How to choose the best wireless router for iPad 2? Know your iPad 2 and find the router which can make your device to perform optimally.
One of the popular handy products for browsing the internet today is iPad 2 and other tablet computers including Samsung Galaxy Tab, HP touchpad, Asus Eee pad, Motorola Zoom etc. The Apple iPad 2 is an easy way to catch up on your favorite TV shows, preview the latest video from the internet and download to your video library etc.
To make those ease you need to have your iPad connected to the internet wirelessly, you need a wireless environment with the broadband internet connection. Wireless are everywhere today, you can connect to the public internet wirelessly in the café, airport, campus and other public hotspots. In homes, you can build your own wireless network easily using any types of wireless router (as the heart of the network) which are available in the market today. There are bunch of wireless routers today that for many people deciding which one to purchase is very confusing. How to choose the best wireless router for iPad 2?
To help you choose the best wireless router for iPad 2 the main point is to provide the best wireless environment that can help the iPad to perform optimally in running the applications. Since users mostly utilize the iPad, beside the internet browsing, for video streaming and mostly are high definition ones, your wireless environment must meet the requirements to being able to stream fast and smoothly, jitter-free and lag-free.
Your iPad 2 has been equipped with the Wi-Fi adapter which is powered by the latest wireless 802.11n standard with dual band support. With dual band, you can either select the 2.4GHz band or the clean 5GHz band. The 5GHz band is relatively clean band and is not prone to signal interference compared with the more crowded 2.4GHz band. Moreover, the iPad is also equipped with Bluetooth 2.1 plus EDR technology for peer-to-peer communication with other handheld devices including cellular phones. To provide the best environment, firstly you need to choose the best wireless router for iPad that must be powered by the latest wireless technology (802.11n). Secondly your router must support the simultaneous dual band technology to let you select the clean band. Thirdly, the router must support the Quality of Service (QoS) for reliable connection.
Today, wireless routers with dual band technology doubles your bandwidth for high speed connection in streaming high definition videos. Select the clean 5GHz band which is less interference. iPad will connect optimally with the 5GHz band and perform well in streaming the video. QoS will help you prioritize the multimedia traffic over other internet browsing activities.
To choose the best wireless router for iPad 2, the router must be powered by 802.11n with simultaneous dual band technology and supports the Quality of Service.
Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station
Apple Airport Extreme Base Station is superior wireless router by Apple which is the same vendor as iPad. This is a good idea to provide a wireless environment which is powered by the wireless router from the same vendor for best compatibility and easy technical support.
Apple Airport Extreme supports wireless N with dual band technology to allow you share broadband internet connection with up to 50 users within the household of small offices. All Windows and Mac computers can be compatible with this router. The router includes one USB port to let you host either storage device or printer for share across the network. You can add a USB hub to let you host both storage device and printer concurrently.
Pros:
- The same vendor as iPad, assured to work optimally
- Gigabit Ethernet ports and one USB port for shared storage or printer
- Guest network support
Cons:
- Includes only 3 gigabit Ethernet LAN ports compared with others that normally include four ports.
Apple Airport Extreme is one of the best wireless routers for your iPad 2. For details of manufacturer specifications this Apple Airport Extreme, click the link. For small home you may also consider Apple airport express 5gen.
Linksys E4200
Linksys E-4200 is one of the new high performance E Series wireless routers. This is the fastest wireless router shipped by Linksys that uses the N750 technology. The router is powered by the recent wireless 802.11n technology with simultaneous dual band support. The router is embedded with 6 internal antennas with MIMO technology for high speed and larger network coverage. With N750 technology, the router delivers the high speeds up to 450Mbps in 5GHz band and up to 300Mbps in 2.4GHz band. But in the real world, the router never reaches these speeds due to many environment factors.
The router includes 4xGigabit Ethernet LAN ports (high speed and reliable wired connection to the computers) and one Gigabit WAN port. The router supports the WMM-based QoS (Wi-Fi multimedia Quality of Service) – a QoS prioritization engine for reliable wireless connection for multimedia – ideal to support your iPad devices.
Pros:
- N750 technology for maximum speed in 5GHz band
- Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Built-in media server
- Guest network support
Cons:
- Includes one USB port for storage but you cannot use it for shared printer.
Linksys E4200 is one of best wireless routers for iPad you can consider for your network. The previous Linksys E3000 is also an ideal solution for your iPad even with N600 technology. Linksys E4200 manufacturer specificationsclick the link. You may also like to see what’s new with Linksys E4200V2.
You can also consider any high performance wireless routers available including Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H – a high power wireless N600 router, or you can also consider Asus RT-N56u Black Diamond, it includes two USB ports for shared storage and printer at the same time.
For affordable router, you can consider Medialink N150 router which is Amazon best seller in router category – a solid connection router with averagely 5 star customer ratings. Unfortunately the router can only support 2.4GHz band.
Summary
To support the best environment for your iPad 2, Samsung galaxy Tab, and other tablet computers your wireless environment must be powered by wireless N with dual band technology for high speed, Quality of Service for HD multimedia traffic prioritization and larger network coverage.
By Ki Grinsing
See also:
I have a linksys router 2.4 GHz 802.11b broadband router Is this good for using the I pad 2
ipad can connect to legacy router but it will connect up to 11mbps. that’s enough for internet browsing but not enough for gaming and streaming.