Does RT-AC88U support gigabit wireless?

[bertilak]

I have an RT-AC88U ASUS router and recently updated my fiber internet to gigabit. This is CenturyLink gigabit. (Actually they only promise 940.)

I have been testing my new service to see if I am actually getting gigabit and indeed I am.

BUT, I can only verify this with my ThinkPad X1 Yoga (3rd) when plugged into the Ethernet port. Wireless never gets above about 400.

SO, to my question, is this low rate due to the wireless capability of my ASUS router or my Thinkpad?

P.S. CenturyLink did NOT get this right until I called to have them check it out and technicians (3 came to my house at once!) agreed that it was not delivering gigabit. They had to "call home" and get the programming redone. Once they did that I got the 940 +/- working via wired Ethernet so I had to agree they were providing gigabit to the house, but I still can't confirm I have everything in my house configured properly.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[JDB]

If you have a device with a suitable WiFi chipset (supports 3x3 MIMO) and are sat 3 ft from the router then yes, you could probably just about get 1Gbps actual real world throughput, but only just.

300-400 is pretty realistic if you are either on a 2x2 MIMO device and sat next to it, or a 3x3 further away.

If you look at your reported PHY Link speed (either on the device or in the router), you’ll need that to be well over 1000Mbps, probably over 1500Mbps to attain an actual 1Gbps of throughput.


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[JDB]

Some reading regards what’s possible here. The 5300 is very closely related to the 88U, just imagine an 88U with another 5Ghz Radio. So the figures this guys tested would be the same on an 88U.


https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html#wifispeeds

Read that section and section 4 immediately after it and you’ll see the realities of Wi-fi speeds vs manufacturer numbers slapped on routers!


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[bertilak]

Some reading regards what’s possible here. The 5300 is very closely related to the 88U, just imagine an 88U with another 5Ghz Radio. So the figures this guys tested would be the same on an 88U.


https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html#wifispeeds

Read that section and section 4 immediately after it and you’ll see the realities of Wi-fi speeds vs manufacturer numbers slapped on routers!


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Thanks! Educational reading.

It is as I suspected -- advertised speeds are misleading and quite a bit optimistic!

I did notice that the RT-AC88U box's speed claims seemed to be a summing of multiple clients where I was only interested in one client at a time! I knew I was a long way from the 3100 and probably a ways from the 1734 claimed for AC. I was just hopping that somewhere there was a real gigabit available to my Thinkpad!

 

[jsz]

Situational, depends on a lot of variables.

My GT-AC2900 (rebranded AC86U) does 780-866.7 phy rate (2x2) at over 30 feet on lower channels and id assume can certainly push upwards of 700~ real world, but my current ISP tier is 400mbps (480 mbps wired). Granted.. I'm currently using higher channels (155 block) with a lower 585-650 PHY rate since these are less congested in my area, less interference and more consistency.

I'm getting these exact "wired" speeds across my house (32feet) on a 2x2 intel client... so you likely just have to try it.

 

[JDB]

Yea sadly not likely to happen on the Thinkpad, I’m assuming it’s only 2x2 MIMO.

Give it 5 years when WiFi6 AX is prevalent in client devices (and you’ve upgraded your router) and you’ll be able to enjoy your full Gb wirelessly.

I have 5 access points in my house so I do get 1700Mbps link speed on my MacBook Pro (which has 3x3 MIMO) in most places, and so I can get 700-800Mbps actual download most of the time on that device. Per that link though the rest of my devices (iPhone XS, iPad Mini 5 etc) are only 2x2 so I’m limited to ~400Mbps.
If Wi-fi high speed downloads are important to you, you can do it but requires investment in high end clients with 3x3 MIMO (or even 4x4 if you go for a PC with dedicated Wi-fi card) and multiple high spec AP’s to ensure PHY rate. I’ve spent a lot on my home network with Ethernet backbone and the APs as I regularly shift multi GB files on/off my MacBook and don’t want to waste time waiting for them to down/upload (I work in telecoms and from home hence the usage profile, and hey, time is money!).
I’ve only just got it to the point I’m happy, so gonna sit tight now until AX routers are common and then start swapping my AP’s out in a couple of years.


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[bertilak]

Give it 5 years ...

Yeah. I had "future proofing" in mind when I upgraded and it seemed like a good deal as it included a life-time discount even though there was no contract (long term or otherwise) involved. Also I got to play with it and gain some understanding (see above!) on how things worked.

I suspect it may be more like 3 years than 5 before gigabit becomes important.

 

[JDB]

Yeah. I had "future proofing" in mind when I upgraded and it seemed like a good deal as it included a life-time discount even though there was no contract (long term or otherwise) involved. Also I got to play with it and gain some understanding (see above!) on how things worked.

I suspect it may be more like 3 years than 5 before gigabit becomes important.

Yea no brainer to go for it if it was sensible money.

To qualify the 5 years, I was thinking before 90% of an average users devices are wireless gigabit capable. Most people that have recently bought a laptop/computer wont be replacing it within 5 years.
So as of now some new devices are AX capable and many if not most will be over the next 12-18 months, just it’ll take 5 years for most people to cycle out all their current devices for the new ones.

Gb WAN connectivity is going to be, if not already is important for many (myself included).
The move to television being delivered via IP as the new norm as guaranteed that. Only takes 2 people streaming 4K and another downloading something/playing an online game and you are needing 100s of Mbps. It’ll be when 8K becomes mainstream that Gb WAN is really key, 1 stream is 100Mbps!


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[bertilak]

Give it 5 years ...

Yeah, I had "future-proofing" in mind when I did the upgrade.

It seemed like a good deal as it was over 100 times faster than the wireless DSL I had less than a year ago and cheaper, too. It was also prone to weather interference. CenturyLink had a good deal -- a lifetime discount and no contract, long-term or otherwise.

I think it might be more like 3 years before gigabit is really needed.

CenturyLink is also having some growing pains -- their sales staff doesn't yet fully understand fiber. They really think I need a modem in addition to the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) and really want to sell me their combination modem/router.

The tech who installed the fiber (back when I had only 100 down/50 up) actually installed their modem/router and plugged my router into it thinking their router was required! At least he wasn't going to charge me for it!

The guy who upgraded me to gigabit came to my house to do it even though it only involved a phone call back to the mother ship. This was because their ordering process required a technician to be present, apparently to get their (unused) modem/router configured. Now if that tech had hung around for a bit to test it out he might have noticed the programming wasn't right. When I called in the problem he and two other techs showed up (three trucks!) between the three, only one of them actually had the equipment needed to test the speed.