(Last Updated On: December 21, 2017)
If you are considering creating your own network at home or at the office or you’re just looking to upgrade the current system. Be sure to buy a good wireless router since it is the base of your network. If you buy a wireless router that is high-end and powerful and you’re only looking to connect four or five devices at max you’re just going to waste your money and if you undershoot with your purchase your network performance will take a toll. In this publication we are going to discuss some points that you can keep in mind when purchasing a wireless router and we hope you are not going to need anything out of this publication to make the right purchase. So let’s get started.
ISP Wireless Router
If you are creating your own network for the first time you should go through this point carefully. Whenever you signup for a Internet Connection with a Internet Service Provider they will provide a wireless router with your internet connection on a monthly rent basis. The ISP router you are going to get is going to be between the price range of $70 to $150 at max and if the ISP will charge you around $5 to $7 rent per month. Now you do the math, the ISP wireless router is not a very cost effective option for you. Buying a wireless router on your own will not only prove to be cost effective but it will give you an option to choose a wireless router according to your requirement.
Wireless Standard
The wireless standard your devices and your wireless router have is the basis of how much speeds your network can produce. If you have Internet Connection that produces over 100mbps speed and you’re not getting that kind of speed on your devices then there is an issue with the wireless standard. The latest of the wireless standards is the 802.11ac wireless standard. Be sure to have 802.11ac compatible devices and a wireless router that has 802.11ac functionality. If either of the two doesn’t have 802.11ac support you will not be able to experience speeds of over 100mbps, it’s that simple.
Life Span
The life span of a wireless router is to be taken into consideration, if you are already using a wireless router you have to keep in mind that it is being used 24/7 and the technology itself is getting older there are constantly new improvements like the one we discussed about wireless standards. If you stick to a wireless router for years and keep upgrading other Wi-Fi compatible devices you will not be able to get the most out of those devices unless you upgrade your wireless router as well. In other case your wireless router may be up to date as you might have bought a wireless router that was high-end at that time but you have to make sure that it is performing as it should be and the performance levels are up to the maximum potential, if not then you have to upgrade your wireless router to make sure you enjoy problem free Internet Connectivity.
Price
Price is very important factor you have to consider when buying a wireless router. The first scenario is your budget, we would recommend you first analyze your connectivity needs. How many devices you will be using? What kind of usage will you have? Are you a Online Gaming Enthusiast? How big is your house? These are the basic questions you should ask yourself.
After that you will find wireless routers that will be for as low as $20 and the high-end wireless routers will be available for around $500 figure. If you are an average Internet user that only browses websites and watch few videos a day you will be better off with a mid price range wireless router as it will have all the latest technology upgrades and will not be supporting a very high end use like online gaming, just look at the covered range of the wireless router according to your requirement and you will be good with that wireless router for at least couple of years to come. If you are an online gaming enthusiast and you host LAN parties, high-end wireless routers with dual core processor on board and a RAM as well will provide you with enough power and low ping time that you will have no issue playing games online at all. Of course you will have to increase your budget to around $400 to $500 as well.
Frequency Bands
Next thing you should look for when buying a wireless router is the frequency band. There are two types of wireless routers available in the market.
- Single Band
- Dual Band
A single band wireless router will operate on a single frequency i.e. 2.4GHz and that frequency band is being used widely by many wireless devices at home and if you live in a crowded neighborhood with lots of wireless routers you will experience a negative effect on your Internet Connectivity performance because of the interference caused by signals from other devices on same frequency band.
A dual band frequency router has the capability to operate on two frequencies i.e. 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This type of router will switch over to 5GHz frequency band if it senses that 2.4GHz is crowded and will provide you with high performance internet connectivity.
Range
The range of wireless router is a very important factor that you should consider if you live in a mid-sized or a large home. A mid-range wireless router generally covers around 500sq.ft to 1000sq.ft of area considering the obstructions and placement of the wireless router. If you live in a larger home than you will probably have to buy a high-end wireless router which can easily cover around 5000sq.ft of covered area.
There are other options as well if you are in need of a wireless router with a high range. The first one is a little expensive, the mesh router network. The mesh router network is combination of two or three wireless routers working in collaboration to provide same performance level throughout your house and will provide other technological upgrades that are not available in the traditional single router system. The second option is using a wireless extender which is a budget friendly option; this option will extend the range of your wireless router at the cost of performance. The performance level will decrease and the main issue you will have to consider is the latency.
Old Wireless Router
If you are upgrading your wireless router you should not throw out your old wireless router if it is in a good working condition. That old wireless router can be used to extend the range of your new wireless router by creating a new access point. Place it at a distance of your new wireless router and the old one will work further than the intended new wireless router’s range.
Build Quality
This factor should also be in your mind apart from the technical ones. You should analyze the build quality of the wireless router as well as the routers which are not built compactly will not last a long time and will prove to be a waste of money.
We hope you find this publication useful and be sure to check out our list of wireless routers that you will find useful in your selection.