When you sign with an internet service provider then you are usually given a WiFi router and charged for that WiFi router in the bill. That WiFi router does its jobs perfectly and most of the time, there is no need to spend any extra money to buy a new router or upgrade However, if you had signed up with the ISP years ago then the model of the router would have become old or the router is not strong enough to cover the whole house. In such cases, an upgrade is the right choice.
Sometimes, you may be having problems with the internet and getting slower internet speeds. In such instances, a better internet connection could simply be a router upgrade away.
One thing should be cleared before moving any further that whether you buy a really expensive $1000 router or a normal $300 router, it won’t affect the original speed of the internet coming from our ISP since you will be getting the speeds that you signed up for, however, you will be getting significant hardware upgrades such as better coverage, more frequency bands, better software, etc. Let’s see how a Router Upgrade can improve your WiFi Network’s Quality:
Better Coverage
With a new WiFI router, you will be getting better coverage since most of the modern-day routers cover a much larger area than older ones. If you have dead zones in your house where you couldn’t even load a web page even if your whole life was dependent on it then a new WiFi router will be able to fix this issue.
Having a modern WiFi router might be able to fix these issues because new routers are capable of transmitting signals much stronger. This means that the speed of the WiFi network will be faster and uniform throughout the house and also significantly better than before, even on the same broadband package.
When you are planning to buy a new router than among other things, look for more antennas since more antennas are usually better. More antennas mean more connection points and a better WiFi signals range.
Dual-Band Support
Another benefit that you will be getting when you will be upgrading your WiFi router is that you will be getting the support for dual-band frequencies i.e 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz since dual-band routers are now commonplace. The advantage of having a dual-band router is it gives your WiFi signals more frequency channels to travel so that you can always connect to the best channel possible.
Both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels have their own functions. 2.4 GHz channels are slower in data transmission speed as compared to 5 GHz and are also more prone to interference but they have a much longer range as compared to 5 GHz and are better at penetrating obstacles in the way.
Most of the modern-day routers have dual-band support and they are also capable of managing the frequency channels themselves by ensuring that you are always connected to the best channel, the channel that provides the optimum speeds wherever you are in your home.
If you cannot find this feature on your router then can search for it in the admin interface of the router that is accessible through the default gateway address of the router i.e 192.168.100.1. Alternatively, some routers have 10.0.0.1 as the default gateway address. Log in to the admin interface and see if you find the dual-band feature in the wireless section.
Latest WiFi Standards
Just like smartphone processors and video game consoles have successive generations, so does WiFi and the latest iteration is Wi-Fi 6 but currently, it is supported by a handful of devices and routers only. However, soon it will become the industry standard in the year 2022.
Just as the update of software or an OS brings new features, the latest iteration of WiFi brings with it the latest engineering and compression improvement that will allow faster transmission of data, connections more stable and reliable with less interference. It also means that the connection will be better at supporting multiple devices at once.
If you are buying a new router that has WiFi 6 support then you will certainly experience WiFi and coverage improvement and as more and more gadgets will get the support for WiFi 6, the improvements will be even more evident.
These were just a few vital ways by which upgrading your WiFi router can improve the quality of your WiFi network. If you really have an obsolete router then perhaps it is time for you to upgrade to experience much better speeds but if you had recently bought a WiFi router like 3-4 years ago then an upgrade isn’t required since the changes won’t be that much huge.