Hardware routers for home or business – there’s always a right specification for that
What’s great about the hardware and software networking products sold in the market these days is that they are always equipped with complete user manuals, specification sheets, and if the product is from a company with high standards, a web portal where you can raise your questions about operability, concerns about support and warranty, and complaints on performance. And even if your product is already decades-old, through the huge repository of knowledge – the internet, you can still dig up how-to-guides from search engines and helpful information from technical forum sites.
Imagine setting up a LAN with routers, switches, access points, servers, workstations, ethernet cables, network cards, adapters and management software without these materials. Remember that these devices are not plug-and-play. While the physical connection can be performed easily guided by your years of experience and intelligent guesses, virtually connecting these network devices would be difficult if there are no product guides right in front of you.
One networking device that sometimes twists the minds of most internet users both at home and in business environments is the router. With plethora of hardware router brands commercially available today, it is not unusual for the average consumers to pick and place the wrong unit on their shopping carts. While it’s easy to distinguish the difference between a wired router and a wireless one, or the number of wired ports, or the supported networking options by simply looking on the labels printed in the box, other features that are most vital in setting up a fast, secured and reliable LAN are oftentimes not.
Would you choose Linksys over D-Link if the latter is cheaper than the former? Would you prefer Western Digital if has parental control instead of Apple Airport which has none? Would you invest on Cisco 2600 Series Routers or Avaya Secure Router 1000 Series instead if your top priority is network security? Questions like these only imply that investing on hardware routers requires technical-know-how on part of the end user, business owner or even network engineer.
Here’s the point. The only way to protect your privacy and security and at the same time enjoy the speed of your internet service is to read and understand the technical features and specifications of the device before, during and after you connect them into your network. Here’s a simple guide for that.
I go over the technical features of some of the most trusted brands in consumer and business hardware routers to see if there is something unique or something special about them. What I’d discovered will give you better insights on how to buy your next router.
Below are two well-known models of router. Take a look on their features that are exactly shown on their product manuals.
Avaya Secure Router 4134 (mostly used in business networks)
Internet Routing
Ethernet LAN
WAN
IP Multicast
MPLS Label Edge Routing
Quality of Service/Traffic Management
Firewall
VPN Option
Maximum Performance
Voice Signalling Support
SIP Survivability Calling Features
Codecs Supported
Other Voice Gateway Features
“VoIP-Friendly” Features
Service Provisioning
Noticeable features:
SIP Survivability Calling Features provide business continuity for registered Session Internet Protocol (SIP) devices.
Service Provisioning covers management, monitoring and diagnostics tools such as the Avaya Unified Communications Management (UCM).
Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router EA6900 (mostly used in home networks)
Wireless AC Technology
Dual-Band AC (2.4 and 5 GHz)
Beamforming Technology
USB Ports - 1 x USB3.0 - 1 x USB2.0
Four Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) ports
WPA/WPA2 encryption and SPI firewall
DLNA Certified Media Server
Guest Access
Easy Setup
Parental Controls
Linksys Smart Wi-Fi
Device Priority Quality of Service (QOS)
Adjustable External Antennas
Noticeable features:
Wireless AC Technology offers seamless video and music streaming at transfer rates of 600Mbps up to 1300Mbps.
Beamforming Technology focuses the wireless signal from the router to the client device for optimal performance.
After checking more than ten consumer and business grade routers, here’s my analysis. Majority of consumer routers are designed to provide speed, media streaming, and security. Majority of business routers are designed to offer optimum security, remote access, and scalability.
There are always trade-offs when choosing between consumer and business routers: cost vs. features, quality vs. brand, security vs. ease-of-setup, etc. In spite of these, your solid understanding of the features and functionality will always give you the right device fitted to your requirements. Just like what the experts are saying, “there’s always a right specification for that.”
