Before you start to conquer the best router, take the time to assess your needs. Otherwise, you could buy a much too powerful and expensive router for your needs. Or instead, you could be forced to buy a new one next year because you quickly saturated the capacity of the router. But how to dissect your needs?
The first question to ask you: will you use a wireless Internet connection? If you want to move home with your laptop and keep the internet computer, a wireless router is required. In addition, all mobile devices can connect to it. Wireless routers can be connected by cable to a computer.
The advantage of a wired connection is that the rate is guaranteed for
the connected device, unlike the wireless network where the flow will be
shared for each of the connected devices.
Next, determine the number of computers and devices that share the same Internet connection and the same home network.
The key thing to remember here is that you have more devices connected
to the wireless network, the faster data transfer decreases for each of
them.
Finally, list your needs. Do you use the Internet only to have your email? Are you an online gamer? Collect your hard drives to store your huge collection of movies? Always watch movies in high definition?
Understanding the technical specifications of routers
A first consideration is the speed of your router, that is to say, the speed of data transfer. The current standard is the "G", which provides a data rate of 54 Mbps. However, this standard does not meet the growing needs of users.
Services with more intensive is used as downloading movies or HD video,
fast 54 Mbps can be insufficient, especially if you connect multiple
devices to the network.
For this reason, our expert strongly suggest you use the IEEE 802.11n
("N"), which provides data rates from 150 Mbps to 600 Mbps.
And this is not the only advantage. The "N" standard also provides better reach. The scope is the radius of your network, so the distance from which you will be able to connect to your network.
Besides the flow and nature of packaging routers are full of references complicating choosing the right router. Here is an overview:
The term dual band allows transmitting on two different frequencies and having two independent networks. So you can configure the first network using the "N" standard and a second in the "G" standard. You can then use the "N" standard with the latest equipment and the "G" with the older standard.
There are also other references on the boxes like QoS and WMM.
If you use voice over IP (VoIP), such as Skype, QoS (Quality of
Service) and WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) function will provide better
performance and stability. These functions allow, for example, to allocate a maximum bandwidth to Skype and a little less judgmental non-priority traffic. They can also prioritize flow for an online game or a movie in high definition. You may also see the term "Firmware upgradable." This means that your router will updates the firmware.
