Tips on buying a wireless broadband router

A lot of you must be contemplating buying a wireless router, but the market is flooded with numerous wireless routers and making a choice becomes tougher. But there are a few things to keep in mind before making a choice as that really helps in the long run.

First you need to know the difference between an ordinary wireless router and a wireless broadband router. A simple wireless router is used to make a wired internet connection wireless. It can not connect to your ISP and for that purpose you need to use a broadband router. A wireless broadband router combines both the functionalities in one device. It connects to your ISP and makes your internet connection wireless. So you need to be careful when choosing one for yourself to match your requirement.

Following are some of the tips that you need to keep in mind before deciding on a wireless broadband router :

Tip 1 : Determine wireless standard used by the connecting devices

This is the foremost thing to be determined. You need to know the wireless standard supported by the devices that you are going to hook up with the router. The three common standard supported by almost all devices are 802.11a/b/g. But off-late a new standard 802.11n has been introduced which supports faster transfer speeds and enhanced connectivity. But unfortunately not many new devices(PCs etc) support this standard as it is relatively new. So if you are not going to hook any 802.11n device even in future then it does not make sense to invest in a 802.11n compatible router as they are relatively expensive.

Tip 2 : Determine the number of ports required

If you are going to hook up PCs or other devices which are not equipped with wireless connectivity, then you will be using Ethernet ports to connect them to the router. So determine the number of such devices that you will using and make sure the router has appropriate number of ports.

Tip 3 : Check the security features on offer

This is another very important aspect of any wireless broadband router. Security is of utmost importance with wireless network as they are vulnerable to attacks without any physical access. Check out the security features offered by the router. Check for support for secure data encryption protocols like WPA2 etc. Features like mac binding are very handy too.

Tip 4 : Check for range of the router

You wouldn’t be happy if you lose signal while roaming in your house browsing net on your hand held! So check out the reviews of the range for the real range that the routers offers and not just believing in the data provided in the specifications mentioned by the company. External antenna routers offer better connectivity than ones with internal ones but that is not a thumb rule.

Tip 5: Extras are always good

A few extras features never hurt. So apart from your requirements check out for other extras features that are on offer. If you are not able to decide between couple of routers after following the above tips, then compare their extras features to zero down on one.