Do You Need New Wi-Fi?

Maybe it was you that installed your small firm’s Wi-Fi. Perhaps it was a contractor. Do you remember what year that was? Perhaps your cable company put in a router when you moved into your home.  Or a friend helped you put it in place for your home office.

For whatever reason, your Wi-Fi router is there and has worked reliably for years. It’s dependable and no one is complaining about it.

There seem to be an infinite number of reasons as to why someone’s Wi-Fi router can become old and ignored, but it happens. So if your router hasn’t been considered in more than five years, it’s probably time to review the situation — both the router itself and your data provider’s contract.

For technology reasons alone, you should upgrade to maximize the value you’re getting from your data line. If you’re paying for 15, 30 or 150 MB of throughput, it’s silly to have an older router that doesn’t take advantage. As an example, if your older router doesn’t operate on the “5G  band”, you’re using old technology and won’t see the higher speeds that are possible.

Your data provider may also help you ‘acquire’ a new router. If you use a cable modem, you may have an older one that doesn’t have a Wi-Fi router built in. The newer ones DO have embedded router technology, and the throughput can be impressive.

So this week’s tip is to upgrade (or at least review) your Wi-Fi router.  I did so at home recently, and went from 15 MB/second on “speed tests”, to over 170 MB!

— Steve Matthews