What is a Wi-Fi router?
Most families have wireless routers that are a couple of years old. It's vital to know what to search for in getting the best Wi-Fi router for your home since we live in a fast-paced digital world.
Basically, a Wi-Fi router is a gatekeeper to your wireless connection — it is an electronic device that sends data from your modem and transmits its wireless signal to different gadgets. It additionally goes about as a wireless access point from which it shares data using radio transmissions. These signals are received by Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
How to choose one?
Choosing a Wi-Fi router that conveys excellent coverage and reliable connection, is anything but a difficult task, particularly assuming you are an amateur. To make things harder, manufacturers specify their routers by utilizing heaps of abbreviations and showcasing terms that have little association with the practical experience you get. Likewise, the item name doesn't inform you much concerning how great a router is, and neither does the value you pay. To assist you with picking the best router for your needs, consider these router features and realize what to search for in a router.
Router Speed
The present high-performing gadgets request speed and a lot of it. Without adequate speed, high-definition motion pictures would compress its crisp resolution and online gaming would freeze due to lagging and buffering. Here's what to take into consideration:
Upgrade your Wi-Fi 5 router and opt for Wi-Fi 6 technology. (See: AX1800 Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 Router)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is the most recent innovation of Wi-Fi technology. It provides faster speed, better battery life, and less bandwidth clog and network congestion than what you get with Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) technology. It also reduces user power consumption.
- OFMA Modulation
Wi-Fi 6 equips orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a key feature that increases overall network efficiency to allow simultaneous devices with various bandwidth requirements to connect to your Wi-Fi. It permits up to 30 users to share a channel simultaneously. For instance, in the event that one individual in your house is streaming a film and another is surfing the web, OFDMA permits the router to allocate channels to every gadget depending on when it needs it most.
- Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)
Consider the number of individuals who will be all the while utilizing your network connection when concluding what speed is best for you, depending on what activity is normal in your family. Assuming you have a house loaded with online gamers and film buffs, MU-MIMO is certainly the best approach. It streams signals simultaneously rather than sequentially, allowing a more equitable sharing of bandwidth.
- Target Wake-up Time (TWT)
TWT reduces power consumption and improves spectral efficiency by enabling devices to determine how often to wake in order to send/receive data. This technology enables 802.11ax deployments to consistently deliver a higher quality of service to many different devices with minimal contention or overlap.
- BSS Coloring
BSS color, otherwise called BSS coloring, is a technique for distinguishing overlapping basic service sets (OBSSs). BSS coloring was first characterized in the 802.11ah-2016 revision and is currently likewise characterized in the 802.11ax draft correction. The BSS color is a mathematical identifier of the BSS. 802.11ax radios can separate between BSSs using a BSS coloring identifier when different radios transmit on a similar channel. BSS coloring technology effectively eliminates co-channel interference improving network utilization and communication efficiency.
Dual Band
Single-band routers are a relic of times gone by. Your new router ought to be a double band. What's the significance here? It implies that the router transmits the wireless signal on two frequencies.
The 5GHz channel offers faster bandwidth, while the 2.4GHz channel helps to penetrate through solid objects. For more information, you can check how to choose between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
Security
Hackers are hitting the news features nowadays. Thus, security is a significant issue to think about while choosing the best router to purchase. Wireless connections can be exceptionally uncertain. While choosing the best router to purchase, ensure it essentially utilizes WPA2 (the second execution of the Wi-Fi Protected Access protocol) or WPA3 which is the latest Wi-Fi security standard. It increases the difficulty of password cracking to protect user privacy in Wi-Fi networks.
Network Management Apps
Some routers come furnished with user-friendly applications, permitting you to remotely monitor your home Wi-Fi network settings. From your cell phone or tablet, you can monitor your home network anytime and anywhere, wireless settings, guest network, parental control, or quick network setups.
- Remote Management: monitor your home network anytime and anywhere
- Internet Speed Test: check your network speed
- Guest Network: set up separate Wi-Fi access for visitors
- Quick Setup: get connected in less than a minute
Use the RS app to create your network in minutes.
Manage network settings from any Android or iOs device.
Ethernet Ports
Wi-Fi routers aren't restricted to wireless connections, they likewise have Ethernet ports, which can interface your PC or different gadgets to your home network with an Ethernet cable. An Ethernet port and cable seem as though a typical phone link, however with more extensive and wider ports and connectors. When might you need to utilize the Ethernet port on your Wi-Fi switch? You can let loose your Wi-Fi bandwidth for other cordless gadgets like your laptop, smartphones, or tablet, which venture out from one spot to another with you as you move about your home. Ponder those gadgets that are not versatile and designed to use Ethernet ports. This includes your work desktop PC, Smart TV or game consoles. To do that, just plug your gadget directly into the router utilizing an Ethernet port and link. More seasoned routers with fast Ethernet support speeds up to 100 Mbps, however, modern routers support Gigabit Ethernet, which is multiple times quicker at 1000 Mbps.
Gigabit Ethernet ports help you connect your wired devices to achieve fast network performance.
In a nutshell, make sure to take router speed, dual band, security, management, and Ethernet port into consideration.