All tagged Wireless Routers
We’ve all got one somewhere in our homes, and we’ve been buying them up by the barrel-full for years – but do any of us know how wireless routers actually work? As far as most people are concerned, how a router is able to get a physical internet connection converted into bits and bytes that fly through the air might as well be magic, right?
With so many new routers hitting the scene last year packed to the brim with features like 802.11ad transmission and mesh range extenders, figuring out how to setup a wireless router isn’t always as straightforward as you might think. Buying the router is only half the battle, and knowing how to set up your new device is imperative to getting your home WiFi network up, running, and secured in 20 minutes or less!
The Netgear Nighthawk X10 is a hypercar among hatchbacks and four-door sedans, a $1.8 million Ferrari that plans to share the roads with $20,000 KIAs. With the latest in 802.11ad WiFi antennas that can handle an insane 4.6Gb per secdon throughput, this is not a router for the faint-hearted, or even the average consumer at that.
As Linksys continues to reinvent the ways we all get online while still sticking true to what fans of their routers love, the company has since slowed down its “revolutionary” designs for more “evolutionary” choices instead. The WRT3200ACM is another in what’s looking to become a whole series of routers that rely on nostalgia to hook old users, and performance to bring in new ones. But will those two factors alone be enough to recapture some of the magic that’s been lost in the router market over the past few years?
AC-equipped wireless routers have been flooding into the market by the handful over the past few years, taking over the dominant spot that was once occupied by lesser technologies like b/g/n. But what exactly is an AC router, and more importantly, which is the best AC router for you?
If you’re on the hunt to find the best home router in 2016, it can be a hard, oftentimes confusing process filled with every kind of buzzword that networking hardware manufacturers like to use to separate their product from the pack.
What makes a good home router better than the rest can be a lot of things, but overall it comes down to three main factors: range, features, and price.
Over the past year, the term “mesh networking” has been on the lips of tech bloggers and wireless router manufacturers alike, touting the technology as the next big revolution in home Wi-Fi solutions. This August, the new AmpliFi HD mesh router system from Ubiquiti Labs joins the ranks with other contenders like the Luma and Eero, designed with working professionals in mind who are tired of hiding their big, bulky routers in the shadows. With a modernized design and serious horsepower underneath the hood, will this router be the first to lead the charge into a whole new era of wireless networking appliances for mid-to-large sized homes?
As more devices are being released that can finally take advantage of MU-MIMO beamforming technology, routers like the latest TP-LINK Archer C5400 are here to show that speed, performance, and design can form a beautiful marriage when combined in just the right way. But can a router that’s barely bigger than an iPad really outpace its larger, louder competition when it comes to raw, unrestricted wireless speed?
Linksys has been on a roll lately with high-performance routers, and the release of the EA9500 Max-Stream MU-MIMO AC5400 marks the latest addition to its lineup of dependable, feature-rich routers that come with a cost to match. But will the high price tag and limited functionality of MU-MIMO be too much for the average consumer to justify on their next router purchase? Will it make our list of the top wireless routers for the home or office?
The D-Link AC1900 EXO router is a cheap, quick networking solution for gamers who need a lot of power, but don’t have a ton of money to throw around. So, will its quirky color scheme or range reliability be enough to keep the multiplayer masters at bay?
Keep reading my D-Link AC1900 EXO router review to find out!
As anyone who’s played a round of an intense multiplayer game on their PC or console can attest: speed is everything, and to be the best gamer online you need the best router for gaming in 2017.
But what makes a router good for gaming? Is it the number in the brand name, the coat of paint, or just how many antennas it has sticking off the side? There are a lot of different factors to consider that can separate a regular old router from a powerful gaming workhorse, and we’re going to break them all down here and now in our guide to the best gaming routers in 2017.
This week, the San Jose-based networking equipment manufacturer Ubiquiti Networks announced the arrival of its newest division, Ubiquiti Labs, along with their latest product in mesh networking, the AmpliFi Wi-Fi system.
As companies like Eero, Luma, and Arris all begin dipping their toes into the water of mesh networking, the AmpliFi joins the ranks with a unique design unlike anything else on the market today. For too long, consumers have only had two choices when it came to home networking equipment: buy a smaller router that looked good but didn’t have much range to speak of, or buy a big, bulky eyesore of a router with huge antennas sticking off the sides to get the signal where it needed to go. So the question remains: can the AmpliFi range of routers be the one of the best wireless routers for 2016?
When we went on the hunt for the best router in 2017, we measured dozens of different features, stats, and metrics against one another to come up with a list of the top five you’ll find on shelves today.
For starters, all the routers we chose must have a minimum bandwidth rating of 1900AC and pump out at least 200Mbps on the 5GHz spectrum. We made sure the router had a bevy of extra parental controls and firewall settings as well, so you can be sure your family is always protected when they’re on the web. Last but not least, contenders like our #1 pick the Linksys 3200ACM wireless router come with future-proof tech such as MU-MIMO, which ensures that you’re always getting the fastest possible connection no matter where you’re browsing from in the house.
The Netgear Nighthawk X4S impresses on many levels, but will its minor missteps be enough to take it down completely?
Keep reading my Netgear Nighthawk X4S Review to find out why looks aren’t always the only thing that matter.
The Netgear Nighthawk X8 is everything you could ever want in a router and so much more, but will Netgear’s sluggish Genie software platform keep it from attaining its well-deserved status among the greats?
Everything about what you see on the surface of the TP-Link Archer C9 wireless router would make you think it’s just another a mid-tier, run-of-the-mill consumer router that gets the job done and not much else; but oh how wrong you’d be.
Keep reading my TP-Link Archer C9 review to find out what makes this router one of the best values on shelves today.
The Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 AC3200 wireless router is another entry into Netgear’s “ultra-perfomance” lineup of networking devices that look like they’re straight out of a military catalog, and perform with enough firepower to back it up. But will its stellar specs and user-friendly software be enough to make up for the areas where it fell short?
When buying a new router, there are a few different metrics you want to keep an eye on when making your final decision. The basic stuff like how fast is it or what kind of range are important enough on their own, but what separates a regular WiFi hub from the standouts like Linksys’ new EA7500 MU-MIMO router, are the added features you get as a part of the complete package. That sense of polish, history and prestige is something that only a few brands in the wireless router space have, and Linksys continues to show it deserves its top spot among others like D-Link, Cisco, and Netgear
When we talk about what is wireless router, it’s hard not to state the obvious. What makes a wireless router different from a regular router? Do you actually need one, or will a standard router do the job just as well? Is “WiFi” any different from “wireless”?
And what exactly is it that makes a router “wireless”, and why should you care? Don’t worry, dear readers, all these questions and more will be answered, and all you need to do is read on to find out
If the default name of your router’s wireless network seems a little dull, you can learn how to spice things up a bit with this handy guide which will quickly (and easily) explain how to change your WiFi Network’s name.
More importantly, if you’re surrounded by a number of other wireless routers around your apartment or home, this can make things confusing for anyone who tries to connect to the network but isn’t sure which one is the right one to link up to.
