Why Buy All This New 802.11AC Hardware When The Bandwidth Is Limited By My Internet Provider?

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tackyjan

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Oct 30, 2012
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Hello All,

I am a little confused about something and I was hoping to get some explanation/clarification from someone on the forums.

Up to about a few hours ago I connect to the internet from my PC the following way:

My PC <-> PCI WiFi Adapter (802.11N) <-> Wireless Router <-> Cable Modem

WiFi Adapter: TP-LINK TL-WN881ND / 802.11N / Speeds up to 300Mbps
Wireless Router: Netgear WNDR3700 / 802.11N / WiFi Speed 300+300 - Up To 600 Mbps
Cable Modem: Motorola Sufboard SB6121 / DOCSIS 3.0 / Speeds Up To 160 Mbps

I just got back from Best Buy and Fry's Electronics where I purchased the following new hardware:

WiFi Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 / 802.11AC / Speeds Up To 1.3 Gps
Wireless Router: Linksys EA6350 AC1200+ / 802.11AC (draft) / Dual Bands N300 Mbps + AC867 Mbps

The first thing I did when I got home was installed the new WiFi adapter (but kept the old Wireless Router).

I then ran a speed test. Here are the results I got:

31.20 Mbs Download / 5.69 Mbs Upload / 16 Ms ping

I then replaced the Wireless Router with the new Linksys 802.11AC and connected to the 5GHz channel and ran the speed test with the following results:

32.64 Mbs Download / 6.74 Mbs Upload / 10 Ms ping

I connected the the 2.4 GHz channel and again ran the speed test:

32.58 Mbs Download / 6.84 Mbs Upload / 10 Ms ping

As you can see, the results using the old 802.11N router and with this new setup are nearly identical.

Could it be my cable modem that is the limiting factor meaning that all this new and better WiFi stuff won't make a difference? Should I consider getting a faster cable modem?

Also, the guy at Best Buy was telling me that Cox (my cable internet provider) averages around 50 Mbs for the average home consumer.

If that's the case, what is the point of all this new/better 802.11AC hardware for the average consumer if the bandwidth will be limited by the cable provider to values very much lower that specified for 802.11AC?

Thank you,

Jan

 
Solution
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You always want to test using wired connections. No wireless even comes close to the magic numbers they quote. 802.11ac is faster but it might get 400m total up and down combined. This of course assumes you only run a single wifi device it degrades rapidly when you run multiple.

Pretty much other than the small number of lucky ones who can get something like google fiber the ISP connection will be much slower than any wireless. People use 802.11ac to speed transfer up between machines inside their house not so much going to the internet.

On top of all this the speedtest on the internet do not represent a real lot. In most cases you are limited by things like distance and speed of light for most file transfers. Simple downloads...
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tackyjan

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Oct 30, 2012
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Well I just don't get it... this new AC technology has speeds like 1 Gbps and the broadband provider only gives me ~50 Mbps? That means my old 802.11N was even overkill as it supported ~300 Mbps.

Are there other areas of the country/world that have broadband providers giving them the kinds of speeds to keep up with 802.11AC? If so, tell me where and I will move there. :)
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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You always want to test using wired connections. No wireless even comes close to the magic numbers they quote. 802.11ac is faster but it might get 400m total up and down combined. This of course assumes you only run a single wifi device it degrades rapidly when you run multiple.

Pretty much other than the small number of lucky ones who can get something like google fiber the ISP connection will be much slower than any wireless. People use 802.11ac to speed transfer up between machines inside their house not so much going to the internet.

On top of all this the speedtest on the internet do not represent a real lot. In most cases you are limited by things like distance and speed of light for most file transfers. Simple downloads and most web traffic is limited well below most internet speeds. The only people that can even think to use 50m connections are running multiple simultaneous things. Either people using different computers or someone using special software like torrent.

In most case you can easily get by with 10m. Maybe when 4k video gets more popular we may see more use but even highdef video streams from netflicks are only 3-5m.
 
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Solution
digitaldoc

digitaldoc

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Oct 31, 2003
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From your Speedtests, you most likely have a 30/5 internet connection. I would call the cable company and confirm what you actually have, and you could also find out what other speed tiers are offered and their pricing.

The N gear, if working well, will be more than fast enough to handle that type of speed, and there is no need to upgrade to AC gear. Also realize that faster network speeds may come in handy if you do PC to PC transfers, or backup data across the network to a NAS.

BTW, enjoy your internet speed, many of us would like the "problem" of only 30/5.
 
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