Do you ever find yourself scrolling through your phone or computer in bed, hours after you should have been asleep? If so, you’re not alone. Many people struggle to break the habit of using devices right before bed. But did you know that the blue light emitted from your screens can actually inhibit your ability to sleep? Let’s be clear on this: Blue light is good for the environment, but it has the potential to harm your sleep and even cause other health issues. When you think about it, for centuries the sun was the primary source of light prior to the introduction of artificial lighting and for the most part, humans spent their nights in relative darkness. In many parts of the globe, the night sky is artificially lighted with an overabundance of light. Light pollution is a major concern with communities whereas 20 years ago…it wasn’t.
However, it’s possible that all that light is costing us something. When the sun goes down at night, the body’s circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock, is thrown off if we get too much blue light prior to sleep. And guess what? Sleep is impacted. Furthermore, research reveals that it may have a role in causing cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. This is kind of a serious problem.
In What Ways Can Blue Light Affect Sleep?
In order to enjoy a decent night’s sleep, you need to produce the hormone melatonin. While melatonin is naturally present all day, the levels peak about midnight and continue to rise for many hours after. Melatonin, a sleep-inducing chemical, is released by the brain at different intervals and intensities depending on many different factors.
As a result, you may not feel tired at bedtime since your light bulbs and computer displays generate a lot of blue light, which inhibits the generation of melatonin in the evening and keeps you up for hours. When our normal circadian rhythm is disrupted, we not only have difficulty falling asleep and difficulty waking up more rested in the morning, but we also sleep less soundly and wake up more tired. It’s a compounding effect that has some serious implications for sleep and as a result…your overall health.
Most of the time, when we think about staying healthy, we just consider nutrition and exercise, ignoring the critical role that rest plays. Even if you eat the cleanest diet and work out every day, you won’t be healthy if you don’t get enough sleep. Good sleep is essential for a healthy body and mind. It helps maintain your organs functioning properly, keeps your heart healthy, and lowers your risk of diabetes and depression. A good night’s sleep allows your body to rest and recharge for the following day. Sadly, we’re getting less sleep than we used to because of all the light exposure we’re getting at night.
We are seeing more and more research on blue light from digital devices and how detrimental it can be to our health. So…how do we protect ourselves? Here are a handful of tips:
Make use of soft red lampshades as nightlights. To avoid disrupting the circadian cycle and suppressing melatonin, red light should be used rather than blue or ultraviolet.
Reduce screen time by two to three hours before going to bed. This is going to be really hard. You can suppress the blue light from your devices (with some devices like an iPhone and iPad you can schedule the blue light filter to turn off and on), but the remaining light from your devices can still strain your eyes and affect your sleep.
Wear blue light blocking glasses or use an app that filters the blue/green wavelength at night if you work a night shift or use a lot of electronic gadgets during the evening. When there are those times I am using a computer late at night, I love to use this blue light screen protector for my monitor.
Make sure you get a lot of sunlight throughout the day to improve your capacity to sleep at night, as well as your mood and alertness in the daytime.
It’s no secret that too much blue light can cause some major health issues. Eye strain, blurry vision, headaches, cataracts, and even insomnia are just a few of the problems that can be caused by too much blue light exposure. And that’s not even getting into the long-term effects of too much blue light exposure, which can include an increased risk for macular degeneration. We still don’t know to what extent blue light can affect our health in the long run.
When it comes to people who find it difficult to refrain from using digital devices after dark, blue light filters and blue light glasses may help. The filters reduce the quantity of dangerous blue light emitted by displays, while the glasses prevent exposure to harmful light. Stopping screen usage at least an hour before bedtime and removing gadgets from bedrooms are still the best bets for reducing blue light and enhancing sleep quality. If you’re someone who struggles with sleep and you also use your devices right before bed, I want you to try a simple experiment. For the next few days, put your devices completely away at least one hour before bedtime. Record your sleep and reflect on the quality of sleep. Keep note of how you feel and really reflect on any changes. What I think you’ll discover is a change (hopefully a good one) in how you feel overall.
