Upgrade Cable Modems and Wireless Routers
So your breaking down and buying a new computer finally. You've had it! Your computer that you bought 2 or 3 years ago is just too slow! It's probably not be your computer that is slow but the equipment that gets you on the internet. I see this all the time. A customer asks me to come to their house or business and tells me their computer is so slow. What I usually find is that they are using a router that is older than 2-3 years old. This makes a HUGE difference in internet speed. About a year or two ago routers went thru a big change. Because of High Definition content and Digital Streaming, routers went thru a major upgrade to handle the higher bandwidth requirements. Today's wireless routers are using the 802.11A/C Standard which means they have up to 1300 MBPS Download speed. The older routers of 4-5 years ago were 802.11N and had a typical speed of 150 MBPS and some of the 802.11N of 2-3 years ago had Dual Band with 450 and 600 MBPS download. If your still using one of those 4-5 year old wireless routers and were trying to watch a High Definition "You Tube" videos then you would keep getting the buffer symbol and have to wait for the video to load or would be watching the video and it would keep starting then stopping over and over. The router does not have enough bandwidth to keep the video playing. High Definition videos like to play at 450 MBPS.
The other limiting factor of the older routers was they were really only designed for 1 or 2 devices at a time logged into the wireless router. Today an average home may have up to 10-15 devices logged into a wireless router. This includes Smart Phones, Smart TV's, Tablets, Desktop and Laptop Computers, Gaming Consoles, Home Security Cameras, Smart Home features and other Streaming Devices. So things have changed allot over the last 2-3 years and people trying to keep using an older router are just in for more pain. The Wireless Router I recommend to everyone is the Linksys AC1900 Dual Band Smart Wifi Router. You can pick this up for about $159.00 - $200.00 I think this is one of the Best Wireless Routers on the market for this price range.
Cable Modems are another item that will slow down your surfing. Years ago I bought my own Cable Modem for like $70.00 so I wouldn't have to lease one from the local cable company. I had that modem for 7 years and could not understand why my internet surfing was so slow. I was only getting 20-30 MBPS download speeds when everyone else was getting 50-60 MBPS Download speeds. Come to find out the cable company had upgraded their cable to a new faster bandwidth and that required a new Upgraded Docs 3 Cable Modem to enjoy the faster speeds. For several years I was using the older Modem and not getting the faster internet speeds. I finally called up the cable company and they told me I needed a newer Upgraded Cable Modem. So now I'm leasing from them again so I can keep up with all the newer technology. For those of you that don't know yet we will be getting newer Cable modems again soon if you use Midco Internet in Rapid City. They are working on upgrading to Gigabit Internet. That means the Average customer will have the opportunity to go from 50-60 MBPS Internet download to 1000 MBPS Download speeds! Again you will need the newer Cable Modem to get those speeds. So bottom line is-- It might not be your computer that is slow, but maybe your Cable Modem and Wireless Router. Plan on upgrading them every couple of years as technology quickly changes.
The other limiting factor of the older routers was they were really only designed for 1 or 2 devices at a time logged into the wireless router. Today an average home may have up to 10-15 devices logged into a wireless router. This includes Smart Phones, Smart TV's, Tablets, Desktop and Laptop Computers, Gaming Consoles, Home Security Cameras, Smart Home features and other Streaming Devices. So things have changed allot over the last 2-3 years and people trying to keep using an older router are just in for more pain. The Wireless Router I recommend to everyone is the Linksys AC1900 Dual Band Smart Wifi Router. You can pick this up for about $159.00 - $200.00 I think this is one of the Best Wireless Routers on the market for this price range.
Cable Modems are another item that will slow down your surfing. Years ago I bought my own Cable Modem for like $70.00 so I wouldn't have to lease one from the local cable company. I had that modem for 7 years and could not understand why my internet surfing was so slow. I was only getting 20-30 MBPS download speeds when everyone else was getting 50-60 MBPS Download speeds. Come to find out the cable company had upgraded their cable to a new faster bandwidth and that required a new Upgraded Docs 3 Cable Modem to enjoy the faster speeds. For several years I was using the older Modem and not getting the faster internet speeds. I finally called up the cable company and they told me I needed a newer Upgraded Cable Modem. So now I'm leasing from them again so I can keep up with all the newer technology. For those of you that don't know yet we will be getting newer Cable modems again soon if you use Midco Internet in Rapid City. They are working on upgrading to Gigabit Internet. That means the Average customer will have the opportunity to go from 50-60 MBPS Internet download to 1000 MBPS Download speeds! Again you will need the newer Cable Modem to get those speeds. So bottom line is-- It might not be your computer that is slow, but maybe your Cable Modem and Wireless Router. Plan on upgrading them every couple of years as technology quickly changes.