Here are eight inquiries you need to make before purchasing a new wireless router. There are hundreds of possibilities, and new ones are always being developed, making purchasing a new wireless router challenging. It might take days to sort through all the data. The procedure will be lot simpler if you know the correct questions to ask, and you’ll be pleased with your purchase. Here are eight inquiries you need to make before purchasing a new wireless router.
1. For What Purpose Will You Use the Router?
The responses to all the other questions you’ll need to ask will be influenced by how you respond to this one. Do you only use the internet to monitor stock prices and send emails? If so, a straightforward wireless router will do. You might want something more potent if you use a streaming service to watch TV or movies.
Going all out to increase your router’s speed can be worthwhile if you frequently play demanding online games or work from home. As you examine Wi-Fi routers, keep this in mind and make an effort to be sincere with yourself. Despite as much fun it is, you don’t always need the newest and best. The main objective you should have when purchasing a router is to get something that satisfies your demands while staying within your means.
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2. What Amount Should You Budget?
This question is challenging to answer and it almost always arises. The answers to the following questions will decide how much money you spend. The Archer C7 AC1750 from TP-Link is a dual-band Gigabit wireless router with a mid-range feature set that we highly suggest if you only use your connection for simple purposes.
NETGEAR’s Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System is a complete router with long-range coverage and all the bells and whistles you could want. The Amazon Eero Pro 6 is another great option you can get without making a hole in your pocket, and it’s one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers. Don’t, however, let the cost consume you. Choose the correct specifications, look at a few different models, and you’ll have a sense of how much you’ll have to pay to obtain the performance you want.
3. The number of Wi-Fi router bands you require
There are single-, dual-, and tri-band routers, which is one of the first things you’ll notice about routers. Simply expressed, this implies that you will have access to one, two, or three wireless networks in your home. A dual-band router offers both a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz network, as opposed to a single-band router that only offers a single 2.4GHz network. The 5GHz band will carry data more quickly than the other two, which is the main difference between them. However, there are limitations because the higher frequency signal has a harder time passing through walls and other obstructions.
Although you might discover a tri-band router that offers the more recent 6GHz Wi-Fi spectrum, tri-band routers typically offer a 2.4GHz band and two 5GHz networks. How come you would want that? to divide devices with different speeds onto two networks so that the slower devices don’t impede the speedy ones. The most versatile router will typically be a dual-band device that offers one network on each frequency.
The fastest speed is offered, but it also takes into account older devices that are unable to connect to the faster network. A tri-band router might be worth the extra cost if you’re particularly concerned about your wifi speed and have several (perhaps ten or more) wireless devices in your house or place of business.
4. Wireless Standard Which?
Various Wi-Fi protocols exist. 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, and 802.11ac are a few popular ones. You almost certainly will be able to connect to an 802.11ac network if you purchased a computer within the last few years. This wireless standard has been the dominant one since its release in 2014. Depending on your computer, it might support connections to 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks.
Although the more recent 802.11ax standard is substantially faster than any of the other standards, many PCs are not yet prepared to use it because it is so new. However, an 802.11ax router is definitely your best option if you’re also planning on updating your computer to accommodate a wireless connection since it is also backward-compatible with earlier wireless devices. You must perform a system report if you are unsure of the wireless standards your computer is capable of using.
- By choosing the Apple menu > About this Mac > System Report > Wi-Fi from the macOS menu bar, you may access your system report.
- To access PowerShell/Windows Terminal on Windows, press Win + X, then type netsh wlan display drivers and hit Enter.
- Information about Wi-Fi standards can be found under Radio types supported.
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5. What Wi-Fi speed requirements do you have?
Several transmission speeds indicated in megabits per second are frequently included in router specs (Mbps). It can be a little misleading because it’s presented in the same units as your advertised internet speed, even though this has nothing to do with how quickly your connection is. It solely depends on how quickly your router can send data. Therefore, a 900Mbps router won’t speed up a 300Mbps internet connection.
Because of this, routers with exceptionally fast speeds are rarely utilized to their full potential. Run a speed test to determine the upload and download speeds you experience when using an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet. If you don’t intend to upgrade your connection anytime soon, you won’t need a router that is faster.
However, having a high-speed router would be helpful if you frequently stream files between devices in your home, such as streaming music from a wireless hard drive to your speakers or utilizing a Raspberry Pi media center to watch movies. You will profit from having a faster router because your internet connection speed does not restrict this.
6. How secure is the router, exactly?
Your home network will certainly be used to communicate all kinds of sensitive information, so getting a router with strong security settings is essential. Make sure your router is compatible with WPA3, as it is the most recent security standard. Most new routers will support WPA2, but if you’re thinking about buying a secondhand router, check sure it does.
7. Will You Use Accessories?
Your router can be used to connect a variety of devices to your network, including printers, hard drives, TVs, and smart home technology. Make sure your router has enough USB or Ethernet ports to accommodate all of the devices you intend to connect to it.
8. What Is the Best Wi-Fi Router Brand?
Linksys used to be the most well-known brand in routers, but over the past ten years or so, the product space has grown significantly. Although Linksys is still popular, routers from Netgear, TP-LINK, ASUS, and other brands are now available and well worth the money. Even Google now offers router sales. All four of them are currently among the top manufacturers of wireless routers.
However, practically any brand of wireless router will be functional. It’s presumably from a respectable company if you locate the proper specifications at a fair price. It could be a good idea to do some investigation if you find one from a company you’ve never heard of; look at Amazon ratings and other items they produce.
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Discover Your Ideal Wi-Fi Router
Finding the ideal router for your residence or place of business isn’t too tough if you have a clear understanding of what you require. With the help of these eight questions, spend some time determining exactly what your router needs to do its job, and then compare prices. You’ll undoubtedly be one step closer to locating your next Wi-Fi router with the help of this knowledge.
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