Most people have multiple computers in their homes, and along with that most people have a high speed internet conection, but do you have all of your computers conected to the internet? “Well I don’t have enough cords to conect them all”, you might say, but do not fear; we can cut down on most of those internet cords.

A wireless router is the way to go to set up a home network, or connect all of your computers to your high speed conection. So you go to the store to buy your router but low and behold you can choose from, 802.11/a, 802.11/b, 802.11/g, and 802.11/n.  Do you have no idea what these mean, or which is the best one to get?

First you need to think about where your wireless network will be, and how many computers you will have connected to it.  802.11/a has a high data transfer rate, usually 54 Mbit/s, an average iTunes song is 5Mbit, so if you had a download of 54Mbit/second it wouldn’t take long to download the song) most high speed connections at home are not this fast, but it means you can utilize the speed of your connection and get the most out of it.  The downside to this is things like walls and other large objects will interfere with it easily, blocking your connection.  If your using this at home it would not be the best idea, so I would suggest using an 80.211/a router in an office building that has minimal walls.  Next is the 802.11/b, this has an improved range and walls do not interfere with the connection as much as the A.  This is ideal for home use if you only have one or two computers connected to it because it only has a data transfer rate of about 11Mbit/s.  This is also one of the cheapest methods to go with, I have seen 802.11/b routers on ebay for about $10.00 brand new.  The downside is it runs on the same wave lengths as cell phones, bluetooth, and microwave so if they are all running at the same time it will slow your connection down, if you do minimal internet surfing and don’t do a lot of heavy downloading, this is a cheap and effective way to go.  The most popular router today are the 802.11/g.  These also run on the same wave length as the 802.11/b, but is has a data transfer rate of 54Mbit/s and also has a farther rang, meaning your computer can be farther away from the router and still get a connection, also you can connect multiple computers or devices without noticeable slowing of your connection.  The average cost of a 802.11/g router is $40.00-$70.00.

Our last model is the 802.11/n router, this is the newest in technology of routers and by far the best, but with the newest and best also comes the most expensive, they will go from $90.00-$200.00, but it boasts a whopping 600Mbit/s data transfer!  Most homes don’t need something this fast because you don’t have that many computers to run on it, this is the most ideal for a small to large business or for schools.  Having this at home is not a bad idea if you like to have the latest and greatest, because they are fast, reliable, don’t have as much interference, and have a range that is three to four times longer than 802.11/g.  

Overall if you want something good and reasonably priced I would go with the 802.11/g.  One thing to also check before getting your router, look at what kind of wireless card your computer or device has in it, and pair it with what it matches 802.11/a/b/g/n this will get your best results, but any of these can be paired together meaning you can run a computer with a 802.11/g on a 802.11/n router or vice versa.