Tips for Choosing the Right Router for Your Home Internet

Your internet router should be capable of providing relentless performance in terms of speed and coverage. Therefore, choosing the right one for your home internet is crucial. But there’s so much about a router that not everyone knows.

Frequency bands, latency management, MU-MIMO; you need to consider several factors before making a purchase. To make your money worthwhile and enjoy sound performance, we’ve compiled this extensive Wi-Fi router buying guide that you can keep handy. Let’s check it out now:

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Router

Keep in mind the following factors for evaluating routers and making the right choice:

• Speeds
• Coverage
• Wi-Fi Standard
• Wi-Fi Bands
• Security Features
• Additional Performance Features
• Compatibility with Internet Providers

Internet Speed

The first thing you need to look out for when buying an internet router for your home is the speed it’s offering. Yes, your internet plan is the one responsible for the speed initially but it’s the router (gateway) that makes the magic happen.

Think of your router as a middleman between your internet connection and your devices. If it’s efficient, it will easily manage the immense speed and bandwidth of your connection.

We suggest, if you’re investing in a router instead of renting it from your provider, ensure that it has a great transmission speed. For instance, a standard router may be able to give up to 3.5 Gbps (5 GHz) whereas a gaming router can achieve a max throughput of up to 11 Gbps!

But this doesn’t mean you should only get a gaming router, as they’re quite expensive. That’s why it’s better to stick with the internet router that your provider is offering since it’s compatible with your internet speed plan.

Coverage

The next most important element in selecting the ideal router for your home internet is its coverage. Well, that much speed is no good if you can’t connect to the network at all! Hence, you need to choose a router that has great coverage.

Again, every router has different coverage range; some excel while some are average. The selection depends upon the size of the place where you want to add the router. For that, we need to understand Wi-Fi standards and Wi-Fi bands first:

Wi-Fi Standard

Also known as Wi-Fi stream, Wi-Fi standards are a set of protocols that are designed to direct the functioning of network devices. With each upgrade, the standard allows the network device to operate with better productivity.

In other words, the latest the standard, the more optimal the network device’s performance. Here’s a table listing the Wi-Fi standards available:

When you’re choosing a network router, ensure that you’re choosing the one with the latest standard or at least close to it. It shouldn’t be less than Wi-Fi 5 since most providers now offer Wi-Fi 6 routers so might as well buy one if not renting.

Wi-Fi Bands

Now this may seem a bit too much for you but it’s important. You should know the difference between a single-band, dual-band, and a tri-band router.

How Do Wi-Fi Standards And Bands Affect Wi-Fi Coverage?

Wi-Fi bands and standards are important when it comes to router coverage. Let’s see how can these benefit a router:

• With the latest Wi-Fi standard, the router gets more (spatial) streams, enabling it to send more data through the connection (increased bandwidth).
• With multiple bands, a Wi-Fi router is likely to choose the most optimal band to improve stability and transfer speed.

All routers operate on identifying the most optimal frequency band automatically by default. However, this can be changed to any frequency band from the settings.

The reason why you get more signal interference on 2.4 GHz is that most appliances operate at that frequency, hence why it’s not recommended to place your router close to appliances.

Additionally, 5 GHz and 6 GHz frequency bands have a greater bandwidth since there’s less interference on this frequency. So, if you’re looking to buy a router, you need to buy the one that has:

• The latest Wi-Fi standard for increased bandwidth capacity and transfer speed.
• Multiple bands for less signal interference, automatic frequency switching for enhanced communication, and range enhancement.

Standard modern routers are dual-band and come with at least Wi-Fi 5 standard. Gaming routers are often tri-band and come with Wi-Fi 6 standards to enhance performance for wireless gaming.

What Should You Choose for Your Home?

Based on the above information:

• If you’re a single user, a standard router will suffice your connectivity needs.
• If you have multiple users in a home, then you need to place your router in the middle of the home/place to accommodate all users with coverage. Choosing a gaming router can resolve this issue effectively.
  • In case you’re sticking with a standard router, you’d need a Wi-Fi extender to amplify the signal range from the primary router.
• If you have a bigger space, you can still opt for gaming routers since they have extended range and prove viable in terms of performance.
  • Internet providers such as Xfinity, etc. provide mesh Wi-Fi systems with their internet service that allows creating a mesh network. This ensures solid connectivity around the place.

