I've never seen WiFi AP to device actual real world transfer rates faster than 150-200mbit. and that's to a laptop. phone craps out below 50mbit. And this is sitting next to a WiFi AP.
Nothing wrong with some good wired networking to push data between nodes. Rental homes and apartments generally don't mix with installing your own drops and running cable in the walls so wireless is the only clutter-free option for most of us short of buying powerline networking equipment which isn't always a good solution either.
I've got a gigabit internet connection and due to my networking background, I wanted to get as fast WiFi as possible as well. I do use cable whenever I can though (some 10GE's and 2.5-5GE's in the house as well).
I've got TP-Link's AC5400 (configured to bridge traffic only) and I can get 800+ Mbit/s from the public Internet with the iMac 5K WiFi from one room away. That's acceptable by my standards.
Yeah i definitely get 800Mbps+ a room away with 5GHz, up to 950Mbps last time I was doing some large transfers wirelessly between comps. My iPhone X caps out I think at about 300Mbps though, but a lot of that depends on server connections - device to device I'm at about 270-280 on average. I'm using the Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream™ AC5400. I would say your wireless connection really depends on the router and configuration.
Most phones are only 1x1. Of my laptops only the large 17" gaming laptop supports 2x2.
Only a quarter of the laptops I've used have supported 40Mhz on 2.4GHz. I've never encountered a phone with more than 1x1 20Mhz support on 2.4Ghz.
So on other words you can buy brand new devices that only do 50Mbit/s sitting next to router when on 2.4Ghz.
In theory mu-mimo should make it possible to simultaneously transmit to several devices... If I've understood correctly, even client devices need 2x2 or 3x3 radios to benefit from mu-mimo.. what do you think is the chances of manufacturers using such radios for their devices?
Bandwidth isn't sexy anymore unless it's called 5G.
I have 250/250 internet and get over 200Mb/s on my phone. According to my ubiquiti, my S7 cell phone is bursting at 800Mb+. According to my firewall, the Roku express is getting 40Mb/s through several walls and a floor and the AP is set to medium power on 2.4ghz.
If you force your router to use AC with wide channels, you get get better performance than automatic band and allowing narrow channels. Many routers will degrade performance if you set them to automatically decide between b/g/n/ac.
I transfer 700Mbps easily on my Cisco 802.11ac wave 2 AP's. Every single day. And I've just ordered a Cisco 9800L WLC and 9120 AP's, so I'm going native 802.11ax very soon.
A little overkill for residential use, don't you think? Cisco needs to clearly define the use case differences between the gear you purchased and the Meraki MR45/55 series.
I regularly get over 150 mbps from phone to internet at home over WiFi, and my internet speed is the limiting factor. That's on 802.11ac (aka "WiFi 5" now.)
I just upgraded to 802.11ax (aka "WiFi 6",) routers, and my WiFi 6 laptop will be arriving today. I'll have to do a laptop-to-gigabit-connected-server test internally to really test, but I was getting 700 mbps on 802.11ac when a room away.
Exactly ... same thing applies to 5G. I see both of these as being the "windows 8" of the wireless world.
The key to getting better throughput in the future is bonded channels. That's going to require a whole infrastructure change for Cell and a non-trivial amount for WiFi. Cable companies already do this and they control the RF passed over their well behaved fiber and copper networks.
40Mhz channels on 2.4g and 160MHz channels on 5g are useless to report. No one has a pair of devices that will work reliably with either of those channel widths.
- 40MHz channels require using the full 2.4g range. Devices that adhear to the wifi spec will never allow you to even turn it on because everyone will have a conflicting device nearby that prevents using 40MHz. Even if you do turn it on and violate the spec it causes interference with non-wifi devices like wireless mice. It's useless.
- 160MHz wide channels may be easy to enable on APs, but it is still rare to have a client device (desktop or laptop, because no phones do it) that supports it. Then you have to also live in a prestine environment that doesn't conflict with other frequencies similar to the 2.4g problem and hope you can pass a DFS scan. No one in the USA can do this, or at least I have never been able to.
Anandtech, I know you just regurgitate specs, but it would be nice if you put pressure on the manufacturers or the Wi-Fi alliance contacts you have and reject any 40/160MHz numbers as they will never be used.
This article doesn't really delve into the changes introduced by Wifi 6. There was a lot of work dedicated to preventing conflicts. BSS colouring, OFDMA per client, etc. The short of it is multiple hotspots will be able to run right next to each other at full tilt.
I assume the WiFi 6 operating as 3x3 requires 3x160 MHz channels. Do they do a fancy angular radiation pattern? A more likely 3x3 using 80 MHz channels has a 1.27 Gbps maximum with about half of that in real life usage. The biggest advantage of WiFi 6 is some of the processing to make better use of the MIMO. WiFi 6 has the other small improvements for larger deployments and city users (more IoT & mobile users within apartment/home).
