How the internet routers work?

[Carlos1010]

So ive seen words like  802.11ac or WLAN but what does this all mean? I'm kinda new at the internet thing and how to read it? So how do you read internet routers aside from the download speeds? Please help me because im a noob and want to be a pro. Anything helps, thanks in advanced!

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

802.11ac is a wireless networking standard defined by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). It's essentially high-bandwidth wireless on a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) using the 5GHz band. 

 

Its single-link throughput is 500Mbps minimum (theoretically. Real world speeds vary). You'll see other things like 802.11n, which is another wireless standard defined by IEEE. Typically, a router will be named with the best wireless standard it provides. 

 

To be clear, the potential throughput on a router has no real impact on your download speeds, unless your connection from your ISP provides more bandwidth than your router can. If you have a 20Mbps internet connection and a router that is capable of 500Mbps wireless throughput, you're still going to be limited to 20Mbps if you're downloading from the internet. High bandwidth wireless normally comes in handy for local area network transfers, where data is not going to an external network, so is not limited by your internet connection speeds. 

 

Explaining how routers work would take a very long time, as there's so many things to consider. Modern routers are typically a combination of devices and services, such as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), Firewall, QoS and so on, rather than performing purely routing functions. 

 

I would suggest watching/reading some basic networking tutorials if you want to understand things a bit better. There's an awful lot of acronyms to remember for networking stuff, so it can take some repetition to get it to sink in. 

 

Watch through this. It's generally well explained and easy to understand 

 

[Carlos1010]

2 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

802.11ac is a wireless networking standard defined by IEEE. It's essentially high-bandwidth wireless on a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) using the 5GHz band. 

 

Its single-link throughput is 500Mbps minimum (theoretically. Real world speeds vary). You'll see other things like 802.11n, which is another wireless standard defined by IEEE. Typically, a router will be named with the best wireless standard it provides. 

 

To be clear, the potential throughput on a router has no real impact on your download speeds, unless your connection from your ISP provides more bandwidth than your router can. If you have a 20Mbps internet connection and a router that is capable of 500Mbps wireless throughput, you're still going to be limited to 20Mbps if you're downloading from the internet. High bandwidth wireless normally comes in handy for local area network transfers, where data is not going to an external network, so is not limited by your internet connection speeds. 

 

Explaining how routers work would take a very long time, as there's so many things to consider. Modern routers are typically a combination of devices and services, such as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), Firewall, QoS and so on, rather than performing purely routing functions. 

Do you sugggest any videos/websites that would go into more depth for internet/routers?

[failblox]

802.11 is a standard created and maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for computer communications (i.e. the internet). Basically, these guys dictate the standards for wifi. There are many rules and regulations around which frequencies consumers are allowed to use, because some of these frequencies need to be reserved for other essential things, such as emergency and military communications.

 

To put it really simply, 802.11ac is a standard for wifi which has certain specifications dictated by the IEEE. As of now, it's pretty much the fastest standard consumers can get. However, in order to utilize the benefits of 802.11ac, the device you use will have to support the standard. The speeds you see on routers like "2300Mb/s!!!!1111!!!1" are the theoretical maximum speeds that the router can transfer information over wifi. This has nothing to do with your internet speeds. If your internet speed is 50Mb/s, getting a 3200Mb/s router over a 2300Mb/s router will not make your internet "faster". There may be advantages to getting the 3200Mb/s router, such as range and features, but I want to stress that it will not make your internet faster. Your internet speed and speed that your router can transfer information are two very different things.

 

I recommend checking out the networking videos posted on TechQuickie. They seem to be pretty informative while still being relatively simple.

[Oshino Shinobu]

4 minutes ago, Carlos1010 said:

Do you sugggest any videos/websites that would go into more depth for internet/routers?

I edited my post with a bit more info. 

You could go straight into a router video, but it's likely they'll be using terms you're not familiar with, so I would recommend watching basic tutorials first. 

 

Have a read into the OSI model. It's a fundamental for pretty much any networking, both local and wide area. 

[mcraftax]

This is how i learnt a lot (not all though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL8RSFQG8do&list=PLF360ED1082F6F2A5