Wireless Router

Wireless router just packed up? Tired of endless wireless router reviews? Possibly you just got faster World-wide-web access and want a beefier device for all those people need to have movies, new tracks and everything else. Relax – in this article I’m heading to give you some pointers on looking for the appropriate piece of kit at the right price.

Did you know probably the most wireless router just isn’t necessarily the cheapest? I will show you the quickest and most economical method to attain those people lightning quick movie streaming and faster iPod downloads with no any hassle.

So exactly where do we start? What is a wireless router and why do I require it? It is not rocket science – a wireless router allows you to access the web via your broadband Internet connection and your (yours, your partners, your household / flat-mates etc), laptop, PC, Mac, iPod, PS3, Wii, iPad or whatever you would like to connect.

Making that happen quickly, hassle-free and reliably is our goal on the other hand I’m sure you won’t want just anybody able to grab your connection, maybe impersonate you, nab your charge card details, personal details or whatever you keep most dear on your pc so we must ensure that up-to-date security is often a must have. Queries I won’t be answering in this article are those people from a technical perspective including “how do I configure routers?” – you can find plenty of content articles on that if you really want it.

So what’s the very first step? Well beneficial high quality reviews during the coal-face are a must in addition to some pointers for the best items and where for getting them. It’s tough to imagine a globe without the need of wireless routers and networking now but not so extended ago it was the stuff of science fiction and the technology continues to develop simply – it does not ways its effortless to select the appropriate one.

There are numerous several kinds of router over a market for a variety of requirements – we’ll concentrate for now on a residence / modest office market. As with most points in life there’s a number of costs depending on needs – everything from “get going quickly” to models which will back up your facts and possibly wash your car… for a price.

In order to stay over the wave of hype we can begin by looking at your usage. Are you just wanting to surf within the living room or on a deck? Do you desire easy set up or are you prepared to wade in? Are you a gamer or run a business? Features for example targeted traffic prioritisation, digital servers or VPN aid will appeal a lot more but may perhaps have a greater cost tag (not always though!).

A easy yardstick whilst is that the far more features a router has the additional pricey it’s going to be to buy. At the bottom end should you have older laptops with perhaps 802.11b or g wireless cards (more than 3 years old likely) you will be likely to likely only require a simple router. E.g. Tenda Wireless-N150 could possibly be a quick option with just b or g connectivity turned on.

A slight bit of technical knowledge – do not worry its painless and may well save you several pennies! Older 802.11b and 802.11g devices use the 2.4GHz wireless bandwidth even though newer 802.11n can use 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands – the latter band is much better for throughput-intensive networking such as gaming or movie streaming. End of technical bit.

Your uncomplicated laptop tend not to benefit from a flashy new router but can get away with a single band 2.43Ghz N router – it is backwards compatible – I’ll show you a quick method to set it all up in a later article – something like the Cisco E1000 may perhaps fill this niche. Nonetheless should you have a new laptops then looking at 1 that handles both bands is often a far better bet (don’t worry the DLink DIR-825 can do all this for you!).

If you have a Mac, iPad etc whilst seeking at an Apple router might be a beneficial bet.

Security

Next I’ll be seeking at security along with a few other features you desire and some you don’t! As we saw previously it is not as well tough to get up and running using a linksys but what around the damaging guys out to hack our credit cards and infect our PCs? How do we stop them? Do I extremely desire to permit my neighbour leech all my bandwidth? What if my bank card data go missing? How do I stop it before it happens?

Well it definitely can happen – I secured the wireless network in your friend – not extended afterward his neighbour mentioned “looks like we’d far better get our very own broadband connection now…”. A smaller can take you a long way – security need not be a hassle by following these easy tips: -

Make sure you set a password to your wireless network – the router setup on your device must prompt you to your password – make sure you enter a thing only you would know and always follow beneficial security password advice – Google “good passwords” for additional information.
Don’t connect your router for the Web until you have set the password!
If you want to set access control to your little ones make sure you buy a router with access controls – including DLink DIR-825. Access controls could restrict what sites certain users can consider as well as what times of day they can use the web (stopping bleary eyed teens staying up for an all-nighter on Call of Duty!)
Guest entry is really a great feature for house and enterprise users – you can give access for the World-wide-web (but not your files ) to visitors.

All this can be undone should you fail to follow simple guidelines on connected wireless devices, e.g. normal anti-virus updates, keeping up to date with security patches (e.g. for Windows machines using Windows Update) and never writing down your password on a post-it over a laptop!

So to summarise in those immortal words – “Don’t Panic” but do not close your eyes and you need to be fine.

Tags

Broadband & Satellite