To see just what sort of performance a
modern mesh system can deliver, we tested
the new ZenWiFi XD6 system from Asus.
This is a £400 AX5400 system consisting
of two nodes, each with a 2x2 spatial stream
configuration for each of its 2.4GHz and 5GHz
bands. It’s not the fastest system out there
- for that you’ll be looking at the likes of the
Netgear Orbi RBK852 that costs £700 – but
it’s a good example of a mid-range option.
We set up the system with the first node in
the front room, as you would with any normal
router, then located the second node into the
kitchen, one room back from the first node,
directly below the second test location and
around 6m closer to the garden.
As expected, in our tests, it didn’t blow away
the competition at close range, but it was still
very nippy (418Mb/sec) with pings that were
very low (12ms average, 15ms max). It’s when
we move to our second test location that the
system really starts to show its capabilities.
While its peak speeds aren’t much
better than those from standalone routers
(213Mb/sec), our ping measurements were
a vast improvement.
Technically, the TP-Link Archer AX73’s
15ms average ping beat the 16ms of the
ZenWiFi but all the other routers were notably
slower. Moreover, when it comes to max
pings, the ZenWiFi’s 25ms was 8ms quicker
than the next best single router, which itself
was miles better than the rest.
As we move to our third test location,
it’s really no contest. While the standalone
routers struggled to deliver single-digit Mb/
sec figures, with maximum pings hitting 100s
of milliseconds, the ZenWiFi hit 130Mb/sec
with a maximum ping of 35ms.
We also tested from even further away,
right at the bottom of the garden and a further
5m back from location 3 where, although we
sporadically could connect to some of the
standalone routers, none of them was really
reliable enough for testing. The ZenWiFi,
though, was still hitting a remarkably strong
130Mb/sec speed and 35ms max ping.
All told, while we do see a step up in ping
when our client device is connecting to the
second node of the mesh Wi-Fi system – and
this would only increase further if three nodes
were daisy-chained together – the step up
wasn’t problematic.
An average ping of around 15ms is still
excellent, and we saw no evidence of
significant drops in the signal. All told, mesh
Wi-Fi has shown in these tests just why we’ve
been so enthusiastic about it before – a good
system that’s well set up delivers remarkably
rapid and reliable Wi-Fi.Powerline
If you can’t afford a mesh Wi-Fi system, but
can’t possibly risk the occasional dropouts
that affect even the best Wi-Fi setups, and
must have the best possible ping outside of a
dedicated network cable, the most common
alternative is a powerline system. These use
a home’s existing mains power cables to
deliver a network signal, saving you having to
add in new cabling while overcoming some of
the issues of interference and signal drop that
can affect Wi-Fi.
The technology has been around for years
and speeds have steadily improved, with the
latest kits claiming up to 2,400Mb/sec. In
reality, though, as with Wi-Fi, the on-packet
speeds are generally far higher than any
speed you’ll actually experience. However,
these setups are generally plenty fast
enough and, in our experience, as long as the
connection works at all, they prove reliable.
The main caveat with the technology is
that it totally depends on the nature of your
home’s mains cabling. If you’re looking to
stretch a signal to the bottom of the garden
and you don’t have a mains cable running to
the shed, then powerline isn’t all that much
more useful than running an Ethernet cable.
Sometimes the mains cabling within the
home doesn’t connect up properly either.Ubiquiti’s Unify networking system provides a host
of ways to connect up Wi-Fi access points and even
provides power over Ethernet