Best Bets for Wireless Routers
This post was originally published March 4, 2016 in the Southwest Journal, a Southwest Minneapolis community newspaper.#####
How’s your wireless router doing? Don’t you just love it? Do you even know where it is?
Most of us use the entry-level wireless router that comes with our broadband service. For many using Comcast, that is the big black Gateway device that serves as both your cable modem and wireless router. However, some of you even use your own router on top of Comcast’s, which is not a bad idea. With your own router you can gain more control over your wireless settings, although the newer Gateway devices from Comcast are an improvement of their earlier devices.Understanding your various options to find the best router to meet your needs, well that’s a bit more complicated. First off, you have 802.11 standards, which are the universal standards for the transmission of wireless data. 802.11 started with “a” then “b” then “g” then “n” and now “ac.” The difference between them is the maximum throughput, so with streaming movies and the large photo and video files, newer standards will serve your purposes better. These days you should have a router that is either 802.11n or 802.11ac. Now you also have to make sure your hardware that is running wirelessly has the newer standards. The “ac” standard is much newer than “n,” so not as much of your hardware may have it, however routers tend to be backwards compatible, so you would still be able to use “n” on an “ac” router.Next you have frequencies to look at. Most of us have a single band of 2.4GHz in our entry-level, older routers but newer routers come in dual band (there are even tri band, but we are going to skip those for now), which have by 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands included. The 2.4GHz is not as fast but has far reaching coverage, whereas the 5GHz is faster but does not have the range of 2.4GHz. However, by using both bands simultaneously, you spread out your Internet traffic and can reduce interference or your devices battling for bandwidth. An example would be to use the 2.4GHz band for your normal web traffic and then the 5GHz for your media streamer to watch movies and play videos.Plugging your device directly into your router is the fastest connection you can get. Next, having your wireless router in the same room as your device is going to help you keep a clean connection. Beyond that, there are tools for testing router speed and looking for channel interference, but let’s look at simple fixes first.
The location of your router is important as far as the coverage you can get, so if possible, keep your router in the middle of your home. I have noticed that wireless seems to travel better upstairs than downstairs.
In order to get your wireless signal to those distant corners of your home, you can try wireless range extenders which help to relay your signal or powerline adapters which use your home’s existing electrical wiring to plug in an ethernet cable over distance without any additional internal wiring.Of course there are quite a few tweaks that can be done to your router’s internal settings, but you can also cause some hiccups there too, so read up before your start working on the internal router settings.Last, but definitely not least for today, is the reminder to setup a password for your router — do not leave it as an open access point for anyone who wants to jump on it. That is just safe behavior.Paul Burnstein is a tech handyman. As the founder of Gadget Guy MN, Paul helps personal and business clients optimize their use of technology. He can be found through www.gadgetguymn.com or email him at paul@gadgetguymn.com.
Image by webhamseter via Flickr, licensed under CC BY
