5ghz ac

To test the performance in the 5GHz band I couldn't find a decent pair for hAP AC2. The hAP ac lite, which has only one stream in the 5GHz band and a weak CPU, was retrieved from the stash.

Choosing an 802.11ac (5GHz) Wi-Fi router. Inexpensive models.

I've already written several articles talking about choosing routers for different tasks, and from different price ranges. As I write this article I will be providing some links to them. I decided to write an article about current issues and how to choose a router that supports the new 802.11ac standard. They are also dual-band routers that can operate simultaneously on two frequencies. This includes the new 5 GHz frequency. Many people are looking for the cheapest models of routers that support the 5 GHz network and the ac standard.

It is about such budget routers, I will try to talk about in this article. Let's take a look at the most affordable routers that support the new standard, one model from each manufacturer. I think that's fair. In any case, we will have a list of the cheapest router models that support the wireless standard we need.

First, let's find out what 802.11ac and 5GHz Wi-Fi are. If you're not already up to speed.

A router that supports the ac standard and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. What is it, and what are the pros?

The routers we're talking about today are also called Dual-Band. They're also called Dual-Band. I wrote more about this in a separate article: https://help-wifi.com/o-besprovodnyx-texnologiyah/chto-takoe-dvuxdiapazonnyj-wi-fi-router-dual-band-wi-fi-kak-on-rabotaet-i-stoit-li-pokupat/

These are regular routers that support the new, modern 802.11ac standard. They are relatively new to the market, and they are already being actively marketed. Their prices were immediately very high, but as more and more models began to appear, there was competition, and of course prices dropped.

Now to the main point. I have already written about 802.11ac. It is a new, modern standard for Wi-Fi. It only works on the 5 GHz frequency. That's why all routers that support ac support 5 GHz. In fact, that is why they are dual-band. Because they can distribute two Wi-Fi networks simultaneously, on different frequencies: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

You may ask why I need the old 2.4 GHz frequency. The fact is that not all devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi adapters, etc.) can operate at 5 GHz and support the 802.11ac standard. Devices (Wi-Fi network clients) which do not have support for the new standard will connect to the network at 2.4 GHz and work in 802.11n mode (or lower). I wrote about this in my article: Why laptops, smartphones, or tablets can't see a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network.

If we talk about the advantages of the new ac standard, first of all it is the speed of the wireless Wi-Fi network. It is higher than the previous 802.11n standard. The speeds range from 430 Mbit/s to an impressive 6.77 Gbit/s. Nowadays, when more bandwidth is needed for watching high quality video (especially on TVs), playing online games, downloading large files, etc., the new Wi-Fi network standard is like a breath of fresh air. Since 802.11n is already a bit outdated and its technical capabilities are not always enough.

Characteristics of the new generation Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac:

WLAN 802.11ac uses a number of new techniques to achieve huge performance gains to theoretically support gigabit capacity and provide high bandwidths such as:

• 6GHz bandwidth
• High modulation densities up to 256 QAM.
• Wider bandwidths of 80MHz for two channels or 160MHz for one channel.
• Up to eight Multiple Input Multiple Output spatial streams.

Low-power multi-user MIMO 802.11ac poses new design challenges for engineers working with the standard. In the following, we discuss these challenges and the solutions available to help develop new products based on this standard.

802.11ac has a wider bandwidth of 80 MHz or even 160 MHz compared to the previous up to 40 MHz in the 802.11n standard. The wider bandwidth results in better maximum throughput for digital communications systems.

Among the most challenging design and manufacturing challenges is generating and analyzing wide bandwidth signals for 802.11ac. Testing of equipment capable of handling 80 or 160 MHz will be required to validate transmitters, receivers and components.

To generate 80 MHz signals, many RF signal generators do not have a high enough sample rate to support the typical minimum 2X oversampling ratio that will result in the necessary signal images. Using the correct filtering and oversampling of the signal from the Waveform file, it is possible to generate 80 MHz signals with good spectral characteristics and EVM.

For generating 160 MHz signals, a wide range of arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) such as the Agilent 81180A, 8190A can be used to generate analog I/Q signals. These signals can be applied to external I/Q. As vector signal generator inputs for RF frequency conversion. In addition, you can create 160 MHz signals using the 80 +80 MHz mode to create two 80 MHz segments in separate MCG or ESG signal generators, then combine the radio signals.

