PC Magazine - USA (2021-03)

(Antfer) #1

A directional antenna tends to be a better option, since odds are that you aren’t
experiencing weak spots in your network in every direction. Point your external
antenna in the direction of your weak spot, and it will broadcast the signal
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to buy.



  1. UPGRADE YOUR OBSOLETE HARDWARE
    It’s a good idea to get the most out of your existing equipment, but if you’re
    running old hardware, you can’t expect the best performance. We have a
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    end devices, especially networking gear. However, if you bought your router
    years ago, you might still be using the older, slower 802.11n standard (or God
    forbid, 802.11g).


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ranges. Thus, all the tweaking we’ve outlined above will only get you so far—the
maximum throughput for 802.11g is 54Mbps, while 802.11n caps out at
300Mbps. The latest 802.11ac supports 1Gbps, while next-gen Wi-Fi 6 routers
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to start the search for a faster router.


Even if your router is new, you might have some ancient devices that are falling
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years, you likely have an 802.11ac wireless adapter, or at least 802.11n. But the
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might be able to buy a USB Wi-Fi adapter that makes things a bit better on
those old machines, though.)


Remember, a higher-quality router won’t just support those faster standards—
it’ll also do all the things we’ve outlined above better. It’ll have better channel
selection, perform better band steering for 5GHz devices, and include better
QoS features.


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multiple devices without bandwidth degradation and require specialized testing
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