If you have been unhappy with your home network lately it may be time to replace your old Wi-Fi router. In fact even if you think it’s fine, you may have just gotten used to how it is and not realize how much better things could be. In fact I find that that is one of the major reasons people stick with old or broken technology – they don’t know any different and think the poor performance they experience is just how things are supposed to work.
- How old is it?
Things have been changing rapidly in the world of Wi-Fi over the past few years. In fact if your router is more than a handful of years old then I would say it’s almost definitely a good sign that you should be considering a replacement. It may be working as well as ever for you but a newer router will almost undoubtedly show you a marked improvement.
- How hot does it get?
In addition, heat over time can slowly damage a router’s insides which may explain why you are seeing more performance issues than when the router was new. If your router gets very hot, and is unable to dissipate that heat you could start to find that your performance suffers. Go touch your router and see how hot it is to get the idea. Imagine all the components inside staying that hot all day, every day. You can imagine how that could be a problem.
- How secure is it?
Security is also a concern. Things change over time. Newer routers are much more secure and easier to manage than older routers. If you find that your bandwidth is suffering you may have people high jacking your connection. You may also simply be concerned about home IT security. A newer router will make it easier to keep your network secure and keep intruders out. You may have other people on your network, using your bandwidth or even accessing your files without even knowing it. A newer router will help you secure your network and will be even easier to manage than an older router thanks to improvements in user experience in the past few years.
- How have your needs changed?
Chances are that your bandwidth needs have changed a lot in the past few years. A newer router can help with that. Newer models support better technologies designed to support more connected devices simultaneously, and provide stronger connections to help with bandwidth intensive tasks like streaming HD video without lag.
- How user friendly is it?
Modern routers have come a long way in the past few years. New models make it easy for even novice users to manage all of their features and set them up in no time. It’s now easy to manage your network, handle QoS technology, block devices, and even do things like set parental controls. A lot of new routers even let you manage them from your smartphone. You don’t need crazy technical knowhow and the interfaces are as friendly as could be. If you look at your router’s software interface and feel any sort of intimidation, then that too is another sign that it might be time to upgrade to a new model.
