Best ISP Supplied Routers

[Alexrose1uk]

Hi Guys
I was looking into this for my father in law, and figured I'd put a post here, as over the years I've seen so many cases of bad internet performance or bad line performance caused by poor quality ISP supplied routers. I figured collating this information in one place might actually be helpful for many people, as it's not always obvious at first glance how capable the ISP supplied routers are for various services, and some of them are actually pretty terrible. Unfortunately most ISPs, unless they're using it as an marketing point or upsell point, don't make clear what router they supply without digging, so many people could completely miss what they are getting until it is too late, and getting something decent at first step could save you several hundred!

So far the best ones I have seen seem to be:
Community Fibre - Linksys Velop Mesh
Sky Fibre (with Fibre Max extra) - Wifi 6 capable Sky Router with optional mesh extenders
Talktalk on 900 Mbps package - Amazon Eero 6 Pro Mesh setup [2 units] / 1 Unit on 500 MBps service - please note thier online ordering system is HOPELESS and often does not register your order!! They are however one of the better value 900MBps packages when factoring the router configuration provided, unless you live in an area with one of the region specific ISPs.
Vodafone - Pro 2 packages only - Wifi 6E capable Router
BT - Smart Hub 3/Plus - Wifi 6 - ONLY on 1.6Gbps service atm/with Complete Wifi Plus Addon

Would be good if we could collate this sort of information in one location!

 

[GregI]

BT or Plusnet do not currently have Wifi 6 routers. You can only get one if you have BT Business Broadband.

bad line performance caused by poor quality ISP supplied routers

Maybe this was the case with non full fibre but since you specifically mention community fibre and TT 900, I think you didn't mean FTTC or worse. The ONT is either delivering the full fibre speed to the router or it's not. What hardware an ISP supplies has 0 difference in this regard.

If you're asking about what to go for then just get communtiy fibre. Not only are the prices cheaper but atleast the Velop won't tie you down. If that's the one gripe you should have with ISP supplied routers, it's being so locked down.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Thanks for the correction, I had misread some info on Smart Hub 3/Smart Hub Plus. BT does have a Wifi 6 router on home, its just only available on very limited soft launched packages (1.6Gbps trial), or if you take out the Complete Wifi Plus addon.

Also I'd disagree on your comment about hardware not mattering on full fibre, in fact it matters just as much, because it is irrelevant if the ONT is delivering full speed if the router is getting bogged down, or is incapable of delivering the speed out across a property, which is why I referenced both poor line OR internet performance . Line stability was more of a thing on older non-fibre lines, and could be laid at the doorstep of the modem-router, but it has not really reduced the importance of a good router. There are still some pretty poor, slow, routers being supplied even with decent fibre packages, which will struggle under full load, and is one reason my current ISP switched routers (and consider the old ones non-supported on higher speed lines) on launching the newer services as the older ones weren't all capable of handling the service acceptably. You are 100% on the locked down part though, which is one reason I was so happy to see the likes of the Eero and Velops being rolled out!

Much as I am looking to additional input to help with the father-in-law's switch over (he cannot get Community Fibre), I'm also as stated trying to collate information on included routers in one place, as this will be helpful for many people, and will help highlight which ISPs are providing maybe a better (or worse) value package than others even if its not initially obvious. It's also something that gets forgotten by a lot of people when they're just looking at the per monthly cost, but can have substantial impact on thier experience (or whether they feel the need to buy additional kit at a later date).