Alex had bought the Tenda cheap from an online marketplace after moving into the new place. It fit the budget and the promise: “N300 — reliable home Wi‑Fi.” For months it kept phones and laptops talking to the outside world without complaint. But one humid Tuesday evening, a streamer interrupted mid‑match with a sharp spike, and a ring of complaints appeared in Alex’s head: dropped packets, buffering, microstutters in a conversation. Time for a firmware update.