Will A New AC Router Bring You Wi-Fi Joy?

[stevech]

Using Android phone
Signal strength, router-to-phone direction (my router doesn't show signal strength for phone-to-router direction)...

On patio; one drywall wall, one exterior wall of stucco. About 40 ft. distance.
5GHz is 10-15dB weaker than 2.4GHz. Standing at stucco wall, 5GHz is rather weak: -80's. Move so fireplace exterior is in the path - 5GHz disappears from the survey tool's report.

In lieu of router showing received signal strength I did this test
On my phone: Choose 5GHz SSID

NOTE! Speeds below are net yield at the TCP/IP layer and across the Internet. Conversly, the raw connection speed of WiFi will be almost double. So below include all overhead.

• On patio, one stucco wall, one drywall, 40 ft. (as above)
• speedtest.net: 42Mbps down, 10Mbps up.
• Move where fireplace exterior wall is in the path. Stand 1-2 ft. from wall. Speedtest.net: 12Mbps down/10Mbps up.
• Move in same room as the router: Speedtest.net says 102Mbps down, 12Mbps up. (these are close to same speed as desktop with ethernet for LAN access).

Router is ASUS RT-N56U. Is 802.11n (no AC), has internal antennas.

 

[sfx2000]

Can you give an estimate on the distance it was to your neighbors house? My 5GHz band drops significantly on my AC88U when I'm out on my patio about 30 feet away and going through a wall and glass french doors.

Your results are likely typical - it's just physics and how 5GHz propagates...

Also consider the client spec, some do have better performance than others with regards to sensitivity...

 

[sfx2000]

Using Android phone

Which Android phone?

I've got a old Cricket Samsung GS4 that I keep around for wifi testing (it's a wave 1 11ac device), not quite a sensitive as the newer iPhone 6s, but it's a reasonable tester...

 

[sm00thpapa]

Your results are likely typical - it's just physics and how 5GHz propagates...

Also consider the client spec, some do have better performance than others with regards to sensitivity...

One is a LG G3 and the other is the iPad Air. The iPad Air does better than the G3.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[stevech]

Which Android phone?

I've got a old Cricket Samsung GS4 that I keep around for wifi testing (it's a wave 1 11ac device), not quite a sensitive as the newer iPhone 6s, but it's a reasonable tester...

2 yr old HTC One.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Can you give an estimate on the distance it was to your neighbors house? My 5GHz band drops significantly on my AC88U when I'm out on my patio about 30 feet away and going through a wall and glass french doors.

The distance is the same as if you walked across the street from your own house, standard sub here. I would guess and this is just a guess about 60 feet or so. Also keep in mind my router is near that wall inside my home so the signal only has to punch through drywall and my vinyl siding no bricks to the outside. Even still this test was done on a Android phone Galaxy Note 3 that is AC ready. I will try my ipad mini tomorrow only N and see if it fares the same.

Also like to ad my home is not that large 1700 sq ft ranch and inside my home 5 GHz covers the whole house full signal in all locations that i have tested. I did have some low spots here and there with the 68U that the 3100 seems to have solved. I have no data for 2.4 GHz as mentioned i quit using some time ago.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Kal-el, sounds like a real world test to me. Thanks for sharing

I guess i meant to say scientific..

 

[sm00thpapa]

The distance is the same as if you walked across the street from your own house, standard sub here. I would guess and this is just a guess about 60 feet or so. Also keep in mind my router is near that wall inside my home so the signal only has to punch through drywall and my vinyl siding no bricks to the outside. Even still this test was done on a Android phone Galaxy Note 3 that is AC ready. I will try my ipad mini tomorrow only N and see if it fares the same.

Also like to ad my home is not that large 1700 sq ft ranch and inside my home 5 GHz covers the whole house full signal in all locations that i have tested. I did have some low spots here and there with the 68U that the 3100 seems to have solved. I have no data for 2.4 GHz as mentioned i quit using some time ago.

Thank you for the reply. I have a 2600 square foot home that has cinder blocks and stucco that the wifi has to penetrate through. It does a decent job getting through just a low signal in the far ends of my yard area. If I can get the AC88U up a little higher and over my TV I'm almost positive it will cover my entire property easily.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[System Error Message]

newer and better wifi chips and antennas mean better range which is why the AC88U and AC5300 can give better signal.

