Have you ever sat down to watch your favorite movie on Netflix and waited seemingly forever for the thing to load? Or maybe you are trying to train an employee watching a YouTube video. And it takes too long to load. Now it’s costing your business money and time. This can be a little annoying. You want the video to load, and you want to load now! But all you see is the little spinning wheel on your screen.
So what do you do? The simple answer may be…you replace your router. Your router is one of the key ingredients to speeding up your internet connection. What does a router do? As information go back and forth from the internet to your devices, a router directs what goes where and when. Your internet connection is only as fast as its weakest link. If the broadband connection coming into your home or business is 1000 megabytes (Mbps) or 1 Gigabyte (GB) per second, and your router maxes out at 54 Mbps, then your connections to the internet will be a maximum of 54 megabytes per second. And that 54 megabytes per second is again split between all the devices in use at one time.
For example…a Smart TV attached the internet requires a minimum of 25 Mbps for high definition viewing. So with the 54 Mbps router, this one device would consume almost half your entire bandwidth. Why does your router slow down? Here is what generally happens. Routers are set to run at full power out of the box. This allows the bandwidth to project further and stronger. But if the router is stored in a closed cabinet, heat can build up which may cause damage to the radio transmitter over time. This will reduce the coverage range. So if you start to notice your internet connection slowing down, it may be the router starting to go on the fritz. What are some of the advantages of a getting new router? Capabilities increase every year. New routers can often be set up using your smart phone. Router graphics indicate the most effective placement. Set up is virtually automatic. Once you have everything hooked up, then you just answer a few questions and the router sets itself up. One of the things you can do to make your router more effective is to set up a separate guest network for clients (or for family members) so they are on their own unique channel and do not affect your main work network. If you’re interested in learning more, send an email to jnay@jimnay.com or call us at 615-443-4842. Until next time, have a fast and secure networking experience! |
All the best,
Jim Nay
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