Start with your connection, not the router
The first question is what kind of internet connection you will feed the router. A SIM-based mobile router, a fixed-line router and a satellite terminal are different products, and the mobile case adds a further requirement: the device must support the bands your network actually uses at your address.
If your signal is anything short of strong, prioritise a router with external antenna connectors above every other feature. That single specification keeps your cheapest and most effective future upgrade available. Routers without antenna ports are fine in good-signal areas and a trap everywhere else.
Check the coverage situation before you shop, not afterwards. Buying a 5G router for an address with no 5G is money spent on a capability you cannot use yet.
Count your devices honestly
List everything that connects: phones, laptops, tablets, smart televisions, streaming sticks, games consoles, printers, cameras, smart plugs and bulbs. Households routinely have three times as many connected devices as they first estimate, and each one occupies a connection slot even when idle.
Then count how many are active simultaneously in the evening, which is the load that matters. Four devices streaming video at once is a very different requirement from twenty devices mostly sitting idle, and the second scenario is more demanding on the router's processor than on the connection.
As a rough guide, up to about ten devices suits an entry-level dual-band router, ten to twenty-five wants a mid-range unit, and beyond that you should be looking at a capable router with separate access points rather than one box trying to do everything.
- External antenna ports — essential unless your signal is strong.
- Ethernet ports — at least two if you have a desktop, printer or CCTV recorder.
- Dual-band Wi-Fi — the sensible minimum; Wi-Fi 6 helps most in device-dense homes.
- Guest network support — take it as a given and check it is there.
- Wall-mountable — useful for getting the unit high and out of reach.
Match the Wi-Fi to your building
Wi-Fi standards describe the maximum a link can carry, not how far it travels. Wi-Fi 6 is genuinely better in homes with many devices, because it handles concurrent clients far more efficiently, but it does not penetrate a block wall any better than Wi-Fi 5 does.
Ghanaian construction is the constraint here. Sandcrete block, reinforced concrete and steel burglar-proofing all attenuate 5 GHz heavily. In a typical three-bedroom block-built house, one router in the sitting room will not cover the back bedroom well no matter what standard it supports.
Plan for this at purchase time. Either buy a mesh system from the outset, or buy a router and accept that you will add an access point or a node within a few months. Budgeting for coverage up front is cheaper than buying twice.
Technician’s tip
If you are choosing between a more expensive single router and a cheaper router plus a mesh node, take the second option nearly every time. Coverage beats specification in a block-built building.
The specifications that matter less than the marketing suggests
Headline speed ratings combine every radio in the device and are never achievable by a single client. A router advertised at several thousand megabits is not going to deliver that to your laptop, and on a mobile connection the mobile link is the ceiling regardless.
Antenna count on the casing is similarly weak as a signal of quality. Four external stubs on a cheap router may perform worse than two well-engineered internal ones. Treat it as decoration unless the specification lists actual MIMO configuration.
What does correlate with a good experience is processor and memory capability, firmware support, and the manufacturer's record of releasing updates. None of these appear on the front of the box, which is why the mid-range unit from a serious manufacturer usually outlasts the budget unit with the bigger numbers.
Plan for power and mounting
Routers draw very little power, typically well under thirty watts, so a small DC UPS designed for router loads will keep your internet alive through an outage for hours at modest cost. Factor this into the purchase rather than treating it as a later accessory.
Mounting matters more than it sounds. A router on a high shelf or wall bracket, away from metal and appliances, performs measurably better than one on the floor behind a television. Check whether the model has mounting points and buy a bracket at the same time.