Know 5 Important Feature for Buying a Router - ACMTT

5 Important Feature for Buying a Router, 2.4 GHz, 5 Ghz, 5.8 Ghz, WiFi 6, Wireless standard, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax means, router antena, router feature

There are five important features you need to know before buying or choosing a router for your home or office. While someone wants to buy a router some are considering the money and some are features but which feature and how much money you should invest for a router. Let's have a description of the matter.

The five important features you need to know before buying a router are below, this will help you to understand the features that have come's within the routers.

1. Wireless Standard

Wireless standard is referred to as a very important feature. This is a base of a router. If the wireless has the latest standard, this will have almost every new feature capable of everything you need.

The standards are:

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• 802.11a - 1998
• IEEE802.11a is the first wireless standard to employ packet-based OFDM, based on a proposal from Richard van Nee from Lucent Technologies in Nieuwegein. OFDM was adopted as a draft 802.11a standard in July 1998 after merging with an NTT proposal. It was ratified in 1999. The 802.11a standard uses the same core protocol as the original standard, operates in the 5 GHz band, and uses a 52-subcarrier orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with a maximum raw data rate of 54 Mbit/s, which yields realistic net achievable throughput in the mid-20 Mbit/s. The data rate is reduced to 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9 then 6 Mbit/s if required. 802.11a originally had 12/13 non-overlapping channels, 12 that can be used indoor, and 4/5 of the 12 that can be used in outdoor point-to-point configurations.
• 802.11b - 1999
• 802.11b has a maximum raw data rate of 11 Mbit/s and uses the same CSMA/CA media access method defined in the original standard. Due to the CSMA/CA protocol overhead, in practice, the maximum 802.11b the throughput that an application can achieve is about 5.9 Mbit/s using TCP and 7.1 Mbit/s using UDP. 802.11b products appeared on the market in mid-1999, since 802.11b is a direct extension of the DSSS (Direct-sequence spread spectrum) modulation technique defined in the original standard. The Apple iBook was the first mainstream computer sold with optional 802.11b networking. Technically, the 802.11b standard uses complementary code keying (CCK) as its modulation technique, which uses a specific set of length 8 complementary codes that were originally designed for OFDM but were also suitable for use in 802.11b because of its low autocorrelation properties. The dramatic increase in throughput of 802.11b (compared to the original standard) along with simultaneous substantial price, reductions led to the rapid acceptance of 802.11b as the definitive wireless LAN technology as well as to the formation of the Wi-Fi Alliance
• 802.11g - 2003
• 802.11g is the third modulation standard for wireless LANs. It works in the 2.4 GHz band (like 802.11b) but operates at a maximum raw data rate of 54 Mbit/s. Using the CSMA/CA transmission scheme, 31.4 Mbit/s is the maximum net throughput possible for packets of 1500 bytes in size and a 54 Mbit/s wireless rate (identical to 802.11a core, except for some additional legacy overhead for backward compatibility). In practice, access points may not have an ideal implementation and may therefore not be able to achieve even 31.4 Mbit/s throughputs with 1500 byte packets. 1500 bytes is the usual limit for packets on the Internet and therefore a relevant size to benchmark against. Smaller packets give even lower theoretical throughput, down to 3 Mbit/s using 54 Mbit/s rate and 64-byte packets. Also, the available throughput is shared between all stations transmitting, including the AP so both downstream and upstream traffic is limited to a shared total of 31.4 Mbit/s using 1500 byte packets and 54 Mbit/s rates.
• 802.11n -2009 (Multiple Antennas)
• IEEE 802.11n is an amendment to IEEE 802.11-2007 as amended by IEEE 802.11k-2008, IEEE 802.11r-2008, IEEE 802.11y-2008, and IEEE 802.11w-2009, and builds on previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and 40 MHz channels to the PHY (physical layer), and frame aggregation to the MAC layer. MIMO is a technology that uses multiple antennas to coherently resolve more information than possible using a single antenna. One way it provides this is through Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM), which spatially multiplexes multiple independent data streams, transferred simultaneously within one spectral channel of bandwidth. MIMO SDM can significantly increase data throughput as the number of resolved spatial data streams is increased. Each spatial stream requires a discrete antenna at both the transmitter and the receiver. In addition, MIMO technology requires a separate radio-frequency chain and analog-to-digital converter for each MIMO antenna, making it more expensive to implement than non-MIMO systems.
• 802.11ac -2013 (WiFi 5)
• IEEE 802.11ac-2013 or 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the 802.11 sets of protocols (which is part of the Wi-Fi networking family), providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band. The standard has been retroactively labeled as Wi-Fi 5 by Wi-Fi Alliance. The specification has multi-station throughput of at least 1.1 gigabits per second (1.1 Gbit/s) and single-link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (0.5 Gbit/s). This is accomplished by extending the air-interface concepts embraced by 802.11n: wider RF bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to eight), downlink multi-user MIMO (up to four clients), and high-density modulation (up to 256-QAM).
• 802.11ax - 2021 (New Technology)
• IEEE 802.11ax-2021 or 802.11ax is an IEEE standard for wireless local-area networks (WLANs) and the successor of 802.11ac. It is marketed as Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)[1] and Wi-Fi 6E (6 GHz)[2] by the Wi-Fi Alliance. It is also known as High-Efficiency Wi-Fi, for the overall improvements to Wi-Fi 6 clients under dense environments.[3] It is designed to operate in license-exempt bands between 1 and 7.125 GHz, including the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands already in common use as well as the much wider 6 GHz band (5.925–7.125 GHz in the US). The main goal of this standard is enhancing throughput-per-area[a] in high-density scenarios, such as corporate offices, shopping malls, and dense residential apartments. While the nominal data rate improvement against 802.11ac is only 37%, the overall throughput improvement (over an entire network) is 400% (hence High Efficiency). This also translates to 75% lower latency. The quadruplication of overall throughput is made possible by higher spectral efficiency. The key feature underpinning 802.11ax is orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), which is equivalent to cellular technology applied to Wi-Fi. Other improvements on spectrum utilization are better power-control methods to avoid interference with neighboring networks, higher-order 1024‑QAM, up-link direction added with the down-link of MIMO and MU-MIMO to further increase throughput, as well as dependability improvements of power consumption and security protocols such as Target Wake Time and WPA3. The IEEE 802.11ax-2021 standard was approved on February 9th, 2021.

