A few questions about MU-MIMO and routers

[Snoovatar]

1) What is the difference between a dual/tri-band router and a router with MU-MIMO support?

2) Dual/tri-band means 1 device can use the 2.4ghz band and another uses 5 ghz at the same time. Does MU-MIMO mean the router accepts multiple devices on the same BAND?

3) What happens with a non-MU-MIMO device on a MU-MIMO router? specifailly Macbook Pro 2015

4) My modem supports "8 downstream channels and 4 upstream channels." Does that mean it only allows 8 devices at the same time connected for download?

 

[bill001g]

Most your questions are answered if you read the wiki on mu-mimo. There are only so many mu-mimo groups. It tries to give each device its own but when the device number exceeds it then starts grouping them together. All non mu-mimo devices share one group.

In most cases the limitations on how much your router can run is not even related to the router. It real world installs the interference from neighbors will limit your performance well before you hit limitations on in mu-mimo. mu-mimo is mostly a marketing thing it will only make a very small difference that mostly matters to people who like to run benchmarks.