Will Getting a New Router Increase Upload Speed

Question: Does a better router improve cyberspace speed?
Answer: Sometimes. Information technology depends. It'due south complicated!

Allow me to elaborate…

In that location are at least three factors that impact someone's perception of how fast or ho-hum an internet connectedness is. To help make my point, think of your net connection every bit a pipeline.

The iii factors that bear upon your speed as it relates to your pipeline are:

The size of your pipeline (the amount of bandwidth you have)
How apace things flow through your pipeline (the corporeality of latency you lot have)
Whether or not there are leaks in your pipeline (is information being dropped somewhere in the heart)

1. The size of your pipeline

Recall of the amount of bandwidth you have. This is the number advertised by your ISP in Megabits per 2nd (Mbps).

Some people have one Mbps, others have 1000 Mbps. This is the size of your pipeline.The more bandwidth you take, the more data that can flow through it at the same time and the less it gets clogged upwardly.

Remember to also consider upload speed every bit well every bit your download speed, as they can both make a departure.

The amount of bandwidth you have is certainly important, but it is not the only cistron in determining the speed of your internet connexion.

2. How quickly things (data) flow through your pipeline

This is referred to every bit latency – it is a measurement of the time it takes data to get from your estimator, through the internet to a remote server (Facebook, Netflix, etc), and then all the fashion back (circular trip).

Is the data moving slowly like sludge through the pipeline, or is it moving rapidly like pure water?

If data moves dorsum and forth quickly (low latency), it is likely that someone would perceive that connection as very fast, even if information technology were only a 10Mbps connectedness.

The reverse of this is also true – someone could have a large pipage with slow flow and they wouldn't feel that it is a very fast connection. The best case of this is Satellite Net, such as HughesNet.

Many satellite internet plans provide decent bandwidth (usually somewhere around 25Mbps) but are all the same known to be quite slow. The reason for this, is due to the added fourth dimension it takes the bespeak to go all the way up into space and then be bounced back downwards to globe.

This results in a big pipe/slow flow scenario, and as such, many people with this blazon of service are generally unhappy with it.

3. Are there leaks in your pipeline?

This is referring to the reliability of your internet connectedness and all of the pathways your data takes through the internet on its way to/from a remote server.

If there is an issue, either with your Internet service provider or somewhere upstream from them, you may experience packet loss. Parcel loss will definitely slow downward your internet connection.

Run into, your computer is very intelligent and can sense when package loss is occuring. When this happens, it has to re-request the missing information and wait for it to arrive again.

This delay, depending on its severity, is typically noticeable to the user as lag/slowness. Alternatively, if there is no packet loss, then there is no need for information to be re-transmitted. This can upshot in favorable speeds and saved bandwidth.

Factors that impact your speed

At present that we've covered the basics of the three of the ways that speed is observed, lets discuss factors that will actually impact your speed.

Congestion/Oversubscription

This is what happens when your pipeline gets full. Information technology just tin can't move any more data simultaneously until either the size of the pipeline is increased, or the amount of existing data in the pipeline is reduced.

We've all noticed this before – a sudden burst of lag that occurs because someone else in the household is all of a sudden downloading or uploading a lot of information, like a picture show or a game. This creates data contention issues, which is noticed as a slowdown.

Keep in heed that oversubscription could occur in your household (too many family members or roommates using the internet at the same time) or information technology could also occur at the ISP level – where there are too many customers eating up large amounts of data (commonly during pinnacle times of the solar day) and it ends up affecting other customers.

How well is your ISP connected to other networks/providers

cables in a datacenter The internet is made upwardly of thousands of pathways that connect various networks. In some instances, your information has to become through 20-xxx routers before it reaches its intended destination (that is considered a lot of routers).

In other cases, perhaps information technology only has to go through 8-ten routers. Generally speaking, the shorter the path your data has to take to reach its destination, the faster and more than reliably it will go there.

These pathways are decided upon past your ISP.

If they have many connections to various upstream providers, including some straight connections (called peering arrangements) with major companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon etc – y'all will likely have a meliorate experience than an ISP that just has one connection out to the net.

Other miscellaneous issues that can impact your speed:

Equipment bug at your ISP or one of their upstream providers
Issues on the server side – if the remote server you are accessing is oversubscribed or malfunctioning, you lot will detect slowness
Local bug with your computer or your router, or perhaps a Wi-Fi outcome

Here are some things that a new router could solve:

Wi-Fi ecology issues

Perhaps there are environmental issues impacting your Wireless functioning. Mayhap there is interference from too many people nearby on other Wi-Fi networks.

Mayhap the guy side by side door uses a cordless phone or runs his microwave oftentimes (both of which can touch on Wi-Fi). Or maybe the materials that your dwelling is built out of is negatively impacting your bespeak.

There are technologies featured on newer routers such as beamforming, boosted bands, etc that can overcome some of these environmental issues and evangelize a better user experience.

New features and standards

Perhaps your sometime router merely supports an older/slower wireless standard such as 802.11G or 802.11N, then upgrading to a newer standard such as 802.11AC will definitely requite better information throughput and better range.

Additionally, many newer routers have quality of service (QoS) features that would make the internet connection feel faster/more reliable when data contention is in play.

The bottom line:

Y'all won't know if a meliorate router will improve your internet speed unless you do some testing:

Yous could simply get out and buy a new router, plug information technology in, and promise everything improves
You could connect your computer directly to your router with a network cable to see if at that place is a operation issue related to your Wi-Fi (connecting directly volition bypass your Wi-Fi)
Or you could bypass your router altogether – in some cases, you lot can plug a reckoner directly in to your modem to test

Whatever type of test you run, just make sure that you lot are consistent in your testing. Run speed tests before and afterwards each change and document the results.

Be sure to employ the same estimator and same browser each time you lot test. Use the same speed test website/server each time, and try to test at the same time each day, since speeds with some providers differ depending on the fourth dimension of day.

If y'all are testing a wired connexion, make sure your calculator is disconnected from the wireless network before y'all start testing.

Results:

If your internet speeds are identical when you bypass your router, it is unlikely that upgrading your router will have any noticeable outcome. Perchance you should contact your ISP instead to see if there is a problem with your connection.

But, if your internet speeds improve when y'all bypass your router, in that location is a practiced chance that a new router will give you lot the better functioning you are peckish.

Proficient Luck!

Andrew Namder is an experienced Network Engineer with 20+ years of experience in It. He loves applied science in general, simply is truly passionate about calculator networking and sharing his knowledge with others. He is a Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and is working towards achieving the coveted CCIE certification. He can be reached at andrew@infravio.com.

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Source: https://www.infravio.com/does-a-better-router-improve-internet-speed/