how to choose a wireless router Now it is difficult to imagine a house in which there would be no WiFi router. Wireless access to the Internet is not a luxury, but first of all – the need for modernity, because sometimes you have to work or study not only in the room where the modem is located. It is also convenient for recreation. You can get acquainted with the content of interest from anywhere in the house. But in order to feel all the benefits of WiFi, it is important to consciously make a choice of a router, especially since there are a lot of similar devices on the market.
Parameters for wireless router selection
When a buyer comes to the store to buy an inexpensive and productive router for the house, the consultant tries to “shove” what needs to be sold soon. And some even advise is not a cheap product, which, moreover, will not be useful. Therefore, before buying, it is better to study some characteristics that will help you choose a suitable router for specific requirements.
The most important parameters which you should pay attention to ensure stable and fast connection , are as follows:
- The type of a WAN port is a characteristic on which it depends whether the device is suitable for installation in a particular apartment. The choice of WAN type depends on the home Internet, the type of its connection. Here you can tell which router is better to buy, can employees from the company’s provider. Depending on the type of connection, you need to select a device:
- Ethernet is the best solution for those who are connected to the worldwide system not through a telephone, but through a cable. This type is supported by almost all routers.
- ADSL – a router that can be connected to the cable, let down from the phone.
- 3G / 4G router – USB ports are necessary for their successful functioning. Routers with 3G / 4G modem support provide better coverage and data transfer speeds.
- Data transfer rate A very cheap router, cannot provide a speed of more than 150 Mbit/s. This is not enough even for home use, if more than 2 devices are connected at the same time. For example, the best router for large house should operate at a speed of 300 Mbit /s.
- For stable use of a signal by several devices, it is better to use a router with support for dual WiFI bands, that is, frequencies of 5 and 2.4 GHz. Such models are more expensive, but also work better.
- Radius of action. To cover a large country house with a stable connection, a more powerful router is needed than for a one-room apartment. In addition, it is necessary to take into account not only the area of the room, but also the thickness of the walls, as well as the presence of additional obstacles. In this case, you need to pay attention to
- the number of antennas – the more of them, the larger the area covered by the router
- Antenna power 5dBi is the best option.
- WiFi standards. Pay attention to the support of WiFi protocols. To date, 802.11 ac is considered the fastest and most modern. But here you also need to make sure that your devices that you plan to connect to the wireless network support this standard.
If you correctly carry out the selection of parameters, you can get the best and most suitable for your room router, without having to install an additional signal amplifier.
Which WiFi router manufacturers is better?
On the market are thousands of models of different routers from different manufacturers. All of them differ not only in their own functionality and quality, but also in cost. However, choosing the most expensive company, hoping for exceptional quality, is not worth it. Sometimes “pure Chinese” works better. So let’s take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each company that manufactures routers.
The following manufacturers are considered the best and most popular among buyers:
- TP Link is a Chinese company that has been successfully operating in the telecommunications and computer equipment market since 1996. The products of this company have a high level of price-quality ratio. For a little money you can buy a product of good assembly and high performance. This is perhaps the most popular brand among ordinary users and is most often found in apartments.
- Asus – despite the fact that the company operates in the Republic of China, its products are classified as “expensive”. At the same time, the product completely “fulfills” its value.
- D Link is another computer equipment manufacturer from China. The products of this company is considered budget and very popular among average Internet users. D-Link is engaged in the release of only network products, so the quality of routers and components is very high.
It is not worthwhile to sharpen your attention on the manufacturers, because each company has not the most “successful” models that spoil the overall picture of good impressions. Therefore, we will further describe which models are considered by real buyers to be the best for home use.
Router power and range
This is also a rather important question, especially if you have a large apartment or a country house. As a rule, in the characteristics the range of the router model is not specified. And this is understandable, because this characteristic is influenced by a large number of external factors, which are different for each customer (wall thickness, wall type, frequency band load and other interference).
But then how to choose a WiFi router for a large house ?
- The number of antennas . As a rule, the presence of two or three antennas greatly enhances the signal, and increases the range of the router. On expensive models, the presence of 3 or more antennas affects the signal transfer rate more than the radius.
- Antenna power . We recommend to choose models in which antennas with power from 5dBi are installed.
- User Reviews . Most often in the comments users give real examples. You can compare them with your room, and choose the right model. If you still could not cover the whole room with one router, then it is better to buy an additional signal amplifier .
WiFi router frequency
Most modern routers support two signal frequencies: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Due to the rapid spread of WiFi in all apartments and offices, the 2.4 GHz frequency band was quickly filled, so the signal transmission speed may suffer.
Range of 5 GHz, provided the owners of the new routers free frequency, and as a result fast Internet without interference. Therefore, if you have the means to purchase a router with a WiFi frequency of 5 GHz, we recommend staying on this option.
There are also dual-band routers that support two frequencies simultaneously. But such models, as a rule, cost a little more.
best routers for home
Among the hundreds of thousands of models that are on the market of network equipment, buyers have long been rating the best wifi router for home, we picked the best 4 wifi router
TP Link Archer C3200
its a good router for installation even in a large apartment. This unit has almost no downsides. The only note is high power consumption and the lack of a 4G modem. But this is offset by a strong signal and a large coverage area. it is fully justified: 6 antennas, a 2-core processor and a maximum speed of 3200 Mb / s. This device is dual-band, and therefore supports the frequency of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
Asus RT AC88U
its not just one of the most powerful devices, but also the most stylish. The router is equipped with 4 antennas that form such a dense coverage that about 10 devices can be connected at the same time.
Linksys EA8300
a good router should work exactly as this device. The device is equipped with 4 antennas + 6 High Power Amplifiers and is fully controlled from the smartphone. In addition, it is a router with a 716Mhz Quad-core processor and 512 MB of RAM.
Tenda AC6
it’s one of the cheapest routers. As for the functional, it is slightly not perfect. The main characteristic – the transfer rate does not exceed 100 Mbps.
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