802.11ac standard devices:

Gigabit 802.11ac wireless solutions for Wi-Fi routers and consumer electronics have already been introduced to consumers at this year's Electronics Show (CES).

Consumer devices are expected to be the first on the market for Gigabit wireless 802.11ac devices, and some vendors, have already announced the availability of such products.

Products based on the new Wi-Fi standard are starting to hit the market. But their number is still not enough to justify network upgrades. A similar situation was seen with 802.11n in 2006.

In the last few months, a lot has been written about the new 802.11ac standard. The next generation of Wi-Fi promises to be very exciting, as with 802.11ac having higher throughput and the ability to connect more users at the same time, some of the critical obstacles that 802.11n users face today will be overcome.

802.11ac's 5GHz operation offers transfer speeds of up to 1,300 Mbps, which is ideal for continuous HD video streaming and simultaneous Internet access. Along with gigabit speeds, 802.11ac products come with improved RF capabilities, enhanced reliability.

In operation.

After turning the device on, I was in for an unpleasant surprise. The device came with RouterOS 6.40.6 preinstalled. There is no way to control the new switch-chip via winbox. There is no "switch" menu item and in the interface properties there are no master-port options. This should be the case with versions from 6.41 onwards, but not in this case. Ports ether3-5 are displayed in bridge as "slave", but it is impossible to exclude them from bridge and unbind them from ether2 with winbox. The problem is solved by upgrading to branch 6.41.x and higher. In RouterOS since version 6.41 the switching control is available via the "bridge" menu.

We had to upgrade to RouterOS 6.41.2(stable) immediately in order to be able to continue the test we had planned.

Now let's have a look at the properties. What does hAP AC2 tell us about itself?

We see that the device has enough RAM and even more than what is indicated on the MikroTik's block diagram ("did I get a more valuable mech?"). But the storage capacity is again stymied by the manufacturer. A shameful 16Mb. Well, never mind, it's a router, not a network storage. I haven't checked if dude-server will work in such conditions, there is a package for arm. Also a small reserve for "overclocking" the CPU is visible.

The device is not Russian-locked like other MikroTik devices supplied to the market since 2018, so there is no need to perform the NetInstall procedure. Full list of countries and superchannel mode are available without it.

Due to the lack of a normal high-speed source of IPSec traffic, the express IPSec/L2TP method was used. We built an IPSec enabled l2tp server on the router and used a laptop as a client. In such configuration it's not possible to reach the maximum IPSec performance, but it still gives some idea of it.

Routing and NAT

Of course, I was curious about the performance of the device when it performs address translation and without it.
I managed to test the connection at home only with Gigabit links. For the test we assembled a router and two samsung laptops with gigabit ethernet interfaces. The nat rule was not modified – the more resource-intensive "masquerade" action from the default config was left by default.
Results:
When using fasttrack throughput was limited by the physical limit of the gigabit interface. CPU load was floating from 3 to 13%.
Without fasttrack the throughput went down by about 2% and the CPU load went up to 26-32%.

The hAP AC2 calmly NATs gigabit without config optimization! Great result!

And a few more words about IEEE 802.11ac

802.11ac is not a bright future but has happened today with its advantages (reliability, speed) and some disadvantages. All that's left is to wait a little longer. For many people the question now is: should we upgrade to 802.11ac, what can we expect from it in daily use, and how is it better than 802.11n? I don't think you should rush into it just yet. Well, you will buy a router that supports 802.11ac, and the good with it, if most likely, all devices that you will connect work with the standard 802.11n. It is better to buy a normal, expensive router of standard 802.11n, which will work steadily and at 5Gh.

Eventually, all will migrate to the new standard anyway. When 802.11n came out, everyone was talking about how useless it was.

