110 PCWorld MAY 2020FEATURE WHY I SPENT A BUNDLE ON A WI-FI 6 ROUTER
throughput over my local network. My Wi-Fi
6 router enabled me to take much better
advantage of the gigabit internet service I’m
paying my ISP for.
No matter which of my home’s main
rooms I test in, I’m seeing regular speed
readings of 500Mbps or more, using the
same devices (outfitted with Wi-Fi 5 client
adapters) that I did before. For example,
my 2016 MacBook Pro, which is the same
distance from the satellite in my office as it
was before, now returns speeds between
500- and 600Mbps, and I can work way
faster in my work CMS. With my old router,
I’d get 200Mbps with that laptop on a
good day, and around 50Mbps on
average. I’m even topping 500Mbps in my
bedroom with the door closed, a location
without an Orbi satellite, where I got
around 150Mbps before.MAX OUT BEFORE YOU
NEED TO
My network’s performance is also much more
consistent. Before, my speed tests would vary
greatly depending on where I was in my
house, or if my son was streaming a video on
his iPad. Wi-Fi 6 not only delivers higher
speed, it can also handle more wireless
clients simultaneously. That means my
network isn’t as impacted by things like video
streaming or gaming—even if those clients
don’t have Wi-Fi 6 adapters. Speeds fluctuate
somewhat, but they never dip below
350Mbps or so—which was the peak speed
with my Wi-Fi 5 system. And the wired
connection (using a CAT6 ethernet cable) to
my AppleTV tops out at 900Mbps, about 50
percent higher than the 600Mbps I was
getting before and very close to the actual
speed I’m paying my ISP for.
As we fill our homes
with smart devices—plugs,
switches, speakers, bulbs,
thermostats, and what have
you—Wi-Fi 6’s ability to
handle lots of wireless
clients at once will become
ever more important. I
already have 55 wireless
clients on my network, so
you can plainly see how
adept Netgear’s Orbi
RBK842 is.
And that’s just the tip ofAs we fill our homes with smart devices, such as Eufy’s Security
Wireless Video Doorbell, Wi-Fi 6’s ability to handle lots of wireless
clients at once becomes even more important.