"Good" in what way..? I suggest the jumping off point is to create a requirements list, then go looking for kit that fulfills it.
You are right about the quality of router reviews being highly variable. Unfortunately, it's because a lot of equipment reviews are done by people who well meaning, but often have little if any technical expertise. So they end up "testing" the user interface and what they "think" they see rather than what's actually happening. Their testing methods are often very sloppy, not objective, not published and not using any kind of controlled environment (which matters if you are testing radio system.)
I weep whenever I see an article - even in the IT trade press - that starts "It's router test time again, it's Steve's turn to take home the latest batch of offering and see how they get on" and then they'll talk about the UI for page after page and tell you how things worked in his home with his equipment mix and his RF signalling conditions subject to whatever interference he was getting that day. It's almost useless. It's best to think of them as a comparative rather than and indicator of (for example) what you can expect when get box X home - particularly for "Wi-Fi signal" (there's actually no such thing) and performance.
I like a US based web site called SmallNetBuilder for SOHO kit reviews. He's a one man band (and also lacks test facilities) but he does a better than many of objectively testing his subjects, he publishes his methods and tabulates the results by various performance metrics. There's another site who's name I've forgotten that actual open up the boxes to see what chips are inside them, how the antennas are sized/arranged and so on. I think that one is written by some guy with actual RF/electrical engineering expertise.
If that's all depressing you and you fancy a laugh, check out James Veitch's "Siri vs Alexa" tek review on Youtube (he's a comedian.) Then compare that with some of the "serious" tek reviews and see if you can spot the similarities.
rog.asus.com
