Which router do you need at home?

Don't choose a router by its price or the number of antennas, but by the type of connection you have at home. One router suits fibre, another suits a 60 GHz wireless link, and yet another is enough for a connection over Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band. We'll go through how to tell which connection you have, what the router really needs to handle for each of them, and how to make sense of the Wi-Fi 5, 6 and 7 labels. At the end you'll find an overview of what is available right in your municipality.

First, find out what connection you have

It all starts with how the internet actually reaches you. The type of connection determines what the router will receive at its input and how fast it will be. At ÚVT Internet you will come across three types – and each one calls for a slightly different router.

Not sure which one you have? The equipment installed in your home will give you a clue. A small box with an optical fibre inside the flat means fibre, while a small unit on the facade or roof points to a wireless connection (60 GHz or Wi-Fi 5 GHz). Your contract or a call to our customer line will tell you for sure – and that is what your choice of router depends on.

What they all have in common is that the connection at your place always ends with a network cable that goes into the router's WAN port. The router then distributes the internet around the flat – wirelessly over Wi-Fi and by cable to the network sockets. They differ mainly in the speed that arrives over that cable, and that is how we decide what the router must be able to handle.

Fibre connection: what the router really needs

Fibre (FTTH, i.e. fibre to the home) is the fastest type of connection today and at ÚVT it offers speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps. At your place, the fibre ends in a small box called an ONT (optical network terminal). It converts the light signal into ordinary Ethernet – but it doesn't distribute the internet around the flat by itself. That is the router's job.

To make full use of fibre, the router should have a 2.5 Gbps WAN port. Standard gigabit ports cap the speed at 1 Gbps, so with a 2.5 Gbps plan you would only get just under half of it over a cable. For wireless devices, Wi-Fi 6 or newer is a good fit, because it can handle higher speeds and more connected devices at once. The router you get from us with fibre is ready for your plan; only think about your own device if you want top-notch coverage in a large flat.

60 GHz wireless: an ordinary router is enough

A wireless link in the 60 GHz band is a directional connection between a transmitter and a small outdoor unit on your building, with speeds of up to 500 Mbps at ÚVT. A network cable runs from the outdoor unit indoors into the router's WAN port – from this point on, everything is the same as with a cable connection.

So the router doesn't need to be anything special: a gigabit port is plenty, because speeds of up to 500 Mbps fit comfortably into a gigabit. In practice, the difference is made by the quality of the Wi-Fi and where the router is placed, not by its port. If you have a large flat, it pays to invest in better coverage (mesh) rather than in the most expensive single router.

Connection via Wi-Fi 5 GHz

The third option is a connection via an antenna in the 5 GHz band, with speeds of up to 100 Mbps at ÚVT. Here too, the connection ends with a cable into the router, and on the router side the same applies: a gigabit port is more than enough, and your satisfaction will depend on the quality and placement of your home Wi-Fi. Be careful not to confuse the connection band (how the internet reaches you) with the home Wi-Fi band (how the router distributes the signal around the flat) – they are two different things.

Wi-Fi standards: what they mean

On a router box, you'll come across labels such as Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7. The number doesn't directly indicate speed – it mainly tells you how new the router is and which frequency bands it supports. A higher number can handle more connected devices at once and copes better in an apartment building full of other people's networks.

A newer standard on its own won't speed up a slow plan – the real speed at your place will always be limited by the slowest point in the chain. Wi-Fi 6 is a sensible standard for most households today; Wi-Fi 6E and 7 make sense when you have a lot of devices or want to use the 6 GHz band.

The 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands

A router broadcasts Wi-Fi in several bands, and each of them behaves differently. A simple rule applies: the lower band reaches further, the higher band is faster.

In practice, this means that for a phone in the kitchen at the other end of the flat, 2.4 GHz is the better choice, whereas for a TV or a computer close to the router you'll use 5 GHz. A good router offers both bands and switches between them by itself.

Router placement matters more than price

Even an expensive router will disappoint if it's tucked away in a corner by the floor or behind a cupboard. Walls, furniture and appliances all absorb the signal. You'll get the best coverage if you put the router in the middle of the flat and up high, in open space.

When one router can't cover every room, the solution isn't a stronger antenna, but mesh – two or three interconnected points that cover the whole flat with a single network, with your phone switching between them automatically.

What to look for on the back of the router

Before you buy a router, turn it round and look at the ports. The line from the provider (from the ONT or the outdoor unit) always goes into the WAN port. This port is key to speed: for 2.5 Gbps fibre, look for a 2.5G port; for other connections, a gigabit one is enough. You'll use the other LAN sockets for devices you want to connect by cable – a TV, a computer or a games console, where a cable pays off for the sake of stability.

Cable or Wi-Fi? When a network socket pays off

Wi-Fi is convenient, but it's a shared and changeable environment – speed fluctuates with distance, walls and the number of connected devices. Where you want certainty, a network cable into the router's LAN socket still pays off. It gives you stable speed and lower latency, and it doesn't care about interference from the neighbours.

The devices worth connecting by cable are mainly those that stay in one place and need reliability: a TV or set-top box for smooth high-definition streaming, a games console or computer, where latency matters, and a work computer for video calls. If you don't want to run a cable across the whole flat, a powerline adapter (over the electrical wiring) or a mesh point with its own LAN socket will help. You can then leave Wi-Fi for phones, tablets and devices you carry around the flat.

Quick overview: which router for which connection

What is available in your municipality

Which router is worth getting also depends on which connections are actually available in your municipality. The figures below show at how many addresses each technology is installed – click a municipality to see details and check availability at a specific address.

Don't see your municipality? You can check availability on the availability and coverage page or using the availability check by address.

Already have a router and want to know whether it will work on our network? You'll find tested models in the list of supported routers.

Frequently asked questions