Does AC router increase speed?

[popeyeindian]

Hello forum, I have a 30 Mbps internet connection and a AC750 Wi-Fi router.

The only device on my home network with an AC network card is my cell phone. 

 

The Maximum actual download speed that I see on the phone is 7 MB per second. Now, my question is .....is my Wi-Fi router limiting the download speed here ? If  I were to connect a AC1750 router, will it improve the download speed to 17 MB per second?

 

Please let me know.

 

Thanks!!

[anybodykek]

Probably not, unless you are using a really old crappy router

[Shiv78]

AC1750 usually just means there are 2 or more WiFi bands, and their sum is 170 mbps. You won't really see a difference

[Chris_R.]

Usually not, actual download and upload speeds are mostly from your ISP. Pay more for faster up/down speeds etc. If you are using your ISP's modem or cable modem you could always request for updated equipment.

[popeyeindian]

Thanks for the quick responses guys!!

[Wolfskie]

most smartphones have a 1x1:1 wifi antenna design, since your wifi router is classified as ac750, it also, most likely, has a 1x1:1 design for the 5ghz band.

if your phone is the only client on the 5ghz band, an ac1750 router won't increase throughput.

if you have more than 1 simultaneous client on the 5ghz band you might feel an improvement since an ac1750 rated router likely has a 3x3:3 mimo design, which supports more spacial streams, and can thus support more clients better.

 

in any case, i think it's amazing you can download at 7MBps (56Mbps) on a 30Mbps connection...

[Brightglaive]

Actually most smartphones are sporting 2x2 MIMO or MU-MIMO antennas nowadays. Samsung has had 2x2 MU-MIMO from the S5 to current s7 models.Microsoft, Google OPPO, ZTE and LG also have it on their phones to name a few.  (Some phones even sport 4x4 MU-MIMO antennas.) Not sure about spatial streams but assuming 2 that would mean 2x2x2. Ac1750 should be able, assuming MCS-9 (modulation and coding scheme 9= 256QAM and 5/6 coding rate, with channels 40,80 or 160MHz wide and a 800 or 400ns guard interval) and 2 spatial streams (possible with MU-MIMO 2x2) to provide between 360 and 1733 Mbps. (Halve those numbers for one spatial stream at MCS-9) 

 

Now that won't speed up your WAN connection....so 30Mbps or about 3.4MB per second should be your speed limit when downloading from the internet.

 

This does not take into account any interference due to neighbors lousy old 802.11a wifi router, interference due to radar or non-802.11 5GHz devices or other wifi channel congestion or interference or physical interference (walls, stucco, concrete, trees etc)  and the throughput is the theoretical maximum. 

 

Suffice to say it's unlikely your wifi will be the bottleneck in your network. More likely your internet connection will be your bottleneck.