Tim, you're correct, it wasn't.
What it was supposed to do though is effectively transform wireless routers from acting as the now ancient hubs to a more modern switch. While each device is faster, up to a point, it is the total capacity of the wireless network that will increase to such a degree that anything running with only 1GBe ports will limit a 'true' AC Wave2 device from giving the full performance promised.
With an eight antenna router and multiple fully AC Wave2 class compliant clients, it would be like each device is connected to it's own router (almost), with a small number of (one antenna) clients.
With the 160MHz wide channels that are offered; doesn't matter how many routers are being used in close proximity. The channels and number of streams can be switched on the fly, per frame. Combined with the much faster (lower overhead) transmission AC wifi offers, limited channels are simply not as much of a problem as 2.4GHz 'N' class devices have turned into.
From the link on post 4 on this thread:
We're nowhere close to Wave2. Even the latest routers available are struggling with Wave1 implementations and limitations.
Could use. Emphasis on could. Very few routers support DFS right now and some clients don't support using those channels either (though they don't need to support DFS ability, just the channels themselves, though if they can do ad hoc, they'd need to if you can run those channels in ad hoc mode).
As it stands currently, for most routers/APs there exists 4 non-overlapping 40MHz chanels and 2 non-overlapping 80MHZ channels and exactly 1 160MHz channel in 5GHz. It is only if DFS is added in can you (in the right locations, which is most) get 8 40MHz, or 4 80MHz or 2 160MHz channels.
This is my issue, wave 2 with 160MHz support should be required to support DFS as MANDATORY if 160MHz is going to be a feature.
I do think with Wave 2 and 160MHz channels, especially as antenna counts creep up (at least for the high end routers) you WILL start setting LAG and/or 10GbE start becoming a thing, at least on these higher level consumer routers. I realize there aren't a ton of use cases, but even in the home, use cases where a single 1GbE port is a limitation is growing.
On my curreny Archer C8, 80MHz channel widths and swapping in 5dBi antennas over the 3dBi ones that it shipped with, reasonably close to the router I can sometimes get >60MiB/sec SUSTAINED transfer speeds to my laptop with an Intel 7260ac in it. As 3:3 clients become more common (which I realize will still be a bit more of an edge case) and as MU:MIMO becomes common, even home use where you can find >120MiB/sec of possible wireless traffic are going to become much more common, which makes a single GbE port a limitation (especially when you look at combined wired traffic to/from the internet and wireless traffic heading through a single router LAN port, possibly, to a person's wired network).
In a the next year, I doubt we will see anything like that. In just a very short number of years, I think we will see it happen. I think before 802.11ax (I think 11ax is the "replacement" for 11ac) 10GbE or LAG is going to be a requirement, except for the "low end" stuff (heck, I still see low end 11n with 10/100 ports and even a small number of low end 11ac products with 10/100 ports).
I see some promise in 11ad, but I think the issue still comes in that 60GHz is just so ridiculously easy to block it isn't that useful beyond "IR emitter" ability (though ridiculously high speed one). Wireless docking, AWESOME, especially if you can get even limited wireless power transmission. In room...it is only really useful if you can have the devices in relatively fixed positions and possibly don't get anything between them. Yes, I know the signal can bounce pretty well, but what if you accidently drop a pillow on the phone? Its probably going to smoother the transmissions completely. Cup your hand around it too much and likely the same thing, etc. Or walk in to the bathroom while on your phone and streaming something...
I would love to see 802.11ad deployed more widely either as a feature, or as an add-on (possibly using USB3 ports) for routers for line of sight wireless links. I could see something like an outdoor rated all-in-one USB chipset and antenna (and at 60GHz, it can be pretty small for something like a 24-30dBi parabolic/yagi, like just a few inches). Set it up, run the USB cord (outdoor rated of course) back to the router, plug it in to the port and setup your wireless link back to whatever you are connecting too (WISP, wireless bridge back to your house from your garage, whatever).
