Introduction and Router Specifications

"three times as fast as wireless-N" and the proliferation of Internet-connected devices in our homes and pockets. Whereas before we merely had a handful of laptops and PCs connected to the internet at various times, we now have homes with many devices connected all the time, including our phones, tablets, computers, smart televisions, game consoles, and smart home devices. Though wireless N wasn't bad at the time, it's simply not ideal when dozens of devices are connected at the same time, and certainly not in a larger home or office. That's where 802.11ac comes in, as it offers much-improved speeds and the ability to support a lot more clients at the same time. Now that there are several premium routers on the market that are able to take full advantage of everything Wireless routers are going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, thanks to the arrival of the 802.11ac standard that isand the proliferation of Internet-connected devices in our homes and pockets. Whereas before we merely had a handful of laptops and PCs connected to the internet at various times, we now have homes with many devices connected all the time, including our phones, tablets, computers, smart televisions, game consoles, and smart home devices. Though wireless N wasn't bad at the time, it's simply not ideal when dozens of devices are connected at the same time, and certainly not in a larger home or office. That's where 802.11ac comes in, as it offers much-improved speeds and the ability to support a lot more clients at the same time. Now that there are several premium routers on the market that are able to take full advantage of everything 802.11ac has to offer, we figured we'd round up the best-of-the-best and put them through their paces.





802.11ac Primer





Just to be clear, wireless AC is only available on the 5GHz channel, which generally has fewer devices on it than a typical 2.4GHz channel, allowing for higher performance due to less interference and the use of wider channels. 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, that allows it to calculate 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. How all this shakes out in your living room or small office boils down to a multitude of factors, but wireless AC is clearly superior, and offers a lot more bandwidth and range both now and in future iterations.





The Routers: D-Link, ASUS, Netgear, TRENDnet Specifications & Features

D-Link DIR 890 L ASUS RT-AC3200 Netgear Nighthawk X6 Trendnet TEW-828DRU Technology IE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac IE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac IE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac IE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bands One 2.4GHz, Dual 5GHz One 2.4GHz, Dual 5GHz One 2.4GHz, Dual 5GHz One 2.4GHz, Dual 5GHz Wireless speeds 600Mb/s @2.4GHz, 1,300Mb/s @ 5GHz 600Mb/s @2.4GHz, 1,300Mb/s @ 5GHz 600Mb/s @2.4GHz, 1,300Mb/s @ 5GHz 600Mb/s @2.4GHz, 1,300Mb/s @ 5GHz Interface Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Ethernet Port 4x 1Gb LAN (+1Gb WAN) 4x 1Gb LAN (+1Gb WAN) 4x 1Gb LAN (+1Gb WAN) 4x 1Gb LAN (+1Gb WAN) USB Port 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0 Security WPA/WPA2; SPI Firewall; Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) WPA/WPA2; SPI Firewall; Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP WPA/WPA2; SPI Firewall; Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK, WPA/WPA2-RADIUS Platform Broadcom Xstream 5G Broadcom Xstream 5G Broadcom Xstream 5G Broadcom Xstream 5G Antenna Six non-removable Six removable Six non-removable Six non-removable Dimensions 15.23 x 9.73 x 4.7 inches (WxDxH) 11.4 x 7.4 x 2.28 inch (WxDxH) 11.63 x 8.92 x 2.14 inch (WxDxH) 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.8 inch (WxDxH) Warranty 1 year 2 year 1 year 3 year Pricing (street): $287.99 $269.50 $273 $209.99 So, what is the big deal with AC and should you care? First off, it's backwards compatible with all previous standards, so if you have a mixture of B/G/N devices like older laptops or tablets, and newer devices that support AC, it will work with all of them. Of course, what we're all interested in, in regards to AC, is its performance, and in that regard it certainly doesn't disappoint. 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. Of course you'll likely never see that top-end performance in the real world, but that's what 802.11ac is specified to offer in max throughput.Just to be clear, wireless AC is only available on the 5GHz channel, which generally has fewer devices on it than a typical 2.4GHz channel, allowing for higher performance due to less interference and the use of wider channels. 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, that allows it to calculate 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. How all this shakes out in your living room or small office boils down to a multitude of factors, but wireless AC is clearly superior, and offers a lot more bandwidth and range both now and in future iterations.