The above-mentioned standards are important enough to know about a router although there are more standards available and release till now. Such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11c, 802.11d, 802.11e, 802.11F, 802.11g, 802.11h, 802.11i, 802.11j, 802.11k, 802.11m, 802.11n, 802.11p, 802.11r, 802.11s, 802.11T, 802.11u, 802.11v, 802.11w, 802.11y, 802.11ac, 802.11ad, 802.11ah, 802.11aj, 802.11ax, 802.11ay, 802.11az and so on maybe onward.

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• What does mean by 802.11a/b/g/n/ac?
• The latest model of the standard has backward compatibility and the above 802.11a/b/g/n/ac means that has 802.11a, b, g, n compatibility along with 802.11ac and others are the same.

Among the other standards, there are some standards that just special for force or military and some are for higher range and some are for higher speed depending on need. But all the standard is not important, you need to know about the standard above for to know about the router Technology.

2. Band Frequency

Before going to further discussion we need to know about the frequency. The frequencies are:

• 2.4 GHz: Features of 2.4 GHz WiFi are:
• Coverage: 2.4GHz offers coverage at a longer range. It covers a larger area and provides a more extended range.
• Interference: 2.4GHz is more convenient if you have many walls or other objects where you need coverage. The waves used by this frequency are better suited for longer ranges and transmission through obstacles. 
• Cost: 2.4GHz access points are cheaper than the ones supporting 5GHz.
• Speed: 2.4GHz transmits data at slower speeds, with lower data rates.
• Congestion: Users can experience higher congestion, as many devices use the 2.4GHz band. This will cause discontinued connections and slower speeds. 
• Overcrowding: 11 free radio air and channels available in the 2.4GHz band, depending on the country’s standards, less than the 23 available in 5GHz.
• Wireless standard 802.11b/g/n
• 5.0 GHz: Features of 5 GHz WiFi are:
• Speed: 5GHz band sends data at faster speeds, with a higher data rate.
• Less congestion: 5GHz WiFi frequency experiences fewer interferences from other devices because fewer devices use 5GHz frequency.
• Less overcrowding: 5 GHz has more free radio air and channels, i.e., 23 working channels vs. 11 in the 2.4GHz band, depending on the country’s standards.
• Coverage: 5GHz provides a smaller coverage area.
• Interference: 5GHz band’s shorter waves make it less capable of going through walls and solid objects. This happens because, at higher frequencies, waves attenuate stronger. Hence, the signal is easily affected by multiple obstacles.
• Cost: the cost of access points supporting 5GHz is higher. This is because 5GHz is newer in the market.
• Wireless standard 802.11b/g/n/ac
• 5.8 GHz (WiFi 6): This is the latest technology, capable of more than 5GHz, this is a new technology still don't available on many devices.
• Speed: It has an official rating of 9.6 Gbps, a significant increase from the previous standard of 3.5 Gbps.
• FDMA (Frequency-division Multiple Access): In previous WiFi series there are a limitation, the more wifi user and the more slower it does, but by introducing FDMA it become solve and now by FDMA no device should wait for the data.
  
