While the sub-$70 street price is commendable, the WR3600E isn’t priced low enough to make it a standout due to low performance and a lack of ports.
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
What a difference a couple of years makes. When we reviewed the first Wi-Fi 7 routers in late 2023, devices were priced at $600 and higher. To help soften the blow of the sticker shock, many router makers, like Eero and Netgear, introduced the new wireless standard with premium mesh systems that boasted impressive performance and price tags that approached $2,000 for three-node systems .
However, prices have dropped dramatically on the best Wi-Fi routers since then, and you can secure a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router for around $150 or a dual-band for just under $100. Cudy is going even cheaper with its WR3600E, which has an MSRP of $79.99 and a street price of under $70. That would be an incredible price, if it had the performance and features to match its slightly more expensive dual-band Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6 peers. As you read on, you’ll see that the WR3600E perhaps sacrifices a bit too much to reach its bargain basement cost.
Design of the Cudy WR3600E Wi-Fi 7 Router
The WR3600E is a surprisingly compact Wi-Fi 7 router. I was surprised at its weight and profile as soon as I lifted it from the attractive retail box. The WR3600E sits vertically and has a broad base to ensure that it doesn’t tip over. But the router's main body is incredibly thin, as are the four antennas mounted at the top. Unlike the antennas on TP-Link Archer BE3600 , the ones on the WR3600E are fixed, so keep that in mind if you like to fine-tune transmission and reception. “Wi-Fi 7” is printed on the rightmost antenna.
The front of the router has a line of ventilation vents at the bottom, with Cudy branding centered just above. You'll find a row of LEDs near the top of the router, giving the current status for functions like power, 2.4 GHz wireless, 5 GHz wireless, and the three network ports. There are more ventilation vents at the very top of the router between the four antennas.
Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Moving to the back of the router, the WR3600E is surprisingly bare. There's a single gigabit WAN port and three gigabit LAN ports. The GbE WAN is something we typically see in older Wi-Fi 6 routers, whereas most modern Wi-Fi 7 routers (even dual-band models) have at least a 2.5 GbE WAN port. The only other items of note on the back are a pinhole reset button and a WPS button for quickly connecting supported networking gear, such as wireless printers and IoT devices.
Given its price point, Cudy wasn't inclined to include a USB 3.0 port, which is found on slightly more expensive standalone dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers and would allow you to connect external devices and storage.
... continue reading