 

[sm00thpapa]

newer and better wifi chips and antennas mean better range which is why the AC88U and AC5300 can give better signal.

I don't see much of a difference over my 68P as far as range goes in my set up. I was hoping for more range.

 

[htismaqe]

I'd like to see someone that has a real world comparison of the AC5300, AC3100, or similar devices against something other than the AC68U/P.

The reason I say that is because I tested the Netgear R7000 and Linksys WRT1900AC against the AC68W rigorously in my environment and both were significantly better in coverage and performance/range than the Asus.

I'm wondering if the improvements Kal-El sees are because the AC68U just isn't the best AC1900 to begin with. So the difference is model specific vs. generation specific. For me, I have a hard time believing that one of these new routers is going to give me a dramatic improvement over the WRT1900AC I currently have, which covers my house, garage, and a large portion of my yard on a 1-acre property.

 

[um hombre]

I think some people may not be aware that the race for range has basically stopped for routers a couple of years ago. At least in EU, not sure what is the situation in USA but here, all routers transmit power has been limited to some value, not sure what it is.

What this means though that there will not be any dramatic difference in range between ac1900 onwards generation of routers.

 

[RMerlin]

I don't see much of a difference over my 68P as far as range goes in my set up. I was hoping for more range.

If I remember correctly, the 68P already had better PAs than the original 68U, so it's less of a step up.

 

[RMerlin]

I'm wondering if the improvements Kal-El sees are because the AC68U just isn't the best AC1900 to begin with. So the difference is model specific vs. generation specific. For me, I have a hard time believing that one of these new routers is going to give me a dramatic improvement over the WRT1900AC I currently have, which covers my house, garage, and a large portion of my yard on a 1-acre property.

I saw a clear speed improvement going from an AC87U to an AC88U. But considering I'm comparing it to the infamous QSR1000, I'm not sure how much weight this carries...

 

[RMerlin]

I think some people may not be aware that the race for range has basically stopped for routers a couple of years ago. At least in EU, not sure what is the situation in USA but here, all routers transmit power has been limited to some value, not sure what it is.

What this means though that there will not be any dramatic difference in range between ac1900 onwards generation of routers.

Limiting the power means the range might not change much, but there's still some room left for improvement within that range. Better SNR (through better amps and filters) mean that you can improve the throughput. Fewer retransmits, ability to link at a higher PHY rate, etc...

 

[pege63]

SNR, PHY, Amps, retransmits, i think for a normal homeuser this is ???? to much off wath???. Just a thought =;o)

 

[sm00thpapa]

The N66U is a prime example. When it was on .274 the range was incredible. Once it went to .276 the routers range went to unusable. Glad I still have all the .274 firmware for it.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Swenson]

WiFi signal range is determines by your WAP's antenna gain. The higher the gain the better. You should consider a WAP with a gain of 5dBi like the Cisco WAP561.

 

[srinivasvaradaraj]

So no comments on the article from the peanut gallery? No one want to comment on how poorly the AC88U did?

Tim,
Thanks for a great article and all the reviews you do. I was wondering if you could include tests which included room with masonry(or a structure that simulates it). The reason I ask is my family (aunts , uncles & cousins) all live in houses that are essentially older masonry. I often get asked which router works best in such a house and almost every router I have tried starting with N66U have fallen way short (range) in such an environment. I almost alway end up having to use powerline extensions to provide adequate coverage.
Thanks again.

 

[thiggins]

Tim,
Thanks for a great article and all the reviews you do. I was wondering if you could include tests which included room with masonry(or a structure that simulates it). The reason I ask is my family (aunts , uncles & cousins) all live in houses that are essentially older masonry. I often get asked which router works best in such a house and almost every router I have tried starting with N66U have fallen way short (range) in such an environment. I almost alway end up having to use powerline extensions to provide adequate coverage.
Thanks again.

The simple answer is no router is going to work well in that environment, especially for 5 GHz. Masonry kills 5 GHz signals and isn't very friendly to 2.4 GHz, either.

Use the four wireless "Profile" plots (2.4, 5, up and downlink) to compare routers. Products that have higher throughput at higher attenuation values should do better for range. But, again, differences will be relatively minor and unlikely to produce significant performance difference in a heavy masonry environment.