AC Wireless

[AfroStorm]

Should I buy a AC router now, or is it worth waiting for them to get better?

 

[wng_kingsley7]

@AfroStorm Will you be acquiring ethernet cables or running wirelessly like you have suggested in your topic title thread?

[AfroStorm]

I can always buy a switch if that means having a better router.

[skywake]

Should I buy a AC router now, or is it worth waiting for them to get better?

 

What class of WiFi is your current Access Point?

Are most of your devices wired/powerline or are you relying on wireless?

How many AC compatible devices do you currently have? Do you expect to get more very soon?

Are you having problems with wireless speed over short distances or is the problem range?

Are you already shopping for a new router or is this an upgrade to still working gear?

 

Depending on your answer to these it could be anything from a good idea for a small cost to something expensive that won't help you at all. For example I have an N600 access point but am mostly wired with no AC devices yet. I don't have any problems with wireless speed because all of the things I want to run fast are wired, my problem is range. I'm also not shopping for new gear because what I have still works well enough and won't be improved with better 5Ghz performance. So it makes absolutely no sense at all for me to upgrade. However everyone is in a different situation so there is no one answer.

[AfroStorm]

No this is just in general. Not specifically for me. If I was going to buy a AC router, I would have uses for it. This router would also be a stand alone, it would not have any APs attached to it. So a good range but not great.

[skywake]

No this is just in general. Not specifically for me. If I was going to buy a AC router, I would have uses for it. This router would also be a stand alone, it would not have any APs attached to it. So a good range but not great.

 

When I said Access Point I was being more specific so it would cover more people's setups. Some or even most people have all-in-one modem/router/AP, others have a modem then a router/AP, others have a modem, router and APs separately. Doesn't matter really what you have in this upgrade the thing that matters is what sort of spec your wireless is. That'll be the main thing you'll be upgrading. So if that's something like N600 or above already then the upgrade won't be that large. If you current one is N300, N150 or G then the upgrade will be much more noticeable.

Basically if your wireless setup is good enough then you can and should probably just stay with what you have. It's all about the cost vs benefit.

[onionring]

my router needed a reset every 2 week or month and was driving me crazy (was n450) . So i bought a tplink archer c7 AC router 100$ and a intel 7260 (30$) ac mini pcie card for my laptop.

it works really well but i got no use for the speed atm.

[Darren]

Unless your wireless speed is the bottleneck, where your internet connection is significantly faster, then I wouldn't worry. You'll just spend money you don't need to.