!!! PLEASE HELP !!! Which USB WIFI adapter is right for me: AC 600mbps or AC 1200mbps ?

[333besik333]

I have this computer that doesn’t have a built in WiFi so I need to buy I USB WIFI adapter.. I have an AT&T home internet plan with the speed of 70mbps and with a router that supports both 2.4ghz and 5ghz... Now there are different types of usb wifi adapters: AC600mbps and AC1200mbps... MY QUESTION IS: will I get the same speed regardless of which adapter I use (1200mbps and 600mbps) due to the fact that my AT&T internet plan is only 70mbps? Or will 1200mbps adapter be faster?

 

[bill001g]

There are a massive amount of lies involved with wifi numbers. First it depends on what your router supports, does little good to buy a fast USB device if the router also does not support the same speeds. It will just drop down to the speed both can run.

In general when they say 600 it means that it can run 300mbps on 2.4g an 300mbps on 5g. A end device though can only use a single session so you are limited to 300mbps. When they say 1200 it generally means 300mbps on 2.4g and 900mbps on 5g but there are a couple other variations. You an still only use 1 connection not both combined.

Now even the 300mbps number is very deceptive. It it the combine transmit and receive speed. Then they test in a lab condition nobody has. So maybe in a lab you could get 150mbps. Much more common number is less than 50mbps when tested in real world conditions.

There actually is no way to predict the actual speed you will get since how your house is built and how many neighbors around you are using wifi have much more impact on the signals than small differences between routers.

The best price/performance point are devices that claim 1200 with the 1450 very close. Your router of course needs to have similar abilities Using 300mbps on 2.4g you will likely not get 70mbps. Problem is even though the 5g using 802.11ac is fastest the signal does not go as far so it depends how strong the signal is where you put your pc.