家裏Wi Fi信號差 可能是路由器惹的禍大綱

Bob McConnell, a retired engineer, set up a new wireless router in his home this year to get faster Internet speeds. Instead, he got the opposite, with his iPad often getting no wireless connection in his bedroom
爲了獲得更快的上網速度，退休工程師鮑勃·麥康奈爾(Bob McConnell)今年在家裏安裝了一個新無線路由器。結果，家裏網絡反倒不如從前了，在臥室裏使用iPad時，他常常找不到信號。

For days, he tinkered with the router’s settings, but couldn’t figure out a fix. “It was totally ruining my life,” said Mr. McConnell, who lives in a condominium building in Kirkland, Wash. “Things would work, and then the next morning they wouldn’t work again.”

他花了好幾天時間調整路由器的設置，但沒能找到解決問題的辦法。“它徹底毀了我的生活，”住在華盛頓州柯克蘭市一座共管公寓裏的麥康奈爾說。“有時候網絡可以正常使用，但第二天就又不行了。”

What Mr. McConnell experienced is a situation we call “Wi-Fi headache,” and it’s an ailment that many can relate to. The condition is rooted in the networking devices called routers that people install in their homes for Wi-Fi connectivity. Most routers are difficult to configure for anyone who doesn’t work in an information-technology department. Jargony tech terms like 802.11 or dual-band add to the confusion when people upgrade a router or try to decide which one to pick.

我們把麥康奈爾經歷的這種狀況稱爲“Wi-Fi頭痛”，這是一種很多人能感同身受的頑疾。它產生的根源在於一種名爲“路由器”的網絡連接設備。人們把它安裝在家裏，以獲取Wi-Fi連接。對於不從事信息技術工作的人來說，大多數路由器很難配置。當人們想升級路由器，或試着挑選一款路由器時，“802.11”或“雙頻”之類的技術術語，只會讓人更加困惑。

So to diagnose and cure Wi-Fi headaches, we teamed up with The Wirecutter, the product recommendations website. The Wirecutter put dozens of top-rated routers and devices through hundreds of hours of testing to pick out the best router for most people and come up with other recommendations tailored to different living situations and budgets. It also ran new tests for The New York Times to come up with best practices for getting a stronger, faster Wi-Fi signal.

所以，爲了診斷和治療Wi-Fi頭痛，我們與提供產品推薦的The Wirecutter網站展開了合作。The Wirecutter對幾十種熱銷路由器和設備進行了數百小時的測試，以挑選出適合大多數人的最佳路由器，同時也針對不同生活環境和預算提供其他匹配建議。該網站還爲《紐約時報》進行了一些新測試，以便找到能獲得信號更強、速度更快的Wi-Fi網絡的辦法。

The bottom line: People with devices both new and old will see an improvement by upgrading to a recent router that supports the latest Wi-Fi standards. But they should be wary of buying a cheap router that isn’t any good, or spending too much on one that is too complex for their needs.

最基本的要求是，不管使用的是新設備還是舊設備，在升級到支持最新Wi-Fi標準的新款路由器之後，應該看到網絡有所改進。但也應該小心不要買質量不太好的廉價路由器，或花太多錢買超過自身需求的過於複雜的路由器。

Wi-Fi headaches start with how the technology has evolved. For years, router makers like Netgear, Linksys and Cisco focused on making Wi-Fi technology transmit data at higher speeds and over longer distances.

Wi-Fi頭痛始於這種技術的演進。多年來，Netgear、Linksys和思科(Cisco)等路由器廠商都將注意力放在提高Wi-Fi技術上，目的是使它傳輸數據的速度更快、距離更遠。

That did little to prepare people for the explosion of Internet-connected mobile devices. In buildings crowded with smartphones, computers, smart TVs and tablets, the devices’ signals are now fighting for room on the same radio channels. And routers are spewing out energy for longer distances that may be bumping into neighbors’ signals.

