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802.11ac WiFi Router Round-Up Tests Broadcom XStream Platform Performance (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: Wireless routers are going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, thanks to the arrival of the 802.11ac standard that is "three times as fast as wireless-N" and the proliferation of Internet-connected devices in our homes and pockets. AC is backward compatible with all previous standards, and whereas 802.11n was only able to pump out 450Mb/s of total bandwidth, 802.11ac is capable of transmitting at up to 1,300Mbps on a 5GHz channel. AC capability is only available on the 5GHz channel, which has fewer devices on it than a typical 2.4GHz channel. The trade-off is that 5GHz signals typically don't travel as far as those on the 2.4GHz channel.
However, 802.11ac makes up for it with a technology named Beamforming, which allows it to figure out where devices are located and amplify the signal in their direction instead of just broadcasting in all directions like 802.11n. Also, while 802.11n supports only four streams of data, 802.11ac supports up to eight streams on channels that are twice as wide. HotHardware's AC Router round-up takes a look at four flagship AC routers from ASUS, TRENDnet, D-Link and Netgear. All are AC3200 routers that use the new Broadcom XStream 5G platform. Netgear's Nighthawk X6 tends to offer the best balance of performance in various use cases. However, all models performed similarly, with subtle variances in design, features and pricing left to differentiate them from one another.
However, 802.11ac makes up for it with a technology named Beamforming, which allows it to figure out where devices are located and amplify the signal in their direction instead of just broadcasting in all directions like 802.11n. Also, while 802.11n supports only four streams of data, 802.11ac supports up to eight streams on channels that are twice as wide. HotHardware's AC Router round-up takes a look at four flagship AC routers from ASUS, TRENDnet, D-Link and Netgear. All are AC3200 routers that use the new Broadcom XStream 5G platform. Netgear's Nighthawk X6 tends to offer the best balance of performance in various use cases. However, all models performed similarly, with subtle variances in design, features and pricing left to differentiate them from one another.
Wireless routers are a security disaster. Public interface combined with the front door and back door to your network.
Get access points. They don't run out of memory because they aren't doing all that routing and firewall stuff.
Have a separate router.
Don't mix to two. Just don't.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
No mention of Apple products. Apple has been using 802.11ac for years. I have one of their wifi routers: easy to use, just works, etc. and it has 802.11ac.
Yeah if your in a lab setting. I'm betting you'll never see better than 500Mbps even in the most ideal of home environments.
The idea of beamforming is interesting, to identify the direction devices are in and transmit in that direction. Generally this is done with a phased array antenna. I'm curious if this will result in changes to the shape of routers and antennas to accommodate the array. Why not make the routers taller and put the antenna arrays in the sides. Beamforming might save power and reduce interference versus omnidirectional antennas, though one drawback of phased arrays is the tendency to get grating lobes.
I wish they had tested these wireless APs in a more intelligent manner.
That is, installing the latest beta of dd-wrt and openwrt on them, putting them in AP mode and cabling them into a layer 2 switched connected to the LAN interface of a pfsense router.
Do people still run stock firmware on their cheap consumer-grade wireless APs?
From my research almost all routers duel band and multi compliance routers have weaknesses in at least one area. No matter if that's a performance issues, range, or firmware weakness. Best overall features to look for is external antennas for 5Ghz bands because internals are worthless, also the ability to use third party firmware a plus. Range does not always mean it carry's speed too. Many routers tested that do well in range tend to fall flat quickly in speed. In any case my experience still has not changed. For range the 2.4 Ghz band is better, for speed and reduced interference in crowded areas you use 5Ghz. Let's also not forget the router is only half the issue with wireless. Your devices may also help or hurt connection speed, range, and performance. Wireless is really a mixed bag depending on location, and outside interference. Its really hard to say which router will work best in your location. But in general, the better your antenna's the better range and performance you should get. Internal antennas are never going to be as good. Beaming is another hit or miss feature. It can help range but does little to improve speed. Where you locate your router does far more to help then any other way of improving signal quality.
What's AC short for? Alternate Connection?! ^__^
Maybe I'm crazy, but it seemed like there was a time when pure access points got strangely expensive and "routers" were cheap.
So I just bought a router and used one of the LAN ports as its uplink, avoiding the "WAN" port and all the routing functionality together. I already have a firewall/router elsewhere.
The only downside I've seen of doing this is some of the devices I've used seem to have some of their ancillary functionality, like NTP, hardcoded to only use the WAN port for outgoing traffic.
So which ones are well-supported (actually functional and stable) by OpenWRT? The bandwidth will be nice, but dealing with factory firmware isn't worth it.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
802.11b is comfortably faster than our "Borat_band".
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
At least in the US, this serves absolutely no purpose, since even plain ol' 802.11g/a beats anything short of FTTP.
Hell, I even use a pretty kickass home media server, and streaming a 1080p Blu-Ray rip only sucks down around 20-30MBps on average (peaks at 54, IIRC). 802.11n can handle 5-10 of those simultaneously without breaking a sweat.
I don't mean to sound like "640k should be enough for anyone" - I love new toys - But we need to address the bigger problem with getting the bits to our door before we worry about how fast the bits actually move around inside our houses.
Why, since some time ago most, well lets just say many manufactures decides that any advance features of the consumer grade radios don't need to support lets just say MAC spoofing and other nice features, so right now many of them are useless but really good for the big brother organizations. MAC tracking again is the new way of tracking idiots everywhere, suck it up! Or get new disposable notebook every time you are in the matrix.
Hams know that a good antenna system backed by a marginal radio will always beat a great radio on a garbage antenna. Good to know that rule applies for wireless as well. My move to an AC router meant that my 2.4 ghz signal is now maxed out in the whole house, and the 5 ghz signal, which used to work in two rooms only, now covers the whole house like my old router on 2.4.
All of the routers tested in TFA are rated for 600Mb/s @2.4GHz and 1,300Mb/s @ 5GHz. The UniFi AC Lite AP that you link to is rated at 300Mb/s @2.4GHz and 867Mb/s @ 5GHz, so no surprise they're a lot cheaper.
The Ubiquiti UniFi products also require management software to be installed on some local computer, they don't provide a built-in web interface like most home networking devices. Whether this makes them "easier to configure" is a matter of personal preference I suppose.