Worth updating my router for Wi-fi 7?

[Jeremy S]

I am currently with Multimax Internet. I have a router that's a few years old, and I'm wondering whether to replace it. The latest WiFi is Wifi 7.

I appreciate that not all of my Wi-Fi-enabled stuff, like my mobile phone, iPad, laptop, etc., can make use of that as yet..

My humble question is, with the type of internet that we have in NC, being transmitted via the internet providers Dish on my roof rather than cable, would an upgraded router make any difference, speed and quality wise, with my internet reception?

[Xtreme512]

Hi Jeremy,

Whats your current AP/router brand and model? I can tell you clearly whether its fine.

You are right most of the mobile devices cant utilize WiFi 7 and it wouldnt be very much of a difference due to the speeds we have in northern part of the island. home network connections between your devices may get a bit faster though depending which AP/router you are coming from. Also WiFi 7 is not all about speed, its about better MIMO, latency and utilization of network.

Furthermore, you can get better QoS in some model of good routers for your home network, but that also depends on the quality of the source (your ISP).

Btw, people still use Multimax? they used to be the best like 8-10 years ago until they got downsized and introduced stupid fair usage quota with very low speed tiers. we can debate on the fair usage thats a long topic but those low speeds are infuriating in todays standard.

There are better providers depending on your location that have premium packages (non-quota) with lower prices than multimax demands. Also always go with cable internet (vdsl/fiber) when you can.

Take care.

edit: also btw, MM has "unlimited" speed in their packages and thats wrong on many levels. first, is it fair to pay the same amount and potentially get less speed than other people because they are connected less congested stations? second, in that system design its not even fair that connected clients fight for every bit of speed in a station (assuming its really unlimited and utilize full speed bandwidth a station has). third, you are paying for something that you do not know about, its what a gsm operator do, they are not upfront and its shady.

[Jeremy S]

Thank you for that good advice. I'll bear that in mind when it comes to internet renewal. Oh, how I wish we were able to connect via cable.

I remember that there was a promise of a fibre optic cable from Turkey. If I remember rightly, when the new water mains pipes for the new water from Turkey were laid, fibre optic cables were also laid with it. Unfortunately, the local telephone workers (Unions) refused to be trained on connecting it to the end customers.

Our router is a TP-Link AC1200 dual band. 7 years old?

Thanks you for your advice

[Xtreme512]

We already have 2 underwater cables: https://www.submarinecablemap.com/ connecting us to internet via a transit path from Turk Telekom. I cant say whether cables are adequate that we need more I don't know. Look at the south side though, lots of fibers are connected.

The point is that we should have fiber connected or at least very near to houses by phone cabinets. But no, even in my situation one company took a fiber line themselves in my street but when I asked the guys who are doing maintenance they said its only for the company and no phone cabinet would be upgraded, therefore no VDSL for me. It is such a joke that we use wireless in a city which in the world its use case is in rural remote areas. Not to mention that cable is less expensive and more stable/reliable.

Your router looks like my TP-Link C7, which I run with my Mikrotik router. AC1200 is a good model you can use it years to come. I like TP-Links hardware but not software, so If you are a tech. savvy you may also flash it with OpenWrt open-source firmware if it supports as mine does and virtually you can do anything you want in the network (advanced QoS, routing and networking capabilities, more or better wireless features).

[Jeremy S]

My router is a TP-Link Archer C50. I'm getting inconsistent wifi, dropping in and out. I've checked using Speedtest app on my wired to ethernet Mac and it shows around 20 mbps down and around 5 up. I'm wondering if it is time to replace the router. I can bring one from the UK when I next visit, but I'm wondering if a local shop, such as Laconic or even buying one from MultiMax, would be just as efficient.
Thanks for your advice.

[steveodp]

It can be worth asking your internet supplier to send an engineer, because they sometimes use cheap cabling which deteriorates in the sun - we had ours replaced a couple of times before finally getting the better stuff and redirecting it out of direct sun.

[waddo]

Steveodp, How true! Most ISP’s appear to have moved on to Cat6 which is slightly better than Cat5 at dealing with UV degradation but still suffers out here. One way around the cable problem is to have all your external cable in trunking, that helps a lot against UV. I find that it is better to renew external cables every 5 years as a minimum but that is often not easy to do.

Keep your external cables as short as possible, put them in trunking where possible, avoid 90 degree bends always, don’t have “excess” cable loops anywhere and try to have connectors to your external aerials masked from direct sunlight wherever possible! Good cable installation is a major plus for you so don’t let the installer get away with “slap dash” fitting, hard bends, loose cables and tatty RJ45 connections.

15 years ago I ran a length of Cat5 cable from my house to what was then my garage, around 30 mtrs in total, 8 mtrs of which is supported by steel wire and double wrapped in a black waterproof tape. It is still there, still no sign of signal loss and provides seating for the summer swallows - lol.
The thing here is that the cable I used is Cat5E that I brought with me from the UK (perk of the job I had) and is proper copper cable! Most Cat5E in use here is CCA cable and not copper even if it is branded as Cat5E, you can check it with a simple flame check - if it glows it’s copper, if it melts it’s CCA!

In the 20 years since I used to install network cables, the World has moved on - lots, cable has become cheap from China and although CCA is probably good for up to 30 Mbps if you also want to run any power through that cable it will get hot and become a fire hazard - just a thought for you!