802.11ac Wireless Routers To Replace 802.11n Ones, Boasting To Have 3 Times The Traditional Wireless Speed!

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Technology brands such as Cisco are beginning to push out new Wi-Fi gadgets that adhere to the the new Wi-Fi standard which is 802.11ac.  802.11ac Wi-Fi adhered gadgets will be able to wirelessly work with much higher data transfer rate than wireless equipments that support 802.11n and older Wi-Fi standards.  Theoretically, 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard will be able to allow wireless equipments to transfer wireless data at 1.3 Gbps speed which is 3 times faster than wireless equipments that support the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard.  Nonetheless, in practice the 802.11ac Wi-Fi adhered equipments may push wireless data at a much lower speed than the advertised 1.3 Gbps wireless data speed, because it’s all relative to the network bottlenecks.  Such bottlenecks might be that a network is simply being too busied (i.e., too many computers hog the same router for data transfer at the same time), too many wireless signal interferences that weaken the 802.11ac router’s 5 GHz wireless signal (e.g., physical barriers, out of range, more than one devices that use the same wireless channel), and so on.

For Cisco, the company announces that it will release EA6500 router which will adopt 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  While Cisco is working on to push its new EA6500 802.11ac router out, D-Link Cloud Router 5700 (DIR-865L) which also supports the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard has just came out and you can buy it on Amazon for around $190.  Nonetheless, Buffalo AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router was the first router that supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, and this too can be bought on Amazon for roughly around $180.  Buffalo AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router doesn’t seem to go beyond regular router features besides its adoption of 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, but I could be wrong.  Nonetheless, the other two routers that I had mentioned (i.e., Cisco EA6500 and D-Link Cloud Router 5700) are supporting cloud features in addition to the support of 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  These cloud features in these new routers promote usages such as allowing users to control their network remotely and easily through mobile apps.  Furthermore, users can install apps onto the routers to allow even more cloud features.  Nonetheless, I’m not sure how these cloud features will exactly enhance the experience of using a router since I have yet to own and use a router which has cloud features.

With few 802.11ac wireless routers are now available for purchase, I think people are eager to grab them.  And they should do so!!!  How come?  Obviously, more wireless electronic brands will most likely release wireless electronic equipments that support 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  Some people might worry that replacing an 802.11n wireless router with an 802.11ac one will render their current 802.11n and older wireless electronic standard equipments unusable, but this worry of theirs is pointless.  It’s most likely that new 802.11ac routers are backward compatible to 802.11n wireless electronic equipments.

With 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard becomes evermore popular, we can expect that more wireless electronic equipments will abandon the older Wi-Fi standards and adopt 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  Nonetheless, as of now, you probably will not be able to find that many wireless electronic equipments that support 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  This is why I think if you want to purchase a future proof wireless electronic equipment starting today, you should think twice about purchasing a wireless electronic equipment that supports any Wi-Fi standard that is slower than the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.  After all, faster wireless data transfer is definitely better than otherwise, right?  Still though and relatively speaking, don’t let me stop you from wanting to buy wireless electronic equipments that have yet to support 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard — because in the end it’s you who know best in what you need most.

Sources:

• http://www.techradar.com/news/networking/wi-fi/cisco-debuts-802-11ac-routers-1087850
• http://www.techradar.com/news/networking/wi-fi/802-11ac-what-you-need-to-know-1059194
• http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/routers/dir-865l-cloud-router-5700?ClickID=dtomzbrzsyhrmkzcnsm0oyhycyhrskw0wyos
• http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/26/3118473/cisco-802-11-ac-router-connect-cloud
• http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57433465-1/buffalo-802.11ac-wi-fi-solution-hits-store-shelves/

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