All routers need to be rebooted from time to time – it’s just just a fact of life. Unfortunately, consumer-grade home routers typically need to be rebooted more frequently due to the lower grade engineering and manufacturing that goes into them compared to their business/provider-grade counterparts.
It can be very handy to have the capability to reboot your router from a computer, so we are going to cover various methods here.
Be forewarned: If you plan to reboot your router remotely (via the Internet), all of these methods require some advance preparation – your router needs to be setup to allow remote access to the management web interface in advance. This means that you’ll need to configure remote access to your router while you are accessing it locally (from your house).
You probably won’t have much success if you are trying to reboot it remotely without the aforementioned prep work, since you likely won’t be able to gain the required access to the router to initiate the reboot.
If you are simply wanting to reset the router from a computer on your local network (within your home), this additional prep work is not necessary.
Before continuing, I should point out – resetting a router can mean two different things: rebooting it or resetting the configuration back to factory defaults.
A simple reboot is most often what people actually mean when they say ‘reset’. We are discussing rebooting here, not resetting the router’s configuration.
Either option is typically available remotely, but it differs depending on the make and model. Just make sure you don’t actually factory reset your router when you are only intending to reboot it.
While the need to reboot occasionally is normal, if you router frequently needs to be rebooted, you might want to look into other issues that may be causing the trouble, such as the need for a firmware upgrade, overheating or other environmental issues, or issues that need to be addressed by your ISP.
Remote Access: Accessing your router via the Internet. This could be from across town or across the world. Access is initiated from the outside (from the Internet) going in. For most people, 99% of your traffic is initiated from the inside going out, which is why setting up remote access requires some advance configuration (due to the inherent security concerns).
Local Access: Accessing your router from your home network – either through your own WiFi connection, or a computer that is plugged in to your router.
Why the need to reset (reboot) a router?
Rebooting your router physically is pretty easy, simply unplug the power cord and plug it back in. But what if you want to reboot the router from a computer?
The most common reason for needing to reboot remotely, is when you are not home but need to access something on your home network like a computer, security camera, or smart home device. Or, maybe you are the most technical person in the household and a family member or roommate calls you at work to ask for help with fixing the internet.
Or perhaps you just want to reset the router without the inconvenience of going upstairs, downstairs, or across the house to physically reset it. The ability to reboot your router remotely in these cases can be very handy.
The router must be operational and currently passing/routing traffic. This is a big one, because often times people want to reboot their router BECAUSE it’s not currently operating. If the router is frozen or otherwise not responding, you are not going to be able to log in to it in order to reset it.
The routers’ admin username and password. This differs from your WiFi password and is required any time you are making configuration changes to the router. If you don’t know or can’t remember the password, be sure to try the default password – perhaps you never updated it when you first installed the router. The RouterPasswords site can help you find the default password for your make/model.
You need to know what the IP address of your router is. More on this in a second.
If you plan to initiate a reboot remotely (via the Internet), access to the router’s management web interface must be enabled from the WAN side. Most routers support this feature but it is almost always disabled by default due to security concerns. By enabling this option, your router will respond with the login page when accessed on it’s public IP just like it currently responds when you access it from home by going to http://192.168.1.1, etc.
If you are accessing the router from home, simply run an ‘ipconfig’ (Windows) or ‘ifconfig’ (Mac and Linux) command to see your IP address information. Included in this information, is the default gateway. This is the IP address of your router.
If you are trying to access your router while away from home, the process is a bit trickier. You will need to know your public internet IP address, which can be found by going to IP Chicken before you leave the house.
Be advised, many ISP’s will change your public IP from time to time, so you might also with to explore setting up Dynamic DNS so that you don’t have to check each time to see if your IP address has changed.
There is also an extra option that usually needs to be configured on the router to allow management access from the internet. This is usually a simple checkbox that says “allow management access from internet, web, WAN”, etc. In the screenshot above it is called “remote management”.
Enable this feature after you have set a secure administrator password on your router. Don’t enable it if you are still using the default administrator password.
Once you have obtained the IP address of your router, simply put it into the address bar of your favorite web browser and hit ‘enter’. Next, enter your admin username and password to log in.
The reboot option is different on every router, but will typically be found in the ‘status’, ‘tools’, or ‘administration’ sections of the menu. I’ve even had routers that had a ‘reboot’ button right on the first page. Check your router’s documentation if you can’t find the reset option.
Once you have issued the reset command, you will lose connectivity to it for a few minutes while it reboots. You can log back in to it once it boots back up.
In addition to logging in via the web interface, some routers have the option to log in to the command line via telnet or SSH. This can be quicker and sometimes works when the web interface won’t load.
This is also more advanced and sometimes requires knowledge of the command line syntax to properly issue a reboot command.
Additionally, some routers have a scheduled reboot option. For example, I currently have my home router scheduled to reboot every night at midnight. I know that everyone in my house is in bed at this time, so it won’t disturb anyone, and it ensures that my router is always running fresh.
We call these ‘theraputic reboots’ in the tech industry.
Check your router’s web interface or the documentation to see if your make/model supports scheduled reboots. Most third party firmware options like DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato have this option as well.
Finally, you can also get a remote power switch (AKA, a “smart plug”) and plug your router into it. Smart plugs provide a user with the ability to remotely turn the switch on and off, which would be equivalent to unplugging your router from the wall and plugging it back in to reset it.