  
  
• Power Efficiant: The new "target wake time" (TWT) function means that our smartphone, laptop and other Wi-Fi enabled devices should have longer battery life. How is this possible? Very easy: when the access point is talking to a device (mobile, for example), you can tell the device exactly when to suspend Wi-Fi and when to wake it up to receive the next transmission, which will save power because it means that Wi-Fi can spend more time in sleep mode.
• Safer: A new enhanced security protocol called WPA3 was introduced in 2018, which is optional for older Wi-Fi networks but mandatory for new ones. Thus, the introduction of Wi-Fi Alliance certifications imposes its use and provides a safer arrangement in general as better encryption and greater protection against computer intrusions.
• Coverage: WiFi 6 has fewer coverage compare to 5 GHz WiFi. The more solid obstacle the less coverage.
• Cost: WiFi 6 is entirely new technology and very expensive then other.
• Utilization: To utilize the full potential of WiFi 6 you need a gigabit connection.
• Wireless standard 802.11b/a/g/n/ac/ax.

Please read the above advantage of disadvantage of frequency so that you have clear knowledge about the frequency. Depending on these frequencies the router divided into 3 types. Such as

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• Single Band Router
• Routers that have only 2.4 GHz frequency are called single-band routers. This type of router is good for browsing, Facebook, Youtube, and light application. This type of router has less speed but wider coverage, If you just need to do basic work on internet then you can buy this type of router but now in this era, a single band router is not recommended as the other have same feature within next gen technology.
• Dual Band Router
• Dual-band router has two frequencies at a time 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. These types of routers provide wider coverage by 2.4 GHz and a lot of speed by 5GHz. Usually, most routers have two SSID for 2.4 or 5 GHz but now some of the routers come with a smart preference system. Smart Preference helps a person directly transfer to 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz depending on the distance you have from the router, at the lower distance this router automatically connected to 5GHz and in distant connection 2.4 GHz. This type of router is recommended for home use, also you can use it to office that has less employee. Vast number of WiFi user will cause slower speed. But this types of router capable to connect more then 100 user using 5 GHz technology.
• Triband Router
• Triband router provides three frequencies at a time. 2.4 GHz and 5GHz with 5.8 GHz latest technology WiFi 6. This type of router have more speed than dual-band, capable of connect and run multiple user at a time. This router is very good for multi user but only WiFi 6 multiuser can enjoy the benefit but other are as same as before.

Some Router Suggestion

• 2.4 GHz: If you want to buy single band router I suggest you to buy netis router as this type of router performing good and have more features and coverage area, you can buy Netis WF2419
  Buy From Amazon at $20.15, Buy From eBay at US $28.43
• 5.0 GHz (Dual Band): As there are a lot of choice here, you can buy whatever you want but I suggest you to buy one that has gigabit port and depending on your quality of internet speed. My suggested 5.0 GHz Router are
• D-Link WiFi Router AC1200 High Power Gigabit Ethernet Dual Band Mesh Wireless Internet for Home Gaming Parental Control Wi-Fi (DIR-1260)
• Buy From Amazon
• Buy From eBay
• TP-Link AC1200 Gigabit WiFi Router (Archer A6)
• Buy From Amazon
• Buy From eBay
• D-Link WiFi Router AC3000 EasyMesh Smart Internet Network Compatible with Alexa & Google Assistant, MU-MIMO Tri Band Gigabit Gaming Mesh (DIR-3040-US) Expensive
• Buy From Amazon
• Buy From eBay
• 5.8 WiFi 6 Router: Most of the router is very expensive for only home users, but you can buy one if you like:
• TP-Link AX5400 WiFi 6 Router (Archer AX73)
• Buy From Amazon
• Buy From eBay

3. Speed

Speed is the important part of a router but you should choose the right one for you. Cause there are a lot of choice depending on speed. such as 

