Castle Village Network

To make a WiFi network for your Castle Village apartment, you need to buy and install a WiFi router. These days, just about any major manufacturer's router will work fine. You just need to know to look for a few things:

Wifi 6: This standard, also known as "802.11AX", defines how the router uses radio signals.
No CoAx: Your router should have only "Ethernet" sockets, not "cable tv", "cable", "coaxial", or "coax" sockets. Most routers with cable/coax sockets will not work.
Price: Any model between $75 and $150 is likely to be fine. Anything higher than that is probably a rip-off, or else something more elaborate than you probably need (like a mesh system).

What about other WiFi numbers?

If you already have a WiFi 5 router (aka "802.11AC"), then you can probably use it without any problem. WiFi 6 is better, but it's not better enough that you're likely to notice the difference.

If you want to buy a WiFi 6E router, that will work fine, but as of mid-2023 there's usually a significant price premium for 6E, while most devices (phones, TVs, laptops, etc.) don't use the capabilities of 6E yet, so the extra money is wasted. If you can get one for not much more than a WiFi 6 model, then do.

WiFi 7 is just starting to come out, as of mid-2023. There is virtually no use for it yet, and it's drastically more expensive that WiFi 6. In almost all cases, there's no justification for that added expense right now.

If you have an older WiFi router ("802.11N" or earlier), upgrade it immediately. The price of a new router is minimal and the benefits are drastic!

Where to buy

You can buy WiFi routers at big-box or office supply stores: Costco, Staples, OfficeMax, etc. Computer/technology stores too, of course. On the Web: Amazon, NewEgg, or any other tech merchant. We tend to use NewEgg for superior search features, but we don't specifically endorse any merchant.

What brands to buy

We don't endorse any particular brand. All of the popular brands are at least adequate. These include, but are not limited to: Asus, Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link, Archer, D-Link, Ubiquiti, and others.

Subscription services

Some routers come with optional subscription services. We would normally advise against paying for any such service.

Then what??

Once you have a router, you'll need to plug it in and set it up. This simple task is explained here.