Router Settings for Faster Internet

Following and changing these router options can potentially improve your wireless network’s performance and speed. Some of these options typically work better in different situations. We have included some basic summary of these settings, feel free to read more about why these settings work.

Useful Router Guides for Specific Purpose
Best Router Settings for Gaming Only.
Best Router Physical Placement Guide
AirPlay Mirroring Router Guide

Other Guides Related to Wireless Technology
WiFi Range Extender Best Setup Guide

Generic Optimal Router Settings Guide

1. 802.11 n Support
Enable: Faster speed by supporting N or later wifi tech.
Disable: Older devices cannot connect.

2. WMM Settings
Enable: Many mobile devices like iphone and ipad need it to function.
Disable: None

3. 2.4 Ghz vs 5 Ghz
2.4 Ghz: 802.11 b/g. Slower and more interference in most cases.
5 Ghz: 802.11 n or above. Faster and less interference when setup correctly.

4. 20 Mhz or 40 Mhz (And Best Wireless Channel)
20 Mhz: Use for 2.4 Ghz wireless frequency.
40 Mhz: Use for 5 Ghz wireless frequency.

For best channels for each of the wifi frequency, refer to the post itself.

5. AP Isolate
Enable: Public Wifi
Disable: Home Wifi

6. IP Flood Detection
Enable: When computers are infected with malware that overload your wifi network.
Disable: Usual Setting.

7. Multicast Rate
Enable: Used for public broadcasting or multicast for display use.
Disable: Usual Setting and lower rate.

8. Preamble Type
Short: Faster setting.
Long: Slower setting, better in high noise environment. Older devices supported.

9. Beacon Interval
Lower Value: 100 or Below. Default setting by most of manufactures. Work in most situations. Needed for time critical notifications like VoIP or push notification.
Higher Value: More free bandwidth and airtime means better performance. May take longer for router automatic SSID discovery.

10. DTIM Interval (Period)
Lower Value: 3 or Below. Default setting by most of manufactures. Work in most situations. Needed for time critical notifications like VoIP or push notification.
Higher Value: More free bandwidth and airtime means better performance. Weaker routers may crash and buffered data may be lost.

11. Tx Burst (Frame Burst / Pack Burst)
Enable: If less than 3~4 devices may improve performance. More devices can cause higher lag.
Disable: No bursting.

12. WMM APSD
Enable: Usual setting.
Disable: Only if your mobile devices have issues with crashes or disconnect.

13. No Ack / Ack Suppression
Enable: Only with good signal strength. Improve speed. May cause issues with data accuracy.
Disable: Usual setting for better compatibility.

14. Optimize AMPDU Aggregation
Enable: High error environment or multiple devices. Slower performance.
Disable: Low error environment with less devices. Faster performance.

15. Airtime Fairness
Enable: When the device that you wish to boost is the faster speed link. Or if you want to improve performance of network as a whole.
Disable: When the device that you wish to boost is the slower speed link.

16. Beamforming
Enable Explicit Beamforming: AC devices and few N devices. Mid Coverage.
Disable Explicit Beamforming: B/G and non-compatible N devices. Small Coverage.
Enable Implicit Beamforming: When Explicit Beamforming does not apply.
Disable Implicit Beamforming: Problems or small coverage.

17. IGMP Snooping
Enable: For Streaming and Airplay Mirroring
Disable: Default Setting for less resource overhead.

LAN Settings
18. Jumbo Frame
Enable: For faster access to and from storage devices on a network. The implementation requires all devices on network to support jumbo frame.
Disable: You should generally disable jumbo frame for all other purposes.

19. NAT Acceleration
This option can also be CTF or FA in some other routers.
Enable: For internet provider speed above 100 mb/sec. Typically can improve performance with internet speed above 200 mb/s.
Disable: Disable to allow QoS, Port Forward, IP Traffic Monitoring, Parental Control.