If your family is very similar these days, a typical night at home might look like this: it ends with the latest Netflix series designed in the living room, one of your kids is playing upstairs, and your spouse is uploading photos. the office.
A router is a magic box that lets you distribute your Internet
connection to a variety of devices throughout the home, including desktops,
laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and multimedia devices. Streaming,
like Apple TV, Google Chrome Cast and Roku.
And while wired Ethernet connections are generally faster and more
secure, it's best to use a managed wireless router connection if you want to roam around the house, using laptops and
other mobile devices. Wireless technology also eliminates most cables.
If your ISP is your cable company, your router will connect to a cable
modem, which provides your connection to the Internet. For other services, such
as Verizon FiOS, the router can be combined with a single-box broadband modem
provided by the provider at the time of registration.
In addition to the obvious reason, let's say your router is broken, you
can also consider a new model because:
1. You do not want to buy or rent a router from your service provider.
2. You already have a broadband modem directly connected to a single
computer, but you want to be able to connect to multiple devices.
3. The router only has wired connectivity, but you want to connect to
wireless devices like laptops and tablets.
4. Your existing router is too slow or your wireless range is too short
to reach important places in your home.
Features to consider
LAN ports
LAN ports are used to connect a computer to the router via an Ethernet
cable. Many smart home devices connected to the Internet, such as Philips Hue
and Samsung SmartThings, require a hub connected to the LAN port to function.
If more LAN ports are required than the router, you can increase the number
available by adding an Ethernet switch.
USB ports
The router's USB ports are used to connect to a flash drive, external
hard drive, or USB printer if the router has a built-in print server.
Quality of service (QoS)
Also called media prioritization or traffic control. If you're the type
of person who likes to play around with your computer settings, you can
appreciate the flexibility of this feature. You can optimize the performance of
your router based on what you are doing at any given time. For example, you can
change the settings to make it work better for streaming videos, making Skype
calls, playing or playing music. This will give these applications more
bandwidth. So, for example, your Netflix movie doesn't stop and grows again
because someone in the house is downloading a large file.
Application based management
By supporting almost all new routers, the applications are designed to
simplify the configuration and regulation of the WiFi network. The applications
facilitate the monitoring of devices connected to the network and the
configuration of priority devices. These applications can also notify you when
an update is available for your router.
