subject: Router Connections [print this page] A network router is capable of handling large amounts of traffic. Because of this, it's seen as one of the best devices for creating a network. However, even though it's the best out there, routers have a connection limit that can't be exceeded.
The amount of connections your network can handle will depend on the type of router you have. The most capable ones can handle up to 253 connections. However, as the number increases the speed of your internet will decrease.
You may wonder what a connection is. A connection is basically anything that needs to load while you are online. Ads, pictures, instant messaging, and reloading a webpage all count as network connections.
When you are loading a webpage you may think it will only count as one connection but if you break it down further you will understand how it can count as many. One single webpage may have many images on it. It might also have advertisements, videos, or sounds. All of these features will count as their own connection.
Networks are made to handle multiple computers but the more computers on the network means more total connections. Too many computers may cause "bottlenecking" which is basically an overload of connections. If you only have a couple computers on your network, you will probably never encounter this.
Having a bottleneck in your network can be frustrating, but there are easy ways to prevent and fix it. If you want to solve the problem for good you will need either a better router or an additional one. Sometimes, you simply need to create another network in order to handle all the connections that are being made.
There are other short term things you can do to loosen up the bottlenecking. You can start by turning off computers that aren't being used. You should also close any unused browsers and filter out unneeded plugins/add-ons. If you have an email app, increase the interval times for it to reload.
Networks can handle quite a bit of traffic and it takes a lot to really jam them up. You'll probably never have to deal with a bottlenecked system, but if you do these easy steps will easily solve your problems. Just a little bit of organization in your network can really cut down on your connections.
