There is a new standard in wireless technology with benefits far greater than any other previous advancement. The new technology is called 802.11ac and the gains in speed, range and stability are like no other advancements previously. The chart to the right represents the speed increase over the previous defacto standard 802.11n.
The new standard provides backward compatibility with 802.11b, g and n so you can buy a new 802.11ac router without having to worry about it working with all your existing devices. However to enjoy the new standard's blazing speed and other benefits you will have to purchase an 802.11ac device. With that said, I installed a new Linksys 802.11ac router for a client this week who was having issues with Netflix and other streaming media over his wireless connection with his Sony Bravia/Sony BlueRay devices. The time to setup the media stream and constant buffering were annoyances that were eliminated with the new router. It greatly enhanced his existing 802.11n devices and eliminated the buffering problem he was having with his NetFlix and other streaming media outlets.
The speed alone is compelling enough for most to make the transition to 802.11ac but range is equally important. Unlike previous protocols, 802.11ac is found entirely within the 5GHz range. The 5GHz range has much less noise than 2.4GHz and therefore suffers from less interference. Rather than broadcasting it's signal in all directions like previous technologies it has what is called 'beamforming'. It detects where devices are and intensifies its signal in their direction.
Samsung Smartphones notably the Galaxy S4 and Mega already come with 802.11ac. The 2013 Apple Macbook Air along with new Intel equipped Ultrabooks powered by the Haswell 4th generation processors will contain this technology and more devices are on their way. Some manufacturers released products early with what is called Draft 802.11ac, the assertion being that a ROM upgrade later on will compensate for any changes to the standard.
The real world result is 802.11ac not only enables you to enjoy the fastest 100Mbit (and beyond) fibre optic broadband speeds all over the house, but to enjoy it along with multiple streams of Full HD content, super low latency gaming and blazing fast home networking all at the same time.
For more information and opinions please check the following links;
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/802-11ac-vs-802-11n-what-s-the-difference
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/092112-80211ac-262672.html
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/160837-what-is-802-11ac-and-how-much-faster-than-802-11n-is-it
BTW-The router that I installed for my client was a Cisco (Linksys) EA6500 purchased at Office Depot for $159.99.
SHAMELESS PLUGS
If you are having difficulties with your existing wireless network and wish to move to the new 802.11ac standard today than later...
Driving Force 802.11AC bundle package consisting of Edimax 802.11ac wireless dualband Router & USB 3.0 802.11ac adapter
$149
Call Driving Force Software 404-728-0353 dforce@drivingforce.net
Call Driving Force Software 404-728-0353
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