What is Wireless Router?
Routers act as the gateway between your broadband connection (DSL or
cable modem) and your home network. Wireless routers come in various
configurations, but most are amalgamations of a four-port wired Ethernet
switch and a wireless access point. As the name implies, these devices
route traffic between your network and the Internet.
A wireless router connects your personal LAN (local area network) to the
Internet (WAN, or Wide Area Network) and wireless-ready computers
(desktops, notebooks and PDAs) to the network to enable sharing of the
Internet, files or even printers in the local network.
Wireless Router Types:
What helps to set wireless routers apart from one another are the
device form factors and the supported wireless network transfer
standards (or the supported data transfer rates). Network transfer
standards regulate the speed at which computers in the network can
communicate and share information with each other. For wired networks,
the most common transfer standards adopted are 100Mbps and 1000Mbps;
while for wireless networks 11Mbps and 54Mbps are the most popular.
Different wireless network standards support different maximum network speeds:
802.11a
802.11a is an IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a
maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps and an operating frequency of 5GHz.
802.11b
802.11b is an IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a
maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps and an operating frequency of
2.4GHz.
802.11g
802.11g is an IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a
maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps and an operating frequency of
2.4GHz. 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b. Some wireless
products come with the extended 802.11g standard called super G/G+
(different manufacturers may call it something else) capable of offering
transfer rates of 108Mbps, 125Mbps or even higher.
802.11n
The next generation of high-speed wireless networking standard, the
draft 802.11n standard specifies a maximum data transfer rate of up to
540Mbps. It is built on the basis of previous 802.11 standards with the
addition of MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology. It is
required to be backward compatible and interoperable with 802.11b/g
devices. The final 802.11n specification is expected to be approved in
2007 so that contemporary 802.11n-supporting products can provide
different maximum data transfer rates (e.g. 270Mbps, 300Mbps) .
The maximum wireless data transfer rate of a wireless router will
only be realized with the support of the client network device (wireless
network adapter). This means that a transfer rate of 54Mbps (for
example) will be realized only if both the router and the network
adapter support the 802.11g standard. For more information about
wireless network adapters, please see our Wireless Adapters Buying
Guide.
Specifications to pay attention to:
Security protocols
Security is a vital concern for wireless network users. Wireless
network security protocols may be capable of safeguarding data and
preventing it from being used without authorization when it is
transferred across a wireless network. Here are the most popular
security protocols:
WEP
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is a security protocol for wireless
networks. It aims to protect data via encryption over radio waves using
point-to-point transmission. A shared key (similar to a password) is
used to allow communication between the wireless adapter and the
wireless AP/router. It does not protect users on the same network from
each other, however.
WPA
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is built on the foundation of WEP. WPA
also protects wireless data transmission via a key similar to WEP, but
the added strength of WPA is in its automatic encryption key changes
making it much more difficult for a hacker to invade a wireless network.
WPA2
As the successor to WPA, WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) is offered
to users requiring the highest level of wireless security and is capable
of offering a stronger encryption mechanism over WPA via AES (Advanced
Encryption Standard).
Like data transfer rates, wireless security protocols require the
support of both the wireless network adapter and the wireless network
AP/router, meaning that protection via the wireless security protocol
will not take effect if either of the two does not support it.
Antenna
Like any wireless device, the wireless router requires the help of an
antenna to communicate with a wireless network. There are two types of
antennas applied to wireless routers: external and internal.
A wireless router with an external antenna sends and receives wireless
signals at a higher level of signal performance than a wireless router
that does not. Internal antennas have broad applications in
ultra-slim/portable wireless routers, some of which also provide
external antenna ports that allow users to install external antennas for
improved signal performance.
Connection Ports
A router has at least one WAN port and one LAN port. The WAN port is
used to connect the router to the WAN (in most cases the Internet) via a
Cable/DSL modem (or other Internet connection method), and the LAN port
is used to provide computers with access to the Internet and the local
area network.
Generally a 10/100Mbps WAN port is sufficient for most home and
business users. Only if a router needs to be connected to a high-level
1000Mbps network is a 10/100/1000Mbps WAN port needed. Like the WAN port, a 10/100Mbps LAN port is typically sufficient for most home use.
Most wireless routers come with a 4-port switch
(4 LAN ports) allowing you to connect 4 wired network clients. To
increase the number of computers that will be able to access the
network, simply connect a switch to the one of the router’s LAN ports.
VPN
VPN is short for Virtual Private Network. It is used to secure the
actual transmission of data from one specific location to location over
the network (in most cases the Internet). Only authorized users are able
to access the network so that the data cannot be intercepted.
Most wireless routers support the VPN pass-through
function allowing VPN clients to connect to the VPN server/network via
the LAN setup through the wireless router. Only a few enterprise
wireless routers support the VPN dial-in service (serves as the VPN
server), and are generally known as VPN wireless routers.
Other Information:
Wireless Router and Adapter Combos
Some retail packages contain both a wireless adapter and a wireless
router that support the same wireless transfer standard. These
combination models are generally less costly than purchasing a wireless
router and a wireless adapter separately. Source:
Newegg.com