Review on High-Performance PHICOMM K3C AC 1900 Wi-Fi Gigabit Router with Intel Technology - Silver by Kirt Phillips

Update after 4 months: unstable connection, intermittent drop in WiFi signal strength, no firmware updates and random shutdowns (2-3 times within 8 hours) very greatly cooled my enthusiasm for this router. I ended up turning it off and using it as a decoration. Customer support is non-existent. Wouldn't buy again. Update 3 weeks later: Router still works but there are intermittent outages. There is a signal, the device is connecting to the router, but there is no traffic. It doesn't last long, maybe 1-2 minutes, but it happens more often, now 5-7 times a day. If it doesn't go away I'll be returning this router, trying very hard to like it. I bought this router out of curiosity as my Asus RT-AC68U is working fine. Setup was easy, the firmware update was fast enough, and the router was up and running in 10 minutes or less. I received this router 3 days ago so I can't comment on its reliability other than it has worked without any issues from the moment it was set up and plugged in. I have over 25 devices including two Rokus, three Firesticks, Alexas, three MacBook Pros (2018) and several desktops. The Asus router easily handled this load and performed well on both floors of my house. K3 is a little different. On the other hand, it's a faster router, websites display faster, Hulu and Netflix launch faster. Using a Category 6 cable, I get 480 Mbps from my MacBookPro at 450(!) Mbps and 25 Mbps. Using WiFi (5 GHz, Channel 149, Wide Channel) I get 400 Mbps at 5 feet (Asus: 400 Mbit/s), but only (!) 125 Mbit/s in the stream below and ok. 30 feet (Asus: 300 MB/s same location). Based on these observations measured with the Wifiman app, I would say that the K3 has lower range than the 5 year old Asus router, but higher routing throughput (no data, just an observation). The screen above is a useful thing. What worries me is that this router doesn't have built in security like I have with Asus (TrendMicro), just a firewall. I don't know if this router is calling home and sharing my activities with the mothership in China. However, with the ISP, Facebook, Instagram, and all the other apps watching my every move on the internet, I'm not overly concerned, as I always am. So far I can recommend this router, especially at around 50€ (Asus is still around 120€) it is an absolute bargain. I will update if there are any reliability and durability issues.