Should I upgrade my wireless N router to an AC router?

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Jeshua

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Jan 23, 2015
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Hello all. Our home is currently equipped with an Airport Extreme "hub" in the far end of the house which connects to two ProSafe WG103 routers, both of which have gigabit switches attached to them. However, our wireless speeds are very poor compared to our wired speeds. For example, according to speedtest.net, our connection is ~60Mbps download and 7Mbps upload when wired into my desktop. Wireless off of my phone, I get around 10-20Mbps download and 3-4Mbps upload tops, even when near the antenna. Is this normal for a wireless N router and will it improve with an AC router? Also, should I be concerned with the security of the ProSafe routers and their older firmware? Will a new AC router provide better range and speed?

If it is in my best interest to upgrade, should I purchase a MU-MIMO router, or is it better to wait on this technology? Thanks!
 
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aambumann

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I had a similar issue. I upgraded my wifi level of service with my ISP provider to 50 Mbps down load speeds while using an Airport Extreme N router and was unable to obtain the speeds I was paying for. I purchased the Archer C7 AC 1750 router after reading many good reviews and now I am getting consistently 56 Mbps download speeds and 6 Mbps upload speeds on Speediest.net, which is the sight my ISP provider uses to check speeds. So in my case it was in my best interest. I am happy I upgraded.
 
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Jeshua

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Jan 23, 2015
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That's good information. Did it improve your wired speeds? I happen to get not exactly what I pay for wired, and I don't know if i should attribute it to my provider not giving me what I pay for or if it is the fault of my routers. Thanks for the information on the wireless though!
 
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bill001g

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The AP you are using are extremely old 802.11g. You will get a great increase in speed just replacing those with 802.11n devices.

802.11ac by itself does not increase you speed. You need nics that can also use it otherwise you are wasting your money. Also 802.11ac only runs on the 5g band. The 5g band does not cover as well in many houses so if you already have poor coverage issues using 802.11n on 2.4g it will likely not improve your speed to go to 802.11ac.

Still getting rid of the 802.11g will help, just its existence degrade even 802.11n routers because they run in compatibility mode.
 
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Jeshua

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I see. No idea those routers were so old. As for the NIC issue, my phone and desktop have AC compatible WiFi on them. Will a new router give me better coverage due to higher transmission power? Also, I plan on getting two routers for full coverage of my home.
 
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bill001g

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Without looking into details on the device it is likely the transmission power is the same. The actual power output is regulated by the government and has not changed since wifi devices first came on the market. This means that the distance the signals travel is the same.

What has changed is the amount of data than can be placed into the signal. Many people confuse the signal rate and the signal level. Even if you can pack 10 times the data into a radio channel if you get zero signal level you will still get zero data though no matter how it is encoded.

Unless you have tested the 5g in your house to see how well it works there is no way to predict how well it will work. In almost all cases 5g has poorer coverage. The reason people use it is to avoid conflict with neighbors also using wireless.
 
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aambumann

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When I had Mediacom out for a service call, I had them test their modem and it was receiving 56Mbps, I then had them test the speed coming from my Airport Extreme N while it was connected to their modem and I was lucky if I was getting half of that. I did not test wired speeds because I was only concerned with wireless. Their are people that know way more about this than myself. I do know that wired is usually always better/stronger than wireless. All I can say is I am happy with my decision to purchase the AC router. Hope this helps some.
 
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Jeshua

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Jan 23, 2015
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Since you mentioned this, I did some 5G testing around my home using a router I borrowed from a friend. I tended to see a better connection speed and slightly better range, which is good.
 
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