We, as a consumer, would always want the best. But what is the best? Different people would define their best according to their knowledge, but only an expert can tell you what is ‘the best’ in real sense. And we at Crunchytricks are here to provide you with first-hand expert advice so that you never fail to achieve ‘the best.’
In today’s time, the need for the internet and the use of wifi needs no words for its explanation. With the increasing use of web-based technologies and services, there is visibly a massive rise in demand for wifi routers. And if you, too, are planning to get or already using a wifi router, go through the following article to get some valuable points to aid you.
Here are 7 Router features you should be using for better wifi:
- The Guest Access Network
Are you the person who frequently allows his visitors to utilize your personal Wireless Internet connections? Well, having the router that provides the feature of the guest access network will let you work more securely and conveniently.
All your guests and visitors will have access to their separate SSID to which they may connect to. This feature can help your main network isolate from outside threats; it will also ensure that no outsider gets entrance into any of the local-network resources like the printers and PCs.
In addition to this, you may even configure unrestricted security setting on the guest networks (e.g., WRN can be used by your guests, and you can use WRN2); or another option can be to leave it entirely off- however, we don’t suggest to opt that.
- A Wireless on/off Tangible Button
You might remember those several times when being able to disable the wifi network temporarily was your primary concern (e.g., while troubleshooting the interference or before a long absence). You would clearly remember how you went through all the settings to accomplish the task. And now, imagine having the ability to do the process via a small and straightforward tangible button, or even a switch at the router. That would be much more convenient, right? Stop imagining the ease because that is now an actual feature! You don’t have to go and log into the console configuration anymore, and, unlike pulling the power cord of the router, it abandons your Internet connection and wired connection intact with each other.
- Love sleek? Detach the antennas!
The routers that come with the internal antennas feature are crazily standard these days. They provide you with a sleek and compact device design but leave your side without any alternative if sleepy designed integrated antennas fail to provide the required coverage.
In this case, opting for the routers that provide detachable and external antennas is a great option. It will give you the ease to upgrade the directional varieties whenever necessary, in a flexible way.
- Gigabit Ethernet for High Performance
Given the ancestral emphasis laid on usually the wifi capabilities of a router, the kind of Ethernet that it offers is generally ignored. If you keep wired devices at your network, you should consider the router, which provides the Gigabit (1000Mb) Ethernet instead of the one which is all-too-common kind Fast Ethernet (100Mb).
Though Gigabit Ethernet wouldn’t do a single thing to provide improvement in the performances of stuff like live video streaming, Internet file downloads, etc., it still can make the difference of night-and-day when it comes to the many massive data files transfer between the devices.
- The DHCP Reservation
Assignment of an IP address (192.168.8.1) in a dynamic way via DHCP can be convenient, only when you don’t have devices that need a permanently fixed IP address (e.g., stuff such as printers, servers, or even individual PCs in specific remote access cases).
In such situations, the configuration of a static address manually, undoubtedly can prove to be time-consuming and cumbersome. To help you out, a router that supports the DHCP reservations will let you reserve some particular IP addresses for their exclusive uses only. This will help the provided device to be ensured of always having the same IP address, no matter what.
- The Traffic Meter and Control
Is your ISP already enforcing the maximum monthly limit for data transfer allowance? If not, then probably it’s just the matter of some more time before your ISP does. And a router that has a built-in traffic meter can easily monitor the consumption of total data (uploading and download, both).
The data is monitored for not just your PC, but every device that works on or uses your network, and if you reach your predefined limit, you get notified too! Then, if you desire, the router can help you in avoiding the possible overuse charge by putting a brake on your Wireless Internet connections.
Note: The routers generally store the traffic data in volatile memory; therefore, the best option is putting the router upon a UPS. This will help you to stop losing data due to some power failure or any other possible similar issue.
- The USB Port and Storage
A router that has a built-in USB port will give you a smooth and rapid way to transfer the contents or data stored in a storage gadget across your wireless network. It usually also helps to stream the media content to the PCs or other devices connected to the network via DLNA/UPnP.
Usually, the USB port of a router also offers an option to provide access to additional devices like printers or the webcam—even an option to copy the wifi settings to support a quick configuration with the new PCs.
My Final Words
The features might not even appear in the description, but knowledge is the most potent weapon and now you are armed with the evidence of expertise!
I hope the content was useful enough. For more such content, Stay Tuned!
