If you need to get ANY WiFi router, is WiFi 6 worth it yet?

[Ginger Penguin]

Hi all,

 

I've been talking about this on a deal-based forum as there's a promo on the Asus RT-AX55 at the moment. The prevailing wisdom is that the kinds of features you're getting with a WiFi 6 router like that isn't worth it and you'd be better of waiting to upgrade until things get a bit more refined and the kinds of features in the expensive routers trickle down into the cheaper options. But say you're moving house and can't take your old router with you for whatever reason (full disclosure, that's exactly the situation I'm in), so you just need to get any router that will do the job, is it better to just go for the newest standard or pay the same price for an AC router? Given the current lack of WiFi 6 devices, it would seem not worth it but thinking that you probably keep your router around for a good while, it would seem that if you've got the option and it's not more expensive, then go for it. But I've also read that they can compromise on AC performance and in order to get the full benefit, it needs to support 160MHz channel width which the more budget options don't.

 

I'm somewhat aware that WiFi 6 has some extra benefits beyond speed but they're mostly for households with a REALLY large number of connected devices. And, to be honest, I'm going to be by myself with a Desktop connected by ethernet, a laptop with an AX card in it but that I don't use very much at home, a phone that only has AC and a smart TV (which I've not bought yet but will probably try and connect using MoCA if I can work out where on Earth to get a kit from) that will probably be only AC compatible anyway in the meantime.

 

So dollar-for-dollar, are AC routers more likely to be better quality than AX ones or should you just try and stay as up to date as possible?

[Speedbird]

Depends on your internet speed, the number of devices you use and what you use them for. Higher frequency Wi-Fi (including 5 and 6) can deliver more bandwidth at a lower latency, but it has a shorter range. If you have a bigger house, most devices would end up on the old 2.4 GHz band anyway. Not to mention I've pushed 100 mb/s and higher on Wi-Fi 5 with a quality network card.

[Ginger Penguin]

12 minutes ago, Speedbird said:

Depends on your internet speed, the number of devices you use and what you use them for. Higher frequency Wi-Fi (including 5 and 6) can deliver more bandwidth at a lower latency, but it has a shorter range. If you have a bigger house, most devices would end up on the old 2.4 GHz band anyway. Not to mention I've pushed 100 mb/s and higher on Wi-Fi 5 with a quality network card.

Well, for my use case (everyone else's may vary of course) I will have a 1000/50 connection but I'm coming from a 100/20 connection and I get what I need with WiFi 5. The thing is I know WiFi 5 is going to be just fine for what I need. Where I'm going to need/want the extra speed is going to be directly wired anyway. I know future proofing is often a pointless exercise, it just seems to make sense to get the latest standard if it's available and the same price. But if an AC router is going to perform better with mostly AC devices than an AX router would, then that's certainly informs the choice.

[Speedbird]

1 minute ago, W.D. Stevens said:

Well, for my use case (everyone else's may vary of course) I will have a 1000/50 connection but I'm coming from a 100/20 connection and I get what I need with WiFi 5. The thing is I know WiFi 5 is going to be just fine for what I need. Where I'm going to need/want the extra speed is going to be directly wired anyway. I know future proofing is often a pointless exercise, it just seems to make sense to get the latest standard if it's available and the same price. But if an AC router is going to perform better with mostly AC devices than an AX router would, then that's certainly informs the choice.

Pricing would be the deciding factor. I don't know how AX routers are priced, but if it's 40-50% more than AC variants I would stick with AC.

[robotxbot]

32 minutes ago, W.D. Stevens said:

Hi all,

 

I've been talking about this on a deal-based forum as there's a promo on the Asus RT-AX55 at the moment. The prevailing wisdom is that the kinds of features you're getting with a WiFi 6 router like that isn't worth it and you'd be better of waiting to upgrade until things get a bit more refined and the kinds of features in the expensive routers trickle down into the cheaper options. But say you're moving house and can't take your old router with you for whatever reason (full disclosure, that's exactly the situation I'm in), so you just need to get any router that will do the job, is it better to just go for the newest standard or pay the same price for an AC router? Given the current lack of WiFi 6 devices, it would seem not worth it but thinking that you probably keep your router around for a good while, it would seem that if you've got the option and it's not more expensive, then go for it. But I've also read that they can compromise on AC performance and in order to get the full benefit, it needs to support 160MHz channel width which the more budget options don't.

 

I'm somewhat aware that WiFi 6 has some extra benefits beyond speed but they're mostly for households with a REALLY large number of connected devices. And, to be honest, I'm going to be by myself with a Desktop connected by ethernet, a laptop with an AX card in it but that I don't use very much at home, a phone that only has AC and a smart TV (which I've not bought yet but will probably try and connect using MoCA if I can work out where on Earth to get a kit from) that will probably be only AC compatible anyway in the meantime.

 

So dollar-for-dollar, are AC routers more likely to be better quality than AX ones or should you just try and stay as up to date as possible?

unless you really need faster internet, then yea sure, but if your just doing casually office work or light gaming, it wouldn't make much of a different yet

[Ginger Penguin]

21 hours ago, Speedbird said:

Pricing would be the deciding factor. I don't know how AX routers are priced, but if it's 40-50% more than AC variants I would stick with AC.

Well, the Asus RT-AX55 is about $150 and AC1900 routers seem to be fairly comparable at around $140. There is one option that's cheaper but it only has two LAN ports and I need at least 3.

 

I noticed that there's a sale on a D-Link DIR-1750 for $105 which could be a better option and then I could upgrade to an AX router down the line if I need it I guess.

[Donut417]

23 hours ago, W.D. Stevens said:

So dollar-for-dollar, are AC routers more likely to be better quality than AX ones or should you just try and stay as up to date as possible?

WiFi 5 has been out for a while, and Id venture a guess that most devices probably support It now. WiFi 6 support is kinda lacking but will get better in the coming years. The big thing for me is WiFi 6 E, as it adds 6 Ghz support. Not sure if any 6E routers have been released and have reviews done. If I were in the market for a new router Id probably consider WiFi 6 because even though I dont have any WiFi 6 devices, I can grow in to that router. As I like to try to get 4 to 6 years out of a router. Currently I have a WiFi 5 router, I plan on using that for a while longer. Probably by the time I need a new one, WiFi 6E will be more available or the next WiFi standard will be released. 

[THEGURUOFNOTHING]

NO. Just no. Being on the bleeding edge is unnecessary for most tech unless you have a deep seated need for throwing away your money. Little uses it so why pay for unused tech.