Router suggestions to be paired with access point

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
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Hi!

As many before myself, I am looking for budget router recommendations... surprise! In particular I have no requirements for WiFi connectivity as I will be pairing with a nice WiFi 6E access point. Below are my requirements and personal budget listed:

  • Support for 1gbps (~900mbps download) internet.
  • No WiFi support necessary but at least 802.11AC could be useful for interim. Not a strict requirement at all.
  • Gigabit ethernet up to 2.5Gb would be great, 1Gb would be plenty but no harm in future-proofing.
  • USB ports not necessary. If it is relevant to your recommendation I'd appreciate an explanation why, could be super helpful and I'd love to know how and why that is!
  • A fair few devices will be connected at any one time. Around 4 wired, varying amounts wireless (will be handled by access point as mentioned.)
  • Enough performance to handle a VPN, media server etc. could be useful. I may have a dedicated server in place one day to handle these kinds of things, however, so not a strict requirement.
  • £50 budget, could stretch but I don't imagine it will be necessary. Used is 110% acceptable. As I am only looking for a router with decent router capabilities and less worried about access point capabilities I hope that my options will be quite cheap. I would appreciate explanations for higher priced suggestions, I'm more than willing to listen and understand!

Thank you! I'm ready to answer any more questions on requirements if necessary.

Note: I have had a search myself and have read through previous threads, I am still unsure in what to look for. I thank you greatly in advance for taking the time to reply.

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If you get version 1 of the Chinese version of the Xiaomi AX3000T I think it might be suitable, although I’ve never tried a VPN on them as “dumb” routers, although looking at the activity I am using little of the memory or CPU to do what I am, which is admittedly not very much.
However they only cost £21-22 on Aliexpress if you collect some “coins”. My Chinese friend found them for £15, but that was probably via his mum and dad carrying them in a suitcase. There is some Chinese at the start and I have no idea what I agreed to. Device needs adding to the Xiaomi phone app and then AP mode turning on. Then you use the IP V4 address with the XMIR patcher tool. This does everything to put OpenWrt on it. Bit of a risk because maybe the VPN performance is inadequate but then you have a router that does mesh and the antennas seem okay. Only has 2 wifi radios, so not ideal, but it’s mega cheap.

Just be careful the AX3000 and AX3000T are different things.