You’ve just put in your hard day’s work--but now, at home--and now you’re ready to relax with a Netflix movie or a PlayStation game. Right in the middle of it, however, the TV screen stutters and freezes.

“What the heck?” you say. Then you head to where the Wi-Fi router is and all you see are different-colored lights blinking. It’s as if you’re at a fireworks show.

A terrible experience for sure. But who to blame? It’s probably not your $1,000 OLED TV. You know that you’re already paying up for a $100 package with your internet service provider, and your webpages are loading fine on your smartphone. Now you nailed it – it’s your wireless router.

Yes, the wireless router, the typically unsexy device that you don’t really even think about on a daily basis. But obviously, from this particular example, it is uber-important for all of your Wi-Fi connected devices, as it can improve your connection speeds and improve coverage around your home while keeping your data safe and private.

Surely, we’ve all heard about the best wireless routers out there. But what about the worst? Well, let’s get on that.

After scouring discussion boards related to this particular topic, the NETGEAR RAX80 certainly tops the list. First off, it’s pretty pricey at $350, and for that amount of cash, you would think that it would excel in the basic functions of what a wireless router should do.

Wrong. There were complaints abound, mostly about it dropping devices off the network. Then after several firmware updates, the 5GHz band just plain disappeared for many people, unless you go through the time-consuming process of rebooting it. For $350, one would be wise to stay away.

The TP-Link’s Archer C5400, which retails for $280, also fell short of high expectations. It boasts a tri-band router with MU-MIMO support and 4×4 radios, but it doesn’t offer band steering. And the all-important 5GHz band performance was indeed lacking.

You would think that any Apple-related device would hit a grand slam here. But this $113 wireless router called AirPort Extreme was left in the dark when Apple officially discontinued the product in the spring of 2018. The Extreme was viewed as a decent but not a great router, but now without Apple’s support, it’s best to just let dust settle on it.

The penultimate wireless router on the list is the Amped Wireless Titan, which sells for $245. Although this device does offer good short-range 5GHz band performance, it really falls apart over longer ranges. Moreover, even the 2.4GHz band is pedestrian at best and it lacks band steering.

Finally, the Securifi Almond+, which retails for $187, was an overall disappointment when it came to Wi-Fi performance and was particularly underwhelming at long ranges. The only positive aspect was that the setup was a breeze via its built-in touchscreen.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV.