Networking: How Well Do You Know Your Router?

A few days back, I blogged about my personal, home network dilemmas. And, since I never gave two-hoots OR a holler about the type/style/brand/features of my previous router, I’m guessing that goes extra-extra for most of you. Show of hands…who even knows A) what kind of router they have and B) where it is located? Yeah. That’s what I thought. A router is one of those bland, faceless components that you never think about. Kind of like an old bucket of paint up in the attic, a coffee filter, or Angela from The Office. But when it was time to get a new one, I actually put a little — I mean a *real* little — bit of thought into the selection process. So, when I looked at the boxes I essentially saw these three choices:

I know, it might as well be screaming, “Good, Better, Best. You want the Best, right? Aren’t you worth it?”

Now I know some IT nazis prescribe to the notion that there are essentially two simple ways to tell if you have a good router. One: Is it designed to mount into a rack? Did it come with rack ears or a rackmount faceplate? Two: Does it say Cisco or Enterprise-Grade or cost more than $1000? If you can’t answer yes to either — or preferably both — of those questions then you might as well just go back to reading a book. But since I didn’t want to either rack-mount OR spend $1000 on a router (mine was about $150) I needed to fulfill my own set of criteria, or what I like to call “things I want in my next router.”

Click here to read the things you should look for on your next router purchase.