In these modern days, life without the internet is quite unimaginable, and when it comes to having a stable connection, we all know that the most important thing is. A top-quality, well-designed and responsive wireless router.
The one thing that will impact most of your internet-browsing experience is the router, which means that you need to put in quite some time and effort when it comes to choosing the right one.
Not everyone is tech-savvy, or an enthusiast, meaning that the things we’re going to tell you in this article cannot be known by a “regular person” without doing some research. If you just head-out in your nearest shop and pick up the first wireless router that you see, your next couple of years can be quite painful, especially if you are someone who uses the computer all the time, either for work or entertainment.
We want to assure you that you have a stable connection without any interruptions, so let’s end this introduction right here and jump straight to the informative content. Here’s what you need to know.
Contents
1. The lifespan of the Router
Source: NBC News
Just like every other product that you’ve come across in your life, routers have a certain lifespan as well. This doesn’t mean that they’ll instantly “die” when the date ticks the same day written on the user manual, but you should know approximately how much certain models last before they need a replacement.
Some are known to last for two or three years, others have a reputation of breaking after the first six months. This is important, so unless you want to make a replacement soon, make sure that you start by researching some more about it.
Also, some devices won’t break completely, but instead, their performance will be degraded due to the frequent usage, but as we said earlier, you shouldn’t settle for something like this if you are a power-user, because you’ll feel the performance drop.
2. Is it a single or dual-band?
Source: YouTube
Wireless routers can be divided into two different categories. Single and dual-band. We’re not going to go very in-depth about this because it gets pretty “techy”, but you should know that this decision can be made based on the area in which you live.
For example, if you live in a busy building, where almost every apartment has an internet connection, you might often find that with a single-band router you will get a lot of interference, and the speed of your wireless network will drop quite a lot during the peak hours.
If you live solo, however, in a house for example, and there aren’t a lot of neighbors around, you can use a single-band router that’s going to be enough for a situation like that.
The final answer to this question is to pick up a dual-band router if you have the money for it because you will be able to have a smoother connection with it. If you are currently trying to find the best router for spectrum, make sure to click here.
3. The price
Source: SKYCOM
Before you purchase anything, you most likely re-calculate your budget and then sort out your options based on how much money you have. It doesn’t matter if you find the best router on the market if you don’t have enough funds to purchase it.
So, after researching some of the models that you’re interested in, you need to start comparing prices. Try to do this with multiple stores, so you can get some insight on which ones have the most affordable prices.
If there are any upcoming events, such as store-birthdays or black Friday, wait until the discounts kick in, and then go and purchase your desired router. Of course, you shouldn’t be doing this if you are in a hurry and your previous one is not working anymore, but you need a stable internet connection fast.
4. What’s the range of it
Source: PCMag
If you live in a larger house, and you tend to spend most of your time in a room that’s quite far from your current router, it means that you’re most likely experiencing unstable connection or reduced speed.
This won’t be felt all that much if you are just casually browsing the web, but if you are watching films or TV series on Netflix, engaging in video conference calls, or you’re just playing some video games, you will feel the negative effects. To avoid all of this from happening, you should try to purchase a router with a larger range.
The easiest way to know if you are making the right upgrade or not is to check the statistics of your current device that you’re using, and then compare the range with the one you’re planning to purchase. If you notice that the upgrade is at least twice as much, or even more, it means that you will feel the improvement quite a lot, and it’s worth switching over to that one.
If you’re getting just a 25-30% upgrade, it may not be worth to give your money for such a low upgrade percentage, because you mostly won’t be feeling the difference in “the real world”.
5. The overall quality
Source: www.pickmyrouter.com
Long gone are the times when people had to purchase products like they are a “cat in a bag”. Today, we have tons of information about anything that we want to grab from the store, so make sure that you spend some time reading and researching on the model you want to buy.
Try to find user reviews from people who already bought this before you, and learn from their experiences. Some might say that they’re satisfied, while others can express their negative thoughts from what they experienced while using the product. We’re not saying that this should be your main way of deciding if you should purchase something or not, but it sure does help you learn what you’re about to get involved with.
You can also ask for advice from a friend or a family member who recently purchased a wireless router for their home. Finding someone who you’re close with can be the best way to get the first-hand experience for the product. Maybe you can get a few great recommendations from them, so don’t disregard this option.
