The foundation of a modern office space is a reliable Wi-Fi network, something that provides a platform for productivity and connectivity among colleagues. Selecting the right router to support your office Wi-Fi is vital to ensuring seamless internet access for you and your team. Below, we’ll outline some of the most important considerations to make when shopping for a router that meet’s your office needs.
ISP Compatibility
First and foremost, before getting knee-deep in technical information, you should check if the router you’re eyeing is compatible with your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your ISP may have a list of supported routers or recommended models on their website, which ensures a smooth setup process and optimal functionality.
Lone Router, or a Mesh
When configuring your Wi-Fi, one of the most important factors is whether to use mesh Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi with a stand-alone router. A single router only has one device in the office that provides Wi-Fi to other machines that need it.
On the other hand, a mesh system is used to cover a larger area by using other devices in the network that are wired together to each other and help in almost completely removing dead zones areas where Wi-Fi coverage is not possible.
For the most part, Single routers are meant for small offices with minimal device usage while mesh systems can be used for large offices having multiple floors or usage in several rooms.
Speed
Speed can be defined as the rate of which data is sent and received over time. This value is usually expressed in megabits per second (Mbps). For most offices, the recommendation for a router is that it has at least 1000 Megabits per second (which is 1 Gbps). Data Intensive offices are highly encouraged to use routers with speed of at least 2.4 Gbps or 5 Gbps routers.
Bands and Channels
Wi-Fi routers typically operate on two frequency bands, listed in gigahertz (GHz): 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The 2.4 GHz band covers a larger area but gets busier faster, while the 5 GHZ offers higher network capacity and less interference resulting in faster internet speed with slightly inferior range.
These are both the frequencies at which dual-band routers can connect, and tri-band introduces an additional 5 GHz band to further improve performance. A Dual-band router is more than enough for the kind of environment seen in most offices.
Routers should also be able to support manual selection of channels. This will reduce the risk that other networks close by can change how good or stable your connectivity is going to do.
Wireless Protocol
Another thing that can impact performance is what wireless protocol your router uses. You should be on the lookout for routers that support the latest standard in Wi-Fi, which is currently Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). Wi-Fi 6 is intended for dense office environments, with improved capacity, speed and performance, and it’s a necessary choice for proactively setting up a network.
Router Security
Security is incredibly important for office networks. You need to make sure that your chosen router has robust security features, including advanced firewall options and WPA3 encryption. Another crucial task is ensuring you perform regular firmware updates, which can address many vulnerabilities. For extra security, look for routers with guest network capabilities and support for VLANs, so that you can isolate guest traffic outside of your main office network.
Quality of Service
QoS — or Quality of Service — is a feature that prioritizes network traffic from certain services and devices over others. This is very important in an office setting where voice & video calls and critical applications require constant bandwidth, but bandwidth-heavy tasks such as file transfer are also common. Choose routers with QoS settings that allow you to adjust priority levels for specific devices or applications quickly.
MU-MIMO
When a router is equipped with MU-MIMO technology it can speak simultaneously to multiple clients, which in turn ensures less network congestion and better overall performance. Select a router with MU-MIMO support if you have many devices regularly connecting to the network simultaneously in your office.
Beamforming
Beamforming is a concept of directing a Wi-Fi signal towards connected devices, increasing their data transmission speed and making reception more convenient. This feature contributes to eliminating dead spots and fostering a more stable connection. A router with beamforming is considerable for better coverage and reliability in your network.
There’s a lot of technical information that goes behind choosing the right router, and while the above ideas are helpful, they only reflect a cursory glance at the challenges ahead. If you need help picking through all the features, options, and buzzwords, personal recommendations, installation, and more, visit the expertIT contact us page today.