4 issues I wager you didn’t know your Wi-Fi router might do

It is all too simple to deal with a Wi-Fi router as a black field. In case you’re renting one out of your web supplier, chances are you’ll not want or wish to mess with it too deeply, since a help technician seemingly set it up for you. In case you personal your router, the variety of choices on some fashions can nonetheless be just a little intimidating. And the important purpose is to get your units on-line — so that you may not care to spend your Saturday afternoon messing round with settings when you would be taking part in Hades II in your Steam Deck.

To get essentially the most out of your Wi-Fi network, although, you do need to spend a while digging round in choices. In some eventualities, doing which will clear up issues you did not even notice a router might sort out. Don’t fret — all of the options I am about to speak about are issues you’ll be able to change on with out risking primary connectivity. They’re about enhancing your expertise, not reconfiguring something.

4

Increase help for good dwelling equipment

No want for hubs or good audio system

Whereas many good dwelling units join on to Wi-Fi, some do not, and that may really be a bonus — it saves bandwidth for extra necessary actions, and in some circumstances permits offline automation. A choose group of routers embody Zigbee and Z-Wave radios, eliminating the necessity for devoted hubs to pair equipment like gentle bulbs and sensors.

The broader development is in direction of changing each Zigbee and Z-Wave with Thread, which regularly does not want a hub in any respect — solely one thing that may act as a “border router” bridging with Wi-Fi and the web. You will discover border router help constructed into the Google Nest Wifi Professional, and any latest Eero router.

A wide range of routers additionally act as controllers for Matter, a common pairing protocol that emerged in 2022. Historically, accent makers have needed to develop for explicit platforms, above all Amazon Alexa, Google Residence, and Apple HomeKit.

They nonetheless do, however with Matter, one thing that was solely designed with Alexa and Google Residence in thoughts (for instance) can out of the blue be paired with HomeKit, or vice versa, in addition to much less widespread platforms like Samsung SmartThings. A router with each Matter and Thread can’t solely get rid of the necessity for hubs, however even good audio system and shows, which have been at one level the nexus of any good dwelling. In case you do not want hands-free voice management, there’s typically no rapid cause to get a speaker.

3

Implement parental controls

Bedtime means bedtime

I hate to say it, however as a guardian for a number of years at this level, I completely get the necessity for strict controls on a child’s units. Left to himself, my son would most likely do nothing however make music and movies on his iPad all day. Apple’s Screen Time is sufficient in our family — however in case you have a number of youngsters and/or they’ve a spread of units, it could be time to step as much as router-based parental controls.

The precise choices obtainable to you’ll rely on the router model, however a standard theme is the power to arrange consumer profiles, assign units to them, and management once they go browsing. You do need to watch out — in case your baby is attempting to get some homework carried out, killing all their units without delay would possibly forestall them from doing analysis or importing a challenge. However it’s not such a nasty concept to implement downtime once they’re speculated to be asleep, or preparing for college within the morning.

If want be, routers additionally incessantly help blocking net addresses with “grownup” or in any other case dangerous content material. Do not go overboard there both, since an excessive amount of censorship can backfire, making youngsters solely extra curious. And you may solely ever implement that censorship in Wi-Fi vary, anyway.

2

Create a mesh community (with out shopping for a mesh system)

Nonetheless is not going to be low cost

To be clear, for those who’re upgrading the efficiency of your community and eyeing mesh know-how, it is normally best to purchase a mesh system from the soar. That is doubtlessly costly, true — however in return you get one thing designed for mesh connectivity, together with software program that guides you thru the setup course of. I barely needed to do something to get three Eero Professional 6E routers linked collectively.

Generally, you would possibly have already got an honest standalone router you want to mix with further networking gear, comparable to extenders. If that’s the case, there could also be choices to unite all the pieces below a single SSID (community ID) so Wi-Fi units can roam at will. Essentially the most prolific customary for that is EasyMesh — however not each router maker helps it. Chances are you’ll as a substitute need to depend on a model’s proprietary instruments, which can most likely limit you to {hardware} from the identical firm. We’d like some Wi-Fi equal of Matter, for those who ask me.

1

Enhance safety with a visitor community

It is not nearly family and friends

I do not use a visitor community, however solely due to my particular circumstances. In case you frequently have guests that do not want (or should not have) full entry to native units, a visitor community can sandbox them, supplying solely web entry as a substitute of assets like printers and file servers. As a bonus, this may enhance your safety in opposition to malware, and allow a method of throttling friends so they do not affect bandwidth too closely. You would not need Airbnb friends interfering together with your obtain speeds as a result of they determined their trip was an ideal time to binge-watch Andor in 4K.

One other intelligent use is isolating your good dwelling equipment. In case you store fastidiously, there’s typically no want to do that — however placing equipment on a visitor community can scale back the risk for those who by accident purchase merchandise with lax safety. As a bonus, you might be able to restrict them to the two.4GHz band, which presents higher vary and will not confuse 2.4GHz-only units.