4 Solutions to Upgrade Your Home Networking Setup This Year

Optimize internet speed and reliability for all the connected devices on your property 

The need for homes to have a robust networking infrastructure becomes more apparent every year. The modern household in Edina, MN, relies on a home network for 4K content streaming, remote work and video conferencing, virtual learning, and smart device connectivity. All these activities require adequate bandwidth, high internet speeds, and house-wide coverage to perform without buffering, glitching, or crashing. 

With the number of connected IoT devices on the rise in homes, now is a prime time to turn a critical eye to the performance of your current networking solution. If you’re ready to upgrade your network to meet the connectivity demands of the future, learn the four home networking solutions we recommend to start. 

SEE ALSO: 3 Reasons to Invest in a Home Networking Upgrade This Year

Enterprise-Grade Router

When was the last time you upgraded your home router? Like most electronics, routers are prone to heat damage and breakdowns due to age. Additionally, older routers don’t have the memory and processing power of newer models and may be struggling to handle the load of multiple connected devices in your home. A weak and outdated router could be the culprit behind several common internet issues — slow internet, poor signal strength, dropped signals, and long download times. 

If it’s been years since you bought a new router, consider upgrading to an enterprise-grade model. Enterprise-grade routers have more robust security features and firewalls to prevent hacking, more advanced software for traffic prioritization, more memory and processing power, and a better ability to handle high workloads with fewer slowdowns. At ResTech Systems, we recommend high-performance enterprise-grade routers and switches from Luxul to handle the needs of your connected home.

Wireless Access Points

If you have a large estate, a house with multiple stories, or a mother-in-law suite in the backyard, you’re likely familiar with a common networking problem: the dreaded dead spots. A single router isn’t robust enough for whole-home coverage in many larger homes because Wi-Fi signals weaken the farther they move from the router. 

One solution to extend the wireless coverage in your home is adding wireless access points (WAPs). WAPs create a wireless local area network (WLAN) wherever they’re placed and connect back to the wired router. That allows you to roam from room to room without losing connection — your devices will seamlessly shift between access points. We recommend WAPs from Ruckus for superior wireless coverage indoors and out. 

Outdoor Wi-Fi

WAPs aren’t only useful for expanding your wireless network indoors — they also allow you to bring the enjoyment of Wi-Fi outside. If you dream of listening to music around the fire pit outside your lake house or streaming Netflix from the pool, installing one or two weatherproof WAPs from Ruckus lets you bring all your favorite entertainment experiences to your outdoor living spaces. 

Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of Wi-Fi. This new protocol promises faster internet speeds and the ability to use more connected devices simultaneously without slowdowns. You’ll need both a router and devices that support Wi-Fi 6 to take advantage of it, so this isn’t an upgrade we recommend making all at once. However, consider building a Wi-Fi 6-enabled network piece by piece with Ruckus as you upgrade your networking components and devices in the future.

Let ResTech Systems help you find the home networking solutions your household needs. We’ll perform a thorough evaluation to determine your speed, security, coverage, and bandwidth requirements and recommend solutions that allow you to work and play with ease. Call us at 763-710-5700 or fill out a contact form online. We look forward to working with you!