802.11ac enough for high-speed Internet?

[JimmiG]

I'm getting my Internet connection upgraded at the end of August. The computer is maybe 7 meters (12 feet) from the WiFi/outlets, on the other side of a thin wall. Because of the awkward layout, I can't run wires without going through the whole apartment.

I currently have the Linksys E4500 802.11n AP, which seems to be enough for my current connection. According to SiSoft Sandra, the throughput is only 8.9MB/s, but I've often seen download speeds of around 12MB/s, which is close to the theoretical limit of my current 100Mb/s connection. I've read reviews of ac routers where they didn't get much better TCP throughput than that unless the device was in line of sight with the router. I've also read reviews where they got at least 200Mb/s and sometimes 300Mb/s.

My options for the Internet connection are 100/100, 250/100 or 1000/100Mb. I'm guessing 1Gb/s is out of the question unless I go wired, but would 250Mb/s be possible without saturating the Wifi? Or should I just stick with 100Mb/s, which is usually enough anyway?

 

[Savatar]

802.11ac can supposedly go up to 500 Mbps (it goes up to gigabit speeds in some situations [1]). Anandtech's benchmarks show speeds around 370-540 Mbps in the real world, but other equipment gets less (I would expect that to improve with firmware updates or other optimizations) [2]. However, the specification is not completely standardized yet, and there are only a few routers which support the draft standards (and some are flaky), I also haven't seen too many 802.11ac NICs at all (even the MacBook's current implementation has major issues [3], though that may just be software). While most likely not much, if anything, will change - the formal standard is set to be finalized in 2014, at which point we should see many new routers and NICs which support the standard. I would wait until that time to make a purchase, if you decide to proceed with an 802.11ac setup, but you should expect in excess of 250 Mbps with 802.11ac (at least locally on the LAN, and assuming other wireless NICs are all 802.11ac and anything hard-wired also supports up to gigabit speeds - and unless I'm reading the results wrong. 802.11n was basically 'maxed out', so 802.11ac should eventually get that way too). I think you'll be pleased!

References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac
[2] http://www.anandtech.com/show/7127/the-joys-of-80211ac-wifi/2
[3] http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/0...-the-2013-macbook-airs-802-11ac-wi-fi-speeds/

 

[Rakehellion]

Connection speeds will drop rapidly as you get farther from the access point. 250Mb/s might be your practical limit.

Two things:
1. Can you really use more than 100Mb/s?
2. Is occasionally going wired out of the question?

I've lived at a few places with bad wireless connections and I kept a 50-foot ethernet cable around for the extra speed.

 

[JackMDS]

Are you aware that your Network can Not provide Internet traffic that it is Larger than yout ISP given Speed.

Putting $10 in a bigger purse does not make it $20.

For Internet purpose using the Dual band pre/dratf 802.AC will not provide any thing better than E4500.

That said, I do know the psychological aspect gained by spending $$ even when it is useless.

.

 

[Savatar]

Are you aware that your Network can Not provide Internet traffic that it is Larger than yout ISP given Speed.

Putting $10 in a bigger purse does not make it $20.

For Internet purpose using the Dual band pre/dratf 802.AC will not provide any thing better than E4500.

That said, I do know the psychological aspect gained by spending $$ even when it is useless.

.

He was speaking about LAN traffic (local area network), which can be much greater than your ISP's cap. This is like having traffic between your laptop and a media server on your own router.

 

[smitbret]

He was speaking about LAN traffic (local area network), which can be much greater than your ISP's cap. This is like having traffic between your laptop and a media server on your own router.

JackMDS, while his motivations are good, has a kneejerk reaction to tell people how stupid it is to consider 801.11ac. It's his M.O. He's right most of the time, though.

 

[duncan-idaho]

He was speaking about LAN traffic (local area network), which can be much greater than your ISP's cap. This is like having traffic between your laptop and a media server on your own router.

No he wasn't. The OP is clearly asking if his router needs to be upgraded to accomadate a faster internet connection. If he is looking at the 1000mbps package he mentioned, then in short, the answer would be yes.

 

[Savatar]

No he wasn't. The OP is clearly asking if his router needs to be upgraded to accomadate a faster internet connection. If he is looking at the 1000mbps package he mentioned, then in short, the answer would be yes.

That would be the answer to which of his questions? He asked both things - whether he'd be able to reach 250 Mbps and whether 100 Mbps would be enough.