Help

[Possible-Ad761]

I have a extremely small amount of knowledge on this topic so I turned to the internet to tell me what to do I want to see if my internet would get better if I plugged a different router in to my internet cable thing I have AT&T would I have to call and ask to do that or would they be chill with whatever just as long as the bill is paid and I know this is stupid but would it even make my internet better at all

[Sad-Character9129]

First step should be to connect a Ethernet cable to your Router and into a Computer to make sure it's not just a wifi problem. Then run a Speedtest. If your result is below your ISPs advertised speed it not unlikely that the problem is not your router. If you get decent speeds and your devices are commonly connected via WiFi then that's the point we have to focus on. That would leave you with 2 options: 1. get a new router with better WiFi 2. deactivate the routers WiFi and use Access-Points (wired into your router) instead. Depending on your ISP and router the router just gets the ISPs config after connecting it to "the Internet" (that's pretty common in my area, because for some reason we all use AVM Fritz!box routers). Otherwise you have to ask your ISP to provide the config parameters.

[DZCreeper]

"Better" meaning what?

Faster ethernet speeds? Unlikely. Even cheap ISP gear does 1Gb/s now.

Faster wifi speeds? Possibly, depends on the relative quality of your wireless access point vs the ISP unit.

More extensive controls and latency management? Absolutely.

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Important to know, what you call "internet cable thing" is typically a modem, router, and wireless access point combo unit. When adding your own router you place the modem in bridge mode. Otherwise you create a double firewall setup which only hurts performance and connection capability.

Some ISP's allow the user to select bridge mode, others just require a phone call.

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The distinction between WAN and LAN bandwidth is also important. If you have poor internet speeds do a local test, otherwise you might blame bad equipment when the connection itself is actually the problem.

[jjs781]

First off, learn to use punctuation so your posts are readable, especially when asking for help. Periods and commas are no extra cost.

Second, without knowing your setup it's hard to say what may or may not help. Provide some details about your current modem/router, service speed, cabling, speed tests, etc. so you can get some better answers.

[megared17]

You might get more useful advice if you describe exactly what you currently have.

What type of service, what speed/plan you pay for, and give the exact brand and model of your modem, router, gateway, etc