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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and the team discuss Microsoft’s warnings about Iranian hackers, new patents, Peacock’s metrics, Pixel 5’s reverse charge, Spotify’s price increases, T-Mobile T-Vision streaming, Windows removing Flash, and more.
Patrick in Tyler, Texas listens on KTBB and asked: “We have a 2012 model router and I’m sure like everything else, they have improved tremendously in eight years. Sometimes we’ll be watching a show on Netflix and it will stop and have to buffer – and sometimes our phones drop the Wi-Fi. Is this due to the router? And can you give me some suggestions on a new router that I can replace the older one with?”
Patrick, yes that sounds like it may be a router problem.
If you keep your routers for a long time you should probably look into a WiFi 6 router to ensure you get the best speed available today and you dont have to upgrade again too soon.
The first problem youll find with those routers is that they are an eye sore, they are incredibly ugly, just Google Netgear Nighthawk AX12 if you want to see what we mean. Theyll stand out, so you may want to keep the in a cabinet somewhere.
Still, something like the AX12 or the ASUS RT-AX88U should last you a while, though those will cost you $500 and $350 respectively. They are mainly meant for gamers so theyre a little overpowered for general use.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you have routers like the Google Nest series that just look like a smart speaker and are generally not too offensive to look at. One of those will cost you about $150 and its easily controllable through an app. It has fewer advanced features but its easier to manage if youre not a very technical user.
The Nest is also extensible, so if in the future you want to build a mesh network you will already have the first component (as long as you stick with the brand).
For around $100 you can get a TP-Link AX1800, which looks like an ugly router, but not as ugly as some and it will deliver good performance for a relatively inexpensive price for a WiFi 6 router.
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