Wireless Router

The wireless router is perhaps the single most important piece of technology in our homes. And, there’s no question that the Internet is the foundation of our lives. So, it’s increasingly normal to see people going to ridiculous lengths to get a strong WiFi signal in the far corners of their homes. From rearranging furniture to standing in the same spot for hours, people tend to take one of two paths in search of a better, faster, and stronger WiFi signal. They either pay for more speed, or they buy a new router. But in most cases, a faster router does little to solve the underlying problem of coverage throughout their home.

The Speed You Pay For

What’s unfortunate is that you might even be paying for a service that you can’t even fully utilize. The reason, most Internet service providers supply a low-quality modem router combo not capable of meeting modern demands. This means the rental fees you pay your ISP every month are paying for a piece of hardware that’s slowing down your performance.

If you cannot answer these questions with a yes, it is probably time to get a new router:

• Is your router at least dual-band (supports the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency)?
• Does your router provide you with the speeds you pay for (run a speed test here)?
• Does your router sufficiently cover your entire home with a strong WiFi signal even when you are in your backyard?

For those who perform a rain dance every time your WiFi stops working, it might be time for a new router. Because as we all know, when the home WiFi slows down, your whole life slows down! For this reason, we offer some insight on wireless routers.

Modem VS Router: What Is The Difference?

A modem includes a physical connector for the coaxial cable installed in your home. That cable typically exits the home through a hole, and is tunneled around and/or underneath the house until it reaches the Cable Distribution Box mounted on your home’s exterior. An additional cable buried underground connects this box to the service provider’s node mounted on a nearby utility pole. That said, the Internet feed leaves the utility pole, arrives at your home’s Cable Distribution Box, and ends at the modem’s coaxial cable connector. After that, your output depends on the type of modem your ISP provided you.

A router is a stand-alone device that connects to an Ethernet port on the modem. It routes networking/internet traffic to its connected devices. Typically, routers have a dedicated Ethernet port that it uses to physically connect to the router (WAN, or Wide Area Network), and additional Ethernet ports for wired devices (LAN or Local Area Network) depending on the router itself. The router sends and receives networking traffic from the modem, and routes all that data through the air via 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands to the connected devices.

Modem VS Router: How It All Works

If all of this is confusing to you, just imagine a high-speed train. It enters your home through your (modem), travels to the train station (router) at full speed, and is redirected (via the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) to a destination (connected devices). If the destination is a wired connection, then it moves at full speeds. If the destination is wireless, the speed is based on how many tracks (streams) it can use at once. Thus, the amount of congestion these tracks must penetrate, and the distance between the train station and the destination. Will equate to the train loosing speed the further it travels away from the station. Put simply, you are not going to get Gigabit speed (1,000Mbps) if you are only paying for a 300Mbps connection. Likewise, you are also not going to get the 300Mbps you are paying for if you do not have the right router!

Routers

Understanding How They Work

When WiFi slows down, so does our entire life. Our email and web browsers stop loading, our streaming movies start to freeze, Alexa stops responding, and our phones revert to data plans. With everything buffering at the same time, it ruins the momentum of your life. There are plenty of reasons your WiFi is slow: signal congestion, router location, firmware issues, hardware limitations, or even the physical size of your home. Then again, it could just be that new router you purchased.

When choosing a new router, you should consider the size of your home and the number of clients (wifi enabled devices), as well as the types of devices that will connect to the router. Granted, not everybody needs the same kind of performance, but if you have several family members vying for bandwidth for things like streaming video and playing games, a new router can make a world of difference and help keep the peace. One thing to consider is the term up to means the hardware is physically capable of supporting the speeds advertised as maximum speeds.

In addition to the perplexing industry terms like 802.11ac, dual band, and Mbps, routers look more like alien spaceships than technology. As a result, it leads you to wondering if you really need six external antennas. The answer is no, all you really need is the right router! Here are the things that matter most:

• Frequency Channels
• Wireless Standard
• Speed
• Security

In today’s world, the reliability of your home WiFi network can feel as crucial as running water and electricity. For this reason, we offer you a solution to your dilemma, the Araknis 300-series router.

Araknis Networks® 300 Series Router

When it comes to networking, every second counts. That’s why Araknis routers come equipped with 1 Gbps throughput on all LAN ports, for faster speeds and a better experience. An embedded firewall supports Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), Denial of Service (DoS) prevention, WAN Request Blocking, and OpenVPN. Its layers of network security make it harder for hackers to attack, so your private data stays safe. And with multiple content filtering levels, you can ensure your household has a safe browsing experience. Dual-gigabit WAN allows you to connect to two different ISPs (for example: TWC and Comcast), so you’ll never lose your connection in the case of service failure.

San Diego Home Networking Services

Just as the Internet is the electronic pulse that brings a connected home to life, the network is the central nervous system that carries critical information to all of your connected devices. In today’s continuously-connected world, more and more devices are coming online, most notably in our homes. It’s more imperative than ever to have a robust, high-performing home network that you can rely on. Whether you have a few devices online or your home is brimming with automation, Shultz Audio Video will deliver a sophisticated network using the highest-quality products all designed for the unique demands of your connected home and connected life! Not sure what you need? We want to make certain you are getting the exact solution that you need for your home. Call us today to schedule your free home network evaluation (760) 505-7461.