Free checkup · 60 seconds
Is your router holding your internet back?
Routers age like phones — quietly, then all at once. Four questions and we’ll tell you if yours is the bottleneck, and whether that monthly rental fee is worth it.
Want it swapped, set up, and every device moved over?
We install mesh WiFi all over the Outer Banks — new gear in, old gear back to the provider, every phone, TV and camera reconnected before we leave.
(252) 686-1451Good to know
How long do routers actually last?
Plan on about 5 years. The hardware often powers on far longer, but WiFi generations move: a 2019 router predates WiFi 6/6E/7, and its radios and memory have been running hot around the clock. If your internet plan got faster but your router didn’t, you’re paying for speed it can’t deliver.
Rent from the provider or buy your own?
Renting costs ~$120/yr forever and you get whatever box they hand out. Buying a quality mesh system costs $250–450 once, covers the whole house properly, and typically outperforms rented gear — breakeven in about two years. The one upside of renting: when it breaks, replacement is their problem.
Router vs. mesh — when one box is enough
A single good router covers a condo or small single-story home. Two or more floors, 2,500+ sq ft, or WiFi needed on decks and by the pool — that’s mesh territory: multiple units sharing one network name so devices roam seamlessly. In big OBX rentals we wire the mesh points together for full speed on every floor.