Whats better, Dual band AC or dual band N router?

[Albertgregor_18]

I'm looking for an upgrade from 2.4ghz to dual band but i dont which one is best. Also there are four to five devices that are being used simultaneously during night time; and their range about 15-30ft.

 

[Darkbreeze]

AC is newer, and all things considered, better. Better in the sense that with equivalent connections, the AC router will have a higher data transfer rate than the wireless N. Range won't be terribly different though. Of course that's assuming you also have a wireless AC capable adapter on your device or PC. Personally, unless the prices are similar, which they're generally not, I'd go with a less expensive wireless N dual band unit. Just make sure it's a high data transfer model like N600 or higher.

 

[photonboy]

Hi,
I agree with the above.

*Please note your devices probably don't even have an AC wi-fi adapter thus will just use "N" mode anyway. If you need to stream VIDEO and find that "N" mode just isn't cutting it for some reason then invest in an AC router and adapter or adapters otherwise I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[bill001g]

It also depends on how you use your connection. If you don't have a real high speed internet (ie more that 100m) and you don't run servers in your house it won't matter. The vast majority of people are limited by how fast their internet connection is. The only other people that can use 802.11ac effectively are doing things like streaming hidef video from their own personal video storage device. Even then 802.11n would likely be fast enough since even 4k video is well under 100m with most encoding methods.

 

[Albertgregor_18]

Any suggestion for n600 dual router

 

[bill001g]

All the larger name router will perform more or less the same. There are really only 2 large manufactures of wireless radio chips and all the router manufactures buy them. Routers with similar specs many times use exactly the same chips inside.

You need to choose mostly on what software feature the router has. Some have things like NAS support by plugging USB drives but it is silly to pay for that feature if you are not going to use it.

Asus,linksys,netgear,tplink are some of the more well known brands, you will have good results will all I suspect.

 

[Darkbreeze]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2NA3246

 

[photonboy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ2NA3246

That's the same exact router I have. No complaints.

I'm only using the 2.4GHz but with a cheap wi-fi adapter I get about 7MB/second from 2nd floor to basement.

That's more info than a BluRay movie needs, far more than most Internet connections but not quite enough for GAMING.

Game Streaming is not common and in that case you'd either want an expensive AC setup if wireless but the ideal method for this is simply ETHERNET. I'm buying the $50USD "Steam Link" to connect to my HDTV from my gaming PC in November 2015.

Anyway, this router is probably just fine for most people.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have a much better wired router in my house going to my several systems, but one of those legs goes to that exact router which feeds the wireless signal for devices out in my shop, which is about fifty feet from the house. I do have the router OUTSIDE the house, up under the roof of my patio/porch where it's protected, but even through the wall of the garage when it's closed up I get a good signal and throughput.

Going through the wall of the house AND the garage, I didn't, which is why I relocated it outside the house proper. I too have no complaints and aside from an initial firmware upgrade, haven't had to really ever touch it again.