Our operator installs a router for us when we contract a fiber rate, regardless of the company you choose or the rate. They all have a router included that they lend us. In other words, we have to return it when we drop that rate or when we contract Internet with another operator. But you can also buy your own router if you are looking to buy one for yourself and that you do not have to return.
It may be that the tendency in which we always fall is to think that buying the most expensive router is buying the best router, but this is not the case, you do not always need the most expensive to work well and it will depend on many factors . If you don’t know what to look for when choosing a new router, there are a number of fundamental aspects, things to look for when buying a new one.
As we say, you do not need it to be the most expensive, but you do need to look at a series of aspects and features that are essential when buying a router.
Ethernet ports
It is essential to look at the number of Ethernet ports that our router has if we want to connect directly by cable. Even if you don’t do it with the phone, with the computer you will always have better speed if you connect this way. In addition, it is not enough just to look at the number of ports but also at the speed of these and it is advisable that you make sure that it has Gigabit ports.
Available technologies
Having a series of technologies available is essential, although perhaps you don’t know them and don’t know what they are for, but there are currently features that help improve the WiFi connection and that you should have in your router. This is the case of MU-MIMO or OFDMA technology that is present in WiFi 6 and that makes the wireless connection more efficient. In the case of OFDMA, what it achieves is that the router has the capacity to provide Internet to various devices through a single channel. MU-MIMO, also available on WiFi 5, which allows us to better manage bandwidth with various transmissions available.
Antennas and coverage
Although it will depend on the distribution or size of each house, it is advisable that we look at the antennas that the router that we want to install has. We can improve WiFi coverage through PLCs, amplifiers or using a mesh network, but it is advisable to ensure good coverage by looking at the number of antennas and how it works or what its characteristics are.
In addition, it is always interesting that you check if the router that you are going to buy is compatible with WiFi Mesh since this will allow us to improve coverage by creating mesh networks with nodes that work intelligently, managing the signal and taking it to all points of the house from which you want to connect.
Other fundamental aspects
There are also other fundamental aspects such as the maximum speed supported by your router or the bands in which it works. It is not something that we are generally going to look at because almost all current models on the market will already offer us routers that work in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, in addition to offering us a sufficient maximum speed so that we can make the most of it. the rate that we have contracted.
In this case, we must look at these characteristics, even if they are obvious, since they are essential for the Internet to work well. Make sure that the router offers a maximum speed higher than what you have contracted and that it offers us the option of connecting to one band or another, as well as technology or intelligence that allows the device to decide which band to connect to depending on which connect, for example, without having to manually choose one or the other.