Tech Talks Today
Do You Really Need A Fast Router?
How Fast Do You Need To Surf?
When we hear marketing words such as speed, fast, new, something in our brain clicks, and our synapses light up on fire. In the technology world that happens quite often as you see brand new, better hardware and tools launch every day. If you follow the trend, it might feel like Christmas should come every week.
There’s always something better to buy. Some new “toy” that makes life even more enjoyable. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with all the announcements, never mind getting our hands on everything that our consumer mind desires. Not to mention that we would need about one large money bucket a day.
Do you need all the latest and greatest gadgets? In most cases, you don’t? There’s always a time and place for an upgrade or something new?
How about faster Internet or a faster connection to the Inter-webs?
Of course, it depends. It matters what you do with it, plan to do with it, if you can afford it, and if it is worth the investment.
Faster Internet
To some degree, having a better, more expensive router does not mean your Internet will be so much faster in your home. You are going to be limited by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), so no matter how many theoretical Gigabits per second your router can handle, they will all be in vain, if you only pay for a 100 or 300 Megabit per second subscription.
Besides that, the medium through which the Internet “arrives” at your house also has a large impact. The most obvious difference will be between classic copper cables and fiber. There will always be a significant difference between your Ethernet cable, as they come in different categories, 5, 5E, 6A, 6E, 7, 8.
You can read a bit more about that here:
Faster Router
Ok, let’s say you already have those bases covered, and the ISP-provided router just isn’t cutting it for you. What is the real benefit of having a better router, and is that investment worth it?
Better Performance and Speed
Equipped with faster processors and more RAM, more expensive routers can manage more incoming data, much faster. The amount of traffic that they can address can help in multiple ways. Newer generation gaming or mesh routers can minimize data loss, minimize latency, and improve fidelity and the general quality of service.
All the above are especially true when the multitude of network or Internet reliant devices in your home keeps increasing.
Better Range and Coverage
An important aspect of a home router is its wireless performance and range. Newer Wi-Fi standards, such as Wi-Fi 6, 6E, Wi-Fi 6 Release 2, and the future Wi-Fi 7, along with technologies such as MU-MIMO, OFDMA, TWT, and others, move homes into a new era of connectivity.
More powerful antennas, along with an increase in their number allow new mesh or gaming routers to properly cover your house, apartment, or mansion with all the RF signal it needs.
Better Control
Put simply, the software used by ISP-provided routers is limited. This is done artificially, either by running custom-made operating systems or by restricting access to the end-user to all the router’s capabilities.
Sure, maybe this doesn’t matter for most users, as they will only do the occasional restart whenever they have a problem and call the ISP support center. However, if you want to enable parental controls, create VLANs, create guest networks, block IPs, enable/disable ports, do some port-forwarding, or try to extract every single drop of performance from your device, then you kind of need a capable and flexible of the shelf router.
Better Security
The Internet can be dangerous and full of scams and tricks. Being safe while you surf the web or do your job is critical. Some devices offer integrated firewalls, advanced traffic detection, and prevention systems that can scan and block malicious connections, VPNs, and other tools that were created to keep you safe. Nothing is foolproof, but every little thing can help in a continuously expanded and inter-connected world.
So, the tendency to mainly correlate speed with the newest routing devices is only beneficial to some point. Newer and more expensive routers come or should come with a slew of other technologies and tools that improve the entire Internet experience. Opening a web page in 2 seconds faster means nothing if you’re the only one who can do it in the house and if it’s done in an insecure way.
Here’s a note on Wi-Fi 6 and its benefits, if you’re interested:
Surfing Is My Life!
No, a top-of-the-line, “faster” router is not for most people. If you only go on your favorite social network or e-mail every other day then you don’t need the fastest Internet and the most feature-packed router out there.
But, you know, having one doesn’t hurt, especially if you’re in the tech world and if you can spare the money for a decent one.
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