These devices vary from remote-controlled units – which are the cheapest and most simple, but also require close proximity – to advanced IP-controlled units that can be operated from thousands of miles away via the Internet.
Disclaimer: What we are discussing here potentially has the same “chicken before the egg” problem we discussed before. That is, if your router isn’t passing traffic, you might not be able to access the smart plug in order to initiate a reboot.
I recommend the TP-Link smart plug shown below. It supports the ability to turn on/off power to the plug from your phone, and allows for scheduled power cycling as well.
Hopefully this information helps you achieve your goal of rebooting your router from a computer.
Looking for the best router for 100Mbps Internet?
If you have a 100Mbps internet connection, you are ahead of most people in terms of broadband speed. True, there are some services that go much faster (usually up to 1 Gigabit per second, which is 10 times the speed of 100Mpbs).
However, there are still many people that struggle to reach anywhere near 100Mbps. Lots of cable and DSL services still max out in the 25Mbps and 50Mbps ranges, and then there are people in rural areas that have to setting for speeds in the 1-10Mbps range using technologies like fixed wireless, T-1, and satellite internet.
Excellent performance at an affordable price!
Thus, it is recommended to pick a router that can support your 100M Internet connection without slowing you down.
The team here at Infravio really likes the RT-AC68U and recommends it to our readers regularly. It features just the right mix of performance, features, stability, and quality – all at a reasonable price point.
The RT-AC68U sports the latest wireless standard, 802.11AC. It supports dual-band connectivity (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) with data rates up to 1900Mbps.
It also features a 1 GHz dual-core CPU and all of it’s wired ports support Gigabit. Gigabit support on the WAN (Internet) port isn’t required for people with 100Mbps Internet, but it is still a good idea to future-proof your router in case you upgrade your Internet service later.
Older routers without Gigabit support typically came equipped with 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports, meaning that they could run at 10Mbps or 100Mbps, but not 1000Mbps (Gigabit). Technically, if your Internet service clocks in at 100Mbps, you could get by with an older 10/100M router, but we don’t recommend it.
We say this because even though the 100M port on the router wouldn’t slow you down (since it is running at the same speed as your Internet service), the router’s older technology and lack of current feature sets could set you back.
For example, an older router likely wouldn’t support features such as 802.11AC, MIMO, and Beamforming – all of which can give you increased wireless range and speed.
There are a plethora of new features being released all of the time, so it is generally worth it to consider upgrading your router every few years, even if your existing router isn’t broken. If your old router happens to be an ASUS router, you may even want to re-use it in another area of your home and take advantage of ASUS AiMesh technology.
The AC68U runs the ASUSWRT web interface, which features powerful reporting capabilities to see what is going on in your network. We also like that it is simple enough that a novice that quickly complete the basic 3-step installation and get online without worrying about configuring optional advanced features that they may never use.
The AC68U is fully compatible with ASUS’ mobile app (available for both Android and iOS) – which lets you view bandwidth usage, modify settings, enforce parental controls, see a list of all devices connected to your network, and much much more – all from your smartphone or tablet .
This router also optionally supports the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware product – which unlocks additional advanced features of the router and offers loads of additional monitoring capabilities. This is definitely an advanced feature and can be risky if you are a novice (flashing a router is always a bit risky).
The router has been very stable in our testing, and the majority of other reviews on this model echo our sentiment – it shows great reliability and doesn’t need to be rebooted frequently like some routers. That being said, it may need to be rebooted from time to time (every router does) and the AC68U has a great feature for this too – the auto reboot.
This is such a handy feature – you can configure the router to reboot itself regularly at a time you designate. For example – I have my router set to reboot every day at 2AM while I am sleeping.
It is well documented that most types of computing and networking equipment performs better and more reliably after a reboot – we call these ‘theraputic reboots’. The idea is to reboot the device BEFORE trouble starts.
Since these reboots can be scheduled to run at any time and on a recurring schedule, it makes for a nice ‘set it and forget it’ situation, where you can reboot the router daily at a time you won’t notice and still reap the benefits of a regular therapeutic reboot.
I never notice these reboots, and my router never needs to be rebooted manually because it is always running at peak performance due to the recent reboot.
The build quality on this router is great. It is both durable and stylish. It feels great when handled – you can tell that it is more than just a cheap chunk of plastic.
It also features removable antennas – a feature usually found only on higher end routers.
It also features ASUS AiProtection, which provides an additional layer of security. This service is included with the router free of charge for the life of the product and is NOT a subscription service.
Overall, the AC68U offers a great mix to the 100Mbps internet user – performance, features, quality and reliability – all at a good price point.
We hope this article has helped you answer the question of what is the best router for 100Mbps Internet. Thanks for reading.
Have Charter Spectrum Internet service at your home or business and looking to pair it with the best router? Have no fear – we are going to break down the best routers available so you can make an informed decision and get the best “bang for your buck”.
Spectrum from Charter Communications is a brand of broadband Internet services offered to business and consumer customers to roughly 25 million people across 48 states.
Spectrum service is primary delivered across a coaxial cable system, using infrastructure originally designed to bring cable TV to homes. Charter also delivers service in some areas via fiber optic cabling.
They have invested heavily in the infrastructure of their network and are running the latest DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1 standards in many areas, enabling them to offer Gigabit speeds (and beyond) to their subscribers.
a top tier that runs at 1000Mbps (Gigabit) downstream and 35Mbps upstream.
If you’re saying to yourself “Wow, that is not a lot of upstream bandwidth compared to the downstream amount you get”, you’d be right.
