TRENDnet has manufactured award-winning networking solutions for over 25 years and understand the best (and worst) methods to create a network depending on your lifestyle. We recently sent them questions provided by our customers who were confused about networking solutions and TRENDnet was very helpful in providing us with detailed answers. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it takes to setup a network, this Q&A session is for you.
Here’s what TRENDnet had to say:
How many routers do I need?
In most cases, only a single router is needed. In fact, having multiple routers can cause network issues if they are not configured properly. Access points, repeaters and powerline adapters can be used with a router to increase coverage.
How many people can use my router at once for gaming?
This depends on a number of factors. If the game requires an Internet connection (most do, even single player games), how much bandwidth the game uses, Internet speed, number of total users, number of TCP/IP connections and limitations of all relevant networking hardware.
Why is my Internet speed faster when I’m plugged in to a DSL/Cable line than what I’m getting from a router?
This can happen for a number of reasons: You will lose a certain amount of bandwidth due to NAT (Network Address Translation), which is necessary to map multiple private IPs to a single public IP. The amount of bandwidth lost due to NAT will vary between routers, but some amount of bandwidth, however small, will always be lost.
If you’re connecting wirelessly, there’s always a chance you’re experiencing wireless interference.
If you’re using a router with 10/100 Ethernet ports and you’re hard wired to the router, then it’s possible your Internet speed from your ISP is faster than the 10/100 Ethernet interface.
If you directly connect to a DSL/Cable line, you are connecting a single device and allocating 100% of the bandwidth to that device. However, when you connect to a router, your bandwidth is being split between multiple devices.
What is an ideal setup for a LAN party?
The most important thing to gamers is stability. Losing frames due to a lag spike can be the difference between winning and losing. The most stable setup for a LAN party is to hard wire a network switch to one of the LAN ports on a router and then hard wire each PC to the switch. For routers with Gigabit ports, a Gigabit switch should also be used to ensure maximum performance.
Are there security issues I have to be concerned about when using routers?
The highest level of wireless encryption currently available is WPA-2, make sure your router uses it. Even with WPA-2, wireless routers can be hacked. Using a strong alphanumeric password with upper and lower case letters will significantly reduce the risk of intrusion. Some companies pre-configure routers for security right out of the box.
Is there a performance difference between expensive and affordable routers?
Yes, the biggest differences are wireless speed, Ethernet speed and feature set. Wireless range is a factor but it doesn’t vary much between routers since wireless range is limited by the weakest link in communication, which is usually the client device (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.)
Do I need a specific adapter to take advantage of the 802.1ac standard?
In order to take full advantage of the 802.11ac standard, we recommend using a compatible 802.11ac adapter.
What bandwidth can I expect from Wi-Fi routers?
The advertised speeds for our routers are theoretical ratings based on the chipset. The actual wireless throughput of a router will always be significantly lower than the theoretical (PHY) rating. Distance is also a factor. As wireless devices move farther away from the source, they become slower. This is known as the data auto fallback rate.
What’s the benefit of having Gigabit or 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports?
10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, also known as Gigabit, are capable of negotiating speeds of up to 1000 Mbps. This ensures you get the maximum speed. Even if individual devices do not exceed 100 Mbps, it’s common for the combined bandwidth of multiple devices to cause a bottle neck elsewhere on the router or switch.
Are some routers better than others for gaming?
Yes, some routers are simply superior for gaming by design. TRENDnet routers that use StreamBoost technology can identify and classify the types of traffic on your network automatically – giving each application the bandwidth and speed it needs, providing a stable and reliable gaming experience.
Ask More Questions
TRENDnet has some great answers to your questions but couldn’t answer every single one that came their way. If your question went unanswered or if you have even more questions than before; ask it in the comments section below and we’ll be sure to forward it to TRENDnet.
Thanks to Carlos Gomez, Justin Ritchie and Patrick Huang from TRENDnet for answering our questions!