但是，在幫助人們應對聯網移動設備大爆炸方面，這種改進幾乎沒什麼助益。在智能手機、計算機、智能電視和平板電腦氾濫的建築裏，這些設備的信號都在同樣的無線電頻道上爭奪空間。而各廠商竭力讓路由器傳送信號距離更遠的時候，則有可能干擾到鄰居家的網絡。

“The router manufacturers are kind of brain-dead,” said Dave Fraser, the chief executive of Devicescape, which develops technology for making public Wi-Fi networks usable for mobile phone service. “All they were thinking about was supporting people with laptops in their homes and commercial environments. All of a sudden Wi-Fi is in everything and everywhere, and we’re moving around our homes much more.”

“路由器廠商們有點蠢，”Devicescape公司首席執行官戴夫·弗雷澤(Dave Fraser)說。該公司開發的技術可以讓公共Wi-Fi網絡供移動通訊服務使用。“之前他們只考慮給人們在家裏和商務環境中用筆記本電腦上網提供支持。突然之間，世道變了，遍地都是Wi-Fi，什麼都要用Wi-Fi，而且我們在家裏的活動性也比過去大得多。”

Router manufacturers have more recently improved Wi-Fi technology with mobile devices in mind, said Mr. Fraser. New routers often include smarter antennas that do a better job of assembling signals and beaming energy toward devices that are moving around.

弗雷澤表示，最近在改善Wi-Fi技術時，路由器廠商考慮到了移動設備的需求。新款路由器往往有更智能的天線，可以更好地聚集信號並向移動中的設備傳送信號。

Some features inside newer routers also help reduce signal interference. Newer routers typically can transmit data over two radio frequencies — 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz — and give you the option to split them up into two separate Wi-Fi networks. In general, the 2.4 GHz band transmits data farther and is more crowded because many types of devices, like cordless phones and microwaves, use that frequency. The 5 GHz band is less congested but typically travels a shorter distance.

新款的路由器還具有一些可以幫助減少信號干擾的功能。新款路由器往往能以兩種無線電頻率——2.4吉赫茲和5吉赫茲——傳輸數據，讓你可以將它們分成兩個獨立的Wi-Fi網絡。一般而言，2.4吉赫茲的波段傳輸數據更遠，但網絡負荷比較大，因爲包括無繩電話和微波爐在內，各種類型的設備都使用這一頻率。5吉赫茲波段相對沒那麼擠，但傳輸距離通常較短。

Consumer behavior is also to blame for Wi-Fi headaches. People may wait years before buying a new router, so their devices might be more up-to-date than their infrastructure. An outdated router becomes a bottleneck that hinders the speeds of web downloads and file transfers between connected devices.

消費者的行爲方式也是造成Wi-Fi頭痛的原因之一。人們可能會等好幾年纔會買一個新路由器，所以他們使用的上網設備可能比這種基礎設施更跟得上時代。過時的路由器阻礙人們獲得更高的網絡下載速度和在不同設備之間進行文件傳輸的速度。

Some people never upgrade their routers, especially those who still use the router that their Internet service provider lent them years ago. Those routers, which often double as modems, are often slow and short-ranged. That means it is time to buy a newer, faster router.

有些人從不升級自己的路由器，甚至到現在還在使用多年前網絡服務提供商提供的路由器。這些路由器往往同時兼作調制解調器，一般速度都很慢，而且網絡覆蓋範圍小。這意味着，是時候買個更新更快的路由器了。

The Wirecutter performed a battery of tests on two top-performing routers with six devices, and the results were unmistakable: If your current router is at least three years old, there is no reason not to upgrade to a new router.

The Wirecutter用六種設備對兩款表現出色的路由器進行了一系列測試，結果很清楚：如果你目前的路由器已經使用至少三年，那就沒理由不更換一臺新的。

Not only can a newer router improve the speed and range for users, the routers typically have upgraded internal components and strong external antennas. Many also support the latest Wi-Fi standard — 802.11ac — which has top speeds that are nearly three times faster than the previous standard, 802.11n, for the fastest wireless devices you can buy today.

新的路由器不僅可以提高使用者的網速並擴大網絡覆蓋，這些機器往往還升級了內部組件，有性能強大的外置天線。很多還支持針對你現在可以買到的速度最快的無限設備制定的最新的Wi-Fi標準——802.11ac。相比於之前的802.11n標準，這一標準下的網速提高了將近三倍。

Many smartphones, tablets and laptops released since 2013 support 802.11ac. But even older devices that support only the previous standard, 802.11n, can enjoy faster speeds at long range with a newer 802.11ac router.