A Review of the Best Home Routers

What models are in high demand in this area:

• Keenetic Giga. The device at a reasonable price with a factory warranty from the manufacturer. Features a simple and straightforward interface, the ability to provide a stable signal reception. Guaranteed Wi-Fi signal enhancement, hardware acceleration. This is a good example of a Gigabit router from the rating made up of models from other manufacturers.
• Huawei B525. With convenient applications that allow you to control the traffic. The case does not start to get warm for a long time during operation. New firmware for the device comes out all the time. Stable communication with no glitches is guaranteed. Of the disadvantages – constantly unwinding antennas, but the frequency from this does not change.
• TP-Link Archer VR400. The communication range along with easy setup are the main advantages for which users liked this device. The manufacturer gives a minimum three-year warranty. The only thing that can be frustrating is the lack of detailed settings inside the interface. Gigabit ports do not connect to the device either.
• Xiaomi Mi Wi-Fi Router 4. Low cost, signal range and transmitter power are the main advantages of this router with great Wi-Fi coverage. That's just the interface supports the Chinese language, no other tools are provided.

Rating by price category

There are other devices that are characterized by the most democratic prices:

• Netis WF2710. On today's market the cost of the device is about 1400 rubles.* It supports almost all modern standards, but the overall quality of operation often leaves much to be desired.
• Netis WF2780. The price is 2500 rubles. Equipped with four antennas, thanks to which the signal coverage radius noticeably increases. The high gain is particularly respected among users. This is one of the most suitable budget options for the consumer.
• TP Linkac 1750 Archer C7. Features the same advantages as the models noted earlier. Good build, powerful internal components – the main advantages. With the simultaneous connection of up to six devices continues to work steadily. The cost of the transmitter is up to 5000 rubles. It should also be considered when choosing a 5 GHz router.
• Mikrotik hAP AC. Supports mobile Internet with 4G/LTE modems. Despite the simple design, the device boasts high reliability. There is no external antenna, but because of this the range of signal coverage does not change.

Features, ports and antennas – these are just some of the factors that determine the cost of devices on today's market. Reviews and reviews help to understand how this or that device works in practice. But only in a real environment can you test the device in action. It is good if, after the purchase, the seller provides a return policy with suitable features. Then there will be fewer problems if the model is not satisfied with some characteristics.

Each user decides for himself whether or not to buy a gigabit router. Before you do this, decide on the purpose of the purchase and weigh the pros and cons of such a device. Only then will the purchase be a pleasure and will bring a lot of benefits.

Real speed Wi—Fi5 GHz (802.11 ac)

The next task is to find out the real characteristics of Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band. To do this, you need to connect a PC to the network and measure the speed. As in the first case, first the measurement is made near the router in order to get higher characteristics.

Note! The result surpasses itself: very high speed, and even higher than the cable connection. Both download and upload speeds are almost always at least 80-90 Mbps. Only occasional drops in speed occur, but even so comparisons of 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz are already completely in favor of the former.

The second time the measurement is done at a distance from the router. As expected, the signal level in the current range drops severely to the point that sometimes only one network division remains in the graphical network image. Even so, the speed is still higher than on 2.4 GHz, as you can see in the screenshot:

Almost 50 Mbps under these conditions and with this signal is a great result.

How to check if your device works on 5GHz

How do I know if my laptop or PC supports 5 ghz wifi? Instructions for Windows 7:

Which in devices support 5 ghz wi fi? Very simple:

• If it supports a specific operating specification, such as "802.11 a /b /g /n", then it can work in the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. (This does not mean, however, that 802.11ac is supported either, since this standard is still new and only supported by the latest state-of-the-art equipment.)
• And for owners of products with the specification "802.11b/g/n" not the best news: unfortunately such computers are only compatible with Wi-Fi 2.4GHz.

Important! Android OC owners can check wifi 5 ghz support via "Settings", in the menu of wifi signal frequency range settings. If this item is supported, it will be visible in the menu. iPhone users, starting with the iPhone 5, have access to the default function.

It should not be forgotten that all the standards mentioned in the article are purely theoretical and can only be applied under optimal laboratory conditions, completely free of interference and other obstacles in the immediate vicinity of objects. Moreover, it is difficult to test the wireless connection of a router to the 802.11ac standard if the end-device (laptop or PC) does not implement support in this area. Therefore, testing of Wi-Fi devices is not a clear set of recommendations, at least until most of the devices are not fully implemented.

Podgornov Ilya Vladimirovich All the articles on our site are audited by a technical consultant. If you still have questions you can always ask them on his page.

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