Your phone battery is far more powerful than it was a decade ago, yet we are unintentionally spending more time gazing at our cellphones than ever before, which is why our battery troubles haven’t vanished. In fact, battery life is one of the top three biggest concerns of smartphone manufacturers. Do you ever wonder why one of the leading new features of every new version of a smartphone has to do with battery life? It’s a big deal. So, if your phone’s battery appears to be going too quickly, you may want to give these eight methods a try. You may be surprised at how much more time you have on the go when you have a working phone.
8 Tips To Maximize Your Phone’s Battery
Do you ever find yourself running out of battery on your phone before the end of the day? If so, don’t worry…you’re not alone. Most people need to take some extra steps to make sure their phone’s battery lasts as long as possible. Here are some of my favorite tips to help you get the most out of your smartphone’s battery.
1. Turn On Power Saving Mode
Suppose you’re going to be in a position where you’ll have to use your phone for longer periods of time than usual? Put your phone in power-saving mode to minimize the use of resources that might drain your battery. We went to Settings > Battery and device maintenance, then touched the Battery option on our test device.
Enable Power conservation mode to restrict networking, syncing, and location services. You’re also going to want to reduce the refresh rate of the screen below the battery consumption chart. It’s possible to further tweak the function by turning off Always on Display, reducing CPU speed to 70%, or dimming the screen by 10% in order to conserve even more battery life. When power saving mode is on, the Limit apps and home screen option restricts access to just a few programs and stops all background activities. Multiple power-saving modes may be available in previous versions of Android, each balancing performance and battery life in a different way. Regardless of how this affects your phone operations, if you’re in a jam and need that extra battery life…you’ll want to enable power-saving mode.
Use Airplane mode if you don’t need to be connected to the Internet. You’ll be surprised how much this will save your battery life in the process. Open the pull-down shade and hit the Airplane mode button to immediately disconnect your phone from WiFi, deactivate Bluetooth, and stop mobile data. Once again, press the button to re-enable it.
3. Low Down Your Screen Brightness
Big, bright displays on smartphones drain battery life. Granted, I LOVE having a big, bright display because it augments your smartphone experience. However, it does drain the battery. In most cases, you don’t need to raise your device’s brightness level all the way up. In your Display options, lower the brightness of your screen. Alternatively, you may use the pull-down menu to adjust the brightness of the display. Disabling auto brightness is a good idea while you’re at it. This function may boost the brightness of your screen over what is necessary depending on your perception of its demands. Your eyes (and battery) will thank you if you turn off the Adaptive Brightness switch.
Let your phone screen go dark while you’re not using it. That implies adjusting the display timeout in the Display options. It is possible to set a Screen timeout option so that your screen goes to sleep sooner when it isn’t being used. I’m surprised at how long people put set their screen timeout. It doesn’t need to be more than a minute. Anything after that and you could be wasting precious time on your battery.
It also has an always-on display that shows the time and date even when the phone’s screen is closed. Put an end to it. Select Always on Display in the lock screen settings of your phone. You may schedule it to turn off when you don’t need it, configure it to only show when you touch the screen or turn it off entirely.
5. Disable Active Listening in Devices
While your voice assistant is waiting for you to say a wake word, it is continually listening to you and draining the battery. This may be handy to you, but it will use up more energy than it will save you in the long run. There is an option to disable this function, regardless of whether it is Google Assistant or Samsung’s Bixby.
To use Assistant, just press and hold the home screen button for a few seconds, then hit the inbox symbol. Open the app if necessary. Open Hey Google & Voice Match by tapping your profile picture, then turn off Hey Google if it’s already active.
If you’re having trouble with Bixby, all you have to do is turn it off. To turn off Bixby on your phone, follow these steps.
6. Try Dark Mode with the Right Screen
For the most part, dark mode does nothing for your battery life unless you have an OLED or AMOLED display on your smartphone. Samsung, OnePlus, and Google’s flagship phones all employ this newer display technology, whereas the majority of older phones still use LCD panels.
To save power, you may switch off the pixels that are showing black on an OLED or AMOLED display. To save up to an hour of battery life, iFixit estimates that you should use dark mode.
After the introduction of Android 9 (Pie), a few phones had a dark mode, but it wasn’t until Android 10 that all phones had access to it. To enable or disable Dark Mode, open the pull-down shade and press the Dark Mode button. Other options include accessing your phone’s Display settings. It’s possible to arrange when the dark mode will be activated by clicking on “Dark mode settings” in the menu.
