New technology boosts router speeds

There’s one more bit of alphabet soup to consider when it comes to Wi-Fi.

That’s the one that represents the level of transfer speeds, designated by the number 802.11, followed by a letter — for example, 802.11n, the current standard with which most routers and devices, such as WiFi capable computers, comply (tinyurl.com/jlgbxmq).

The “n” standard is reliable, stable “and a safe bet for a flat or small house,” the website says, and helps keep costs low while still delivering sufficient bandwidth. And it supposedly has fixed complications that affected its predecessor, 802.11g, “which suffered from interference when in close range to everything, from Bluetooth to baby monitors,” according to the website. “Not what you need when you’re trying to surf Reddit or look for videos of cute kittens.”

But there are new standards to examine, present and future. Routers equipped with 802.11ac, introduced in 2013, “gain drastic improvements in performance, reliability, range and coverage,” the website says. “A big driver to move to AC was the need to include support for the 5 GHz frequency bands, opening up more of the wireless spectrum and allowing greater speeds.”

It also features new technologies that allow routers to focus a Wi-Fi signal in a particular direction and to differentiate between connected devices and ensure data is sent simultaneously to all of them.

The first AD Standard (802.11ad) router came out earlier this year: “If the AC standard is a supercar, AD is a supersonic jet,” the website enthuses. “Higher frequencies allow for faster data transfer making things like streaming videos happen much faster.” However, the website warns, “the higher frequencies it broadcasts at have a hard time penetrating objects. That means walls, doors and even windows can seriously impede how far a signal can travel.” On the horizon: AH Standard (802.11ah), which the website compares more to a blimp than an airplane, “moves slowly,” at a frequency smaller than 1 GhZ, but “permitting the sending of small amounts of data over long distances without losing a connection. Walls and windows are no longer an issue.”

And the forthcoming AX Standard (802.11ax), which the website analogizes as the “stealth bomber” of routers, “expected to travel longer distances at incredibly quick speeds.”

— Eric E. Harrison