i would say check reviews and hope most of the review aren't faked? but since there's a global trade war against CCP's china now, i would say avoid any stuff that needs to be imported from some warehouse in china, if only to avoid a surprise customs tax or months of waiting due to trade complications. and well, i never knew any IRL person who wanted to buy one or talk about it.
i've only recently heard about the Nokia router being cheap, but that thing seems to require an "app" to control. i'm not even sure my old phones can install that app. and my last router's app (was a online browser AND phone app though)killed off its service after less than 1 yr, so i can't make full use of my router's features anymore. i don't trust routers that supposedly need an online-only "app" to control, that the manufacturer can just kill it off at anytime...