What does AC wireless offer me?

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aboylikedave

243 posts

Master Geek

#189424 29-Dec-2015 15:57

Hi there

I recently upgraded my router to a Huawei (Spark) HG630b in preparation for UFB from an Apple Airport Express. It has actually extended the range deeper into the house which is good.

Now I still haven't got UFB (consent issues) so have to reapply and they have sent me an HG659B, so I can return either one.

I have a standard setup, ADSL2 to router with devices getting wifi off of this.

Will I likely see any improvement upgrading to the HG659B and it's dual band AC for normal Netflix type streaming etc? Or is there any reason to stick with the HG630B?

All thoughts welcome.

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macuser

2120 posts

Uber Geek

#1458577 29-Dec-2015 16:20

You really want to use whatever WiFi will get you WAN speed as well as reliability (without interference from other 2.4ghz devices)

AC will give you great throughput close, far exceeding your UFB WAN speed, additionally network transfers will be faster - it doesn't reach as far though as G or N

michaelmurfy

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#1458578 29-Dec-2015 16:23

Keep the HG659B since it has gigabit ports, faster WiFi (and 5GHz WiFi) and is better suited for UFB.

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Dynamic

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#1458579 29-Dec-2015 16:24

http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/802-11ac-vs-802-11n-Infographic-Which-wireless-solutions-are-better

Wireless AC does not necessarily increase your range, but gives you better quality connections at a distance. The extra speed is nice when transferring large files around.

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sbiddle

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#1458672 29-Dec-2015 18:26

AC won't give you better range - it's 5GHz so won't offer anything near the coverage of 2.4GHz networks.

frankv

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#1458750 29-Dec-2015 21:21

I just switched to Spark and got the 859b model. I insisted I wanted a dual-band modem, just as future-proofing. I know my next phone will have AC.

And it gives me some bandwidth that I don't have to share with the neighbours for a year or two. :)

Crowdie

228 posts

Master Geek

#1494363 17-Feb-2016 20:40

In a nutshell 802.11ac gives you the following advantages over 5 GHz 802.11n:

Support for up to eight spatial streams on access points and up to four on clients. 802.11n supports up to four spatial streams.
Explicit beamforming. This is dependent on the wireless client supporting explicit beamforming.
Multiuser MIMO (802.11ac Wave 2 only).
Support for up to four simultaneous user transmissions. 802.11n supports a single user transmission.