7. Take Control Of Your Apps
Even when you aren’t using an app, it continues to operate in the background. Of course, this will chew up data and battery life over a long period of use. Under Battery or App Power Management, you may put unneeded applications to sleep. Select and activate the background usage limitations option Take the time to put useless applications to sleep so that they don’t drain your power.
It’s possible to take things a step further and instruct your phone to shut down certain applications. Click on the plus (+) sign to add your app to the list of available sleep aids. Sleeping applications get updated only sporadically and deep sleeping apps won’t operate until they’re being used, thus updates may be delayed.
Keeping an eye on your energy-draining applications and deleting or disabling any outliers is a smart habit to get into. Under Battery Usage in Settings, you can see which applications are running in the background and which ones should be shut down when they’re not in use.
8. If You’re Not Using It, It’s Okay To Disable It
Let me explain this one a little further. Many times the really cool features of our smartphones come equipped with amazing utility, but…they do put a strain on your phone’s battery. A handful of things I like to disable when I’m not using them AND I’m in a battery pickle is to disable location and GPS settings. Let’s be honest…you don’t always need them on. Along with that same note, I will also kill my Wifi and Bluetooth for the same reason. Disabling these features can give your battery a much-needed break. Not only will this save you some juice, but it can also help you to focus on the present moment instead of being distracted by your phone 😉
You Can Extend Your Smartphone Battery
You should be able to extend the life of your smartphone battery by following these tips for maximizing your smartphone battery. A little note: these tips will not increase the battery’s lifespan beyond what it is capable of. There is a distinction between those. If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, consider the battery capacity, especially if you plan on using your phone often. Power banks are another option for topping up your smartphone’s battery when it’s low on charge. If you try all of these tips and you notice just no improvement, it may be time to bring your phone into a trustworthy phone repair business to help you figure out what’s draining your battery.
Data is a vital asset of any organization or home. It’s hard for employees (whether they work for a big business or small business) to perform their roles and functions properly if they don’t have access to corporate data. Poor data management can lead to business volume loss, poor customer service, and poor business liquidation. Because of this, it is essential to have an effective data management tool to create a smooth flow of information.
Organizations require a large data storage facility to house their data and make it accessible from anywhere. Network Attached Storage or NAS is an effective solution to a lot of problems faced by any large or small organization as it not only provides storage and protection but also ensures online availability. We wanted to explore the basics things you need to know about NAS, how it works, some of the benefits of having a NAS, and answer if you really need one.
What Is NAS?
NAS is the short form of Network Attached Storage, a file storage system that allows multiple users and different client devices to connect to the centralized disk capacity and retrieve the required data. NAS devices are adaptable and robust, so you may expand your storage capacity as needed.
NAS is similar to having your private cloud at work. It’s quicker, less costly, and gives you total control over all the cloud platform features. Data is always available with a NAS, making it simple for staff to communicate, reply to clients quickly, and follow up on purchases or other concerns because everything is in one place. Because NAS functions similarly to a cloud infrastructure, data can be monitored remotely via an access point, allowing workers to work from anywhere. It has become efficient data storage and access platform for employees.
How Does NAS Work?
A NAS is essentially a little host/box that fits on your desk or some other surface. You can use a USB connection to link it to your system, eliminating the network’s primary usefulness. There are some that also come equipped with wireless connections and others that you can connect via a network cable. A NAS generates its remote system that any equipment can access with the proper credentials (ID and password).
A NAS is an upgrade from a simple external hard drive and the first step toward constructing your private cloud computing. This technique eliminates the dangers and obligations of file-providing from other systems, resulting in a customized and enterprise backup system that is as cost-effective and efficient as the cloud.
Image Source: Tech Target
NAS equipment has different elements built into its designs to enable the various ways for its use:
Storage
The fundamental role of a NAS device with hard disc drives is to preserve your contents. Two to 5 hard disks are included in the most common NAS devices for homes and offices, local firms, and corporate workgroups.
Networking
You can use a hardwired or Wi-Fi connection to connect to the network. Whereas many NAS equipment has USB ports, with most of them you can’t use them to link the NAS to your pc or laptop. Instead, you can use these connections to attach additional objects to your Operating system, either for power, backup, or data transmission.
