Is admitting you have a problem...and in this case, I have been dodging the problem for a while.
Our wireless router is headed south.
In it's defense, it's at least 3 years old. When we moved here, my old router died, and a buddy of mine told me he would let me have his spare, instead of having to buy a new one. It's not like it hasn't given good service. It's just that every time a new item is brought onto the Wi-Fi in the house, it crashes. Walk in the door with my cell phone while my wife watching something on Amazon Prime? Drops the Wi-Fi. Flip open the cover of the laptop while my wife is using the Kindle to follow a knitting pattern? Drops the Wi-Fi.
Each time it's usually only for about 30-45 seconds...but it's long enough to time you out of Amazon Prime, or a stupid timewasting facebook games when you are getting ready to take the high score for the week. 90% of the time, I am the one performing the act that causes it to crash, and while my wife knows it's not really my fault, I am still the one who gets glared at.
So, time for a new router, which causes me to embrace the darkest of realities...I am not a technology guy. When it's time for a new T.V or laptop, I usually look at prices, figuring something in the 30-40th percentile will meet my fairly non-demanding needs.
When I tried doing that for routers on Amazon last night, I was stymied. There is a WIDE price range for wireless routers...$20 on up to $250. I decided I actually had to do some research, and so I actually read an article or two on pcmag.com, and decided that a lot of the more expensive ones had features I just didn't need. I don't have a 'cloud' or even a separate wireless hard drive in the house. What I do have is an internet capable TV, two lap tops, a kindle, a Wii, and an internet capable Blu-ray player. And two cell phones. That starts adding up, when you think about it.
What I ended up going with(from pcmag's top 10 router list) was the Western Digital My Net N900.
It should be here sometime in the next week, so we'll see how much happier my wireless connections are in a week or so.
I don't know if it's the electricity service or results of thunderstorms, but we lose the router about once a year and I get the NetGear N300 from wally-world.
ReplyDeleteThey're cheap enough that I have one for back-up.
Works fine for three computers (one of which is almost always watching You tube or Netflix).