Its pretty sad the WIFI standard is outpacing actual products being released. I mean just now actual security cameras are coming out 5Ghz..but still %99 are 2.4Ghz.
Security cameras have always been lagging behind, most were analog for years, and then proprietary video codec etc. And lack of compression still nowadays.
5Ghz radio has shorter range and is much more attenuated by walls. ie it works on a shorter distance. security cameras are usually all over the place so the range at which it can reasonably operate is a crucial factor...
Here's my question. We have plenty of Snapdragon 855 phones out. The 855 has built in 802.11ax support. But the ONLY phone we've seen so far with wifi6 support, is Samsung's 10, and that doesn't even use the 855's wifi, but a broadcom chip for wifi6. WHY don't we see more 855 phones with wifi6 support? Can't it be so banal that it isn't activated because of the lack of certification so far.... and most phones will get updates to enable it? I really hope so.
That's just my point. It has, but even samsung, that has the same chip, uses another chip for wifi 6 support. Why isn't wifi 6 enabled on all/any devices?
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timecop1818 - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
I've never seen WiFi AP to device actual real world transfer rates faster than 150-200mbit. and that's to a laptop. phone craps out below 50mbit. And this is sitting next to a WiFi AP.Fuck anything wireless.
Makaveli - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
Wi-Fi 6 aka AX will get you much closer to those speeds than previous versions.Look at the post from Adamm
numbers for WiFi 5 AC with 160mhz channel
And for an Intel AX200 WiFi 6 adapter.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ax88u-ex...
cmdrdredd - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
Yep, only do WiFi when there is no choice (phone, tablet etc). Everything else is on Cat-6PeachNCream - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Nothing wrong with some good wired networking to push data between nodes. Rental homes and apartments generally don't mix with installing your own drops and running cable in the walls so wireless is the only clutter-free option for most of us short of buying powerline networking equipment which isn't always a good solution either.peteroj - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
I've got a gigabit internet connection and due to my networking background, I wanted to get as fast WiFi as possible as well. I do use cable whenever I can though (some 10GE's and 2.5-5GE's in the house as well).I've got TP-Link's AC5400 (configured to bridge traffic only) and I can get 800+ Mbit/s from the public Internet with the iMac 5K WiFi from one room away. That's acceptable by my standards.
yeeeeman - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Because you have a cheap router. Buy yourself something a bit more potent and a Intel WiFi card and you will get over 500mbit easy.Sushisamurai - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Yeah i definitely get 800Mbps+ a room away with 5GHz, up to 950Mbps last time I was doing some large transfers wirelessly between comps. My iPhone X caps out I think at about 300Mbps though, but a lot of that depends on server connections - device to device I'm at about 270-280 on average. I'm using the Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream™ AC5400. I would say your wireless connection really depends on the router and configuration.RSAUser - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Busy copying a file over the network at 80MB/s via WiFi 802.11ac, tp link archer D7.shadowjk - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Most phones are only 1x1.Of my laptops only the large 17" gaming laptop supports 2x2.
Only a quarter of the laptops I've used have supported 40Mhz on 2.4GHz.
I've never encountered a phone with more than 1x1 20Mhz support on 2.4Ghz.
So on other words you can buy brand new devices that only do 50Mbit/s sitting next to router when on 2.4Ghz.
In theory mu-mimo should make it possible to simultaneously transmit to several devices... If I've understood correctly, even client devices need 2x2 or 3x3 radios to benefit from mu-mimo.. what do you think is the chances of manufacturers using such radios for their devices?
Bandwidth isn't sexy anymore unless it's called 5G.
JKJK - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
most phones are only 1x1?Most flagship phones are 2x2.
CharonPDX - Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - link
Most phones aren't flagship phones.Sttm - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
My S10+ went from averaging around 450 on ac to 800 on ax, so I definitely think its an improvement for phone usage.bcronce - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
I have 250/250 internet and get over 200Mb/s on my phone. According to my ubiquiti, my S7 cell phone is bursting at 800Mb+. According to my firewall, the Roku express is getting 40Mb/s through several walls and a floor and the AP is set to medium power on 2.4ghz.Targon - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
If you force your router to use AC with wide channels, you get get better performance than automatic band and allowing narrow channels. Many routers will degrade performance if you set them to automatically decide between b/g/n/ac.Jorgp2 - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Don't buy a PoS router.JKJK - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
I transfer 700Mbps easily on my Cisco 802.11ac wave 2 AP's. Every single day.And I've just ordered a Cisco 9800L WLC and 9120 AP's, so I'm going native 802.11ax very soon.