Fortunately, most users down’t need a large amount of upstream capacity. Power users may notice a pinch though, which is why fiber-based services that are usually available as a symmetrical service are preferred or cable-based providers such as Charter.
There are a ton of routers out there and most of them are very similar in the standards they support and the features they offer. For the most part, various features don’t make much of a difference.
Gigabit Ethernet ports – Since your Spectrum service will likely be running at a minimum of 100Mbps and possibly as high as 1Gbps, make sure your router has Gigabit Ethernet ports. Many older routers have 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports, meaning the router can pass a maximum of 100Mbps. You don’t want to be paying for 100+Mbps speeds and not be able to use it because your older router can’t hack it.
A proven track record of reliability – Make sure your new router is stable and doesn’t need to be rebooted constantly in order to perform. Some routers do!
Sufficient number of antennas providing decent signal coverage – some router’s just don’t have powerful or well designed enough radios and thus are unable to provide decent coverage, which ensures that Wi-Fi users will have a strong, reliable signal that provides decent speeds at various ranges.
You will be happy with any of the four routers highlighted above – but of course there can only be one winner. In this roundup, we chose the ASUS RT-AC88U.
You’re probably not surprised to see that it’s not the cheapest router available either. Well, unfortunately, quality, performance, and reliability come at a cost.
Excellent Range – Thanks to the four external omni-directional antennas and a plethora of improvements built in to the 802.11AC standard, this router provides some of the longest range and most reliable connections among consumer-grade Wi-Fi routers.
If your house is huge, you may be better off installing multiple wireless access points instead of trying to get one powerful router. Many people don’t understand that wireless communication is a two-way street. Your phone, tablet, laptop, etc must not only receive data from your router, but it must also transmit it back. So even if your router transmits at a high strength, there is no guarantee that your device will be able to also transmit at a high enough signal strength to ensure a reliable connection. Having multiple access points in your home, where your device can associate with the closest one, is a better option for people needing to cover really large areas.
A plethora of Ethernet ports – This router has a whopping eight LAN ports. Most routers only have four LAN ports.
Many people have too many devices to plug in and need to add an Ethernet Switch such as this one to give them more Ethernet ports. This router can eliminate that need, since eight ports is probably enough for most people.
Good Management Options – ranging from an Intuitive WebUI to a handy mobile app. Advanced users really like AsusWRT-Merlin, a robust (and completely optional) firmware that supports many advanced features.
Good QoS controls – The Quality of Service controls are straight forward and actually work, allowing you to prioritize some traffic types over others (such as prioritizing Voice over IP traffic over BitTorrent traffic).
Guest Wi-Fi capability – This router features the ability to easily create a Guest Wi-Fi network – a separate network for guests with a different name, different password, and no ability to access resources on your private network (only ability to go out to the Internet).
Pricey – This router definitely carries a bit of a premium price tag.
Physical size – The AC88U is larger than most routers and many users report that it can generate a lot of heat.
Not novice friendly – While we really like the long list of advanced features that this router supports (especially if you flash the Merlin firmware), this router is not as friendly for novices as many routers on the market.
Potential for radio failure – Some users have reported individual bands (either 2.4GHz or 5GHz) failing or stopping working intermittently and requiring the router to be RMA’d. While these seem to be isolated cases (not a manufacturing defect), the failure rate seems to be abnormally high based on user reviews.
The R6700 from Netgear is one of my favorite routers and I recommend it to our readers frequently. Its performance and reliability relative to its affordable price point makes it the obvious choice for runner-up in this round up.
This router may not have all of the features or as many LAN ports as more expensive routers, but it can handle a Gigabit Internet connection from Charter Spectrum without any problems.
Gigabit Ethernet ports – The Ethernet ports on this router are all Gigabit, meaning you won’t be limited to 100Mbps like some routers.
Current Generation (Wi-Fi 5) support – This router supports the current 802.11AC specification so you get all of the benefits of the current standard and aren’t stuck on the previous Wi-Fi 4 standard, 802.11N.
Excellent Coverage – The Wi-Fi coverage from this router is excellent, providing a strong and reliable signal in the far reaches of your medium to large sized home (assuming the router is placed in a central location).
Reliability / Stability – Sampling a large number of reviews online, most users report that this router is quite reliable: not frequently experiencing drop-outs in service or requiring reboots.
Advanced Features – Make no mistake about it, this router supports its own suite of advanced features. Most notably, the Quality of Service (QOS) and Parental Control features generally work quite well.
Netgear Warranty Support – If you do run into an issue and need support, many people have reported that Netgear’s tech support is not the greatest. Some people have even said they had to pay money to Netgear for a support contract before they could start an RMA on a router that was still under warranty. Not Cool!
Advanced Firmware Incompatibility – Some versions of the R6700 are not compatible with advanced firmware, such as DD-WRT. As of this writing, v1 and v3 are compatible, but v2 is not.
Regardless of which WiFi router you buy to go along with your Charter Spectrum Internet, as long as you follow our guidelines listed at the top of this post, you should be okay.
Camping in an RV is a great way to relax, vacation, and see the countryside. Let’s be honest though – most of us want to stay connected to the outside world, even while we are camping.
After all, people buy or rent RV’s because they want to enjoy some of the comforts of home while they camp. Those that aren’t interested in having creature comforts usually opt for backpacking and tent camping instead.