CPU
Network Attached Storages also contain a built-in CPU as they require computational power to manage the file system, read and write activities, run apps, manage users, and run security policies to protect data stored on the NAS when it connects to the internet.
Operating System
While it may not appear to the ordinary user that an operating system controls the storage medium, NAS systems require an OS to handle duties that otherwise would have been handled by a CPU for DAS devices. The NAS also requires an operating system to run the diverse applications that users can use to access data from their NAS systems, which include:
● Business Data Management
● Data Transfer
● Web Server
● Multimedia Management
● Cloud Integration
● Productivity tools
Why Is NAS Important?
Network-attached storage is an important part of any business or household. It provides a convenient way to store data and access it from anywhere in the world. The key benefits of using network access storage are listed below:
Data Storage
A NAS device will provide enough storage capacity to a computer system, thus increasing the amount of storage space accessible. It’s worth mentioning that almost all computers and laptops have limited storage capacity, which might make it difficult for them to run smoothly.
Data Automation
When utilizing a NAS system, it is possible to construct automatic backups that will represent any adjustments done locally on a computer to files or folders.
Data Protection
Think about how fragile our data is AND the devices that store them. A simple fall can destroy your laptop or you could lose all of your data by spilling a beverage on your computer and ruining it. Fortunately, your data is protected by a NAS system and local equipment failure does not impact the security of your data.
Network access storage (NAS) is an excellent data storage tool that helps the organization to overcome all the challenges related to data management. It allows users to access corporate data at any time and any place. NAS devices are often used to store and share large amounts of data, such as photos, videos, and music. They can also be used to back up important data or to create a private cloud storage system. While NAS devices can be expensive, they offer a number of advantages over other types of data storage, such as increased security and easier access. If you have a lot of data that needs to be stored and accessed, then a NAS device may be the best option for you.
In a home network, a NAS device can be used to store music, photos, and videos. For example, the iBI is one of my favorite NAS devices for families to store personal media. The iBi is fantastic as it helps families with a basic level of experience with storing personal media files. Personally, I am a huge fan of Synology NAS like the DiskStation DS models. This is entry-level network-attached storage for your home that can do a TON: data backup, file syncing, and sharing. The DiskStation is a robust private cloud for your home that can also be used to back up data from computers, laptops, and mobile devices. In a business, a NAS device can be used to store important company files or to provide employees with access to shared data.
As data breaches may have a negative impact on both the client and the firm that was hacked, proper credit card storage can be difficult. It might seem like a personal assault when someone steals your credit cards or other sensitive information. Customers lose faith in firms as a result, and it may even need legal action. Online scams are growing in popularity. Credit card transactions are a need in today’s increasingly contactless environment. Because of the epidemic’s rise in credit card use, the e-commerce business in the United States has skyrocketed (just look at Amazon’s stock over the last three years).
As a consumer, you must hold companies to a high standard with it comes to protecting your credit card information. Businesses committed to abiding by industry data security standards when they signed a credit card processor’s contract. The technology and practices of a reputable payment provider should be in place to satisfy those needs. In the same way, it is also your responsibility as a consumer to make sure that a company is effectively securing your information. It includes things like how they keep credit card information, the technology they utilize, and the service providers they work with. You want to know what they’re doing with this valuable data. It’s your personal data by the way. You need to care. If you don’t think about this every time you make an online purchase, you need to.
The Equifax data leak serves as a reminder of how critical it is for businesses to securely handle credit card information and other personal data. To manage a subscription-based company, companies need to keep track of customers’ credit card information on a regular basis. Data security guidelines and services for storing your customers’ credit card information should be available on every company’s website.
Best Practices For Using A Credit Card For Online Shopping
The best place to find this information is in a company’s privacy policy and/or its Terms of Conditions. Here’s what you should look for. For keeping customer data, the following are some useful best practices and things you need to keep an eye on.
How They Store Credit Card Info in Compromising Places
Credit card numbers should never be written down or stored in paper form. No matter what happens, this is an all-around awful decision. Other online storage services like Dropbox, Gmail, and Google Drive are not safe places to store credit card information.
