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Forum Discussion
BrMcC
Mar 19, 2020Follower
Wifi for at LEAST Gigabit throughput?
Upgrading my 1,200 sq ft home to Gigabit internet. While most routers can handle 1Gigabit speed when hardwired, which mesh system do you recommend that would be able to have at least 1 Gigabit WiFi t...
CrimpOn
Mar 19, 2020Guru - Experienced User
An ambitious goal, but perhaps not practical. When I look at articles describing WiFi "speed", it appears that the only systems that will support gigabit (in any fashion) are WiFi 6 systems. Here's an article going through some of the factors:
https://dongknows.com/wi-fi-6-explained/
I think the concensus is that the current Orbi WiFi 5 product:
- Struggles with a gigabit internet connection (Orbi was submitted to the FCC in 2016 when 100mb internet connections were only a fantasy, let alone gigabit).
- Supports a maximum theoretical WiFi 5 (AC) connection of 433mb.
So, if this is truly what you are looking for, then your search should be confined to the "Bleeding Edge" products from the various vendors. Would be worth time spent to read through the user forums of the current WiFi6 products, including Netgear's two WiFi 6 product lines:
Orbi (AX) https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/bd-p/en-home-orbi-ax , and
Nighthawk https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Mesh-System/bd-p/en-home-nighthawk-mesh-system
I have absolutely no clue which vendor (or which of their products) will emerge as the industry leader or "best buy".
My bottom line, this may be a time to "put something in" and plan to replace it in 2-3 years.
michaelkenward
Mar 20, 2020Guru - Experienced User
CrimpOn wrote:
An ambitious goal, but perhaps not practical.
And why would anyone want it? Are there any wifi clients that can use 1 GHz wifi?
- whynotmeMar 20, 2020Aspirant
My Galaxy S10 and wife's S10+ have AX. My daughter's iPhone 11 has wifi 6. So yes, there are clients that should theoretically support 1Gbps.
- FURRYe38Mar 20, 2020Guru - Experienced User
Something to look into.
- Obi-LaMar 21, 2020GuideThe numbers stated in wireless specs these days in the GB range do not accurately represent the wireless network speed you'll get. There is a lot of overhead in the data signal that eats up that high number.
Here's a good site that explains Wi-Fi networking and cuts through the speed hype that's typical with nearly all of the vendors. https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html#routerhype
Good news is it looks like a new Wi-Fi spectrum will become available in the 6Ghz band (Real Wi-Fi 6). This should cut down on interference, but the race for high speed numbers may end up hogging up the new band just as in the current 2.4 & 5Ghz bands.
On the bright side there are new modulation scheme standards coming with it, that are more efficient, and coexists with others better.