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bzh10136's avatar
bzh10136
Follower
Jun 30, 2016
Solved

Will the R7000 receive the AC wave 2 update

Just read an article that some of the higher end wireless AC routers will recieve the AC Wave 2 capabilty as a firmware update. I wanted to see if the R7000 will receive this update or will i need to purchase the X8. i have a 1Gb fiber connection to my house and really looking to get the most out of it for all my devices.

Advanced Features
Firmware
Hardware

5 Replies

    • TheEther's avatar
      TheEther
      Guru
      Jun 30, 2016

      I agree with microchip8.  AFAICT, the two biggest features for wave 2 AC are MU-MIMO and 160 MHz.  You'll get neither of these with the R7000.  But, frankly, the incremental benefits may be questionable.  For one, many MU-MIMO capable routers are limiting the support to 2 streams (the R7000 can support 3 streams; do not confuse streams with frequency bands), so while you may get more efficient usage of a channel, that does not necessarily translate to higher speeds for a device.  160 MHz channels are very wide, so you'll start to experience the same sort of crowded, overlapping channel effect that you have with 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band.  In fact, 40 MHz channels are so wide that Wi-Fi standards all but make it impossible to use them in most situations.

       

      So, you may want to enjoy that R7000 for a little bit longer.

  • VE6CGX's avatar
    VE6CGX
    Master
    Jun 30, 2016

    R7000 is a good router. It had it's time.  Look at the hardware specs. Too old to deal with Wave 2.

    • microchip8's avatar
      microchip8
      Master
      Jun 30, 2016

      VE6CGX

       

      I disagree, RE had its time :)

       

      The R7000 can certainly serve for a few more years. Especially since on the client side there's virtually no MU-MIMO or other Wave 2 hardware available - the majority will remain "Wave 1" for a year or longer. As usual, routers tend to leap ahead (because, you know, big numbers sell) wrt what is available on the client side

      • VE6CGX's avatar
        VE6CGX
        Master
        Jun 30, 2016

        I said that when Wave 2 subject came up.  I had 3 different routers between R7000 and R7800.  When I am tinkering with a new router

        there is no impact to the family. No one knows I swapped out the router. I play with new one for a while alone. When it is ready, I put it

        to service in the middle of night when I am the only one awake in the house.