They should have some policy in place in writing where they mention they don’t save customers’ credit card information in CRM profiles. Having all of your information in one place may be easy for a company, but it’s also a very unsafe alternative. A system with a secure vault or the option to connect it through separate software should be outlined and discussed in their policy.
Verify Data Encryption
For things like recurring purchases, make sure the company ensures that your credit card information is encrypted at all times. To ensure the security of the data, the encryption process should make use of a strong algorithm. Even in the event of a lost or stolen computer or other unwanted access, a solid algorithm will assist keep the data safe. And if your information is stolen or lost, they should have a policy or guideline in place to notify you immediately.
In certain cases, payment processors provide a safe place to keep customer data. Tokenization is a typical method for doing this. In a database, businesses are given a “token” for each credit card number. Tokens don’t need to be stored in a secure file since they may be any number. Sending a token to a service provider is all that is required to complete payment. When looking at the policy or ToCs, look for the keyword “encryption”.
Without even needing to mention it, the most obvious best practice is to NEVER buy from a company that doesn’t have a secure site. How do you know it’s secure or not? There are two really simple and easy ways. The first is just to look at the URL. When you’re on the site, just click the URL address bar and make sure the beginning starts with “HTTPS:”. Or…just look for a little lock signal in the address bar at the beginning of the URL. Companies cannot process credit card information without having an SSL certificate. This little check described above authenticates that they’ve done so. Now…that doesn’t mean a company can’t collect credit card information. What it means is they can’t process credit card information. Hackers and scammers are getting smarter every day. They can create a site in minutes, make it look legit, and add in some plugin forms to make it look like they’re processing a purchase when you punch in your credit card info. That’s why it is essential that you check to make sure the site is secure.
Should I Store Credit Card Information On My Browser?
When it comes to credit card information, it’s important to be proactive about security. With so many data breaches in the news, it’s understandable to be worried about storing credit card info in your browser. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help put your mind at ease. First of all, most browsers now have built-in security features that help protect your information. Secondly, you can also take measures such as using a secure password and only storing credit card info on trusted websites. By following these simple tips, you can help keep your credit card info safe and secure.
What about your smartphone? When my smartphone asks to save my credit card info…should I? In the age of online shopping, it’s more important than ever to keep your credit card information safe and secure (same principle with saving it on your browser). Believe it or not, one way to do this is by saving your credit card info on your smartphone. While this may seem like a risky move, there are actually a number of benefits of doing so. First, it’s super convenient. You won’t have to fumble around for your credit card every time you want to make a purchase or hunt down your wallet. You can buy something right now. Secondly, it’s secure. Just like browsers, many smartphones have security features that make it difficult for someone to hack into your credit card information. Can it be done? Sure. But if you follow the guidelines above when it comes to making purchases online and what to look for, you significantly reduce the odds of getting your credit card info hacked. Finally, it’s easy to keep track of your spending. When all your credit card transactions are in one place, it’s easy to see where your money is going.
Personally, I like to use LastPass password manager. With most data breaches occurring because of weak or reused passwords, this cool little password manager tool does all the work for me: creating hyper-secure passwords, remembering them, and filling them in automatically when making purchases online (through my smartphone and my browser!). Aside from just password management, LastPass can also securely store your credit card information and I utilize this feature often. It’s all about convenience along with safety. But again…it’s a matter of personal preference.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think about your VPN service and all its bells and whistles all that much. You may know that it’s important for security and privacy, but beyond that…there’s a good chance you don’t know much about what it does and how it protects you. We wanted to take a closer look at what VPN split tunneling is and explore how important of a feature it is if you’re looking for a VPN service. VPN services come with tons of exciting features, most of them your basic internet user would have no clue why or how important they are. While some of them are basic, others are advanced. Some of these options are not available with all VPNs, but one such feature is known as “split tunneling” is quickly becoming a mainstay with VPN services.
What is VPN Split Tunneling and how does it work? Most importantly, do you really need it? We’re going to hit on these questions and try to simplify this amazing feature so you understand a little bit more about what it does. Plus, I’m going to dish on two of my favorite VPN services that have done a masterful job of making split tunneling a core feature in their VPN service.
