Higher end routers (wireless use).

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rayonline

1734 posts

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#205042 27-Oct-2016 17:18

Just a curious question. We have Cat6 thru the back of the walls. For many others they use wireless and many owners don't bother about installing structured cabling. Regarding the more expensive routers such as the more expensive option that are supplied by some ISPs with an additional cost or the ones that stores sell like Netgear's Nighthawk AC 1900 etc. Do they provide higher speed transfers and better wireless reception and by how much are we talking about here?

In the vicinity many cheaper routers may do 100Mbps, most household internet connections (not local network) are up to 100 so they may not see much benefit that way.

Do these higher end routers provide better reception thru multiple walls or to that room at the back corner?

Do they provide better performance if multiple people are streaming videos?

Cheers.

MadEngineer

4306 posts

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#1659190 27-Oct-2016 17:30

Generally not really.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

1101

3122 posts

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#1659652 28-Oct-2016 11:58

higher speed : in theory yes .
In actual real world use with YOUR devices , well, Im a skeptic . Some of the claims just arnt matched by real world tests

Through walls, higher speed 5.8G has less/worse penetration than ~slower~ 2.4Ghz
Some wifi access points/routers MIGHT work better through walls (better than badly designed/made cheapy wifi routers), but its really a clutching at straws sort of thing

richms

28218 posts

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#1659662 28-Oct-2016 12:06

The triband ones certainly do work better with multiple users on them. The bigger routers will have more MIMO streams and more antennas which can help with both thruput and sensitivity.

They may be more agressivly tuned to transmit over other networks rather than waiting for a clear channel. - that is a setting not necessarily something that only more expensive wireless devices can do.

Might keep using 40MHz when they detect other networks. That will possibly give better thruput at the expense of trampling over another network.

Beam forming, again, this is proven in commercial units to work well, how well something small for home can do it tho - who really knows.

Plenty of ways that better gear can help, but really need to get it in and try it to see how much it does help.

Richard rich.ms

MadEngineer

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#1659800 28-Oct-2016 13:55

These days it's less about the cost, more about the age of the equipment and the environment.

If you're concerned about transfer speed you plug in.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1660146 29-Oct-2016 01:23

Get one or more Xclaim Xi3 Access points. You will still need a separate router but you could probably reuse your existing one. Sure they are a bit pricey but are well worth it.

They won't be the absolute fastest for devices that are close to the access point. But the Xclaims are really good at long distance Wifi. I can go approx 60-70m away from my house and still get wifi if I have line of sight to the outside of my house. This is in a medium density urban area so lots of wifi pollution around. Speed at that distance is approx 1-2 mbit but browsing still works fine. (and around 27mbit during a power cut to my street also at the same distance- My wifi being the only one operational as I have battery backup)

Close to the access points I have managed to get just over 100mbit to an Samsung Galaxy S4mini. Which is damm good considering that phone doesn't support AC band Wifi. And around 180mbit to my Asus laptop that does support AC wifi.

They are powered by POE. A POE injector comes in the box so no issue if your current network switch and / or router doesn't support POE.

I still use Ethernet whenever possible though.