While many RV parks, campgrounds, and marinas offer Wi-Fi to their customers, accessing this service from your RV can sometimes be a challenge. Many times, the Wi-Fi facilities may be sub-par – perhaps the campground only uses a single wireless router and doesn’t have any outdoor access points deployed.
Maybe your campsite is just too far from the office or clubhouse. Or, perhaps the campground didn’t intend for Wi-Fi to be accessed from the campsites and their only goal was to cover the general areas around the clubhouse, pool, picnic areas, etc.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to utilize campground Wi-fi reliably from the comfort of your RV? We think so to. Interested? Read on.
There are, of course, other alternatives to relying on campground Wi-Fi – with the main one being mobile 3G/4G cellular data. This, however, is not always reliable, and can also be quite expensive – since you can quickly burn through your mobile data allocation.
Satellite Internet is another possibility, however it can also be slow and expensive, and usually requires an annual contract.
Fixed Wireless through a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) is a good option, except for the fact that most RV’ers are moving between campgrounds regularly and thus setting up a permanent fixed wireless solution isn’t really an option. If you tend to stay in one place most of the time in your RV, I’d definitely recommend checking out WISPs in your area.
Other alternatives such as dial-up, T1, Cable/DSL, etc are not really an option due to the permanent nature of their installation and the fact that they are not designed for mobility.
Using campground Wi-Fi is still one of the best bets for most people. Luckily, there are improvements that can be made to your RV to increase the accessibility, reliability, range, and performance of these wireless networks.
Each of these methods involve different twists on the same basic idea – position a high gain omni or directional antenna in a place to optimally receive and transmit data to the campground Wi-Fi network, and then make that signal usable inside your RV.
Using a remote antenna is the cheaper option, because it is less complex – one end (the antenna) goes in an elevated area, preferably with line of site to the Wi-Fi source. The other end connects directly to your laptop via USB.
The antenna can be placed on the roof or attached to a window inside of your RV.
The advantage of this solution is simplicity and price. With the remote antenna plugged in, your laptop simply has better access to the wireless signal than it would on it’s own.
The remote antenna includes it’s own wireless adapter in addition to the antenna, but it’s integrated into one device – simply plug in the USB cable into your laptop and you are ready to go. There are no additional devices to configure or power.
Installation is also simpler in some cases – many remote antennas are designed to attach to a window versus permanently drilling a hole in the roof of your RV and mounting an antenna externally.
The disadvantage is that it will not work on tablets or smartphones, it cannot be shared with multiple devices inside the RV, and it’s user will remain tethered to the antenna cable.
Side Note: In some cases you CAN share the internet connection through the laptop with other laptops, tablets, and smartphones in the RV. This depends on several factors, including the type of computer and operating system. Check here for more info.
Boosters, Repeaters, and Range Extenders do exactly what their name implies – they boost/amplify incoming and outgoing signals. An antenna on the roof of your RV is connected to a cable that is ran inside of your RV and connected to a router and an omni-directional antenna located inside. The original, boosted signal is then ready for use inside your RV where your laptop, tablet, or phone will be readily able to connect to it with a stable signal.
Think of it as plugging in your own wireless router between the campground Wi-Fi and your computer. You get a strong signal from the source connection and maintain mobility of Wi-Fi access inside the RV.
In this scenario, the signal is actually being re-broadcast – you will have your own wireless network name (SSID) and password (to keep other campers off your network). This method provides additional security, since your devices will be located behind an additional router/firewall from the rest of the campground network – but this benefit also comes with the drawback that it is more complex (your traffic will pass through one additional routed “hop” on it’s way to/from the Internet).
The other main benefit of this solution is that you can share the connection with multiple devices such as other laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Installation is also more complex, however.
If you are looking for a long-term solution, we generally recommend using a booster/repeater/range extender over a remote antenna as it will generally give better results.
Regardless of which option you choose – a range extender versus an antenna, you will definitely notice a large improvement compared to simply using a laptop or tablet to connect directly to campground Wi-Fi – the antenna in those types of devices is simply not designed for the range needed in this situation.
Now get out there and enjoy the great outdoors!
Sadly, $150 doesn’t buy you a lot these days, but it will still get you a nice Wi-Fi Router. If you are shopping for a new router in this price range, read on.
Note: Pricing on Amazon fluctuates daily. This router was priced below $150 at the time of this writing and is likely (but not guaranteed) to stay below that mark. We aren’t able to keep up with the price changes, so we recommend clicking the Check Price button, which will send you over to Amazon to see the current price and review the product further.
The RT-AC68U won our top pick for several reasons including reliability, range, speed/throughput, features, and cost.
Good Value is defined as something that is worth the cost. While all routers can’t make this claim, we certainly feel that the RT-AC68U is a good value. Actually we feel that it is an excellent value!
Handling this router, you can tell that it is well made and not a cheap piece of junk. The external antennas are removable, and overall the router is pleasing to the eye.
The router features status LED’s on the front, indicating Ethernet 1-4 + WAN port status and activity, USB port status, 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio status, and a power indicator.
Having this indicators clearly identified and located right on the front is handy, especially since some manufacturers put the LED’s on the back, requiring you to move or pick up the router to get a visual check on it.
Speaking of LED’s, there is a button on the back to shut them off in case you are using the router in your bedroom and the bright light generated by the LED’s keeps you awake. Bonus!
I know aesthetics don’t matter to some people, but they matter a whole lot to other people, so I always include it in my reviews.
The RT-AC68U easily handles a large number of Wi-Fi clients. 50+ concurrent client support has been reported with no noticable slowdown.
