More often than not, an ISP provides free wireless router to customers with home or office broadband services. It’s true that a routing device for free generally lacks advance security controls, high speed and large network bandwidth.
Virtually all routers available in market today offer the best options to enhance your Internet speed and quality. A free hand on router choice to a consumer means flexible network upgrades, effective device replacements and most of the discounts. So be sure to check router configuration at your own even having limited budget as this would help translate in biggest bang for your buck. It is good to go with low-price routers having cutting–edge technology.
Given below are 13 tips that will definitely help you to purchase a good router for your office premises. Apart from just providing internet access to network resources, it will deliver high performance both in terms of Wi-Fi coverage and device functionality.
13. Know Your Needs
Ask yourself some questions about the type of network you want to build. If you want advance features such as ability to connect with USB printer, external storage and parental control, you need to have a look at premium router range. In case of startups with 2-5 members, spending less than $100 would be a fair deal.
12. Read Professional Reviews
Don’t spend too much time on reading customer reviews at online retail stores. Instead look for reviews or product tests done by network professionals for a computer magazine on their website. Magazines are better source for head-to-head comparisons. They will ultimately help you decide which router to buy.
11. Make a Checklist
It is important to insert some information in your checklist before starting your search for incredible (perfect router). You must define your network use such as whether you want to connect your router with TV, laptop, Smartphone and tablet or not.
10. Consider Features That You Need
Unless you really love easy set up interface guided by touchscreen, there is no need to buy costly routers. No doubt that these devices are decent performers, but what if all their functionality is of no real importance for the users like you.
9. Single Band or Dual Band
Single band routers would suit best the needs of small companies while dual band routers fulfill the expectations of companies that need to work on expansion plans. Dual band routers are an excellent choice for performing high bandwidth demanding tasks such as HD video streaming, accessing large files from the attached storage network.
8. 2.4 and 5 GHz Frequency
Wireless communication devices only operate under these two frequencies. Routers using 5 GHz (U-NII band) band offer low inference to network resources as compared to widely adopted band of 2.4 GHz (ISM band).
7. Understanding The 802.11 Standard
802.11 B and G devices make use of the 2.4 GHz band. 802.11 N featured devices have the capability both to operate under 2.4 or 5 GHz frequency band. The 802.11ac only uses 5 GHz band which is less susceptible to interference related challenges.
6. 5 GHz is not all that Good
The limitation of 5 GHz band is that it doesn’t sustain the signal strength as distance increases. While a 2.4 GHz band is capable of sustaining network for larger distances, downside of 2.4 GHz band is that this frequency is largely crowded with range of devices using the same band such as mobiles, a cordless device and modems.
5. Measuring the Router Speed
Network speeds imprinted on the standard packaging of router are just theoretical values given in Mbps (mega bits per second). In a real-world testing environment, the router’s speed plummets directly by half and if you’re achieving almost half of the theoretical value, it’s excellent.
4. A Faster Router Doesn’t Always Boost the Internet Speed
Your Internet speed is controlled by the ISP provider. If your plan for network bandwidth is nearly 300 Mbps, installing a 1900 Mbps router don’t have anything to do in order to increase your Internet speed. This would be only helpful during the file transfers within your office network. So, carefully consider this aspect as your high configuration router may lie useless.
3. Type of Security
WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access II) is the highest level of security in router environment. Router with parental control programs such as the Nighthawk can prove beneficial for parents worried of their Children’s, addicted to the Internet.
2. Future-Proof Device
The 802.11 ac routers offer gains on network speed and coverage as compared to B, G and N series routers. Also some routers came with built-in support for power line adapters which can turn your electrical wiring into network cables for housing a lag-free LAN.
1. Miscellaneous
If you can extend your purchasing plans to future, just try to buy a router featuring IPV6 support.