Lord 666 - Saturday, September 21, 2019 - link
A little overkill for residential use, don't you think? Cisco needs to clearly define the use case differences between the gear you purchased and the Meraki MR45/55 series.JKJK - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
Well, yes.But, I did it because I can and I also use it for educational / lab use
CharonPDX - Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - link
I regularly get over 150 mbps from phone to internet at home over WiFi, and my internet speed is the limiting factor. That's on 802.11ac (aka "WiFi 5" now.)I just upgraded to 802.11ax (aka "WiFi 6",) routers, and my WiFi 6 laptop will be arriving today. I'll have to do a laptop-to-gigabit-connected-server test internally to really test, but I was getting 700 mbps on 802.11ac when a room away.
cschlise - Thursday, September 19, 2019 - link
Exactly ... same thing applies to 5G. I see both of these as being the "windows 8" of the wireless world.The key to getting better throughput in the future is bonded channels. That's going to require a whole infrastructure change for Cell and a non-trivial amount for WiFi. Cable companies already do this and they control the RF passed over their well behaved fiber and copper networks.
JKJK - Saturday, October 19, 2019 - link
I easily transfer 600-700Mbps with my Cisco 9800L WLC and Cisco 9120 AP's on a 40Mhz channel.mooninite - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
40Mhz channels on 2.4g and 160MHz channels on 5g are useless to report. No one has a pair of devices that will work reliably with either of those channel widths.- 40MHz channels require using the full 2.4g range. Devices that adhear to the wifi spec will never allow you to even turn it on because everyone will have a conflicting device nearby that prevents using 40MHz. Even if you do turn it on and violate the spec it causes interference with non-wifi devices like wireless mice. It's useless.
- 160MHz wide channels may be easy to enable on APs, but it is still rare to have a client device (desktop or laptop, because no phones do it) that supports it. Then you have to also live in a prestine environment that doesn't conflict with other frequencies similar to the 2.4g problem and hope you can pass a DFS scan. No one in the USA can do this, or at least I have never been able to.
Anandtech, I know you just regurgitate specs, but it would be nice if you put pressure on the manufacturers or the Wi-Fi alliance contacts you have and reject any 40/160MHz numbers as they will never be used.
Wrong_again - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
This article doesn't really delve into the changes introduced by Wifi 6. There was a lot of work dedicated to preventing conflicts. BSS colouring, OFDMA per client, etc. The short of it is multiple hotspots will be able to run right next to each other at full tilt.tygrus - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
I assume the WiFi 6 operating as 3x3 requires 3x160 MHz channels. Do they do a fancy angular radiation pattern?A more likely 3x3 using 80 MHz channels has a 1.27 Gbps maximum with about half of that in real life usage. The biggest advantage of WiFi 6 is some of the processing to make better use of the MIMO. WiFi 6 has the other small improvements for larger deployments and city users (more IoT & mobile users within apartment/home).
Ryan Smith - Monday, September 16, 2019 - link
3x3 is the MIMO. It's 3 spatial streams over the same frequency block. So in your case, it's still just 160MHz.imaheadcase - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Its pretty sad the WIFI standard is outpacing actual products being released. I mean just now actual security cameras are coming out 5Ghz..but still %99 are 2.4Ghz.RSAUser - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Security cameras have always been lagging behind, most were analog for years, and then proprietary video codec etc. And lack of compression still nowadays.qap - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
well...5ghz for security cameras has limited use compared to 2.4ghz. distance from base station is limiting factor.imaheadcase - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Its the same distance if in same spot as old one..lolqap - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
5Ghz radio has shorter range and is much more attenuated by walls. ie it works on a shorter distance. security cameras are usually all over the place so the range at which it can reasonably operate is a crucial factor...James5mith - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
So...802.11ax is actually ratified as a standard now? Last I checked the vote was scheduled for "Late 2019".
Makaveli - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
The Article clearly says its a standard now yet you are asking if it is?137ben - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Meanwhile, ethernet is still more than 100 times faster than this supposedly fast wi-fi.JKJK - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - link
Here's my question.We have plenty of Snapdragon 855 phones out.
The 855 has built in 802.11ax support.
But the ONLY phone we've seen so far with wifi6 support, is Samsung's 10, and that doesn't even use the 855's wifi, but a broadcom chip for wifi6.
WHY don't we see more 855 phones with wifi6 support?
Can't it be so banal that it isn't activated because of the lack of certification so far.... and most phones will get updates to enable it? I really hope so.
Pro-competition - Friday, September 20, 2019 - link
Stupid question: Does the Snapdragon 855 have an integrated wi-fi modem? I don't know what "Qualcomm® FastConnect™ 6200" means.As an aside, I'm glad the iPhone 11 supports Wi-Fi 6!
JKJK - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
That's just my point.It has, but even samsung, that has the same chip, uses another chip for wifi 6 support.
Why isn't wifi 6 enabled on all/any devices?