Wi-Fi 6E Router (performance/price) ?

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MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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I need to buy 2 routers (preferably identical) in next 2 months for the office use. And I need >> SPEED << ;) (number of devices connected will be ~80, probably 2-4 will need bandwidth at the same time)

I have tested some, to understand how it works and what is the limit but now Wi-Fi 6E is almost there and it's a good time to use it, tested devices:
1. (WiFi6) Huawei AX3: real speed was ~105Mbytes/s when advertised link connection was 1.7~2.4gbps (probably limited by 1Gbit Ethernet)
2. (WiFi5) Netgear R8500: real speed was ~95Mbytes/s when advertised link connection was 1.3~1.7gbps (and my 2.3Gbps WiFi5 card was broken - should be more than 130MB/s :/ it has 2GbE via LACP)
3. (WiFi5) Netgear R6220: real speed was ~55Mbytes/s when advertised link connection was 0.86gbps (USB 3.0 stick "1200")

And I am thinking what type of router will be the best ? what features are important ?
-6GHz band
-4.8gbps (4x 160MHz)
-1024 QAM, maybe 4096 QAM
-how many 4.8gbps bands
-Good support for WiFi5? 1.7gbps or even 2.3gbps (4x 80MHz x 1024 QAM) or 2x 160MHz or.. 4x160MHz ?
-2.5GbE with LACP or 5/10GbE maybe SPF+ ?

I am guessing most of the Wi-Fi devices in the future will be 2x 160MHz (like Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 cards) ?

What models are be the best now?
 

coxhaus

Active Member
Jul 7, 2020
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I think you will be much better off buying separate wireless APs. Offices have a DMark for your internet connection and they usually are not in the center of the office so having flexibility to add multiple APs is a benefit.

What is your internet speed? Usually, you don't need all these high-speed interfaces when your internet speed is 1 gig or less.
 
Last edited:

Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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i think the most important thing is choose some proper more enterprise gear and you will already see better WiFi performance especially with that many clients.
Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus, etc
I know they all cost but they are way better in my experience compared to home solutions
 
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MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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I think you will be much better off buying separate wireless APs. Offices have a DMark for your internet connection and they usually are not in the center of the office so having flexibility to add multiple APs is a benefit.

What is your internet speed? Usually, you don't need all these high-speed interfaces when your internet speed is 1 gig or less.
Yes the AP it's a better naming for it (this is how we are using Wi-Fi routers now). The office it's not big (500sq meters / 5000 sq feet) and rectangle shape like here (under construction right now):
1616319393778.png

For the computers (mostly desktop one - we need a swappable graphics cards, multicore CPUs and 2x Monitor) the network will be 10GbE sometimes 40GbE for few of them 100GbE, 200GbE for servers (to be precise about 160 because of PCIE 3.0 cards).

Internet speed will be I think something between 800Mbps to 1600 (not decided yet - at this moment it's ~500 and don't need faster one), but the goal here is to have as fast access to the internal servers as possible.

So what are you suggesting is more AP points ?
For example 2 AP "4800" can be faster than one "9600" ?

The real life scenario is that laptops don't have 4 antennas inside, so the max is 2400 (2 antennas x 160MHz band)

My real life scenario goal is to achieve about 200Mbytes/s (~1700 mbps) access to the servers, and in case that some of the laptop (or a desktop without fiber cable connected) have 4 antennas WiFi6 setup ~400MB/s.
 

MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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i think the most important thing is choose some proper more enterprise gear and you will already see better WiFi performance especially with that many clients.
Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus, etc
I know they all cost but they are way better in my experience compared to home solutions
So no magic like this: 2x 400 EURO and 450MBytes/s everywhere :) ?

At this moment we are still using very old Wi-Fi5 "wave1" Netgear R6220 (four of them), and they are really ok (never ever have to fix the WiFi network) no problem to connect anything but they are slow (~50-60MB/s) - they was not designed for speed, all connected to the Cisco 3064PQ 10GbE port thru 1GBit RJ45 SFP+ converter.

What models are ok ? mostly for the max speed in WiFi6 / 6E and WiFi 5 mode ?
I am not worry a lot about too much devices when old WiFi5 "wave1" Netgear was good enough in it.
 

MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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Real-life scenario ~220MB/s achieved. On 2 antena setup, I don't have 4 antena WiFi-6E card yet.

HW:
Xiaomi AX6000 WiFi 6E
Intel AX210 6E

Pros:
-price ($115 LOL)
-only one "6E router" that you can buy now?

Cons:
-Chinese (good thing is it's not Huawei, less red guys involved there)
-Not working in 6E mode yet (router firmware limited to 2.4/5GHz)
-Limited to 2.5G cable, and something is wrong designed inside hardware should be closer to 282MB/s and it isn't
-Software is bad, but to setup AP good enough

So good setup for 200MB/s, really good antenas (when disconnect both antena from Intel AX210 card) still working at ~150MB/s (1.1-1.2Gbps connection) with a few meters distance.

Bad thing is - not possible to achieve 400MB/s :( because of just one 2.5G LAN cable, searching fot the next 6E one.
 

Dalis

New Member
Apr 20, 2021
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Arizona, USA
You're getting bad advice from the pros who don't know anything about Wi-Fi 6, ignoring your requirements. You're on the right track to be focused on Wi-Fi 6 since it's becoming common on new computers and smartphones, and 6E is even more promising.

The ASUS AX5700 is pretty good. It has a 2.5 GbE WAN port too, which is critical. You should just focus on well reviewed Wi-Fi 6/6E routers with 2.5 or 5 GbE WAN ports. That will filter most models out.

The enterprise brands that others recommended don't generally support Wi-Fi 6, much less 6E, so it's a scratch. Those companies have fallen behind in that respect, and some of them are just now introducing Wi-Fi 6 APs. I haven't seen any 6E APs yet. The latest smartphone SoCs from Qualcomm support it, as well as Intel NICs, so most users will likely have it by 2022/2023.
 

lizardking009

Member
Oct 16, 2013
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The enterprise brands that others recommended don't generally support Wi-Fi 6, much less 6E, so it's a scratch.
Aruba and Ruckus both have WiFi 6 (not E) APs. I bought a HPE Aruba AP-535 (renew) off ebay for ~$460 last week. It supports Wifi 6, 4x4 MU MIMO. 10000x better than the Unifi it replaced. 5gb port too. It doesn't need a controller for multiple APs. OP could get a pair of those and be in great shape for awhile.