Today, everybody is using internet for business, fun, learning, you name it. It doesn’t matter where are you, when you want to share something with other person, you can do it in short time, through internet. That’s why, every home today has to have an internet connection. A router is a device that forwards data between two networks, actually providing internet connection. But, a wireless router is designed to be wireless access point and network switch. This connection is provided through audio waves. Due to the popularity of the wireless routers, there are many kinds on the market. The question is, how to choose the best wireless router for your needs? At first, you must decide for what you use internet, how much do you use it, do you send and receive data often? When you know the answers to those questions, you will choose the perfect router for your home.
But, before purchasing the router, you need to know some basic terms and information about routers. Some of them are:
Range:
Because the router is wireless, information between the device and the router are shared through audio waves. Every router has a range, and that range can be reduce when you have obstacles between this two devices, for example, walls. Of course, the range is connected to the signal strength. Closer you are to the router, the signal strength is stronger. If you are far from the router, your speed will also fall, as well as the signal strength. It is important to choose a router with range that covers your house, so that you can have internet connection everywhere. You can test the range of you router by sending files on different distances of the router.
Speed Ratings:
Every wireless router measure its speed in megabits per second and that is Mbps. These days we have new wireless connection, Wireless n that has maximum data rate 248 Mbps. Former internet connections had 11 Mbps and 54 Mbps. This wireless connection provides you enough speed for sharing music, videos or other big files in short time, which is today extremely important. So, if you are sharing files or something else, you must consider internet speed if you want to send them in short time. Signal strength is also important and you can test both speed and signal in stress test by making the router send and receive the data for one day, and if the connection is good, than both speed and strength are good.
Dual/single Band:
Like we said, a wireless router works on the audio waves, so it uses frequencies. Single band router uses 2.4 GHz frequency and that is for exploring internet with average speed and few devices on the network. Dual band routers use 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and they are better for sharing large files over the internet. They are providing better performance and higher speed, so naturally, they are more expensive. If you use internet for sharing files and you have many devices connected, than dual band is better solution for you.
It kind of spoils your impression as an “expert” when the very first sentence states “Because the router is wireless, information between the device and the router are shared through audio waves.” AUDIO waves…really?