired router is the way to go. Most modern wired routers are often better in the router specific role, with faster throughput, much more powerful network management features, and a more powerful integrated firewall. There are some good reasons to get only a wired router though. Higher end models offer much improved performance and features than generic ISP models often do, and these will usually have LAN ports you can use for wired only devices as well.

My Top Picks for Best Wired Routerįor most people, a wireless router will provide what you need. Read on for my reasons for choosing these, as well as some other options to consider. I’ve looked through all the wired router models on the market today, and selected what I believe to be the best options for various specific needs based on features, performance, and customer feedback.īelow are my top three wired router picks for best wired router overall, best performance, and best value. It’s now possible to get extremely capable small wired routers at prices that would have been unheard of only a few years ago, and there are good options for various needs from high speed internet connections to VPN focused models.

Over many years in the field, I’ve been involved in these set ups countless times, and the landscape hasn’t changed that much over the years except for two factors: speed and price.

Wired routers used to be a necessity for anyone setting up a small local area network, but even with the rapid technology improvements and growing ubiquity of wireless network connectivity there is still a place for these devices in our homes and small businesses. When you buy through links in this article, I may earn an affiliate commission.
