do AC routers have better range?

[rlcastro]

Hi there! Just wondering if ac routers have better range? I'm thinking of buying this asus rt-ac68u ac 1900 since it's on sale right now.

 

Currently I have dlink n900 and i'm getting only 2-3 bars of signal since the router is on the second floor.

 

Is it good time to buy ac router now or wait? ac3200?

 

thanks!

[MegaDave91]

Shooting off the top of my head here, but I think they may have less range than the traditional 2.4 ghz router. Higher frequency signals like 5ghz don't penetrate solid objects.

[dragoon20005]

AC improves speed of the wireless at the expense of range

 

in fact against Wireless N

 

the operating range is half for wireless AC

[Rorgash]

not sure how mine works i guess, but it has both 5ghz and 2.4 and the 2.4 has WAY longer range than my old non AC router

[skywake]

Every single AC device I've heard of has a 2.4Ghz radio with at least "N300" on it. So all things being equal you'll get the same range from AC as you will out of N because it's still "N" in part. If you walk out of range of the 5Ghz radio, as you can on dual-band N APs, then you'll drop onto the 2.4Ghz radio. If you're still within range of the 5Ghz band you'll get a higher speed than you would have under an "equivalent" N router.

 

Also for some comparative measures, benchmarks for the best DL "range" performance on smallnetbuilder by class:

N600: 18Mbps @ 2.4G, 22Mbps @ 5G

N900: 45Mbps @ 2.4G, 83Mbps @ 5G

AC1200: 17Mbps @ 2.4G, 52Mbps @ 5G

AC1750: 18Mbps @ 2.4G, 106Mbps @ 5G

 

Although all of this was tested in a fairly "clean" and controlled environment. In practice at range with neighbours polluting the 2.4Ghz spectrum they all revert to N300 or even N150. If there was a general rule of thumb I would say that the better range will come out of the AP with the best antennae regardless of what class it is. If there was a general trend though the AC ones *tend* to have better antennae with more power behind them *because* they're more expensive. Which inadvertently gives you more range. So if anything the "AC router" you're looking at probably has more range than the "N router" you're likely to compare it to.