How to Choose a Router (2024): Tips, Technical Terms, and Advice Leave a comment

Everybody needs dependable and quick web, and a very good router can assist. The trick is to work out how the difficult mess of requirements, complicated acronyms, and sci-fi-sounding options translate to raised Wi-Fi in your house. Be a part of us as we tear again the curtain to disclose the pertinent info about Wi-Fi, routers, mesh methods, and different jargon. Hopefully, you may be higher outfitted to purchase a router by the top.

Up to date November 2024: We added info on options to a brand new router, the rollout of Wi-Fi 7, up to date common speeds, particulars on how mesh methods use bands, extra details about ports and speeds, and a few helpful hyperlinks.

Desk of Contents

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Who Is Your Web Service Supplier?

Web service suppliers (ISPs) join your private home to the web, and so they often ship you a modem and router (typically in a single machine). The modem connects your private home to the broader web, the router hooks as much as the modem, and also you join all of your devices—with wires or wirelessly—to the router to entry that connectivity. ISPs typically cost you a rental price for this gear, and their routers are often fundamental by way of efficiency and options. The excellent news is that ISPs are by regulation not allowed to power you to make use of their gear or cost you to make use of your own hardware, although you should still need to return their stuff to keep away from costs.

We’re largely taking a look at utilizing your personal router on this information and utilizing your ISP’s modem. Through the use of your personal, you possibly can doubtlessly get monetary savings in the long run, however you can even take pleasure in sooner Wi-Fi, higher protection, simpler configuration, and further options like parental controls and visitor Wi-Fi networks. We’ll run by way of your router choices, however no matter system you determine to go along with, test compatibility together with your ISP earlier than shopping for. It’s also possible to search your ISP’s boards to search out posts the place individuals focus on utilizing completely different routers and modems. A little analysis earlier than you store can prevent an enormous headache down the road.

What Type of Router Do You Want?

There are numerous methods to make your Wi-Fi sooner, and shopping for a brand new router is among the most blatant. That can assist you determine on the kind of router to go for, calculate the tough sq. footage of your private home earlier than you start.

Single Router

The only resolution for most individuals is to decide on a single router or a router and modem combo. Keep in mind that this machine must plug into your current socket or modem by way of Ethernet cable, which restricts the place you possibly can place it. The Wi-Fi sign might be strongest close to the router and can steadily drop off and decelerate the additional away you get. In the event you’re capable of, place your router centrally in your house and go away it out within the open.

Routers ought to at all times state sq. footage for protection, however sure forms of building—thick partitions, insulation, and different gadgets—can intrude with Wi-Fi alerts, so don’t count on to take pleasure in full-speed Wi-Fi at longer distances. Highly effective routers with vast protection are sometimes massive gadgets with a number of exterior antennas, however they’re often very costly.

Mesh Methods

If in case you have a big house and wish stable protection in your backyard, or you have got thick partitions and particular lifeless spots together with your present setup, then mesh Wi-Fi could possibly be the reply. Mesh methods include a central hub, which connects similar to a single router, in addition to extra satellites or nodes you possibly can place across the house.

Gadgets connect with the web by way of the closest node, so you possibly can obtain wider Wi-Fi protection and a extra dependable connection in several areas by including a node. Simply keep in mind that every node will want an influence outlet. Mesh methods are sometimes dearer than single-router setups, however they improve protection and reliability, and so they typically boast extra options and management choices. Additionally they are usually smaller than common routers and are sometimes designed to mix in together with your decor.

Most mesh methods are expandable, and a few producers mean you can hyperlink particular person routers to create a mesh, so you can begin with a single router and add extra as required. Simply be sure you perceive which gadgets are appropriate. For instance, any Asus router that helps AiMesh can work as a part of a mesh system, however TP-Hyperlink’s OneMesh expertise solely permits you to add appropriate Wi-Fi extenders—you possibly can’t hyperlink routers collectively.

Options to a New Router

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In case your subject is extra about protection and you’ve got a single downside room the place you wish to enhance Wi-Fi, or a selected machine that wants a sooner connection, you won’t want to purchase a brand new router. Attempt one among these options. They every have their very own technical challenges and potential points. Even when efficiently deployed, they gained’t come near matching the comfort of a very good mesh system, however they’re all less expensive.

Ethernet Cables

Earlier than Wi-Fi was ubiquitous, we relied on Ethernet cables to attach computer systems and different gadgets to routers. Ethernet connections are a lot sooner, extra steady, and safer than Wi-Fi (or every other choice we recommend right here). The disadvantage is that the machine you wish to join must have an Ethernet port, and it’s important to run cable out of your router to the machine. If it’s essential run Ethernet cables to a number of spots, use an Ethernet swap. With a swap you possibly can plug one cable in out of your router and run a number of cables out to numerous gadgets. Anybody trying to get the perfect efficiency from a mesh system must also contemplate working Ethernet cables between the principle router and nodes to create a wired backhaul that leaves the Wi-Fi bands free in your gadgets to connect with.

Energy Line Adapters

Bought in pairs, energy line adapters cross an web sign by way of your electrical wiring. You plug one into an influence outlet close to your router and join it with an Ethernet cable, whereas the opposite energy line adapter plugs into an influence outlet within the room the place you need sooner web. They could be a good resolution in case you have a console or sensible TV in your front room behind the home, however your router is within the entrance corridor, for instance. Sadly, effectiveness relies upon closely in your electrical wiring.

MoCA (Multimedia Over Coax Alliance)

If your private home already has coaxial cables put in (maybe for cable TV), you should utilize them to create a dependable wired community that provides excessive speeds and low latency in comparison with Wi-Fi. You should buy routers, community adapters, or Wi-Fi extenders that assist the MoCA standard. Very similar to energy line adapters, this may be a good way to cross an web sign to a sensible TV, sport console, or desktop that does not get a robust Wi-Fi sign.

Wi-Fi Repeaters

You should utilize Wi-Fi repeaters to unfold the Wi-Fi from a single router a bit additional and doubtlessly enhance the sign in a lifeless spot. These gadgets are a very good resolution for some individuals, however they are often inefficient, liable to interference, and sometimes create a secondary community with a special identify out of your common Wi-Fi. These days, you may get higher efficiency at an identical value by choosing a mesh or including a second router in case your important router helps it, like Asus does with AiMesh.

Entry Factors

In the event you don’t thoughts a problem and have a spare outdated router mendacity round, you possibly can look into configuring it as an entry level or utilizing it as a Wi-Fi extender. This may be notably efficient should you’re capable of join it to your important router by way of cabling, however configuration can show difficult.

What Pace Do You Want?

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There’s a lot to contemplate whenever you’re attempting to determine how briskly your router must be. The utmost pace of your web is set by your ISP. Web speeds are said in Mbps (megabits per second). The median international mounted broadband pace is 94 Mbps for downloads and 49 Mbps for uploads, in keeping with Ookla’s Speedtest. Most ISPs will state as much as a sure pace or provide you with a spread—like 300 Mbps obtain and 30 Mbps add—however what you really get is usually decrease than the utmost (particularly add speeds), and it should be shared between all your linked gadgets.