General Performance of WiFi Routers and Recommended models
There are 2 major groups of WiFi Routers in the market.
Single Band
they are cheaper (usually below Rs. 1000)
they operate at 2.4 Ghz, and cover the b/g/n WiFi Standards. In general they provide longer distance, better coverage but limited speeds over the Wireless
Dual Band
they are more expensive (usually above Rs. 1000 and can go even up to Rs. 30,000)
they operate at both 2.4Ghz band as well as 5Ghz band and cover b/g/n/ac WiFi Standards. 2 Networks running in Parallel
In general they provide much higher wireless speeds over the 5Ghz band, but with limited coverage, which usually cannot exceed one room (5Ghz is not passing well through obstacles)
as they also have 2.4Ghz, one can benefit from having the 2 options available - when passing through walls to fallback to 2.4Ghz band and still get coverage and when nearby the router (same room) to benefit from much high speed over the 5Ghz band.
Recommended routers based on Plan Speed
Plan Speed | Suggested Router Support | Suggested brands/models | Market Price (Rs.) |
Up to 50 Mbps | 802.11n - N300 Router (2.4 Ghz) - Single Band | D-Link DIR 615 | 900 |
50 Mbps to 100 Mbps | 802.11ac - AC750 Router (2.4 Ghz & 5Ghz) - Dual Band | D-Link DIR 816 | 1800 |
100 to 200 Mbps | 802.11ac - AC1200 Router (2.4 Ghz & 5Ghz) - Dual Band | D-Link DIR 825 | 2799 |
Above 200 Mbps | 802.11ac - AC1900 Router (2.4 Ghz & 5Ghz) - Dual Band | TP-Link Archer C7 | 5420 |
*Speeds above 40 Mbps on Wireless are only achievable on 5Ghz connection with a Dual Band Router
Excitel Recommended WiFi Routers Performance Tests
Routers recommended by Excitel for Wireline Broadband when Last Mile is not based on FTTH (Fiber To The Home).
Test/Device | D-Link N 300 DIR 615 | D-Link DIR 816 (AC) | |
2.4Ghz | 2.4Ghz | 5Ghz | |
Cable connectivity | 100 Mbps | ||
Wireless: 0 to 3 meters from Router | 56 Mbps | 56 Mbps | 99 Mbps |
Wireless: 3 to 10 meters from Router (same room) | 33 Mbps | 33 Mbps | 70 Mbps |
Wireless: Next Room (through obstacle/wall) | 15 Mbps | 17 Mbps | 20 Mbps |
*Tests are performed in LAB environment and in real life scenario you might get lower speeds compared to the above if there are too many neighbours with routers around and other factors might also affect the speed.
Excitel Fiber WiFi Routers Performance Tests
Test/Device | Fiber Router + WiFi N | Fiber Router + WiFi AC | |
2.4Ghz | 2.4Ghz | 5Ghz | |
Cable connectivity | 300 Mbps if connected on Gigabit port and 100 Mbps if connected on 100M port | ||
Wireless: 0 to 3 meters from Router | 45 Mbps | 45 Mbps | 240 Mbps |
Wireless: 3 to 10 meters from Router (same room) | 30 Mbps | 30 Mbps | 180 Mbps |
Wireless: Next Room (through obstacle/wall) | 15 Mbps | 20 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
*Tests are performed in LAB environment and in real life scenario you might get lower speeds if there are too many neighbours with routers around you and other factors might also affect the speed. To get higher than 40 Mbps speeds you need to use 5Ghz connectivity to your WiFi.
Tips & Tricks for WiFi Router Performance
Advice for Installation and Usage of WiFi Router at customer's home
Concrete Walls, floors, metal objects decrease the signal strength and with this the speed and quality of the connection also. Try to avoid passing through multiple walls/obstacles
Try to place the router as high as possible from the ground. Aim for at least 5-6 feet and remember that the higher the better.
Don't install the WiFi Router next to the window - this way you are throwing away half of your signal out the window.
Don't hide the Router in a cabinet or any such closed space. Put it in the open space with possible nothing around.
WiFi Signal gets disturbed by other appliances working in the same frequency range, like microwave oven, cordless phones, etc. Don't place the router near those.
For best coverage of the home, try to place the Router in the room that sits in the middle of the flat/house. This will ensure good distribution of the signal. Some distant rooms which are more than 1 wall from the router might require separate router to be installed (additional router) in them
Play with the Antennas of the router and point them in different directions and test coverage in desired rooms/places where the users in the household will mostly use the Internet connectivity.
Dual Band Routers (AC Router) provide 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz connectivity. While 2.4 Ghz passes through walls better than 5Ghz, it cannot provide very high speeds. 5Ghz doesn't pass through walls/obstacles but can provide 2 times to 5 times higher speeds. 5GHZ should be supported by the customer's device also (smartphone, laptop, etc.)
Always Configure Different SSID Names for 2.4 Ghz and 5GHZ, for example
2.4 Ghz Radio should be named as "Prakash Excitel"
5 Ghz Radio should be named as "Prakash Excitel 5"
This way the customer will know to which radio he is connected and can choose the "5Ghz" when he is NEAR router and requires high speed/quality and choose the 2.4 Ghz Radio when he is in the next room (no direct line of sight to router). Trying to use 5Ghz through walls is going to yield bad Wifi performance and customer will have the perception that his Internet is not working well.
Enable ICMP in Firewall of Router so that ping tests can be performed from backend to test connectivity whenever required
The more concurrent users are connected to a WiFi Router and using simultaneously the less speed single one of them is going to get. It's normal behaviour that should be explained to customers and be well known to engineers
Remember that the close the user to the WiFi Router the better the connectivity and faster the speeds that they will get. Don't forget to inform the customer about this.
Don't extend WiFi Coverage by installing WiFi Extenders / Repeaters - they introduce additional noise and decrease the speed and quality of the connection.
WiFi Coverage can be extended by adding additional WiFi Routers connected on Ethernet Cable (LAN) to the Main Router
Advice for the WiFi Router Health
Update to latest software/firmware version immediately after deployment at customer home or before that. Ensure updates also happen in future whenever engineer visits the customer's place. This is essential to achieve max performance, fix misbehaviour, ensure that router will not get hacked.
Configure strong WiFi Password and avoid simple passwords like "12345678" or "123qwerty" to avoid someone using the WiFi without the knowledge of the owner and therefore deteriorating the WiFi performance
Power fluctuations can damage the router's power supply and basically make it totally useless or with reduced performance and WiFi Signal. If possible plug the router in UPS and/or Inverter (preferably UPS)
Use Reboot of Router from power (power cycle, by disconnecting from the power for 30 seconds and plugging it back) as a first step when troubleshooting problems related to Internet Connectivity and Speed Issues
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