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So, I have switched to a gigabit internet connection at my house. Through the internet provider's modem, I consistently get between 800-950 Mbps when I check. But, through the wifi on the internet provider's modem, I get around 300-350 Mbps. So, I got out my relatively new router that I thought I bought to do gigabit speeds and it still pumps out 300-350 Mbps. So, I was in Best Buy and was talking to a guy there and he said I just needed a better router. I got a new linksys router (MAX-STREAM AC5000) with three bands. The 5G band I think is rated at 2166 Mbps. Anyways, I plugged it up and now get around 500-550 with my computer plugged up a foot away. I was going to move my computer back to where it was in the other room to see if it goes back down to 350, but 500-550 is still not even close to the speed of my wired connection..

Am I just dreaming in this day and age to get a gigabit wifi connection?!? Or am I doing something wrong here?

Another thing to note:

With retina 5k iMac mid 2015, I am seeing speeds of 500-550 with newest wifi router.

With iPhone 6S I am seeing around 350. So maybe this is an issue with my wifi cards? If so, this means each device in my house would have to be able to handle gigabit wifi speeds in order to take full advantage of it...

user972276
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1 Answers1

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So maybe this is an issue with my wifi cards?

Indeed it is.

In practice you're not likely to see an 802.11ac reach its theoretical maximum of 1.3 Gigabit per second (Gbps). That's because the conditions you need to reach that speed requires a laboratory not your office.

To reach the highest speeds you need three data-streams, each of which can run up to 433 Megabits per second (Mbps). A typical 802.11ac access point can support up to eight data streams. Client devices must only support one.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S4 supports 802.11ac with the Broadcom BCM4335 Wi-Fi chipset. This chipset only supports a single stream so, even in the best of all possible worlds, you'll only see 433Mbps.

The rest of the article is worth reading ...

Source Gigabit Wi-Fi: 802.11ac is here: Five things you need to know

DavidPostill
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