2013年以來發布的許多智能手機、平板電腦和筆記本電腦支持802.11ac標準。但是，哪怕你使用的是更老的設備，只能支持之前的802.11n標準，在更換了802.11ac標準的新路由器的情況下，也可以獲得更快的網速和更廣的網絡覆蓋。

For these tests, The Wirecutter used two routers: its top 802.11ac router recommendation, TP-Link’s Archer C7, and an older 802.11n router, Netgear’s WNDR3700. It tried them with a 2012 iPhone 5, a 2014 iPhone 6 Plus, a 2013 HTC One M7, a 2015 Samsung Galaxy S6, a 2012 MacBook Air and a 2014 MacBook Air.

The Wirecutter在這些測試中使用了兩款路由器：該網站最爲推薦的802.11ac標準路由器TP-Link的Archer C7，和一款更老一些的802.11n標準路由器Netgear的WNDR3700。用以測試這兩款路由器的設備包括：一部2012年的iPhone 5手機、2014年的iPhone 6 Plus手機、2013年的HTC One M7手機、2015年的三星Galaxy S6、2012年的MacBook Air筆記本，和一臺2014年的MacBook Air。

To get an idea how each device performed with each router, The Wirecutter’s Wi-Fi expert, David Murphy, tested file transfer speeds, video streaming speeds, music streaming quality and video call quality at a short range of 11 feet and a long range of 43 feet.

爲了解每臺設備在適配每款路由器的情況下的網絡表現，The Wirecutter的Wi-Fi專家戴維·墨菲(David Murphy)，在11英尺（約合3.4米）的近距離和43英尺的遠距離下，分別測試了文件傳輸速度、視頻流媒體速度、音頻流媒體質量和視頻通話質量等項目。

Most tested devices had 19 percent to 54 percent faster download speeds and shaved 3 to 48 percent off their file-transfer times when paired with the Archer C7 compared with the older 802.11n Netgear router. The devices also did better on the Archer C7’s 5 GHz Wi-Fi network than on its 2.4GHz network at the same locations. In comparison, The Wirecutter could not connect to the Netgear router’s 5 GHz Wi-Fi at its long-distance test location.

相比於使用更老的802.11n標準的Netgear路由器，大部分被檢測的設備在與Archer C7路由器適配的情況下，網絡下載速度可以快19%到54%，文件傳輸時間可以減少3%到48%。在同一地點，這些設備使用 Archer C7的5吉赫茲Wi-Fi比使用2.4吉赫茲，上網效果更好。相比之下，在遠距離測試中，The Wirecutter無法連接到Netgear路由器的5吉赫茲Wi-Fi。

The Archer C7’s exceptional performance on a 5 GHz signal is its strength. Devices often had the same download speeds at long range as short range when connected to the Archer C7’s 5 GHz Wi-Fi. But at the longer distance, when switched to the Archer C7’s 2.4GHz network, each device’s download speeds dropped, sometimes by more than 80 percent.

Archer C7在5吉赫茲波段的卓越表現，顯示出它的優勢。在連接到Archer C7的5吉赫茲Wi-Fi時，這些設備往往在近距離和遠距離能獲得同樣的下載速度。但連接到Archer C7的2.4吉赫茲網絡進行遠距離測試時，每臺設備的下載速度會下降，有時幅度甚至超過80%。

In summary: For a stronger, faster wireless connection, stay on the router’s 5 GHz band for as long as you can. Older routers aren’t the best at that; a newer router like TP-Link’s Archer C7 is a much better option.

總而言之：爲了獲得更強大、速度更快的無線連接，儘量多使用路由器的5赫茲波段。老款路由器在這方面不是最佳選擇，像TP-Link的Archer C7這樣的新款路由器要好得多。

The best router for most people is the Archer C7 ($100). It’s a dual-band 802.11ac router, meaning it can run both 2.4GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, and it supports the fastest Wi-Fi speeds of every wireless device you can buy, including the MacBook Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S6 or the brand-new iPhone 6s. The Archer C7 is faster over longer distances than most routers that cost $150 or more, and it’s the best value of the more than two dozen routers The Wirecutter tested in the last two years.

