Is >80Mbps WiFi downlink really virtually impossible?

[krzyq]

Hi and hello all,

I was browsing the SNB charts and forums from the very morning in order to find a solution to my problem and it turned out that the solution may not exist, yet. So I decided to write on the forum in order to seek your advice.

I have upgraded my Internet connection lately to 80Mbps downlink. Everything works at 80Mbps (megabits per second) speed when I'm on cable. When I use modem's WiFi-N, I can only get ~60Mbps, when I'm the only one on the WiFi network. Ok, I thought - modem has a crappy WiFi and I need to search for either a router or an AP. There are plenty devices out there with throughput reaching hundreds of Mbps. So I thought. It seems that I was wrong, as I am unable to find in the charts a device that will let me fully experience my Internet connection speed.

Am I correctly interpreting the results in the charts? What's your experience in that matter and what would you generally suggest within $200 range - AP or router?

Thanks in advance,
Krzyq

 

[thiggins]

Quick answer is that such speeds are only possible with strong signals and low competing traffic.

Longer answer is:

The default view of the charts shows the average of multiple test locations. Use the dropdown next to the benchmark selector to see individual location and max/min results.

Using http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/58-2_4-ghz-dn?see=MAX you see only one product near your 80 Mbps requirement.

Switching to the 40 MHz bandwidth view
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/62-2_4-ghz-dn-40?see=MAX

you see more candidates.

However, if you check the individual locations, you will see that you get such high speeds only with very strong signals, i.e. same/next room.

Note that using 40 MHz bandwidth mode in 2.4 GHz isn't recommended because it uses almost the entire 2.4 GHz spectrum. 5 GHz is ok to use 40 MHz mode since there are more non-overlapping channels. But 5 GHz signals don't go as far.