“Competing in our benchmark are four products: Apple’s 2013 802.11ac AirPort Extreme, the Netgear R6300 (a.k.a. AC1750), the Linksys EA6500, and the Belkin AC1200,” TekRevue reports. “Note that while Belkin has since released the AC1800, when the routers were sent to us, the AC1200 was the roughly $200 product from the company. We sought to compare all products with retail prices at approximately $200 which is comparable to Apple’s $199 price tag for the AirPort Extreme.”
“We’re interested in two key areas with these tests: 5GHz 802.11ac performance and 2.4GHz 802.11n performance. 802.11ac may be significantly faster than its predecessor, but it’s stuck in the higher 5GHz frequency, which does not have the range of the more crowded 2.4GHz frequency,” TekRevue reports. “Therefore, for situations in which a router must ‘go the distance’ in terms of signal strength, we’re looking for better range, even at the expense of speed compared to 802.11ac.”
Advertisement: Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11ac Wi-Fi only $194. Eligible for free 2-Day shipping.
TekRevue reports, “Apple’s router achieved the fastest overall throughput at 547Mb/s while in the same room as the MacBook Air. Belkin and Linksys took a narrow second and third place, while the Netgear fell significantly behind. We were surprised by this result, and we ensured that the router was configured for maximum performance, but the slower speeds persisted throughout the 10 iterations… Overall, the AirPort Extreme is the best 802.11ac performer from nearly all locations, with the Linksys in a close second place.”
Much more in the full article here.
Related articles:
PC Mag reviews Apple’s new 802.11ac AirPort Extreme Base Station: As gorgeous as a router can get; ‘just works’ out of the box – June 28, 2013
Pure Speed: Apple’s new 802.11ac AirPort Extreme benchmarks – June 28, 2013
802.11ac wireless networking: What it is and why you want it – June 17, 2013
Teardown: Apple’s new AirPort Extreme is extremely easy to disassemble – June 12, 2013