Archer C7（100美元）對大多數人來說是最佳選擇。它是一款雙頻802.11ac標準路由器，這意味着它可以提供2.4吉赫茲和5吉赫茲Wi-Fi兩種網絡。它還能支持你能買到的各種無線設備獲得最快的Wi-Fi速度，不管是MacBook Pro、三星的Galaxy S6，還是全新的iPhone 6s。相比於大多數價位在150美元，甚至更高的路由器，Archer C7可以讓用戶在更遠距離獲得更快網速，它是The Wirecutter過去兩年測試的二三十種路由器中最物有所值的一款。

The Archer C7 isn’t the best fit for everyone. So The Wirecutter also combed through test results and picked some routers for different living situations, such as small apartments or homes where people primarily use Apple devices.

Archer C7並非所有人的最佳選擇。所以The Wirecutter也對測試結果進行了梳理，挑選出一些適應其他生活環境的路由器，比如公寓比較小，或家人主要使用蘋果設備。

Generally, we recommend you upgrade to a new router every three to four years. That accounts for how often people typically upgrade devices like smartphones (every two years) and computers (every three to four years).

通常，我們建議每三四年更換一臺路由器。這和人們更換智能手機（每兩年）和電腦（每三四年）的一般頻率差不多。

Yet whether your smartphones, computers and tablets are one, two or five years old, now is a good time to buy a new router if you haven’t in the last three years. Newer devices are probably using the 802.11ac standard, so you will get the fastest speeds at long distances with an 802.11ac router. If you hoard old devices, you will also get faster speeds and greater range. These benefits will be especially clear if you stay on a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network for as long as you can.

不過，如果你在過去三年不曾購買過新路由器，那麼不管你的智能手機、電腦和平板電腦目前使用了一年、兩年還是五年，你都該換一臺路由器了。較新的上網設備可能採用了802.11ac標準，所以配備一臺802.11ac標準路由器，你就可在遠距離獲得最快網速。如果你還會繼續使用舊設備，更換新路由器同樣可以讓你獲得更快的網速和更大的網絡覆蓋。倘若你能儘量長時間地使用5吉赫茲Wi-Fi，這些好處會更加明顯。

One caveat: If you use a slower Internet service like DSL, you can probably hold on to a router for longer than three years. A newer router can still be useful because of the improved wireless range, but you won’t experience a big difference in download speeds.

但請注意：如果你使用是如DSL等速度更慢的網絡服務，或許可以超過三年不換路由器。這種情況下更換新路由器還是會有幫助，因爲可以擴大無線網絡覆蓋範圍，只不過你不會感覺下載速度有太大改變。

If your house is so large that a new router won’t be able to cover every inch with a great Wi-Fi signal, you could install a Wi-Fi extender, which enhances an existing Wi-Fi connection to increase coverage. Powerline networking, which converts a house’s electrical wiring into a wired Internet connection, is another option, but you’ll have to check if your home supports it.

如果你的房子很大，一個新路由器無法讓每個角落都擁有優質Wi-Fi信號，你可以安裝一個Wi-Fi範圍擴展器。它可以加強已經存在的Wi-Fi信號，擴大其覆蓋範圍。還有一種選擇是電力線網絡，它將房子內的電子線路轉換成一種有線網絡連接，但你需要首先確認自己家能否支持這種設備。

As for Mr. McConnell, the retired engineer eventually solved his Wi-Fi headache by setting up his devices to stay on the 5 GHz radio band. To get a Wi-Fi signal to his iPad in the bedroom, he also set up an extender. Now everything is smooth sailing, he said.

通過將上網設備設置爲始終連接5吉赫茲波段網絡，退休工程師麥康奈爾最終解決了他的Wi-Fi頭痛問題。爲了能在臥室讓自己的iPad連上Wi-Fi，他還安裝了一個擴展器。他覺得，現在所有的上網體驗都很順暢。

“I’ve got my life back,” he said.

“我又找回了自己的生活，”他說。