Everything You Need to Know About VPN Split Tunneling
In the most simplified way of explaining what it is, VPN split tunneling is a feature that allows you to selectively route traffic through your VPN. This can be useful if you want to keep some of your traffic private, but don’t want to encrypt all of your traffic. Below we explain a little more in-depth on what split tunneling is, how it works, and the types of split tunneling you should have a basic knowledge about. We’ll also cover some of the benefits and drawbacks of using split tunneling.
VPN split tunneling is a feature that can divide your internet. It allows you to send some data through an encrypted VPN tunnel and route the remaining data through an open network. Usually, split tunneling is used to decide which applications you want to secure.
VPN split tunneling can be very useful to keep your traffic private. Its most valuable trait is security. At the same time, you can maintain access to the local network. In short, you can connect to both local and foreign networks simultaneously.
Split tunneling helps you control which data you want to encrypt. It also lets you send data faster on the unencrypted network. Here’s how split tunneling works:
Usually, most devices have one direct connection to the internet. It is the single channel to send and receive data. However, VPN helps you secure the connection between your device and server. Therefore, your data is received and sent through the secure VPN server. While your data remains encrypted, VPN can cause your internet speed to slow down as all the data travels through it. This is one of the main drawbacks and the most frequent complaints I hear about VPNs is you sacrifice speed for security.
On the other hand, split tunneling offers two connections simultaneously. You get an open connection to the internet and a VPN connection. This way, your sensitive data is protected, while not affecting your internet speed at all.
Types of VPN Split Tunneling
There are three main types of VPN split tunneling. Each one serves a purpose and is really up to you to determine which one better suits the types of activities you do while using the internet. URL-Based Split Tunneling allows you to choose which URLs to encrypt. App-Based Split Tunneling lets you choose which applications you want to encrypt through a VPN. Inverse Split Tunneling routes all the traffic is automatically sent through a VPN unless you specify.
There are a couple of really important areas why I think you need split tunneling as part of your VPN. Here are two of the most important reasons why I think split tunneling should be something you prioritize with your VPN service:
Multi-Tasking
Split tunneling helps you increase your productivity. It is a clever feature that allows you to do multiple tasks at the same time. For instance, you can stream foreign content while using services from the local network. Similarly, you can also access network-connected devices, such as hardware, while surfing the internet safely and privately.
Better Internet Speed
Since data is transferred via multiple connections, the internet speed is not slowed down. On the other hand, VPN can drastically affect the speed, even for simple tasks, such as internet surfing. Hence, split tunneling can be a necessary feature if you have slow or mediocre internet.
My Favorite VPNs That Have Split Tunneling
You should really consider a VPN service with split tunneling if you have a slow internet connection. It helps you keep your speed while also offering privacy for selected applications. With that said, here are my favorite VPNs that feature split tunneling as part of their basic package.
Express VPN
ExpressVPN is one of my favorite VPN services. Not only are they a major player in this niche, but with servers located all over the world and unlimited bandwidth, you can’t go wrong! Plus their support has been great too. I’m happy to say that after trying out several competitors’ services it’s nice knowing there’s one provider who will always have an answer for me when I need one fast (and reliable).
Norton Secure VPN is a great option for those who need to protect their information from hackers. The new Split tunneling feature allows you to choose which data should be secure without losing access to local services. Another awesome security feature includes anonymous browsing with a no-log policy so that things like online purchases are never tracked!
Whether you’re a tech guru or not, at some point you’ll need to replace your router. But how do you know when it’s time? You know it’s been a while since you’ve updated or replaced your router, but maybe you don’t know the tell-signs of when it’s time to kick the old router to the curb. Here are a few tips to help you decide. Plus, we’ll give you some ideas on what to look for when shopping for your next router. Whether your current router is on its last legs or you’re just looking for an upgrade, we’ll point you in the right direction.
How To Tell When To Replace Your Router
I’m always amazed at how long people will hold on to their routers. When I get asked. ‘How come my internet is slow?’ or ‘Do you know why I keep losing connection to my internet?’, most of the time the first area I’ll respond with deals with routers. Your router is not only responsible for WiFi speed and signals, but there are various other factors to consider, such as security protocols. If you are using an old router, many issues can arise in your network. But, how do you distinguish an old router? How can you really tell when it’s the right time to replace your router? Let’s break down all the factors you should consider.