If you have a large number of wireless devices in your home, (such as cameras, smart home devices, tablets, phones, and laptops) then you should definitely consider buying a router that can handle a large number of simultaneously connected devices – because not all routers can do so without experiencing performance issues.
The signal strength on this router is excellent, allowing to to reach devices in the deep corners of medium sized homes.
The 3 external antennas also offer adjust-ability and maximum reliability compared to models with fewer or internal-only antennas.
This router runs and runs without needing a reboot very often. Of course, pretty much any consumer-grade router will need an occasional therapeutic reboot from time to time.
The solution to that problem is scheduled reboots. This router’s ASUS-WRT firmware allows you to schedule reboots to take place automatically at a time of your choosing.
For example, mine is set to reboot daily at 2AM. Since everyone in the house is sleeping, we never notice the reboot.
Know what we do notice though? A router that is always freshly-booted and never has to be manually rebooted!
The ASUS-WRT interface on this router will look familiar to someone who has used other ASUS networking products in the past.
ASUS does a great job of maintaining consistency between their products, which means some users aren’t starting from scratch with the RT-AC68U since they are already familiar with the firmware interface.
The RT-AC68U also includes the capability to configure one of the LAN ports as a WAN port, giving you two WAN ports.
This is nice, because it allows you to connect the router to two different internet connections, define primary and backup connections, and have the router automatically failover to the backup Internet connection if the primary connection fails.
You can also use one of the USB ports as a second WAN port, allowing you to use a 5G modem as your backup internet service if you wish. Very cool.
Most people don’t have two Internet connections and won’t use this feature, but it’s nice to know it’s there. It’s disabled by default, which allows all 4 LAN ports to be used as such.
If you are on the road and need access to your home network, ASUS has your back. Simply configure and enable the VPN server on the router, and you will be able to login from anywhere on the Internet to access your network as if you were at home. Just make sure you know what your public IP address is before you leave the house.
If you have a USB hard drive connected to the router, you can set up the router as a Time Machine target disk. Very cool.
Many ASUS routers come with a proprietary feature called AiMesh.
AiMesh is designed to allow you to connect another ASUS router to your current router via wireless, and then place the second router somewhere else in your home or business with the goal being to bolster your Wi-Fi coverage in spotty areas.
Sounds cool, especially considering the fact that you don’t have to run a Cat5 cable to the new router. This is also marketed as a good way to re-use older routers that you may have just replaced with a new model… also a cool idea.
In practice, the AiMesh feature can be difficult to get working and once it is working, can be somewhat unreliable.
Some users have reported issues configuring QoS in order to prioritize bandwidth for certain users or applications. This is an advanced feature and is frequently mis-configured, so we’re not sure if this is an actual bug in the firmware, or user error.
Some users have reported certain Ethernet ports on the router failing, requiring them to either stop using those ports (you could add a basic switch if you need additional ports), or RMA the router with ASUS.
Overall, we really like this router. True, it does have some shortcomings, but every router does.
We really like the performance, good signal coverage, and reliability that you get for the price with this router. If you are looking for a new router under $150, definitely check this one out!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could give guests access to your Wi-Fi without worrying about them having access to everything on your network such as your files, computers, security cameras, etc.
Previously I had wondered this as well. I always cringed a little bit when I gave out my Wi-Fi password.
Even though I typically only gave it out to people I trusted, such as friends and family, you never really know if the information might be shared later.
Another concern is that you never know what may happen to a device that has your Wi-Fi credentials stored on it. Perhaps you give your password to a friend today, and maybe their tablet gets stolen tomorrow.
The thief could potentially find and access your wireless network from the tablet, or even worse, extract the password from it and share it on the dark web.
Another common scenario would be if your friend sold or gave their tablet to someone else, which could easily lead to your password being compromised.
The point is, once you start to give out your Wi-Fi password, you have lost control of the potential security implications that its distribution might bring about later.
Luckily, there is another way. Many modern routers feature guest network capability, which does exactly what its name implies – it allows you to create a special Wi-Fi network for your guests.
The guest network will have a different name (SSID) and a different password. Devices that join the guest network will still be able to access the Internet, but they will be restricted from accessing any of your private internal network resources, such as file shares (NAS), printers, security cameras, and more.
This means that you can give out your guest network credentials to friends and family without worrying so much about your security.
Some routers will have additional advanced guest network settings such as the ability to throttle bandwidth, define access schedules, etc.
Routers that support guest network bandwidth throttling allow you to define how much bandwidth your guests can use. Sometimes, this limit is a global limit (enforced across the sum of all users) and others this limit is enforced per-user.
For example, my home broadband connection runs at 40Mbps download and 5Mbps upload. In light of this, I have chosen to set my guest user bandwidth policy to 5Mbps download and 1Mbps upload.
This is plenty of bandwidth that a typical guest user would need. It is enough for basic surfing or even streaming a video on YouTube.
It prevents a guest user from (knowingly or unknowingly) abusing access and consuming large amounts of bandwidth by downloading something large, running BitTorrent, etc.
This ensures that my family will still have an enjoyable experience online, since the majority of my bandwidth will be reserved for them.
Some routers support the ability to define a schedule for guest network access.
For example, if you only want your guest network to be available on weekdays between 8AM and 5PM, you can configure this.
Any time outside of that schedule, the guest network won’t even appear in the list of available networks and no device will be able to connect to it. How’s that for cool!?
