5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying the Right Router

Nowadays, the wireless routers are everywhere, including home, office, and other business places. Basically, the Router allows you to connect your computer to an Internet service so the users can share data files and stream media between mobile/Wi-Fi devices.

In case if you want wired connection to your desktop, routers are not at all necessary, but the smartphones don't come with any ethernet port. One of the main advantages over the wireless router is that you can share Internet with all the devices including laptops, smartphones and tablets.

But in the outside, we have lots of choices along with new ones coming daily! Do you know the exact purpose of the router? If not, we have compiled you a list of 8 questions that you must ask yourself before buying one.

What will you use it for?

Well it depends on you! If you are going to use it just for browsing, then ordinary router is more than enough. But, incase of gaming, media streaming you may need a bit powerful router to increase the speed of your router.

Bands?

Generally, Routers come in Single, dual, and tri band. A single band router will give you a single 2.4GHz network, while a dual-band router will offer a 2.4GHz network and a 5GHz network. Tri-band routers will generally provide a 2.4GHz and two 5GHz networks. In case of versatility, dual band is the best bet as it provides one network at each frequency.

Wireless standard!

Talking about the wireless standards there are -- 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, and 802.11ac. Consumers will be using 802.11n network, if they purchased the desktop few years back. It allows connections to 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks. On the other side, 802.11ac. is much faster and evolving. However, you can buy 802.11ac router as it is new and also backward compatible.

Speed

Routers speed are always measured in Megabits per second (Mbps). When buying, remember that a router's speed only determines the speed of your home network not the internet connections

Security

With wireless networks, security is not guaranteed! There are some who eavesdrop your online activities, access any of the files stored on your computers, infect your systems with viruses. The router you buy should have WPA2 on both sides. Always know that the network is as secure as the least-secure device that's connected to it. There are some devices that comes with extra features including added encryption, monitor device, block the users