Let me start by saying this router is a STEAL for the price. The moment I unboxed it, the 8-antenna design screamed 'serious business' - though my cat keeps trying to swat at them like they're alien tentacles.

The setup? Dead simple. Popped in my T-Mobile SIM (yes, it plays nice with magenta!) and was streaming 4K cat videos in under 5 minutes. Speeds consistently hit 200Mbps in my signal-deadzone apartment - a miracle considering my old Arcadyan gateway struggled to load Google.

That X62 chipset is no joke. Locking onto n41 bands manually gave me lower ping (15-25ms) than my ISP's modem. The WiFi 6 performance handles my smart home gadgets like a champ - though I did have to play 'hot/cold' with placement using the SNR readings to find the sweet spot.

Now the ugly: The firmware feels like it was coded in 2009. Changing DNS settings somehow nuked my connection until I factory reset. And don't get me started on the 'instructions' - finding the admin password (hint: it's 'admin') felt like solving a Da Vinci code.

Pro tip: Immediately email support for latest firmware (2.2.2 works great). The NSA-to-SA switch boosted my speeds by 30Mbps, but required some trial-and-error that would frustrate non-techies.

Verdict? For $300, this outperforms routers twice its price... if you're willing to tinker. Just keep that reset button handy and maybe buy an extra SIM card (yes, I learned that the hard way).