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• 300 Mbps
• 300 Mbps router are mostly single band router. This types of router can provide you 300 Mbps speed at total.
• AC1200/AC1700/AC1900/AC2600/AC3000
• AC means 5 GHz Technology and called dual band router and the speed are individual like 300 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps on 5GHz. Similar to AC1900 and other all the types of router are divided speed on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and by adding speed it become 1200, 1700, 1900, 2600 and 3000. More example of: Dual-band Wireless AC2600 (1,733 Mbps on 5 GHz + 800 Mbps on 2.4 GHz)
• AX5400
• AX means WiFi 6 capable, triband routers (But most frequently its also called dual band router as there are 5 GHz and 5.8Ghz band are called 5GHz along with 2.4 Ghz, but this is WiFi 6 Compatible). and the speed also become the same as the dual band but this type of router have triband so it's more powerful and have more speed compare to previous dual band, such as AX5400. AX5400 speed divided into 5 GHz: 4804 Mbps (802.11ax) and 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax)

LAN and WAN Port Speed

Though there are many dual band and triband router all the router have LAN port along with one WAN port. Some router has LAN port within smart WAN port means you can connect any LAN and can use it as WAN port. This LAN and WAN port also have speed.

• Normal LAN Port: Normally in routers of 2.4 GHz single band or some dual band router also have 10/100 Mbps LAN and WAN port, this is called general LAN port.
• Gigabit LAN Port: Gigabit LAN port has 10/1000 Mbps LAN and WAN speed so the deference between the Gigabit Routers are different. Gigabit router can handle Gbps speed of data on the router and for the end user.

Router Speed vs Line Speed

Though there are a lot of choice of routers but this speed doesn't mean anything if you have slower speed of internet speed, such as if your internet provider can give you line of 50 Mbps, then whatever router you choose can't have more speed then 50 Mbps, and this 50 Mbps speed of internet also have some issue, such as this speed of internet also depend on your ANU, MC, Wire and Join between the connection, If your ISP provide you connection by Fiber then the speed also depend on ANU or MC. and If your ISP provide you with just a CAT6 cable then you also have face problem depending on the quality of the wire and the space between the CAT6 wire. Normally CAT6 has capability of 100 Meter less distant data carrier system, at speed of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps depending on the wire and distance.

If you need more information about the connection system, you can comment here.

4. Router Security and Features

If you confuger a router, you can also hear about WPA, WPA 2 and WPA 3. This is also called security. So in this section all dual band router which has 5GHz technology have this WPA2 security and WiFi 6 (5.8 GHz) have WPA 3 capability. This is called security because on that method your data travel through the internet and your device. WPA 2 is secure and WPA 3 is more secure then before. Always try to buy a router which have WPA2 security.

Router Features

Apps Support: You can check whether your router support apps or not, such as TP link have a apps named TP Link theter. Tenda have a app called Tenda Wifi to manage the connection speed and audiences.

MU-MIMO Benefits: Multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output technology—better known as MU-MIMO (a.k.a. Next-Gen AC or AC Wave 2)—allows a Wi-Fi router to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously. This decreases the time each device has to wait for a signal and dramatically speeds up your network.

Beamforming: It is a technique that focuses a wireless signal towards a specific receiving device, rather than having the signal spread in all directions from a broadcast antenna, as it normally would. The resulting more direct connection is faster and more reliable than it would be without beamforming.

Quality of service (QoS): QoS is a newer feature that allows the router administrator to limit certain types of traffic. For example, you can use the QoS feature of a router to completely block all torrent traffic, or limit it so that other users can have equal bandwidth. Not every router has this ability, but it is a highly beneficial feature for office routers.

5. Antena

Antena is a marketing strategy of Router company. Some peoples are thinking more antena means biggar coverage but here more antena means stronger coverage. Normally a router work with a specific coverage area but while this antena help a router to provide strongest connection in this specific area. Some router doesn't comes with antena, meanwhile those router also have bigger coverage area. There are some speciality of antena.

Based on the radiation pattern, WiFi Antennas are classified into

• Omni Directional Antenna
• Semi Directional Antenna
• Directional Antenna

Omni Directional WiFi Antennas emits electromagnetic waves equally in all direction. Semi-directional antennas emit radio waves in particular pattern and direction antennas transmit energy in a particular direction only. They are commonly used in WiFi Routers and WiFi Adapters.

Based on the Antenna placement, there are mainly two types of WiFi Antennas

• Indoor WiFi Antenna: Indoor WiFi antennas are usually small and compact antennas, generally used as WiFi router antennas, Mobile Phones, Laptops and low powered USB WiFi Adapters. These antennas have very low power gain (generally 2dBi-9dBi) and are designed for internal uses.
• Outdoor WiFi Antenna: Outdoor WiFi antennas are a designed for long range transmission and reception purposes. They are usually mounted on the rooftop and can transmit or receive radio waves to very long distances. They have very high power gain and are usually weatherproof that are designed for external use.

Source of information

• Wikipedia
• tplink.com
• megainteresting.com
• tanaza.com
• rootsaid.com