You hire an ADSL or fiber optic line with any operator for your home or office, and the operator during the installation leaves you a router to control your internal network. A simple and very common process that entails, however, that you will have a fairly basic router, with few functionalities or little power, as this is how the standard routers offered by operators are.
Although it is true that in recent years things have improved significantly, the truth is that the routers of the operators are still very basic compared to what we can acquire on our own. The question to ask here is What advantages would it mean to us to change the router? on our own, and what inconveniences can we find when doing it.
Reasons for wanting to change your operator’s router
As we have said previously, wanting to change the router that your operator places you at the time of the contract is a logical impulse because they are usually limited in different aspects. For example, if you need USB ports to connect hard drives that are accessible from any device, or if you need your router to allow calls through VoIP.
If the router of our operator gives us little coverage, problems when configuring it or it is very limited, it may be necessary to change it
But without a doubt, one of the most common reasons for wanting to change routers lies in its wireless limitations. Either because our router offers little coverage and reaches some points in our house with difficulties, or because the signal is cut off frequently, or because certain services such as streaming have problems. In these cases, everything may be solved with a frequency change due to saturation but sometimes it is that our router simply does not have enough power.
To solve this we can take different measures such as placing an intermediary, a router that connects to the main one and that serves as the main router. To do that, it is enough to cancel the WiFi signal of our operator’s router and build the new network around the new one, which we will have already bought with care and knowing what we need. Perhaps installing WiFi repeaters around the house, a WiFi Mesh system, or maybe using a PLC system.
But if none of this convinces us or solves the problem, Maybe it will be time to change the operator’s router and opt for a more powerful one that has what we are looking for. Perhaps in terms of software (a more efficient opening of ports) or perhaps in terms of pure hardware with more Ethernet ports, more USB ports or more antennas to improve coverage. Or maybe because we want to use WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E and our router does not support these new standards. So, we are going to talk about the advantages of changing the router.
What advantages can it bring us to change the operator’s router for a neutral one
As we have commented previously, perhaps our operator’s router has more limitations than desired in terms of software, purely hardware-based functions or, simply, power when providing coverage. That is why installing your own router as a substitute (not as a complement) the first thing it gives us is freedom.
Neutral routers do not hide anything of their configuration from our eyes, as operators do: we have absolute freedom to decide each parameter.
Having a next-generation neutral router will make us have many more internal configuration options, usually capped on the routers supplied by the operators, and we will also have more functions before us. As soon as we are somewhat knowledgeable in managing and configuring routers, we will see that the ones we buy are more versatile and manageable.
Changing the router of our operator for a neutral one will also cause, when the current one is something old, get the latest security protocols and also the latest connectivity options. Perhaps our operator router only offers WiFi 5 and with a new acquisition we will be able to access WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E, depending on the model we buy. We can also upgrade to physical ports with faster Ethernet connections or ports for physical hard drives.
If what we buy is a router prepared to make the most of video games, we can also win in this regard, with lower latencies and configurations that allow us to redirect network traffic to improve the gaming experience. All this and more is achieved when we change our operator’s router for one of our own, because we buy the model that interests us for specific use cases or simply a more powerful model than the current one.
What are the drawbacks of changing the operator’s router for a neutral one
We have already seen the advantages we have when it comes to replacing the router that our operator installs for us with a neutral one, which are varied depending on what we need and what new model we choose, and as drawbacks, at the moment of truth, we will only have one, but of vital importance: the configuration of the new router, because operators do not usually make things easy.
The fiber connections in our house have a series of configuration data that the operator’s routers have already included as standard, parameters necessary for the router to obtain the necessary permissions to access the network. Despite what it may seem, the thing is not to connect the new router to the power and put the fiber cable, it is all somewhat more complex.
In extreme cases in which we cannot locate the operator’s data to connect to its network, or the operator itself does not want to provide it to us for security or other reasons, we can also buy the new router and configure it in bridge mode, in “bridge” mode. . That is to say, that we cancel the WiFi of the operator’s router, connect the new one to it and use the internal one for management. Thus, the signal will pass from the devices to our bridge, from it to the operator’s router and to the street. Also in reverse.
Finally, you have to know that it is likely that you cannot remove yourself and get rid of all the devices that the operator installs in our home. This is the case of the ONT, the adapter that converts the fiber optic signal into electrical signal for the router to start up. In these cases we can resort to buying a fiber neutral router that already has an integrated ONT but beware, we will also have to learn to configure it and it is not a simple process.