If you’re searching for the Best Router options to upgrade your home network, the Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU MIMO Dual Band Wi Fi router is a pretty good option. As the name suggests, it sports the MU MIMO technology and provides fantastic Wi Fi coverage. And most importantly, you should definitely check this router out in case you are looking for the Best OpenWRT Router.
Why We Like It – Zyxel Armor Z2
The Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU MIMO Dual Band Wi Fi router is one of the only consumer-grade routers that come with a Qualcomm processor inside. Now, you might be asking, why is that good? Well, most wireless devices are coming with Intel and Broadcom chips nowadays. And those processors don’t have good OpenWRT support.
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- Gigabit Ethernet ports
- 4 GB eMMC flash storage, plenty of space for installing OpenWRT
- Dual-core Qualcomm SoC inside
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- No Wi Fi 6 support
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Performance
The performance of this dual band wireless router is absolutely top-notch, even better than something like the GL.iNet GL-AR150, pretty much. It’s perfect for intense tasks like online gaming, heavy downloads/uploads, and other things. It supports up to 2.6 Gbps data transfer rate over Wi Fi, but realistically, you won’t get above 700-900 Mbps when it comes to internet speeds over Wi Fi.
Range
The Armor Z2 wireless router comes with four external antennas and sports beamforming technology to provide absolutely fantastic coverage throughout your house. The Wi Fi range of the Armor Z2 router will obviously vary depending on your home network setup, but it can cover up to 2500 square feet area.
Durability
The build quality of this router is way better than the GL.iNet GL-AR750S. It looks & runs cool, and the metallic build feels nice. This Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU MIMO Dual Band WiFi router pulls ahead of its price class in this aspect.
Ease Of Use
If you’re an advanced user, we would always recommend you to install OpenWRT on this thing. It’s fast, somewhat easy to operate, and most importantly, it comes with much more customizability than the stock firmware. The fantastic hardware inside the Armor Z2 router allows it to run OpenWRT even smoother than the TP Link AC4000.
Value
This Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU MIMO Dual Band router does provide fantastic performance for its price tag, as we mentioned before. And even if you decide to stay with the stock firmware, you get both easy mode and expert mode to control different settings. So in our view, you should definitely pick this up, if you can afford it.
Zyxel Armor Z2 Wrap Up
Overall, the Zyxel Armor Z2 WiFi router is a fantastic option to go for if you are upgrading your home network, despite its age.