Security Features

Security of your Wi-Fi router should be at the top of your priority list when considering one. Cyber threats are on the rise and your router needs to be equipped with the latest protocols and measures to keep your connection safe. Here are some features that make routers secure:

• WPA3 Certification: Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 or WPA3 is the latest standard from Wi-Fi Alliance, having encryption and security protocols as well as measures to improve data security passing through the connection.
• Built-In Firewall: The firewall monitors the incoming/ outgoing traffic in the router and ensures that any harmful content/ website/ access request is denied access to the devices or the network.
• NAT: Network Address Translation or NAT is an extended security feature that masks the local IP address when users are engaging on a wide area network. The router replaces the private IP with its public IP and then changes it back when data is received.
• VPN: Some routers come with a pre-configured VPN, which secures the traffic access passing through the router.
• Automatic Updates: Routers need to install security updates continuously to mitigate any foreign access through a security loophole. Modern routers receive these updates from developers until the model becomes outdated.
• Parental Controls: Modern Wi-Fi routers come with parental controls that limit access to malicious content online.
• Additional Protection: DDoS, malware, spyware, etc; modern routers carry security protocols that enhance network protection.

Considering these, make sure that you’re buying or renting an internet router that comes with as many security features as possible. It’ll help improve the overall security of your network and keep you protected from cyberattacks.

Additional Performance Features

Apart from the primary features that have been mentioned earlier, here is an extended list of additional features that you should consider in an internet router:

MU-MIMO

Multi User Multiple Input Multiple Output or MU-MIMO is a technology featured in the latest routers. It allows the router to transmit data to multiple devices at the same time. It’s an upgrade to the existing Single User Multiple Input Multiple Output (SU-MIMO).

Quality of Service

Quality of Service or QoS is a function that allows network administrators to prioritize network resources for high-performance applications. This feature comes in handy when multiple processes are working on the network but some require additional network capacity.

Beamforming

This feature is great if you’re using wireless connectivity for your gaming needs. Beamforming allows the router to direct the signals towards the Wi-Fi device. Once done, it improves connection strength, reduces interference, and enhances coverage. Ultimately, it helps improve the overall internet experience.

Link Aggregation

Although this comes towards the technical side, simply put, link aggregation is used to join two different networks via cables to combine their speed and bandwidth. It’s particularly useful for file transfers and is most widely used in WANs.

Anti-Malware Tools

As mentioned earlier, built-in anti-malware tools allow routers to secure your network. These tools mitigate any unauthorized access, even when the user is away (hackers can configure the malware to remain dormant and activate once the user reconnects).

DD-WRT Support

This feature is quite handy but not all routers, including top-rated gaming routers, lack it. DD-WRT (Dresden Wireless Receive/ Transfer) allows you to allocate more bandwidth to the devices you want.

It’s beneficial since one device can easily take up the entire bandwidth. Such a feature is great for gaming or streaming needs. However, hackers can also exploit this by enabling this function and then choking the device with immense traffic, rendering it incapable of executing anything.

Ports

Even though the router offers wireless connectivity, there are times when you need to connect a cable to your device to avoid wireless interference. To do this, modern routers come equipped with gigabit ports that provide at least 1 Gbps connection speed.

Compatibility with Internet Providers

In most cases, internet providers offer routers and modems that are compatible with their services. Even if you’re buying your router, there’s a great chance that it will be compatible with your internet provider.

This is due to the reason that internet providers must offer the latest features in their routers to avoid any security breaches or service problems.

For instance, Spectrum is now offering Wi-Fi 7 routers with its internet plans. Wi-Fi 7 is one of the latest internet standards that has shown promising results in terms of bandwidth, speed, and connectivity.

Moreover, most providers also facilitate the users by offering a list of modems and routers that are compatible with their services. Take Xfinity for example, it allows the users to check a list of Xfinity-compatible devices to ensure that the ones they’re buying will work perfectly with Xfinity internet.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing an Internet Router

To avoid making a mistake when buying your router, we’re sharing a list of common mistakes that you can avoid:

• Don’t just consider speeds; invest in a quality router with the latest features.
• Don’t overdo your budget; most standard routers come equipped with great features.
• Try not to buy your router if you’re getting one from your internet provider at a cheaper rate. Most providers offer modern routers to ensure service quality.
• Don’t overlook security features; your network’s security is important to safeguard your devices and online experience.
• Don’t rely on Wi-Fi extenders; buy an internet router that suffices your coverage needs instead of saving money and then buying an extender.

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