What Makes a WiFi Router Good for Online Movie Streaming?

Streaming movies daily has become a habit for millions of people around the world. There are multiple streaming platforms that people use, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and YouTube. Whichever platform you use, your experience depends heavily on the unseen hero in your home, your Wi-Fi router. Even when you have a high-speed internet plan, the wrong router can ruin the entire experience, leading to buffering, pixelated video, audio delays, and long loading times.

Whereas, if you have a good Wi-Fi router, your online movie experience can be very much streamlined and optimized. So if you are tired of interruptions while streaming movies, here is a guide explaining what makes a Wi-Fi router truly good and what features you should look for in a router for movie streaming.

Fast WiFi Standards

The first thing or feature that determines the performance of your WiFi router is its WiFi standard. Older routers with older WiFi standards, like WiFi 4, simply cannot handle the HD and 4K streaming demands of today. Modern-day routers come with fast and the latest WiFi standards, including WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E. Both WiFi 6 and 6E are considered ideal for multiple 4K streams, lower latency, faster performance, and improved stability.

A WiFi router with the latest WiFi standards means that it can easily handle increased streaming demands and give you a smoother and consistent streaming quality, even during peak hours.

Dual-Band or Tri-Band Support

A good router for streaming must offer at least dual-band and preferably tri-band support. Nowadays, most routers on the market are dual-band routers that let you transmit WiFi signals in two different frequencies: 2.4 GHz (good for long-range but slower) and 5 GHz (faster speeds but shorter range). Those with tri-band support offer an additional 6 GHz frequency band for super-fast speeds with low interference.

Having multiple bands prevents congestion, and in households with multiple devices, congestion can be an issue while streaming. So by enabling the 5 GHz or 6 GHz frequency band from 192.168.0.1, you can dedicate one band for streaming to ensure uninterrupted streaming.

MU-MIMO and OFDMA for Smooth Multi-Device Performance

Homes these days have dozens of different digital devices, all of which can be connected to the internet at the same time. Without modern traffic-handling technologies, multiple devices connected to the network can slow each other down. For this purpose, having a streaming-friendly router with technologies like MU-MIMO and OFDMA can make streaming easier.

MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) allows the router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time rather than one at a time, while OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) breaks data into smaller packets and distributes them more efficiently across devices. Both of these features are necessary for streaming in busy households to get a smooth playback.

Strong Range and Signal Strength

Buffering often happens not because of slow internet, but because of poor signal range and strength. A streaming-friendly router should have strong antennas, beamforming technology, and high-transmit power. All of these features help to ensure that the signals reach the intended devices and there are no weak or dead zones in the house. In case your home is large or multi-story, you should consider a mesh WiFi system to eliminate dead zones and keep streaming consistent throughout.

Regular Firmware Updates

Router firmware affects the performance of the network and streaming as much as other factors. Manufacturers offer frequent updates to maintain better stability, stronger security, bug fixes, and improved streaming performance. Routers from reliable brands like ASUS, D-Link, Netgear, etc., offer regular firmware updates for their routers on the 192.168.1.1 web page to ensure that their routers perform better in the long run.

Reliable and Strong Hardware

The processor of the router is responsible for handling and managing traffic, which is why having reliable hardware and a strong processor is necessary. A slow processor can cause stuttering, lag, overheating, and network congestion when handling heavy streaming or a heavy device load. A good router for streaming is one that has a multi-core processor, high-speed RAM, efficient cooling, and a strong internal architecture to ensure smooth and stable performance during long streaming sessions.