Posted on May 1, 2019

Having Wi-Fi problems? Make sure your router is up to date!

If you’re like most people, you connect to the Internet at home using a Wi-Fi connection. Since most of your devices—whether they’re smart phones, tablets, or laptops—are designed to be used wirelessly, the only way to get online with them is by connecting them to the device that provides the Wi-Fi signal in your home. This device is usually called a router, but you might also hear it called a gateway, a modem, or an access point. The name doesn’t really matter, but the device itself has a big impact on the quality of your home Wi-Fi. If you’re not getting the performance you expect, the first thing to check is whether your router is based on old technology. If files take forever to download, streaming videos don’t display smoothly, and you have trouble connecting to Wi-Fi in some areas of your home, then there’s a good chance an old router is the culprit.

All routers are NOT created equal
The fact is, all routers are not created equal. If your router is even just a few years old, it’s out of date. And that means you are not getting the most out of the new wireless devices you’ve invested in, which are designed to work best when they’re using the latest Wi-Fi technology. It also means you’re not getting your money’s worth from your Internet service, because your old router is preventing you from getting the speed and performance you’re paying for.

New technology, better performance.
So why are the new Wi-Fi routers so much better? They’re based on new technology that offers major performance improvements you’ll really notice when you’re online. First of all, these new routers are faster. The maximum speed provided by routers based on the old standards (802.11b/g/n) is 450 Megabits per second or less. The new routers are capable of providing speeds of up to 1330 Megabits per second (or 1.3 Gigabits per second). While you won’t always get the maximum speeds possible, an up-to-date router is two or three times faster than routers using old technology. This makes a noticeable difference, especially when you’re downloading large files from the Internet, gaming online, or watching a movie from a streaming service like Netflix. This even applies when two, three or four people are connected to your home Wi-Fi at the same time.

The latest routers also give you better range, which means you enjoy a better Internet experience even when you’re far away from your router. They do this using a new technology that detects where a device is and then sending a stronger signal in the direction of that device.

Contact us today
As you can see, the latest routers provide some big advantages and improvements over Wi-Fi routers that are using old technology. So if you’re not happy with the performance of the Wi-Fi in your home, contact us at 800-892-0163. We'll help you figure out if your router is using old technology and replace it with a new model that will give you the best performance possible.