Dear Clients

Dear Clients,

I would like to take some time to discuss the new 802.11ac standard. 802.11ac is the newest standard under development from the IEEE. It operates on the 5ghz band which has promise to become the wireless standard in a few short years. In the current 802.11 N wireless typically operates on the 2.4ghz band and so do many other devices, this can create 'noise.' With all that competition in the airspace sometimes throughput is lost or your signal altogether. Newer devices will be virtually alone in the 5ghz band allowing for greater throughput and connectivity. On the 5ghz band the IEEE and manufactures have widened the channels up to 80 mhz which doubles the sub-carriers. That effectively doubles your speed right there and reduces the burden on the client transmitter allowing it to shut down its search sooner saving on battery life.

Mu-MIMO(Multiple User-Multiple in Multiple Out) is an exciting new advancement especially for clients with heavy client burdens. MU-MIMO allows a terminal to transmit (or receive) signal to (or from) multiple users in the same band simultaneously. I added a chart below so you can see the comparisons of G/N/ac speeds. The theoretical bandwidth of the new ac standard is 1gbps but in the first generation we can expect to only see up to 700 mbps. which is more than double the standard N single band router speeds of 300 mbps.

The main concern of upgrading now is the one that all early adopters have, it's not finished yet. The IEEE has yet to certify this new standard which is to say that the full 1 gbps transfer rate may be at least one if not three or more years down the line. It won't be like the Pre-N fiasco where clients of older standards had trouble connecting, but if you are getting the speeds you desire now I might just hold off. For new clients to wi-fi ac should save you money now if your desire is faster speeds or broader coverage area, ac should be double that of N in both these areas. Also no more sharing channels with other signals, the available channels have double making noise interference a thing of the past, maybe.

Thank you for your time if you have any other questions about the ac standard or would like to upgrade today please call me 810-555-5555.

Steve,

After my visit to your house and speaking with you I have come up with three options for upgrading the wireless coverage of your house. To review the most important factors to you are the following:

Stream movies on tablet in the backyard garden up to 70' from the house.

Son wants to have ethernet plugged directly into his computer.

Support all devices which include a laptop with a wireless G adapter and smart devices

Stream to Roku boxes in HD

Option #1: (Best, most expensive)

The problem is that your son's room is in the front corner upstairs of your house, once you go outside currently you'd be lucky to load a webpage. Even with the new standard 802.11ac all your devices will be able to connect since the Asus RT-AC66U is fully reverse compatible but I do not believe in the summertime you'd be able to stream very well in the yard. So you could buy two Asus RT-AC66U and put one in a repeater bridge setting. Having the main in your sons room and the second near the patio door. This should give you all your N devices connections of up to 100 mbps even 70' away. In the near future cell phone, laptops and tablets will have adapters for 5GHZ 802.11ac and your connections should jump to 600-700 mbps. (citation) This option will come to 2x$162.99=325.98

Pros:

Future proofing getting ready to take advantage of the new wireless standard.

Exceptional speeds seamless connectivity.

Your son is happy, you're happy!

Cons:

Expensive and somewhat redundant.

You'll want to make more upgrades later as the become available such as 5GHZ adapters for that laptop.

No devices you currently have take advantage of the 5ghz advantage.

Option #2 (Eye sore, cheaper)

The second option I thought of will be cheaper by far, but will leave you with an eye sore. You could run an ethernet cord to the roof and install the router there in an enclosed case to protect if from the weather. This should give your son the speeds he requires although you might want to upgrade his network adapter to Wireless N for now or just make him deal until you can upgrade to a 802.11ac adapter in the future. The cost of this option 162.99+12.95(encloser)+10.00(50 ethernet)= 184.99

Pros:

One device that gives you proper connection to accommodate your wireless streaming and your sons gaming.

Best option to accommodate your streaming in the back yard.

Cons:

The box can be covered up and painted to blend but it's kind of a permanent eye sore.

Most client and myself prefer not to drill