Which Wi-Fi router specifications are the most important?

A fast and reliable router is a necessity in most homes. But do you really need to spend more than $100 on a Wi-Fi router with six antennas and Wi-Fi 6? Time to understand those mind-blowing specs.

Wi-Fi standards

Choosing a router can seem like a daunting thing, especially when the jargon throws you left, right, and center. One of the most important router specifications to consider is the supported Wi-Fi standard. You’ve probably seen references to 802.11ac or 802.11ax when searching for a router. These are known as Wi-Fi standards.

The first Wi-Fi standard, 802.11, was released in 1997 and supported 2.4 GHz radio frequencies. It supported mere megabits per second (Mbps), followed shortly by 802.11b in 1999. In the same year, the 802.11a Wi-Fi standard, which offers support for 5 GHz bands up to 54 Mbps.

The most common Wi-Fi standards today are 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) and 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E). The main difference between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E is that Wi-Fi 6 supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, while Wi-Fi 6E supports 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz frequency bands. GHz

But how do you know which Wi-Fi standard to choose? Well, it depends on whether the devices you own support Wi-Fi 6 or not. Smartphones like iPhone 11 and above, Samsung Galaxy S20 and above, OnePlus 8, etc. support Wi-Fi 6. As Wi-Fi 6 became the new standard in 2019, most of the technology manufacturers began to create devices compatible with the standard. .

If you own mostly older devices, pre-2019, you’ll find a suitable 802.11ac router for your needs; Wi-Fi 5 is also backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n standards and can reach speeds of up to 1,300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 450 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band.

However, Wi-Fi 6 routers are also backward compatible. Therefore, you would be investing in a future-proof router that is capable of supporting Wi-Fi 6 enabled devices. Wi-Fi 6 uses less power than Wi-Fi 5, offers better security, higher speeds, and overall , it is more reliable in more crowded environments.

If you’re buying your first router or upgrading your existing one, opting for 802.11ax is definitely worth it; any device that supports Wi-Fi 5 or lower will still be able to connect wirelessly to the router. One of the most powerful routers available, the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 supports the 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard, but is also backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac.

While it’s incredibly expensive, it covers all the bases of Wi-Fi standards, meaning you can use it with just about any Wi-Fi-enabled device.

transfer fees

It’s tempting to buy a router that has speeds of 1750 Mbps or higher, but don’t let that fool you into thinking those speeds are an accurate representation of what you’ll actually get. Yes, it’s a good idea to invest in a router that’s capable of high speeds, especially if your ISP and internet package can provide them, but you don’t need to put all your eggs in one basket you can’t think of. the goods.

The TP-Link AC1750, for example, states that it can offer speeds of up to 1750 Mbps (the numbers after the “AC” part of the name usually, but not always, indicate the maximum speed of the router). When you dig into the router’s specs, you’ll see that it offers up to 1300Mbps on the 5GHz band and 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. Add them up and you get 1750Mbps.

However, a device cannot receive both frequencies at the same time. Therefore, the maximum speed that the TP-Link AC1750 could offer at any given time is 1300 Mbps. And unless you receive a flawless Internet connection from your ISP and your devices are located in a lab-style environment, you probably you’ll get much lower speeds than the stated 1300 Mbps.

That’s not to say you should avoid routers that have these kinds of specs, it’s just important to understand what they mean.

number of ports

To take advantage of the faster speeds of your router, we recommend opting for a wired connection via an Ethernet cable from your router to your device. However, not all routers have multiple Ethernet ports. Depending on your requirements, you may need to invest in a router with at least one or more Ethernet ports.

Whether you’re working from home or gaming in your bedroom, cable is the best way to get a reliable Internet connection. But the problem many users face is how to achieve a wired connection from a single Wi-Fi router.

If you need to connect multiple devices via a wired Ethernet connection, investing in a Mesh Wi-Fi system might be an option. Most Mesh Wi-Fi routers include at least one Ethernet port on the main router, and often two or more on the individual nodes (satellites). The Google Nest Wi-Fi router includes two Ethernet ports; A two or three pack also contains two ports on each router, allowing you to set up a wired Internet connection to many of your home devices.

However, if you’re set up on a router that doesn’t have enough Ethernet ports for your needs, you could invest in an Ethernet switch, such as the Netgear switch (GS305). It uses one Ethernet port to connect to your router, then offers four additional Ethernet ports, allowing you to connect multiple devices such as your game console, TV, printer, and computers, via an Ethernet connection.

MU-MIMO

Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) technology allows a router to deliver Wi-Fi to multiple devices simultaneously. This means that a single device no longer has to wait for a signal, which speeds up your overall network. With a traditional single-user, multiple-in, multiple-out (SU-MIMO) router, network bandwidth is allocated on a priority basis, delivering multiple streams of data to a device at once.

To translate this into something meaningful, if you load a YouTube video on your PC and your housemate wants to watch something on Netflix, one of your devices will display the content before the other, thanks to SU-MIMO. In real-world terms, the lag is very marginal. But if you used a router with MU-MIMO, both devices would receive the same Wi-Fi bandwidth at the same time, without causing delays.

MU-MIMO was first seen in Wi-Fi 5 routers and is more common in Wi-Fi 6 routers. However, not all routers support MU-MIMO. If you have a large home with multiple devices that require a Wi-Fi connection, then a MU-MIMO capable router is worth considering, as no one device will take precedence over the other. The more users you have on a SU-MIMO network, the more you will notice the difference.

Safety rules

Whether or not you think a hacker is likely to gain access to your router, a router’s security specifications should be a vital consideration. WPA2, developed in 2004 by the Wi-Fi Alliance, is the absolute minimum security standard to look for in a router.

WPA2 uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). While this is an incredibly efficient and secure way to protect your router and network, it does have its flaws. For example, if someone were to gain access to your network, they could potentially attack or hack other devices connected to the same network. To combat this, WPA3 was developed in 2018.

WPA3 not only makes it harder for hackers to attack your network, but each device also has a separate decryption key that is connected to a WPA3-secured router. Even affordable Wi-Fi routers like the TP-Link AC1200 are available with WPA3 security protocols, so you don’t need to spend a fortune to receive exceptional security specs on your Wi-Fi router.

Choose your router

There are a lot of Wi-Fi router specifications to understand, but once you’ve defined your priorities, it can be much easier to weed out additional technologies that aren’t necessary.

Deciding on your router’s minimum Wi-Fi standard first should allow you to filter out any options that don’t meet your needs. From there, you can choose a router with sufficient transfer rates, available ports, advanced technology like MU-MIMO, and one that meets your security requirements.