If you’re like most people, you don’t think about your router until it stops working. It kind of reminds me of having a printer (yes, there are still people who use printers). Most people don’t get a new printer until it stops working. And by then (and especially with routers), it’s usually too late. Routers are one of those pieces of technology that we often take for granted until they stop working properly. So how do you know when it’s time to replace your router?
Using A Router Over 3 Years Old
If you have been using a router for more than three years, you should replace it right away. I used to believe 5 years was a good shelf life for a router, but with the innovation in smart home automation and having so many devices in our homes as “smart”, three is the new standard. You can usually start to notice small performance issues with your old router. However, the biggest problem is its security features (some of the things you can’t see). Using an old router can heavily affect the entire network and all the connected devices. What does this mean for you? It means that hackers can find an easy way into an old router. Therefore, your data is not secure with that router.
WiFi Range and Speed Issues
The strongest selling point of a router is its speed compatibility and area coverage. People tend to buy the most powerful router to cover at least one home building. However, old routers can lose their signal strength over time. And the old tech in those older routers struggles to work with the new tech in our devices and new tech in our internet (for example, Wifi 6). You will notice the lack of signals in significant areas. A router is made of complex machinery that can start malfunctioning over time. It happens.
Another considerable issue is WiFi speed. If your internet is working fine, but you are getting poor speed, your router might be breaking down. It is one of the symptoms of poor connectivity. But, it clearly indicates the right time to replace your router. This is probably the most important signal that you need to replace your old router.
Poor Connectivity
Poor connectivity can include several issues. It includes losing your internet connection or not connecting to the network at all. Poor connectivity is caused by firmware and hardware issues in a router. It can also deal with having a lot of devices connected to your network. Some of those older routers weren’t even designed to have 20-30 devices connected. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to have 50+ devices connected to your network.
However, it is important to ensure that it is indeed your router that is causing poor connectivity. Sometimes, the issues are loose cards, modem, and network outages from the provider. An easy way to identify the problem is to check all the lights on your modem and router. If all of them are green, your router is causing the issue.
Overheating
Usually, routers work all day long. Therefore, they can also heat up from time to time. While this is normal at times, regular overheating means hardware issues. It is caused by poor ventilation in a router. Older models were not built to sustain modern smart devices and connections. Therefore, they can heat up pretty quickly. Make sure to get a new router with proper cooling.
Yes, there are people who make the trek downstairs to their furnace room on a weekly basis to unplug and restart their router. If this is you, time to put ol’ Bessie the router down and opt-in for a new one. Some routers like the Synology RT2600AC have this as a feature. Mine reboots every Sunday at 2 am.
Yes, You Need A New Router Now
These signs indicate that your router is outdated. Make sure to buy a new model to prevent security, speed, and signal issues. But, remember that the router does not generate internet speed. It only passes the provided bandwidth to your home. Therefore, you should not blame a well-working router for internet speed issues.
Switching to Modern
Switching to a modern device is always a better option. A next-gen router will have all the upgraded features, including WiFi 6 capabilities. Plus, you will get more robust signal strength, larger area coverage, and tighter security protocols, such as WPA3. Here are a few next-gen routers we’ve reviewed and would highly recommend.
The Synology RT2600AC Router
Synology’s RT2600AC is a workhorse when it comes to throughput and range. It also has features that make this device an excellent choice for any home network, whether you’re just starting out or need something more advanced than what most people normally use! With so many huge brands in the market with great offerings, it can be difficult to choose which one will suit your needs best at first glance. Read our full review on the Synology RT2600AC router to determine if this is the right router for you.
EERO Pro Mesh Wifi Router
The Eero Pro is a new type of mesh WiFi router that promises to blanket your home with fast, reliable Internet. We put it through our test and found this device lived up to the hype! The best part? It’s an affordable and effective option even if you’re on a tight budget or just looking for something fancy without breaking the bank. Read our full review on the EERO Pro Mesh Wifi router to determine if this is the right router for you.
Gryphon AX Router
Mesh routers are all the rage, but do you really need one? The Gryphon AX is a popular choice for those looking to cut their internet bills. We take an in-depth look at what people say about this device and answer any questions on whether or not it’s the right decision for you and your home network. Read our full review on the Gryphon AX Router to determine if this is the right router for you.
