Wifi wire

Read our Netgear Orbi 6 review. Most noteworthy is the router's latency management. In fact, it leads all of the routers I've ever tested, gaming or otherwise, with the lowest average latency across all of my tests, which online gamers will definitely appreciate. Something else you'll appreciate: An excellent mix of app-based controls and features, including a mobile boost mode, that lets you prioritize gaming traffic to your phone at the touch of a button.

If you need additional range, you can add other Asus "AIMesh" devices to your home network to make it the centerpiece of a mesh. That checks off all of the boxes that most people want from a good gaming router, and it gets you there at a price that isn't too painful for us to recommend.

Even if you aren't a gamer, this is still one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers you can buy right now. Read our list of the best gaming routers. Watch this : Ways to speed up your Wi-Fi. I'll post the answer to commonly asked router questions below -- if you have any others, feel free to reach out on Twitter rycrist , or by clicking the little envelope icon on my CNET profile page.

Doing so will let you send a message straight to my inbox. You need to be connected to your modem in order to send and receive data from the web -- your router lets you do that without need for a wire. It's basically a big, fancy antenna for your modem that lets you connect with it wirelessly, over Wi-Fi. You can also use that local Wi-Fi network to connect with other devices at home, like printers or remote storage servers.

If your home is larger, then it's probably worth spending more on a mesh system that can spread more consistent speeds from room to room.

And if you're working from home, gaming online or sharing bandwidth with multiple housemates or family members, upgrading to something like a high-speed tri-band router is probably a good investment, too.

The old-fashioned way is to plug the thing in and connect it with your modem via Ethernet cable, then type its IP address into a browser's URL bar to begin the setup. The easier, more modern way is to use the router's app, which will typically walk you through setup in about minutes. If you don't have a flat surface near the best spot, you can mount your router halfway up a wall. If possible, keep it away from other devices that use electromagnetic waves; that includes baby monitors, wireless keyboards, and even microwaves.

We sometimes forget: Wires still exist! You don't need Wi-Fi. A wired connection to your router is usually preferable to a wireless one. It's faster and more stable and can't be affected by other devices or large fish tanks. The downside is that it limits where your devices can be, and it's less convenient overall. Still, for hardware that needs the fastest internet possible—a gaming console, desktop PC, or a streaming box, for example—it's often well worth the effort to run a wire.

The router will have a handful of Ethernet ports to spare, so all you need is a cable. To do a really tidy job and avoid having wires trailing across your floor, you'll need to deploy some cable management.

For one or two gadgets, it can be worth the extra setup. Wi-Fi signal is divided into channels. Your router uses a particular Wi-Fi channel to communicate with the devices around your home, and if you have neighbors living very close who have routers using the same Wi-Fi channel, then everything can get congested quickly.

Switching channels can solve this problem. Every router will handle this differently. Check its documentation or look up the instructions online if you're not sure, but you should be able to find the option somewhere in the device settings.

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the ones to try, as they'll have the least interference when multiple devices get hooked up. Most routers now use dual-band technology, broadcasting at the 2. If your router settings allow you, you might be able to prioritize one or the other for certain devices—the 5-GHz band will get you a faster connection to the internet, though it has a shorter range than 2.

We suggest leaving both frequencies enabled since older devices will often work only on 2. Routers vary significantly in functionality and price, but in this case, the upgrade to make is generally in terms of how far your Wi-Fi is broadcast. But never fear, you can still provide Internet access to your dinner guests or babysitter without compromising the security of your main network. Simply adjust the guest settings using your mobile management app.

Comparing range extenders to whole home WiFi is like comparing apples to oranges. Range extenders are certainly effective when it comes to increasing the range of your router, but they do so at the expense of WiFi performance, which gets cut in half. In a large space where WiFi struggles to reach every corner, a range extender can actually diminish the overall performance of your network, creating a bottlenecking effect.

These two separate networks also have different names and interfaces, which can be a serious hassle. For example, some tri-band systems are better than others, and some dual-band systems have bandwidth limitations.

Take a close look at the tech being offered to ensure that your whole-home WiFi projects an effective, efficient signal that blankets every corner of your home with WiFi connectivity. After that, transmission speeds severely drop.

We understand that an ethernet cable connection is much more reliable than a Wi-Fi connection. So, what can we do when the wired connection becomes slower than the Wi-Fi? To determine what the problem is, we need to test a couple of things. First off, we need to test the internet speed on multiple devices. It might be a device-related issue. Test the speed using one of the internet speed tests on multiple laptops. If the speed is insufficient on all the devices, then we need to check for other reasons.

We should switch the port on the router or the modem. Sometimes, a switch can boost speed. So, the only logical thing to do is to use a different cable and see if that works better. The old cable might be broken or losing contact somewhere. In that case, we need to disable it and enable it to get it to work. Another way to fix a slow internet connection is to update the drivers. The procedure is a little different. Right-click on the LAN adapter. Finally, we can always troubleshoot a connection problem.

Tech Guides Programming Tech Education. This is how to fix your wired Internet connection that is slower than wireless. Is your wired Internet connection slower than your wireless? Learn how to fix your wired Internet connection with this article.