Worth it to upgrade to 802.11AC?

[desura]

Currently have a 802.11g router. It has a problem with dropping connections and it isn't particularly fast.

Am thinking of upgrading. Am wondering if 802.11N is good enough. Or if I should upgrade to AC. The latest device I own is 802.11N and I don't see upgrades happening in the foreseeable future.

Also, what are the recommended models, and what to avoid?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Do you do any file transfers between machines over wireless, or is it primarily used for surfing the web?

 

[desura]

Do you do any file transfers between machines over wireless, or is it primarily used for surfing the web?

Mainly websurfing. Also, with steam home streaming out, I'd do that a lot. To a Dell Venue 8 which has 802.11N.

It looks like getting the older router is going to happen, because they're dramatically cheaper than the newest routers. I'm talking $100+ vs $20.

how does the apple airport extreme stack up?

 

[abekl]

I stream alot in my home using N speeds and I can juuusssttt barely get good quality 1080p to fit in the available bandwidth when streaming DLNA to my TV.

The AC protocol, if my TV understood it, would be great, but unless everything supports it, you're kinda SOL.

 

[JackMDS]

AC and AB/G/N per-s is Not as Much important as the Dual Band that they are providing.

The sweet spot these days is the Asus N66U.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320091

 

[Spineshank]

I stream alot in my home using N speeds and I can juuusssttt barely get good quality 1080p to fit in the available bandwidth when streaming DLNA to my TV.

The AC protocol, if my TV understood it, would be great, but unless everything supports it, you're kinda SOL.

2.4 or 5ghz? Cause I stream 1080p over 5ghz without issue at all.

 

[azazel1024]

If you aren't planning on upgrading soon, then no, no point.

11ac gets you nothing if you have no 11ac devices to use it. Okay, the routing end of things might be a bit more capable, but you are unlikely to notice that at all.

I'd just get an inexpensive decent 11n router, like the TP-Link WDR3600. Nice and fast and inexpensive.

 

[desura]

I picked up the D-Link AC-750 DIR-803.

It's kinda disappointing so far.

After firmware update the Steam Home Streaming works alot better. Without update it was simply unusable.

I'm not really seeing any improvements over the older G router, overall.

Cheap though, $40.

I wonder if Steam Home Streaming would be measurably improved by gigabit ethernet? The way I'm doing it is Ethernet gaming PC to wireless Windows Tablet.

 

[S3trio64v2]

I assume that 100/1000 would be noticeably better for Steam streaming than any g/n/ac wireless would be.

 

[smitbret]

I assume that 100/1000 would be noticeably better for Steam streaming than any g/n/ac wireless would be.

Just about anything is better on a gigabit line than over ANY wireless, regardless of how good it is.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

2.4 or 5ghz? Cause I stream 1080p over 5ghz without issue at all.

Worth noting that 5GHz is usually shorter-range than 2.4.

In my house, I get great 2.4 or 5GHz reception upstairs. Move downstairs, and the 5GHz reception gets spotty. Depends on the client device, too. My phone can pick up 5GHz from the street, but the laptops, no.

Run the microwave, and the 2.4 goes away. 5Ghz still works (the closer you are to the router, the more likely it is to stay working.) Same with the old 2.4GHz cordless phones.

So there's tradeoffs.

As for ac, I had a wireless-n network before upgrading to ac in December. The only thing it didn't handle well was network backups and/or file transfers. (~5MB/sec typically.) Got an ASUS AC66U and it's more than double for the clients with -ac cards. (Of course, the speeds for the wireless-n devices improved too, so there was probably some benefit from moving from dual to triple-band and having a more powerful signal.) And if you move into the room where the router is, it'll touch 20MB/sec. Still not earth-shatteringly fast, but a nice improvement.

 

[Mark R]

A major issue with 802.11ac is that it is 5 GHz only. 5GHz has surprisingly bad range.

I can't stream 1080p reliably over AC at a distance of 8 feet.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

A major issue with 802.11ac is that it is 5 GHz only. 5GHz has surprisingly bad range.

I can't stream 1080p reliably over AC at a distance of 8 feet.

If you're serious and not being sarcastic by a factor of ~10x, you have a serious problem.

 

[azazel1024]

If you're serious and not being sarcastic by a factor of ~10x, you have a serious problem.

Yeah...

5GHz works awesome same room for me. As a test outdoors line of site, 5GHz works just as far as 2.4GHz (out to well beyond 150ft and in to having to climb fences in to neighbor's yards)...which makes sense, its obstructions that are an issue.

My tablet works fine at up to roughly the same point where 2.4 and 5GHz both start losing speed, then 5GHz quickly drops off (at a suprisingly long range, as it is through a 4ft masonry chimney and out about 25ft away with my body also between the AP and my tablet) while 2.4GHz keeps chugging (slower and slower).

At my kitchen table my tablet is just as fast on 5GHz and 2.4GHz (around 60-70Mbps)...my laptop not so much. It goes from ~200Mbps same room on 5GHz down to around 70-80Mbps at my kitchen table (about 1-2ft of the masonry chimney and obliquely through two walls and about 12ft total distance) while 2.4GHz went from 180Mbps same room down to around 160Mbps at the table. I think it is a reflection issue with MIMO though, which is why my tablet, which is only 1:1 doesn't see really much performance difference at all, where as my laptop, which is 2:2 sees a big change.

Anyway, I can stream 1080p (12Mbps bit rate) okay across my house and in my room with that 4ft masonry chimney and 3 walls between me and the AP if I turn my basement router's wireless off below my bed. A little slow to buffer at first, but okay on 2.4GHz. 5Ghz not so much, but if I step out of my room and its just the hallway, 30ft and the fireplace I can stream 1080p over 5GHz 11n just fine too (I can just barely see 5GHz laying in bed...-90 to -91dBm on InSSIDer, 2.4GHz is -70dBm).

 

[desura]

Just about anything is better on a gigabit line than over ANY wireless, regardless of how good it is.

yes, well, i am wondering if with a fast N connection if the bottleneck is really the 100 mbps ethernet.

 

[boomhower]

I was recently forced to upgrade with the death of my E4200V1. I couldn't decide if I wanted to spend the extra money on AC or not as I don't have any AC devices. In the end I did with the ASUS AC66U. I had the E4200 for about four years and will have this one at least as long if not longer depending on how long it lives. I certainly will be obtaining AC devices in that timeframe. My MBP will need replacing in around two years and will certainly have AC. Phones, tablets etc. will all be coming with AC. Granted the only one likely to really take advantage is the notebook but the extra $30-$50 was worth the future proofing to me. Got it set-up on DD-WRT and it's working great. Big upgrade over the wonderful but old E4200.