The router is an essential device to be able to have an Internet connection in our homes. It is the device we use to connect many other computers to the network. However, not all of them work the same and not all of them are going to offer good speed, quality and coverage. In this article we are going to explain some key details to know if your router is good or, on the contrary, you should think about buying a new one.
Factors to know if a router is good
It is always important to check that our devices work well. But it is even more important when it comes to equipment used to surf the Internet. One of them is the router and we must take into account some factors to determine if it is really good or we should change it and buy a more advanced one.
See top speed
One of those factors is the maximum speed it allows. If you have an older router, you may not be able to achieve the speed you can get today with fiber optics. For example, it may not have Gigabit Ethernet ports and you are limited to a maximum of 100 Mbps and that means you do not take advantage of the connection.
This is important to be able to connect devices and not be limited. If the available bandwidth is not very high, you will not be able to browse normally, download or watch streaming videos in high quality from many devices at the same time without annoying interruptions.
Check the encryption type
Another important point is the type of encryption used for Wi-Fi networks. This is what provides security to prevent an intruder from exploiting an access key and entering the network. Obsolete encryption, such as WEP or WPA, should be avoided. Therefore, if your router uses this type of old encryption, it is not a good device today.
Ideally, it should have WPA-3. It is the latest protocol and the one that best protects wireless networks. However, if you have at least WPA-2 it is also safe, as long as you have it updated.
Ethernet ports
Ethernet ports allow you to connect wired devices instead of using the wireless network. The first thing is to take into account the number of ports available. However, this is not a determining factor either, although it may be important for some users who will need to connect more devices.
You do have to look especially at what speed those Ethernet ports support. Are they Gigabit Ethernet or Fast Ethernet? In the first case, the maximum speed that they will be able to support is 1 Gbps, while in the second it will be limited to 100 Mbps and you will not be able to take advantage of the fiber optic rate contracted correctly.
Test coverage
Of course, the coverage is another determining factor to know if a router is good or not. Does the wireless connection reach other places in the house well? You can try to connect from different points of the house and see if the speed that arrives is good and if the signal drops drastically as soon as you move away or more or less stays the same.
If you see that the coverage is poor, you may need to buy another more powerful router and thus be able to connect from other devices at a greater distance from the device. This is important nowadays, as we have more and more devices that we connect wirelessly.
In short, these steps that we have explained can help you know if your router is good. In case you see that something is not right, you can always choose to buy a new router. Also, if you buy it and want to take advantage of it, you can see uses of the router's USB ports.
