Rating of routers for a house or apartment

Good fast internet at home starts with a router. It is without this device that it is difficult to imagine a modern apartment or a private house in which there is access to the World Wide Web. Before purchasing such a technique, we recommend that you review the rating of routers to be sure that you will be satisfied with the purchase.

Eyes run up from variety of assortment

The niche of the modern market occupied by routers and routers is really crowded. It is very difficult for an unprepared buyer to understand which router is worthy of his attention and will quickly pay back the money invested in it. Therefore, before you part with money and finally buy a good, modern router for yourself, it’s worthwhile to study the main characteristics by which you can determine whether this product is suitable for you or not, and, of course, evaluate the rating of WiFi routers, which describe the best models.

Learning to choose a router

First, let's figure out what a router is, or a router. In simple words, this is a special device that provides your access to the Internet from a computer, tablet or laptop, or even from a phone that has the WiFi function.

A good router does not have to be expensive, often the rating of routers suitable for home use includes those devices that suit most consumers both in price and quality. Choosing a router will be much easier for you if you are familiar with their characteristics:

• Specifications: a good home router should have enough RAM (at least 64 MB), at least 16 MB of FLASH memory and a modern processor from 300 MHz. If you want to install one unit of similar equipment in a large apartment or house, choose a model in which there is more than one antenna, because the quality of access in rooms remote from the location of the router depends on power.
• Price is an equally important indicator. Do not think that there is no difference between the cheapest and more expensive router. Cheap models have not only low-quality component parts, but also the created WiFi coverage area is rather miniature. But try to buy the most expensive model, if, for example, you have a small apartment and the maximum speed from the provider is low, you should not.
• Name of the manufacturer: well-established brands produce routers of different price categories to satisfy the needs of customers with different solvency. But there are brands, for example, D-Link, which offer only budget routers, the reliability of which is not as high as, for example, models from Linksys. Their price is comparatively higher than that of the above brand. The ranking of the routers most sold on the territory of our country also included manufacturers such as TP-Link (offers budget, but high-quality routers), Asus (is one of the world leaders in sales, including such products as routers) and Zyxel (produces many different models, some of which are superior in parameters to their analogues in their price categories).
• Standards: There is such a thing as the WiFi standard. The newest standard is 802.11n. If you are offered a router with the standard 802.11g or even 802.11b, this model is not worth buying, because it is considered already outdated.
• Access Protocols: A brand-new router that has just been brought from the store might not work well with the Internet access protocol offered by your ISP. Therefore, you need to clarify the access protocol with the provider in advance and select the model that will support it based on it.
• The technology of connecting to the World Wide Web: each router has a WAN port, it is connected to it with a cable that feeds the Internet to a house or apartment. Match the internet cable and the input on the router before you buy.

Different ratings with different criteria

Probably, creating a universal rating of routers, which can be called the best in all respects, is unrealistic. Therefore, we have created several full ratings, depending on the main criterion:

• The ranking of WiFi multifunction routers that are considered ideal for home use.
• Rating of the best routers depending on the price:

a) the best budget models;

b) the best models at an average price.

• Rating of the best mobile routers.
• Rating of the best routers of 2016 from the most popular manufacturers:

a) a rating of WiFi routers for home from Asus;

b) decent routers from D-link;

c) the best TP-link routers.

"Multifunctional" rating of routers in 2016, which should be purchased for use at home

Since modern houses and apartments have approximately the same characteristics (characteristics of structures used for the construction of materials), the models listed below, which are included in the rating, are suitable for both a private house and an apartment in a high-rise building.

Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi mini

Modern, stylish, high-quality - this model has earned all these epithets. It got into the rating of routers in 2016 due to the fact that it supports the most modern transmission standards, can work at speeds of up to almost 1200 Mbps, and you can even “rebuild” it if you wish for more functional firmware. An external drive is connected to it without problems via a USB port, so even the download function on this external drive will be available to you. There are drawbacks to this miracle of technology. So, according to reviews, the most inconvenience is caused by the interface and instructions, which are offered to us only in Chinese. This model has only a pair of LAN ports, and the speed on them is limited to a hundred Mbps.

ASUS RT-N56U is not only striking in its original design

The model does not have external antennas, but this does not prevent it from transmitting data at speeds up to 1 Gb / s via LAN ports and 300 Mb / s via WAN. Here we see immediately a couple of USB ports, which attracts many advanced users. The instrument setup is so simple that most of the actions are done on an intuitive level. There are also disadvantages, although they do not prevent the model from getting into the rating of WiFi routers for an apartment or a house, because they are not noticed by most users. So, the router starts to slow down and overheat if an external medium with a capacity of a terabyte or more is connected.

Such a stylish TP-LINK TL-WA901ND

This modern "triangular monster of the Internet" can be powered even through an Ethernet cable (the adapter is immediately included). Removable antennas, if you connect them all together, it is realistic to provide all the gadgets with the Internet at a distance of 270 m. But the gadget without the built-in adapter will not make friends with this model, because it does not have LAN ports at all. But given the fact that today a negligible amount of equipment does not have a built-in WiFi adapter, this model has the right to get into the rating of WiFi routers 2016 for home.

The best budget routers

It’s not always possible to purchase even a mid-range router. This is not a reason to be sad, but an excellent reason to study the rating of home routers, which will be affordable for everyone. The list below includes only those models whose work quality is quite high, that is, they can provide normal access to the Internet in your house or apartment.

TP-Link TL-WR841N Model

A budget router that has such nice features as parental control or the ability to limit traffic. Modern connection protocols TL-WR841N pulls.

