In case your family is like many currently, a normal evening in your house might look something like this: you catching high on the most up-to-date made-for-Netflix series within the living area, one of the kids gaming upstairs, as well as your spouse uploading vacation photos on Facebook in your kitchen.

A router will be the magic box that allows you to distribute your internet connection to a number of devices throughout your own home, including desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart-TV sets, and streaming media devices like Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and Roku.

Even though wired Ethernet connections are generally faster and more secure, you’re more satisfied by using a wireless connection if you wish to move about your house, using laptops along with other cellular devices. Wireless also eliminates the clutter that cables bring.

Here's what you must know to travel shopping for a wireless router.

If your internet service agency is the cable company, your router will plug in to a cable modem, which gives your link to the internet. For other services-like Verizon FiOS-the router may be coupled with a broadband modem in just one box that the provider supplies if you sign-up.

Besides an evident reason-say, your router is broken-you might also think about new model because:

1. You don’t want to buy or rent a router through your provider.

2. You already have a broadband modem directly linked to one particular computer but want to be able to go online with multiple devices.

3. Your router merely has wired connectivity, but you would like to use the web with wireless devices, such as a laptop or tablet.

4. Your overall router is too slow or its wireless range is simply too short to arrive at important places in your home.


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Speed

A very high-speed Connection to the internet is essential these days. So is a router that can satisfy the demands of any multi-device household. Here’s what to consider when you shop for a completely new one.

When thinking about router specs, you’ll see a number/letter designation like "802.11ac." The letters at the end identify the Wi-Fi standard.

The most recent standard is ac. It works with earlier standards, so a phone or any other device that operates on an earlier version of Wi-Fi will still work.

Many newer TV sets are ac compatible, so they’re ready for 4K TV streaming. Even when you don’t intend to stream 4K content today, it might sound right to future-proof your pc by picking out the ac router now.

Next-Gen (or ac Wave 2) routers include a technology called MU-MIMO (which stands for Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output). Since the name implies, this feature was designed to improve Wi-Fi performance in households with multiple users.

A dual band router broadcasts about the original 2.4Ghz spectrum, along with the newer 5GHz band. This will likely effectively let you do have a fast lane and slow lane, both able to handle traffic simultaneously. A tri-band router adds an additional fast lane.

A router with a dual-core or quad-core processor can "think" faster, processing an incredible number of instructions per second. This helps the router swiftly manage targeted traffic to multiple devices.

Many routers also enable you to take steps called traffic shaping, using QoS (Quality of Service) settings that permit you to make choices regarding how you want available bandwidth to be parceled out - for instance, make movie streaming important on movie night.


MU-MIMO

This can be only accessible on 802.11ac (which happens to be 5GHz only). It allows fast, simultaneous Wi-Fi connections to multiple devices, but only in the event the client device supports MU-MIMO. By way of example, in case your MU-MIMO router is 4x4, it could handle four 1x1 MU-MIMO devices (or two 2x2 MU-MIMO devices, etc.) concurrently, as opposed to one after another. Older routers send/receive data to/from a client device in a direction at any given time, The info packets are arranged one after another and sent one-by-one, often leaving much of your bandwidth unused. MU-MIMO routers can communicate to multiple devices as well. This number is dependent upon the amount of streams the router has, approximately four.

There are a few restrictions though. MU-MIMO can't send multiple streams inside the same physical direction. You need to space your devices to totally utilize MU-MIMO (e.g., if the router has four streams, the router could send one signal in all of the four cardinal directions), and that technology only works well with routers sending data, not receiving data from client devices. This is one good reason that a router works best when you install it in the convenient location of your home.


LAN Ports

LAN ports are employed to connect a computer on the router utilizing an Ethernet cable. Many internet-connected smart-home devices, including Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings, demand a LAN port-connected hub to operate. If you require more LAN ports compared to built in ones, you are able to expand the number available by having an Ethernet switch.

USB Ports

USB ports over a router can be used for connecting into a memory stick, an external hard drive, or possibly a USB printer when the router carries a built in print server.


Security

It’s only natural to become worried about privacy once you start beaming personal information through the air. Advanced routers offer several layers of protection that will ease your mind.

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) will be the current protocol for securing wireless networks. Search for ultra-secure WPA2 capability in a new router. Most routers provide customizable firewall protection, which permits you to set rules for the purpose details are allowed to your network, that helps keep out spyware, malware and viruses. A denial-of-service (DoS) attack can slow as well as terminate your network connection. Many newer routers offer additional defense against this kind of malicious hack.

When you have frequent parties or houseguests, choose a router that lets you setup separate guest access, which means you don’t have to share your own personal password with anyone. For those of us who focus on business trips or from your office at home, it’s also smart to look for a router using a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection that will help keep confidential work communications safe.


Parental Controls

When you have kids, you may want to strongly consider investing in a parental control Wi-Fi router. Let’s admit it: The Internet might be a bit ugly sometimes, and even if your kids aren’t what type to actively find damaging websites, today it’s pretty easy for the kids to stumble upon something they probably shouldn’t see.

There are actually non-router-based parental controls available, but many of them probably aren’t as secure as they ought to be, and simply might not exactly get the job done together with a router can. Using a smart router, by way of example, parents can set the sorts of content believe that their kids should and shouldn’t have the capacity to see, even separating content based on the person who’s accessing the web.

Visiting questionable sites isn’t the sole issue in terms of kids online. Kids nowadays are also spending a lot more time on their devices. With a dedicated parental control router, parents can set timers for specific devices and users, allowing them to access the world wide web at specific times, and block them at in other cases.