Fact: Selecting the right wireless router can be a challenge. Businesses often spend thousands of dollars to hire wireless networking professionals to perform site surveys to determine the best equipment and means to deploy a wireless network. Small wonder, then, that home and small business users can feel frustrated about purchasing, setting up, and maintaining a wireless router and their own wireless networks!
To add to the confusion, router manufacturers now offer a new generation of wireless routers. These routers feature the latest 802.11x technology; 802.11ac—a step up from, 802.11n as it offers higher throughout speeds and better range. Sounds great, but does 802.11ac currently deliver any gains over 802.11n? Do you need a lesser expensive single-band router or a more expensive dual-band? Do you need to upgrade or purchase an 802.11n router? What benefits do 802.11n give? Does a higher-end router mean better Internet connectivity? What about IPv6—is it best to get a router that supports IPv6? These questions as well as factors like security, parental controls and extra features such as the ability to connect USB printers and external storage drives to a router for sharing in your personal network, are all considerations to weigh when deciding to purchase or upgrade a router.
Many people turn to reviews on seller sites such as Amazon before buying a router. While you can get a general feel for other customers' experiences with a particular router, Wi-Fi is so fickle and performance can vary from one home to another. Just because someone had a terrific (or miserable) experience with a particular router does not necessarily mean you will have the same experience. Professional reviews in controlled environments, like those I perform in PCMag's labs, are a better source for help in deliberating over which router to choose.
Here is a checklist and some information to help you in your search of the perfect router for your networking needs:
Do You Even Need A Wi-Fi Router?
A wireless router allows wireless devices (and wired devices) to connect to that Internet connection and to communicate with other devices on your home network.
Some people only work from one laptop or PC that may be directly connected to their cable or DSL modems. They may not have other users or devices in their home or office that also need Internet connectivity or sharing printers and files. If this applies to you and you have no need to deviate from a fixed location from which you do your Internet surfing or computing, then you can don't need a wireless router.
However, with enticing gadgets like iPads and with multiuser households and offices, most people these days want and can benefit from a wireless router. With a Wi-Fi router browsing the Internet from an upstairs bedroom or sharing pictures and streaming music and video to all of the devices in a home or office is possible. If you want the capability to do these tasks, then yes, you need a router.
What Type of Network User Are You?
A single home user who just wants to Web surf doesn't need the same kind of router as a heavy-duty gamer, a multimedia enthusiast or a small business. A single-band router like the Almond is a basic, decent performer that would suit the needs of anyone looking for simple Wi-Fi connectivity and easy setup. Plus, it has the bonus of being the only touchscreen router currently on the market!
In contrast, Netgear's Nighthawk$199.99 at Amazon or Buffalo's AirStation Extreme AC 1750 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router$131.98 at Amazon are excellent choices for those who want to perform bandwidth demanding tasks like high-definition video streaming or moving large files to and from NAS devices. Gamers, check out our Best Gaming Routers roundup for the best routers to enhance the gaming experience. However, routers such as the Nighthawk, are more expensive.
Single Band or Dual Band?
While researching routers, you will inevitably stumble across the term "bands." The 2.4 and 5 GHz bands are the frequencies in which wireless communications operate. 802.11 B and G devices use the 2.4 GHz band, while 802.11N can use either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band and 802.11ac only uses 5 GHz. A single-band, 2.4-GHz router—such as the $65 Asus RT-N11 EZ Wireless-N Router—is geared toward simple wireless networks. On the other hand, a dual-band router like the Western Digital My Net N900 operates on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. The 5 GHz band is less crowded then the 2.4 GHz band; less equipment runs on 5 GHz. That's why it's better equipped for throughput-intensive work within your home network such as gaming and file streaming. You will also get better internal network performance.
The one downside of 5 GHz is that it does not sustain signal at greater distances as well as the 2.4 GHz band. So, if you are looking for a dual-band router to take advantage of the 5 GHz bandwidth—you'll want to factor in distance when placing the router in your home or office.
One other thing to consider when it comes to Wi-Fi bands? Some of your devices may only work with a given band. For a guide to which gadgets require what Wi-Fi, see, The Wi-Fi You Need for the Gadgets You Want.
300Mbps, 900Mbps, 1900Mbps...All Those Numbers!
When router shopping you will notice three digit numbers emblazoned on most routers' packaging, indicating the speed of the router. A few years ago, 300 Mbps was the standard speed of most Wi-Fi routers. That meant that testing under the best circumstances, which means in what we call a "clean room" with no interference, the router can achieve up to 300Mbps speeds. Currently, 1750Mbps or even 1900Mbps routers are being marketed.
You however, will never see those actual speeds. Issues such as channel overlap and interference means a router in a typical home or office environment will never reach these theoretical speeds touted by vendors. When testing at PCMag, which has a real-world testing environment, if we see speeds close to half of what a vendor says a router is capable of, that's excellent bandwidth!
Of course, fast router speeds don't have anything to do with how fast your Internet connection is. A 300Mbps router won't make your Internet connection any faster than a 1900Mbps router. That speed is set by your ISP. What a faster speed router helps with is the performance of your internal network: streaming music and video, sharing files and so on.
Do I Need 802.11N?
802.11n is becoming the standard in wireless networking. If you are purchasing a new router, be it single or dual band—go with an 802.11n router. And not 802.11n draft, which is an older standard. 802.11n routers can run in "Mixed mode" so that non-802.11n wireless devices can connect as well.
What About 802.11ac?
There are a host of new routers on the market that are being advertised as 802.11ac routers. 802.11ac is the latest 802.11x wireless networking standard. 11ac can provide up to almost 1Gbps throughput under ideal conditions in supported dual-band routers or up to 500 Mbps on a single-band, increasing the limitation of up to 450 Mbps on a single-band of 802.11n. Furthermore, 11ac is designed to provide better range than 802.11n currently does on the 5 GHz band.
The tricky part of 11ac is that the standard is still in development. The Wi-Fi Alliance is an organization that tests to make sure that networking products sold to customers do what manufacturers say they are supposed to do. Once tested, the Wi-Fi Alliance allows vendors to sell products as Wi-Fi Alliance certified. Since 802.11ac is yet to be finalized (also called ratified or drafted) there are no products on the market that are certified. That isn't stopping vendors from releasing pre-draft 802.11ac routers. You may remember years ago, seeing 11n pre-draft routers on the market before 802.11 became standardized. The pre-draft 11n routers were far below performance levels of later 802.11n routers that came out once 802.11n was ratified.
The same thing is happening with 802.11ac. The 11ac routers we have tested are getting better and better and offering some gains over 802.11n as far as speed and range. However, there aren't really any compatible 802.11ac adapters yet, mostly only USB adapters (although Apple's new MacBooks do have built-in 11ac adapters).
So, if you want a guaranteed future-proofed router, go with an 11ac router but be advised, there aren't a lot of wireless device that can take advantage of 11ac speeds, just yet.
What Type of Security?
Most of the newer routers support the highest level of security, WPA2. If in the market for a new routers, make sure it supports WPA2. If you have children you may want to consider a router with parental controls such as the Nighthawk.
Other Considerations
If you are looking for a router that you don't want to upgrade anytime soon, consider going with one that supports IPv6. While conversion from IPv4 to IPv6 networking appears to still be some time coming, a router that supports IPv6 will help you keep your network intact when your ISP transitions over to IPv6 as well.
Some routers also offer extras such as SD card slots, (D-Link DIR-827$120.64 at Amazon, is an example) and USB ports for printer sharing and external drive sharing, including routers from Cisco, Belkin and Western Digital). If those are features you want in your network, look for routers that support those features.
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