The design of the model can be called classic for this manufacturer. In their reviews, many buyers thank the brand for the fact that each of their routers can not only be mounted on a table (or on any other horizontal surface), but also fixed to a wall. The model practically does not overheat, because the manufacturer has equipped it with many ventilation holes.

The router is budgetary, therefore, real data transfer rates vary within hundreds of megabits, although the manufacturer has set a limit of 300 megabits. Also, there is no provision for USB ports, like expensive analogues of the same brand.

D-link DIR-300S is also worthy to take a place in this rating

This model was not accidentally included in the rating of Wi-Fi routers, because it supports all types of connections and even has parental control functions and the Yandex content service filtering function that is so relevant today. A nice addition is the modern glossy design and small dimensions of this router, although some customers complain about the glossy case, because it immediately shows settled dust.

The rating of mid-range routers is worth starting with MikroTik RB951G-2HnD

Routers of this brand are popular not because of the advertised name, but because the manufacturer provides them with a smart "stuffing", so a number of supported functions are really amazing. The model will appeal to advanced users who are well versed in personal settings, but for users who want to "press a button and immediately go online", it will seem too complicated to understand. Small RB951G-2HnD can be used not only in a house or apartment, but even in the office of a small or medium-sized enterprise, because the coverage area is large, it is provided by a powerful transmitter.

Next on the list will be the ZyXEL Keenetic 4G III

You can connect a USB modem via the USB port to this router and provide nearby devices with high-quality 3G or 4G Internet. The latest 802.11n standard is supported. The device has two powerful antennas, so the Internet can freely “fly” at speeds of up to 300 megabits. The stylish design and as many as 4 LAN ports on the rear panel are also pleasing. But the wireless coverage area is small - this is a minus. Although, if you take such a router for a small apartment, there will be no complaints about its work.

A low-cost TP-LINK Archer C50 supports the latest 802.11ac protocol

A dual-band router that supports speeds “over the air” up to 1.167 Gbit per second and is able to independently provide high-quality coverage even to a large three-room apartment. The Russian-language interface, ease of setup, signal stability to any interference, plus a stylish design made this model one of the most popular in our market. But it also has disadvantages, and it is significant: a wired connection is only possible at speeds within a hundred megabytes, and the built-in USB port is too slow.

Rating of decent mobile routers

Not all houses or apartments have the ability to connect wired Internet, so we offer you the rating of routers for the house in 2016, which have a slot for a SIM card. It is these models that are most often purchased for use in small towns and villages, where access to the Internet is possible only through mobile communications. Such devices quite qualitatively form the zone of Internet coverage.

The smallest router Huawei E5330

A tiny mobile router from Huawei is able to provide you with a pretty good WiFi signal in an apartment or house. For ease of use, the manufacturer has provided a liquid crystal display (all the most important data will be constantly before your eyes). Consumers do not mention interruptions in operation, freezing and braking of the model in their reviews, so it can be argued that the baby works stably. Why is this model topped the ranking of WiFi 2016 routers for an apartment or house where there is no cable Internet? It’s simply capable of providing the Internet with a dozen devices at once! Of course, there are some drawbacks: the E5330 does not work on the 4G network, and the battery is weak enough, so be prepared for the fact that you will have to regularly recharge the “little Chinese”.

And again TP-LINK! Model M5250

And this router only works on 2G / 3G networks, unfortunately, but it works stably! The manufacturer takes care of the buyer, therefore, provided an adapter for SIM cards, a USB cable (through which the router is charging). The case is not big, oversized, so the M5250 can be safely taken with you wherever you go! On the shortcomings: most often, buyers blame for the lack of a display. The model is really reliable and worthy of attention, so it was included in this rating of WiFi routers in 2016.

Ratings of the best routers from the most popular manufacturers

The most "sold" manufacturers of routers are Asus, D-link and TP-link. Unfortunately, in the line of their models it is unrealistic to single out the best router; a rating with specification of the main advantages will be more informative for you.

Best from Asus:

• EA-AC87 model - the most powerful modern technology with high-quality filling;

• RT-AC66U model can simultaneously provide high-quality Internet to a dozen devices;
• The RT-N56U model creates a coating that can cover a large apartment.

Best from D-link:

• DIR-300A model is the undisputed sales leader;
• the DIR-880L model is striking in its power;
• DIR-850L model pleases with quality filling.

Best from TP-link:

• TL-WA901ND is considered the best new product of 2016;
• Arcer C2 model - top-end, that is, corresponds to the latest technology;
• Model TL-WR740N is an ideal budget option for a small one-room apartment.

How to understand that you have a bad router and it's time to change it?

Often the problems with access to the Internet are not to blame for the provider, but for the weak router, which simply cannot provide all the features offered by the provider.

So, the main reasons for buying a new similar equipment are as follows:

1. The WiFi coverage area does not cover the entire apartment or house: modern, not very expensive routers that have worked well, according to customer reviews, can cover up to 100 square meters. If the signal from your router cannot even go through the wall into the next room - it's time to change it.
2. The router can "cut" the Internet speed: it happens that the provider provides a speed of, for example, 100 Mbit / s for download and upload, and after checking the Internet status in your house, you get only 60 Mbit / s for download and even less to return. You should not slander the provider, it is better to read the instructions for your router, perhaps such indicators are its maximum limit, and it simply does not support higher speeds. If so, you should be generous in purchasing a new router.
3. The router hangs or reboots regularly: such symptoms can be seen in the work of cheap models that can not cope with their responsibilities. Save your nerves and your time - buy a new router.

And finally

Your router will work much better if you do not allow it to be regularly overloaded, dust or other dirt getting under the case, if it will not be placed in a damp room. Stay tuned, install the latest firmware, make user settings that will maximize the comfort of your work on the World Wide Web. And let your house or apartment always have high-quality coverage and stable WiFi!