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If you're confused just reading about it, please don't even consider flashing new software on it! You'll be back here asking how to unbrick your router.
As advised, change the default SSID and password. There shouldn't be any further drama associated with setting it up and connecting to your devices.
Also turn off SSID broadcast if you’re not likely to have friends stop over and connect.
Crazy, good point about two points of difficulty, but I note that modem/routers often don't have features, such as 5G band, that could be useful. Of course, I suspect that folks with the ability to use advanced routers already know these things!
[*]I live in a 450 sq ft apartment in a major city with lots of competing wifi signals.
[*]I will be the only user - a basic internet user. The most strenuous thing I do online is stream videos.
[*]After buying, I read reviews on Amazon. Some people have trouble with connections dropping every few minutes, some have great experiences. Someone warned not to use it without DD-WRT. Some advised not to use the default settings. How can I know what the best, most secure, reliable set-up is for me?[/list]
Confused by so much info, I called NetGear but, even though I bought the router and gave them the S/N, they wouldn't answer simple questions about the router unless I registered it and gave them my name, phone number, etc., Forget that. Help ME first. If the product is right for me, I'll register it then!
Any advice, recommendations, help or warnings would be GREATLY appreciated!
Definitely use the 5 Ghz mode on your router. 5 Ghz has a larger band of channels and is less prone to interference from neighbors but unfortunately, also degrades much faster with distance or walls. Also, download a Wifi channel scanner, select the 5 Ghz band, and select a channel with the least # of signals. If possible, put your router in a central location in your apartment and see how the reception and speeds are from the locations furthest from your router than you'll be using the Internet. If you go no/poor reception in those places or if some of your devices can't connect (they might not support 5 Ghz), you'll want to switch to 2.4 Ghz.
And if you go with 2.4 Ghz instead of 5 Ghz, use only channels 1, 6, or 11 no matter how uncroweded the other channels appear since the overlapping channels in between will receive a ton of interference.
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