The TP-Link Archer A7 features all of the Guest Network capabilities mentioned above. Not only does it have the capability to create a basic guest network, but it also allows for bandwidth throttling and access scheduling.
The team here at Infravio loves the Archer A7 from TP-Link and we recommend it to our readers regularly.
The Archer A7 features a host of great features and specifications beyond its guest network capability, which explains its high ratings and widespread popularity.
Looking for a good wireless router to go with your high speed Internet connection but live in a house or apartment made of brick or concrete?
Look no further – let’s discuss the best router for brick or concrete walls.
What is the best router for brick walls?
What’s the deal with brick or concrete?
The composition of materials used to construct a building can absolutely make a difference in the range, reliability, and performance of your wireless network.
If your house, condominium, flat, or apartment is primarily make up of brick or concrete, you have more challenges than someone living in a building composed of traditional materials such as wood and drywall.
This has do with the fact the the Electromagnetic Waves of the Wi-Fi signal get absorbed (or even reflected) more or less by different materials in the environment. In the case of brick or concrete, these materials absorb the signal much greater than wood does, resulting in decreased range and speed, and generally less reliability than the same Wi-Fi network in a wood environment.
This is where the selection of your router and it’s configuration comes into play.
Most routers nowadays are dual-band routers, which is a good thing. However, in the case of EM-absorbing materials being present in the walls, ceilings, and floors of your residence, (and therefore being present between your router and your phone/tablet/laptop) it is best to connect on a lower-frequency band if possible.
Most routers can operate at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Generally 5GHz is preferred because of the greater availability of clear (non-overlapping) channels and fewer devices and interference to compete with.
However if you are dealing with brick or concrete, your primary concern is the ability for your Wi-Fi signal to penetrate the materials in your walls.
Lower frequencies penetrate better and are attenuated less by brick, so you should use 2.4GHz over 5GHz.
This logic is the opposite of what I usually recommend. As I said before, people living in brick or concrete environments have special challenges!
So I should just scrap my dual-band router?
Now, hold on. I’m not necessarily saying you shouldn’t use the 5GHz band on your router. In fact, for wireless devices that are close to your router such as in the same room, or perhaps just one room away – you should try sticking to 5GHz.
For the rooms that are further away than that, you may need to use 2.4GHz.
Overall what I’m trying to say, is that you should be prepared to test both frequencies and see which works better for you.
The team here at Infravio really likes the R6700 and recommends it to our readers frequently. This router is feature-rich, highly stable, and offers excellent performance without breaking the bank.
Connecting your devices to the 2.4GHz band on this router should provide some of the best performance you can hope to attain in a brick/concrete environment.
If you are still having trouble, you may want to think about deploying one or more wireless access points in your home, which will serve to decrease signal attenuation by bringing the source closer to more devices.
For people with a 200Mbps connection to the internet, congratulations. That is a pretty fast connection. It is definitely not the quickest, with services from some cable and fiber to the home based providers clocking in at 1Gig or 2Gig service, but it is also much quicker than the 2017 national average broadband rate of 18.75Mbps.
For most people, 200Mbps is plenty of bandwidth, even for large households. However, you’ll want to make sure you select the right router to go along with your new service to ensure that your router doesn’t hold you back and thus prevent you from geting the speeds you are paying for.
Here is a short checklist of features you should look for for use with your 200Mbps Internet. The RT-AC68U supports all of them.
The RT-AC68U has proven itself as a flagship router that can route packets at line rate (1000Mbps) without issue. This router will easily work if you end up upgrading to a Gigabit service in the future. This is good for people that like to make future-proof electronics purchases.
It is also a very stable router – It doesn’t need to be rebooted all the time, like some routers.
We also like the monitoring capabilities that can be accessed from the ASUS app on your smartphone. You can use the app to see what is going on on your network and who/what is using bandwidth.
Finally, we like that the router supports the ASUS AirMesh feature, which allows you to connect multiple ASUS routers to your network in order to increase Wi-Fi coverage in your home. This is helpful for people with large homes or people that have issues with dead spots in their home.
Make especially sure that you get a router with Gigabit Ethernet ports. Many of the older Wireless-N (802.11N) and Wireless-G (802.11B/G) routers are only equipped with 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports.
This means that the WAN port on the router can’t pass data any faster than 100Mbps. This would mean that you could only get half of the speed you are paying for if you end up using one of these routers with your 200Mbps service!
Many people think that they can just re-use an old router and it will work fine. That may be true, but in the current environment, broadband speeds are exploding.
No one used to show any concern about using a router limited at 100Mbps because broadband speeds were only in the 25-50Mbps range. Now that broadband speeds are quickly surpassing 100Mbps, you need to pay special attention to the maximum speed of the equipment on your local network, since it could quickly become the bottleneck instead of your internet connection.
This rule also applies to other devices on your local network. If you are using switches to distribute wired Ethernet to other parts of your home or to simply expand beyond the 4 wired ports provided by your router, you need to make sure that those switches also have Gigabit support.
Otherwise, you will max out at 100Mbps on any devices that connect through them.
Have you ever been away from home and needed to access something on your home computer or router?
It sure would be easier than driving/flying back to your home, or asking a friend or family member to go to your house to retrieve what you’re looking for.
Well, never fear. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of setting up your router for accessing it remotely via the Internet.
If you aren’t very tech savvy, be sure to stick around until the end of the article where I discuss an alternate method that works just as well, but is easier to setup.
