How to buy and evaluate a Wireless Router

This article mainly introduces the selection and differences of wireless routers, so we can comprehensively compare a wireless router through evaluation. This article will introduce how to evaluate it.

Wireless network technology is becoming increasingly popular. Wireless technology can be seen at airports, trains, office buildings, and coffee shops. Wireless Internet access is also addictive like smoking. For this reason, many CEOs are also unwilling to lag behind. They are frequent visitors to airports and coffee shops. After experiencing the convenience brought by wireless Internet access, they will return to the Enterprise and start to deploy their own wireless networks. Indeed, the infinite network can bring great convenience and freedom to the user. As long as the user experiences the wireless network technology, it is difficult for the user to abandon it.

I have also had several selection experiences of wireless routers. In general, the network administrator must master some wireless router testing methods. During the selection of wireless routers, the data provided by some manufacturers basically has little reference value. Rather, enterprises should conduct scientific tests based on their actual conditions. Only in this way can we obtain scientific data support for our decisions.

I. Selection of Test Platform

Most enterprises may not have wireless NICs on their desktops before deploying wireless networks. The re-purchase of wireless NICs also requires a lot of investment. With the development of Intel's technology and the increasing popularity of laptops, wireless networks of many enterprises are mainly designed for laptops. For example, my company will not assign expensive wireless network cards to all desktop hosts. Now we are basically eliminating desktop computers. Therefore, it is best to use the current mainstream operating platform of the enterprise for testing. In the future, I plan to use a laptop to replace a bulky desktop computer, so I tested it with a laptop. This can better reflect the compatibility between devices. After all, Intel's technology is absolutely mainstream in the current situation.

In addition, if you use a desktop computer for testing, there is another disadvantage. Because nowadays, desktop computers are usually placed in the corner of the desk, and some even use cabinets. The signal is poor because of unnecessary barrier. Therefore, unless enterprises want to implement wireless networks based on desktop computers (which is not recommended by the author), it is better to choose laptops with strong mobility for testing.

2. The key is penetration testing.

Nowadays, mainstream wireless routers often claim that the indoor distance can reach 100 meters and the outdoor distance can reach 400 meters. However, the author can be responsible for everyone, and this value does not have much reference value for enterprises. This value has a precondition, that is, 100 meters of non-partitioned space or open-air open space. This harsh condition may only be met in some public places, such as the airport and bus station terminals and waiting rooms. For enterprises, due to space restrictions, offices are often isolated into independent areas. Therefore, this transmission distance is of little reference value to enterprises. Therefore, the network administrator also needs to perform some penetration tests based on the layout of the enterprise.

I did a similar test when I bought a wireless router. The following methods are the author's test methods. If you need them, you can use them for testing.

First, test the signal of the glass partition. This is because the office of the company is mainly partitioned by HEMP glass. The manager's office and general clerks are divided into relatively sealed spaces by glass. In addition, since each independent office has an air conditioner, the door is usually closed. Therefore, a test is required. The test method is also very simple. Avoid the tested wireless router in a large external office. Then, test the signal and traffic in the office. For example, Microsoft has a wireless signal detector in its operating system. It is like a mobile phone. It will grade the signal at multiple levels. This function can be used to determine the strength of wireless signals.

Second, test the same office signal. In the same spacious office, the signal strength is acceptable generally because there is no barrier. So why do we still need to test it? This is mainly because the wireless signal is the same as the mobile phone signal and is easily disturbed. If the signal is disturbed, the signal strength is weak. As I have tested, if the enterprise office prevents two wireless routers of different brands at the same time, the wireless signal of a vro will be disturbed. Even if there is no blocking, only two signals are displayed on the operating system. If you disable another wireless router, the signal can reach the full range. Therefore, if an enterprise already has a wireless router and wants to deploy another wireless router to improve the coverage of the wireless network, it is best to perform this failover test. Check whether the new wireless router conflicts with the original device.

3. select an appropriate test tool

As the saying goes, it's hard to have a cup of cake. If the network administrator does not have a good tool, it is difficult to get a scientific test result. Therefore, network engineers also need to select several professional test tools to help enterprises select wireless routers.

The first test tool is the signal detector provided by Microsoft. This signal detector is like a mobile phone signal detector, which can accurately judge wireless signals. However, this is not a professional tool and has some limitations. It can only detect wireless signals, but cannot estimate the transmission speed of the specific device and test the stability of wireless signals. Therefore, if you only use a wireless LAN as a supplement to a wired network, this tool can basically meet the needs of enterprises. However, if you want to use wireless networks as your preferred network, you need to perform further tests. To test the wireless network transmission rate and signal stability.

The second tool is DU Meter. This is also one of my most commonly used network management tools. It can display both numbers and graphs of network traffic. Allows network engineers to clearly view the data transmission status when users browse the Web page and when uploading and downloading, and monitor the network speed of uploading and downloading in real time. Of course, it can also be used to test the actual transmission speed from other computers to laptops through a wireless LAN. The specific test method is as follows: the network administrator can first set up a shared file of several hundred megabytes on another computer for testing. Find the test file from the network neighbor on the laptop and copy the file to the local hard disk. The DU Meter time table is used to accurately record the maximum transfer rate and average transfer rate, and the transmission stability is obtained based on the transmission curve. To test the data science, there are also certain requirements for the computer that shares files. I suggest testing in two cases. First, the computer is connected over a wired network for testing. Then the test is conducted through the wireless network. Only in this way can we get more scientific data. After all, for a long period of time, wireless networks and wired networks coexist.

In addition, the famous Network Stumbler tool can be used to test the signal strength and stability of the wireless router. During the test, try to avoid interference from other signals or objects. No matter what tool is used, there will be some errors. The error cannot be avoided, but the error can be reduced. The best way to reduce errors is that network engineers need to test multiple times. If you do not know whether there is any interference source, you can change several locations for testing.

Through the above testing methods and testing tools, we believe that network administrators can definitely choose a suitable wireless router for their own enterprises.