What do i need to look for when choosing a new router?

[Bojan]

I wanna get a new router and i need it to reach more,so do i go with 2 or 4 antennas,is that what affects the area,more antennas means better signal right?

[mcraftax]

a router is nothing to do with wifi.

[Bojan]

1 minute ago, mcraftax said:

a router is nothing to do with wifi.

What do u mean....

[mcraftax]

4 minutes ago, Bojan said:

What do u mean....

A router routes traffic around a network using NAT

A switch connect devices together smartly (wired)

An access point (AP) handle wireless

(Really simple explanations)

A "WiFi-Router" is a router + a switch + an AP

 

Really you only need an AP, so I would suggest one of the Ubiquiti UniFi AC APs but if you want a "WiFi-Router" look at the asus line up, I don't know much about them so see what other people suggest.  

[Bananasplit_00]

number of antennas are not what decide range, its the power and size of them, but more will generally be better because your router can communicate with more things at once basically

[DioOmicida]

More antenna's does not mean better signal necessarily, though I understand where you'd assume that from as most "high end" wireless router's look like they could come alive and start walking. I've gone through three different low end routes, all performing about the same. The only time I've seen any sort of performance difference is when I switched to a dual band that has the ability to operate at a higher frequency. I saw better connectivity all around as well as a far wider range (I guess those things come hand in hand) Sadly I wish I could help you more, but after all my research I couldn't make sense of it all.

14 minutes ago, mcraftax said:

if you want a "WiFi-Router" look at the asus line up

I did purchase an Asus router as well. I have a tendency to go Asus, though. 

[.:MARK:.]

28 minutes ago, mcraftax said:

a router is nothing to do with wifi.

Really? Don't be like that. That's bad.

 

24 minutes ago, mcraftax said:

A router routes traffic around a network using NAT

A switch connect devices together smartly (wired)

An access point (AP) handle wireless

(Really simple explanations)

A "WiFi-Router" is a router + a switch + an AP

 

Really you only need an AP, so I would suggest one of the Ubiquiti UniFi AC APs but if you want a "WiFi-Router" look at the asus line up, I don't know much about them so see what other people suggest.  

No, just no. Stop being condescending when you don't even know what you're talking about.

[Donut417]

19 hours ago, .:MARK:. said:

Really? Don't be like that. That's bad.

 

No, just no. Stop being condescending when you don't even know what you're talking about.

Actually part of what @mcraftax said is right. Technically the router is a device on the internet that routes traffic. Technically a WiFi router is a multi-function networking device. It just the marketing teams decided to call it a router. 

 

20 hours ago, Bojan said:

I wanna get a new router and i need it to reach more,so do i go with 2 or 4 antennas,is that what affects the area,more antennas means better signal right?

If WiFi matters to you, Id look for a router that supports a minimum of AC. My sister has the Archer C7 from TP Link, it has done her good. Its not too expensive. Keep in mind speeds for WiFi depend on the speed your router is rated for and the speed the WiFi adapter in your device is rated for. 

[Mark77]

Yes, an above poster is correct -- strictly speaking a 'router' is just a device with at least one physical network interface, and multiple physical or virtual network interfaces, that tells IP packets where to go.  A router, in the purest sense of the word/device, does not include a wireless access point.

 

The devices which have, in the 'consumer' world, come to be known as 'routers', typically are a combination of an Ethernet switch, a wireless access point, and a router (typically a 1-physical port, multiple virtual port router device). 

 

When shopping for one of these consumer-level devices, my suggestion would be to look for the ability to load open-source firmware such as dd-wrt, tomato, etc., on it, as a replacement for the manufacturers' proprietary firmware load.  After all, the manufacturer will likely support the device for a short period of time aligned with its business goals, but support from the open source community is likely to be far longer lasting.  Additional functionality is likely to be enabled through third-party open source firmware as well (for instance, I run a pretty wicked ad block on my 10-year-old Linksys device!).