There are many reasons someone would want to access their router from the Internet. Perhaps they need to change their Wi-Fi password for a roommate, set up remote access into their home network (called a VPN), or access files on a hard drive connected to their router.
Some people may not have a specific need to access their router from the Internet today, but they want to have the flexibility to do so in the future – since they know that they may well have the need at a later date.
Most routers have two different passwords – your WiFi password (which pretty much everyone is familiar with because they need to know it on a regular basis) and your admin password.
The admin password is what grants you access to the router’s management web interface, which is where you go to make changes to the router such as change/set IP addresses, change/set your WiFi network name (SSID), change/set your WiFi password, and much much more.
Most routers come out of the box with either a default password of something like ‘admin’ or ‘password’, which is very insecure. Some routers even have a blank admin password by default!
This isn’t a huge deal, because by default, the management interface is generally only accessible from a computer inside your network. However, we are about to enable access from the Internet, so you better believe it is important to change the password to something secure.
Find the private IP of your router and enter it into a web browser. This is usually 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, 10.0.1.1, or something similar (depends on the brand of your router). See here for help in identifying your router’s private IP.
Enter your admin username and password. If you didn’t change these when you originally installed the router, they are likely still at the defaults. The username is usually ‘admin’ or ‘administrator’ and the password is usually ‘admin’ or ‘password’ by default. Again, this totally differs depending on the router manufacturer and model. If you can’t find it, I recommend searching Google for “[router model] default password”.
Once you are logged in, you need to find the password setting. Usually there will be a “General”, “Admin”, or “Administrator” area of the settings, so try looking there. You may be able to change the username in addition to changing the password. This is recommended as it will greatly increase security. Just make sure you record it somewhere – if you forget it, you will have to reset the router to defaults to get back in.
Generally the setting will be called something like “Allow login from WAN” or “Allow login from Internet”, but it differs widely between routers. This setting will usually live in the Advanced Settings area of the management interface.
Again, if you can’t find it, try searching Google for “[router model] login from wan”.
This step is entirely optional and your router may or may not support this feature. While still logged in, look for “logging”, “notifications”, or a similar section. It will likely appear under the “Advanced Settings” area or the “Admin” area.
Enable any logging you desire. This will cause the router to log events, such as when someone logs in to the management interface. You may even be able to have the router email you a notification when someone logs in – again this varies wildly by model and manufacturer.
This type of information is helpful from a security standpoint – so you will know if someone else manages to log in to your router over the internet (which would be bad!).
I say “public” IP address, because your router actually has two IP addresses, and we are looking for the public IP, not the private IP.
Your IP address is exactly that – an address. It’s like your mailing address on the Internet. Your IP address is used anytime you want to send data to, or receive data from the Internet.
Since you are wanting to access your router from the Internet, you will need to know what your IP address is.
One way to find your public IP address, is to log in to your router and have it show you your public IP address.
Once logged in, look for a screen or tab labeled “Status”. Every router is a little bit different, so you may have to look around a bit.
The status page will usually show your router’s status, including the “WAN” or “Internet” IP address.
The other easy method for determining your public IP, is to query a website.
There are many “What is my IP address?” type websites out there that will examine the traffic that your computer sends to it when the page is loading, determine the IP address your traffic is originating from, and display that address for you.
Once you have obtained your public IP address, write it down somewhere or email it to yourself. You will need it later.
It is not uncommon for your IP address to change from time to time, or even daily. Most residential providers use DHCP instead of static addressing – this means they can change your public address allocation at any time.
Usually, this isn’t a big deal and most people don’t even notice that their IP has changed. However, when you are going to be accessing your router from the Internet, it is important to be aware that your address could change.
I’ve seen some ISP’s using DHCP and your IP address doesn’t change for months or even years. I’ve also seen some ISP’s change your address every day.
My current ISP is like this – my IP address changes every 24 hours like clockwork. Dynamic DNS is absolutely critical for me because of this.
Thus, if you are leaving for a trip and hoping to access your router from the road, it is best to record your public IP just before you leave the house to maximize your chances that that will still be the IP assigned to your router when you attempt login.
Just be aware that if your IP address changes between the time you recorded it and the time you attempt to login remotely, you will not be able to login.
For this reason, it is suggested to set up Dynamic DNS (DDNS), which will update automatically when your IP address changes. Thus, you will connect to your router using a hostname like “andrewshouse.no-ip.com” instead an IP address such as 73.48.231.17.
The DDNS server will automatically update the IP address that “andrewshouse.no-ip.com” resolves to every time it changes.
DDNS is an advanced topic and is only recommended to dabble in if you are a bit of an advanced user or if you are at least feeling adventurous!
If you want to be sure that remote login will work once you are away from home, it is best to test it beforehand.
To test, you will need to access a secondary internet connection other than your regular home broadband connection. This could be a neighbor’s house, using your internet connection at work, etc.
You could also temporarily enable the hotspot on your smartphone and tether your computer to it.
Open a web browser and enter your router’s public IP address (or DDNS fully qualified domain name) in the address bar, then press the enter key.
You should be presented with a login prompt. If you are not, try entering “http://” or “https://” before the address and press enter again. If it still doesn’t work, you may also need to append a colon and port number behind the address, such as “:8443”.
Once prompted, enter your management credentials and log in!
You are now ready to log in remotely. Regardless of where you travel to, as long as you have an Internet connection, you should be able to log in.
Hopefully you already tested your ability to login as shown above. The procedure for logging in when you are actually away from home will be the same.
