Computex 2014: The ASUS RT-AC3200, a six-stream 802.11ac Router with MIMO
by Ian Cutress on June 2, 2014 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- router
- Asus
- 802.11ac
- Computex 2014
Part of the market in WiFi communications is calling out for more bandwidth. The advent of high-resolution video and the limitations of gigabit Ethernet mean that in an environment where media consumption is priority, bandwidth is a key element in that equation. Current 802.11ac devices are shipped with either a single or dual stream module (perhaps the odd one with a three-stream), which in return requires a receiver with a similar number of streams as a minimum to have the best connection. So at this point, ASUS has announced the RT-AC3200, a six-stream 802.11ac router capable of up to 3.2 Gbps.
The router also features tri-band MIMO, allowing the device to give full bandwidth to more than one device at a time as well as act as a repeater. Additional features on the router include beam-forming to strengthen connectivity, SmartConnect to adjust to the best band for clients and Adaptive QoS for traffic optimization. AiProtection with Trend Micro will provide protection from external attacks, and the RT-AC3200 is accessed via the ASUSWRT interface.
As the number of streams increases in routers, what I would like to see is a similar increase in devices that use 802.11ac WiFi, especially in the desktop PC segment. This could be either as a PCIe card or as a built-in module, however someone will have to design a smart antenna in order to incorporate the whole thing at the rear of a desktop.
Everyone loves knowing pricing and availability, which I hope to obtain later this week when visiting the ASUS booth.
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rms141 - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
Any relation to the previously announced RT-AC87U?ganeshts - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
I suspect not.. This seems to be based on a recent Broadcom-chipset announcement. The AC87U is based on a Quantenna chipset.As per current standards, this one will not get Wi-Fi certification for more than 4 streams. (Wi-Fi standards wrt vendor inter-op for more than 4 streams is not defined in 802.11ac I believe).
jeffkibuule - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
So they can advertise 3x3 streams to 2 devices, but not say all 6 antennas will work with one device at once.jed22281 - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
read this & the 2 main thread going at smallnetbuilderhttp://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-n...
mrdude - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
Hopefully OpenWRT compatible as well. There's nothing quite like buying a high end networking device that's packaged with the world's worst and insecure software.nathanddrews - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
For all those people driving up to my house to steal my vacation photos... :|mrdude - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
Or those of us who live in an urban setting with 15+ WiFi connections from the couch.It's just sickening to see companies focus so much on the specs sheet and completely fumble it on the software end. What good is the world's fastest speedboat if it's got a leaky hull?
nathanddrews - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
I completely understand the performance aspect of it, just generally not the security part. It would be nice to get both, but unfortunately these companies often want to market some custom software that combines branding with perceived unique features. As if customers have any idea what they're doing anyway."Oh cool, this router has D-Link Protection+ With Enhanced XPL Scanning!"
UltraWide - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
Is that router happy to see me???Dug - Monday, June 2, 2014 - link
Yes!! x6