How to choose a new router
HEREARETHEMOSTIMPORTANTFACTORSTOCONSIDERWHENUPGR ADING.
PLENTYOFPEOPLEoverlookit,butyour
routeris veryimportanttothequalityofyour
homenetwork.Therouterprovidedbyyour
ISP(internetserviceprovider)is often
relativelybasic,soit’softena goodideatoget
a betteralternative.Butwhatexactlyshould
youbelookingforwhenbuyinga router?
Oneofthefirstthingstoconsideris the
sizeofyourhome.Howmuchcoverageare
yougoingtoneed?Noteveryrouterwillbe
powerfulenoughtocover
a largehome.Forany
router,checkitsspec
sheetfor‘Wi-Firange’or
a phraselikeit,orthe
homesizeit’sintended
for,togaugecapability.
You’llalsohaveto
considerthetypeofhome
youhave– oldbuildingswiththickwallsare
likelytopresentmoreofanobstaclethan
newerhouses,forinstance.UseaniOSapp
likeWi-FiDeadspottohelpyouunderstand
whatareasneedattention.Walkaroundyour
homewiththeappopenandit notesany
areaswithpoorWi-Fireception.ThesewouldbebetterservedbyWi-Fiextenders,mesh
routernodesorpowerlineadapters.NEEDFORSPEED
Manyserviceprovidersadvertiseimpressive-
soundingspeeds,butthesearetheoretical,
basedonidealsituations,andmaynotreflect
howyouusetherouter.Wallsandfloors
willimpactthespeed,forexample.More
antennasona routergenerallymeansbetter
speedandrange,but
that’snottheonlyfactor,
sochecktherouter’sspec
sheetforindicationsof
otherperformance
boostsonoffer.
A routercandomore
thanjustbeaminternet
accessaroundyour
home– variousotherdevicescanbe
connecteddirectlytoit tobeshared.For
example,manyroutershaveextraEthernet
portsontheback.Theseareusefulif you
wanttohookupa networkprintersothatany
familymember’sdevicecanmakepaperdocs,
forexample.Similarly,somerouterscomewithoneor
moreUSBportsontheback.Oneuseofthese
is toplugina USBharddrivetouseasshared
storage.SomeroutersevensupportTime
Machinebackupsoveryournetwork.
Anotherusefulportontherearofyour
routeris theEthernetplug.Wi-Fiis allwell
andgood,butit cannotcompareto
connectingyourdeviceswithanEthernet
cable,whichwillgivemuchgreaterspeedand
reliability.Whenyou’relookingfora router,
makesureyougetonethatoffersGigabit
Ethernetspeeds(whichis oftenwrittenas
10/100/1000).
Manyroutersoffera wholehostofextra
features.Inrecentyearsthere’sbeenan
increasein‘tri-band’routers.Beforethis,
mostrouterswouldofferaccessontwo
channels:oneinthe2.4GHzband,anotherin
the5GHzband.Tri-bandroutersusually
provideanextra5GHzchannel,whichhelps
if youhavelotsofdevicestoconnect.Another
factortoconsideris whetheryouneeda mesh
router.Thesehavemultiple‘nodes’thateach
actastheirownroutertoaidrange,andare
usefulina largehomewithlotsofdeadspots.SinceApplediscontinuedits
AirPortrangeofrouters,it has
soldtheLinksysVelopinretail
andonlinestores.WI-FIISALLWELLAND
GOOD,BUTITCAN’T
COMPARETOHOOKING
UPYOURDEVICESWITH
ANETHERNETCABLE.MMMIMHHHHTTTO
WO