What metric should I look at to quantify wifi power/range?

[debun]

I currently have an ASUS N56U and I’m disappointed with the WIFI range. I have a 150 meg connection and 2 feet away from the router I get 25 mps, and in my bedroom I only get 2-12. I need raw speed and through put to overpower my neighbors but not sure what metric in the charts to look at to evaluate this. I’m currently eyeballing a WRT1900ACS which is pretty expensive. The main features I’m looking for are VPN for when I travel to China and once again a lot of wifi range. I’d really like to spend less but need a strong signal.

 

[stevech]

WiFi is a two-way communication system. The signal FROM client TO router is equally important. You could have an amp'd up router but that doesn't help the return direction.

The two-way up and down speed you get from speedtest.net (net yield speed) is what really matters - as constrained by your ISP's up/down speed ratio.

You are probably not losing speed to neighbor's WiFi - because 802.11 WiFi is a time-shared medium. So a strong signal neighbor signal is important to you only if they are a bandwidth hog on their WiFi, which is rare. And you can always move to a different channel.

 

[System Error Message]

Some people crank up their wifi power when it doesnt improve speeds and just makes things worse. You can use a faraday cage or just line your walls with tin foil.

Wireless N practical speeds arent something you can expect much of. You can use your router as a VPN server. Upgrading to wireless AC improves performance through better wifi chips but dont expect speed out of wifi. I always say in posts never to use wifi for performance. Just because your ISP may give 150Mb/s or 1Gb/s dont expect your wifi to achieve those speeds. Wifi is for convenience.

It could be you have lots of wifi traffic in your area and switching to 5Ghz and using 5Ghz helps but it doesnt make your wifi magically fast. Wifi should never be used for performance despite wifi routers being marketed for gaming and for having wifi fast enough for gaming.

 

[thiggins]

I currently have an ASUS N56U and I’m disappointed with the WIFI range. I have a 150 meg connection and 2 feet away from the router I get 25 mps, and in my bedroom I only get 2-12. I need raw speed and through put to overpower my neighbors but not sure what metric in the charts to look at to evaluate this. I’m currently eyeballing a WRT1900ACS which is pretty expensive. The main features I’m looking for are VPN for when I travel to China and once again a lot of wifi range. I’d really like to spend less but need a strong signal.

5 GHz range will always be less than 2.4 GHz because signals lose power with distance at a greater rate due to their higher frequency.

Using the Router Charts, choose either 2.4 or 5 GHz Profile benchmarks, then plot throughput vs. attenuation. The product with the curve that is the highest will provide superior range. In the example plot below, the ASUS RT-AC68U is clearly better.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tool...file-dn/1235-asus-rtac68u/2232-tplink-tgr1900

Our testing found upgrading to an AC router can improve throughput for non AC devices. But no router is likely to extend range significantly in 5 GHz. What you tend to get is higher throughput in areas where you can already get a weak signal.

 

[L&LD]

Have you tried (and fully tested for latency and throughput) different channels? Do you have a current firmware installed? Did you do a full and proper reset to factory defaults and then minimally and manually setup the router again?

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

Have you tried the Padavan firmware for your router (if the latest, stock Asus firmware doesn't work)?

If any and all of the above doesn't work, then I would suggest an RT-AC56U.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-3_hgg-final-mod.26524/page-2#post-199549


Especially with RMerlin, john9527 or hggomes firmware if you want the most stable experience.

If you are in Canada, you can find the RT-AC56U for $90 till the end of the year.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...igabit-router-rt-ac56r-rt-ac56r/10303444.aspx

At $100 USD it is still a highly recommended router by me. With this latest price, it makes it hard to consider any other router for your use.