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Wi-Fi Routers – Every Router Explained – Which One Do You Need?

by sarcasticsindhi 16 May 2021, 1:53 pm 2k Views

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Today we will be discussing various WI-Fi routers that are available in the market. There are so many routers in the market like AC, AX, Single Band, Dual Band, Mesh, ONU and many more. It is a little confusing to decide which one to buy. We will be helping you choosing the best type of router as per your requirement. The links to good routers are also present at the end of the article.

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Not interested in reading, interested in the video ???????? refer to our YouTube Video ???? for the same information.

So let’s get started !!

In the recent past, technology has evolved so much along with Wi-Fi technology as well. Just like computer generations we have Wi-Fi standards. Each Wi-Fi device supports a certain standard. Generally, the Wi-Fi standards are marketed as Wi-Fi 4,5 or 6. However, they are technically referred to as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax.

You can also find the standards mentioned on the specification sheet of the product.

These 802.11a 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n 802.11ac 802.11ax are Wi-Fi standards. Each standard has its highest theoretical bandwidth. Each standard also differentiates based on bands it supports i.e. 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz.

The first thing we need to check is the Wi-Fi standard we should use and buy a Wi-Fi router of that standard.

So let’s now discuss the various type of Wi-Fi Routers.

Table of Contents

Digital Subscriber Line or DSL Routers

Photo by Stephen Phillips on Unsplash

The DSL was first introduced by BSNL in India. In the DSL technique, we get an internet connection using a telephone landline connection over a twisted pair cable. The telephone connection splits into two one connects to the telephone receiver and the second to the modem router.

Note: Modem and Routers are two different networking devices. If you need an article on the differences between various Networking devices then comment below.

The modem routers convert the analogue signal into digital signals to provide internet to the user but this technology is now too outdated. This technology was popular in the early 2000s. However, some people are still using this technology. But the bandwidth of this technology is extremely low and face many fluctuations with speeds. In today’s time, no one will recommend you to use a DSL connection.

Single-Band Routers

Single-band routers work on a single frequency band i.e. 2.4Ghz. The advantage of the 2.4Ghz band is

It provides large area Coverage
It can penetrate the walls easily as frequency is less

However one of the major disadvantages is that

It provides low data speeds as compared to the 5Ghz band due to low frequency

Dual-Band Routers

Dual-Band routers work on dual-frequency bands i.e. 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz. The advantage of the 5Ghz band over 2.4Ghz is that

It provides greater data speeds as compared to 2.4Ghz

However, the disadvantages of the 5Ghz band is that

It has low area coverage
Penetration through walls is not that good

Therefore, a dual-band router is any day better than a single band router as it supports both frequency bands of Wi-Fi technology.

But only if the bandwidth of the connection is greater than the speeds supported by 2.4Ghz.

Nahi samze ?? Hansa mein hoon na ???? [A reference to dialogue from a popular Indian sitcom]

If you are on a copper connection then your Wi-Fi connection will support a maximum bandwidth of 40-50Mbps on a single band router even if you have opted for a 100Mbps plan.

However, if you switch to a dual-band router and switch to 5Ghz band you may get the maximum speed of your connection.

If you have a 30-40Mbps internet connection then the single band is router may work for you otherwise, if your plan is greater than 50Mbps then we recommend you get a dual-band router.

Tri-Band Router

You may also come across a triple band router. In a triple band router, you get 1 2.4Ghz band along with 2 5Ghz bands. The advantage of this router is that you get an extra 5Ghz band allowing you to add many more devices connected to the router. This will come in handy when you have many clients connected to a single router. Triple band routers are recommended only when you have a very large number of clients or your connection is even faster than 1Gbps.

ONU/ONT Devices

The ONU and ONT are new terms that were introduced with fibre internet. Generally, before fibre, we were getting internet connection either via a LAN cable or a coaxial cable. In the new technology of fibre, the internet is provided using optical fibre. The fibre is spliced and connected to a special patch cable and that cable is connected to an ONT/ONU device.

ONU/ONT stands for Optical Network Unit/Optical Network Terminal. Both of the devices are actually the same. The modem router which is used at the end consumer end is called an ONU/ONT device. However, the major difference between a simple router and an ONT device is that it has a special PON port used to connect the fibre patch cable to the router.

MU-MIMO

MU-MIMO stands for Multiple Users – Multiple Input Multiple Output. This technology is introduced recently as compared to others. Moreover, this term is highlighted in many routers nowadays.

Mu-MIMO technology allows a Wi-Fi router to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously. This decreased each device wait time resulting in speedy communication between devices. With MU-MIMO technology the router is efficient enough to handle the client’s request parallelly. If you are buying a new router then you should consider that your router supports MU-MIMO technology even if you are currently using fewer devices connected to the network.

AC Routers

AC routers are the routers that support AC standards. This standard is generally marketed as Wi-Fi 5.

The AC or Wi-Fi 5 routers support a maximum practical bandwidth of 1Gbps. They provider these speed using the dual-band frequency. You can find the supported speed for each band on the router’s documentation.

On the documentation, you can view the bandwidth details for each band. Certain routers support maximum bandwidth up to 400-500Mbps even on the 5Ghz band. Do not assume that if your router is an AC router then it could support a bandwidth of up to 1Gbps. However, the practical speed that you can achieve on an AC router is generally 867Mbps.

AX Routers

AX routers are the routers that support AX standards. The latest standard as of now. AX standard is generally marketed as Wi-Fi 6 or 6E.

The AX or Wi-Fi 6 routers support a maximum practical bandwidth of 4.8 Gbps. The AX standard is capable of adding many more client as compared to the AC band due to the additional bandwidth of the network.

Wi-Fi Mesh Routers

Wi-Fi mesh routers are Wi-Fi systems in which the main router connects directly to your modem or internet connection. Whereas, a series of other routers are placed around your house/office/showroom for full WiFi coverage.

They are all part of a single wireless network and share the same SSID and password. The interconnected routers create a Wi-Fi web/mesh to provide better Wi-Fi coverage in every corner of your house/office/showroom provided you have not left any dead spot while placing the routers.

Important Points to Remember

Also, check the output ports of your router whether they are FE ports or Gigabit ports. FE ports support maximum speeds of up to 100Mbps even if you opted for the 300Mbps plan. On the other hand, the Gigabit port supports a maximum speed of 1000Mbps or 1 Gbps.

You may find some routers whose documentation mention that it is a Gigabit router however the output ports of the router are FE ports resulting in bottlenecking your network speeds. If you miss that information you may not be able to achieve the highest possible speed of your router through LAN ports.