If you are less techie and are simply looking for a solution that works, you may also want to research setting up remote access to a computer at your home via a service such as TeamViewer.
TeamViewer and similar services can be set up for free to access the computer in question over the internet.
The downside, is that the computer has to be left on and connected to your home network at all times in order to work.
The upside, is that it requires no special configuration on your router, and Dynamic DNS doesn’t need to be set up. Simply connect to the remote computer via the TeamViewer app on your smartphone, PC, or Mac, and TeamViewer takes care of the rest.
If you still needed to access your router, you could launch a web browser on the remote PC using TeamViewer, and then login to the router’s private IP address normally as if you were at home.
This solution is simpler, but also relies on TeamViewer to be working in order to function, so there are pros and cons for sure.
Regardless of which method you choose, Good luck!
Question: Does a better router improve internet speed?
Answer: Sometimes. It depends. It’s complicated!
There are at least three factors that impact someone’s perception of how fast or slow an internet connection is. To help make my point, think of your internet connection as a pipeline.
Think of the amount of bandwidth you have. This is the number advertised by your ISP in Megabits per second (Mbps).
Some people have 1 Mbps, others have 1000 Mbps. This is the size of your pipeline.The more bandwidth you have, the more data that can flow through it at the same time and the less it gets clogged up.
Remember to also consider upload speed as well as your download speed, as they can both make a difference.
The amount of bandwidth you have is certainly important, but it is not the only factor in determining the speed of your internet connection.
This is referred to as latency – it is a measurement of the time it takes data to go from your computer, through the internet to a remote server (Facebook, Netflix, etc), and then all the way back (round trip).
Is the data moving slowly like sludge through the pipeline, or is it moving quickly like pure water?
If data moves back and forth quickly (low latency), it is likely that someone would perceive that connection as very fast, even if it were only a 10Mbps connection.
The reverse of this is also true – someone could have a large pipe with slow flow and they wouldn’t feel that it is a very fast connection. The best example of this is Satellite Internet, such as HughesNet.
Many satellite internet plans provide decent bandwidth (usually somewhere around 25Mbps) but are still known to be quite slow. The reason for this, is due to the added time it takes the signal to go all the way up into space and then be bounced back down to earth.
This results in a large pipe/slow flow scenario, and as such, many people with this type of service are generally unhappy with it.
3. Are there leaks in your pipeline?
This is referring to the reliability of your internet connection and all of the pathways your data takes through the internet on its way to/from a remote server.
If there is an issue, either with your ISP or somewhere upstream from them, you may experience packet loss. Packet loss will definitely slow down your internet connection.
See, your computer is very intelligent and can sense when packet loss is occuring. When this happens, it has to re-request the missing data and wait for it to arrive again.
This delay, depending on its severity, is typically noticeable to the user as lag/slowness. Alternatively, if there is no packet loss, then there is no need for data to be re-transmitted. This can result in favorable speeds and saved bandwidth.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of the three of the ways that speed is observed, lets discuss factors that will actually impact your speed.
This is what happens when your pipeline gets full. It simply can’t move any more data simultaneously until either the size of the pipeline is increased, or the amount of existing data in the pipeline is reduced.
We’ve all noticed this before – a sudden burst of lag that occurs because someone else in the household is suddenly downloading or uploading a lot of data, like a movie or a game. This creates data contention issues, which is noticed as a slowdown.
Keep in mind that oversubscription could occur in your household (too many family members or roommates using the internet at the same time) or it could also occur at the ISP level – where there are too many customers eating up large amounts of data (usually during peak times of the day) and it ends up affecting other customers.
The internet is made up of thousands of pathways that connect various networks. In some instances, your data has to go through 20-30 routers before it reaches its intended destination (that is considered a lot of routers).
In other cases, maybe it only has to go through 8-10 routers. Generally speaking, the shorter the path your data has to take to reach its destination, the faster and more reliably it will get there.
These pathways are decided upon by your ISP.
If they have many connections to various upstream providers, including some direct connections (called peering arrangements) with major companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon etc – you will likely have a better experience than an ISP that only has one connection out to the internet.
Perhaps there are environmental issues impacting your Wireless performance. Maybe there is interference from too many people nearby on other Wi-Fi networks.
Maybe the guy next door uses a cordless phone or runs his microwave frequently (both of which can affect Wi-Fi). Or maybe the materials that your home is built out of is negatively impacting your signal.
There are technologies featured on newer routers such as beamforming, additional bands, etc that can overcome some of these environmental issues and deliver a better user experience.
Perhaps your old router only supports an older/slower wireless standard such as 802.11G or 802.11N, so upgrading to a newer standard such as 802.11AC will definitely give better data throughput and better range.
Additionally, many newer routers have quality of service (QoS) features that would make the internet connection feel faster/more reliable when data contention is in play.
Whatever type of test you run, just make sure that you are consistent in your testing. Run speed tests before and after each change and document the results.
Be sure to use the same computer and same browser each time you test. Use the same speed test website/server each time, and try to test at the same time each day, since speeds with some providers differ depending on the time of day.
If you are testing a wired connection, make sure your computer is disconnected from the wireless network before you start testing.
If your internet speeds are identical when you bypass your router, it is unlikely that upgrading your router will have any noticeable effect. Perhaps you should contact your ISP instead to see if there is a problem with your connection.
But, if your internet speeds improve when you bypass your router, there is a good chance that a new router will give you the better performance you are craving.