A Better way to Wi-Fi: Choosing a Router in 2017 (or, how to blissfully forget about your Wi-Fi forever) with Dave Hamilton

Transcription

1 A Better way to Wi-Fi: Choosing a Router in 2017 (or, how to blissfully forget about your Wi-Fi forever) with Dave Hamilton

2 Who are we? Dave says: I ll go first Mac Observer - Over 18 years Mac Geek Gab Podcast - almost 12 years Geek... forever!

3 Who are we? Your turn Mac owners? Less than one year? More than 5 years? Consider yourself a geek? Geek in Training? Manage your own router at home/work? Already using Mesh?

4 What you ll learn How to choose a router in 2017? Which technologies/features matter for you. What mesh means and whether you need it. Which router is right for you and why. whatever you want! (because I ll take your questions!)

5 Which initials matter? ac/n/g/b/a? Each describes different speed/bandwidth/distance capabilities Takeaway: Get an ac router

6 Which initials matter? ac/n/g/b/a? b a g n ac

7 5GHz vs. 2.4GHz 2.4GHz - longer range, supports n/g/b 5GHz - shorter range, supports ac/n/a Lower-strength signal on 5GHz ac might still be faster than higher-strength signal on 2.4GHz n Takeaway: get a router that supports BOTH 5GHz and 2.4GHz, aka Dual Band

8 5GHz vs. 2.4GHz n ac

9 Choosing 2.4GHz or 5GHz Which radio is best, 2.4GHz or 5GHz? Your iphone & MacBook decide based on signal strength. Devices are clueless to what the router knows.

10 Band-Steering Band-steering means the router helps your iphone & MacBook decide which radio to use. Single SSID/name, router helps decide which radio.

11 Band-Steering

12 Band-Steering Band-steering means the router helps your iphone & MacBook decide which radio to use. Single SSID/name, router helps decide which radio. Takeaway: Band-steering is important Also Called Smart Connect Netgear, Linksys, Synology, D-Link, Luma

13 Streams - 2x2, 3x3, 4x4 It s a speed multiplier. 2x2 = 300Mbps 3x3 = 450Mbps 4x4 = 600Mbps n = 150Mbps per antenna. Client needs to support it. We call this Multiple In/Multiple Out (MIMO) Takeaway: Get at least 3x3

14 Router Marketing Speeds AC1200 = Two 2x2 radios 300 (802.11n) (802.11ac) = 1166 AC1700 = Two 3x3 radios 450 (802.11n) (802.11ac) = 1750 AC1900 = One 4x4 2.4GHz radio, One 3x3 5GHz 600 (802.11n) (802.11ac) = 1900 These are ROUTER speeds, not single client.

15 Beamforming.

16 Beamforming.

17 MU-MIMO vs. SU-MIMO Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

18 MU-MIMO vs. SU-MIMO

19 SU-MIMO

20 SU-MIMO

21 MU-MIMO

22 MU-MIMO

23 MU-MIMO vs. SU-MIMO Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz If both the client and the router support it, Multi- User MIMO (MU-MIMO) is awesome. Your clients don't support it. Takeaway: Don't sweat it.

24 QoS = Quality of Service Wake up! QoS means one device doesn t hog your bandwidth. Think background icloud photo uploads and CrashPlan backups Problem is your cable modem. It s bad at this, by design.

25 QoS = Quality of Service

26 QoS = Quality of Service

27 QoS = Quality of Service

28 QoS = Quality of Service

29 QoS = Quality of Service

30 QoS = Quality of Service

31 QoS = Quality of Service

32 QoS = Quality of Service Wake up! QoS means one device doesn t hog your bandwidth. Think background icloud photo uploads and CrashPlan backups Problem is your cable modem. It s bad at this, by design. Takeaway: You want this. Apple has never offered it.

33 What about my ISP's router? If you keep it current, your ISP s router is probably fine. Seriously. No, I mean it. And that s why if you re going to spend money on a router, it should be better than theirs.

34 Standalone Routers My favorite: Synology RT2600ac - $225 Dual-band, 4x4 radios go FAR and FAST Has QoS, Band-steering, MANY other features TP-Link Archer C9 (dual-band, 3x3) - $125 NETGEAR R7000 (dual-band, 3x3) - $159 NETGEAR R8500 (tri-band, 4x4) - $349

35 Standalone Routers

36 What is mesh? Put simply: multiple access points working together All use same SSID/network name All use same encryption All managed from one interface Theoretically all intelligently-managed Different from range extenders but similar concept, just better.

37 What is mesh?

38 What is mesh?

39 What are the Mesh benefits Coverage. Multi-device throughput. Like MU-MIMO but without needing client support. Set it and forget it. Intelligent operation. It thinks for you.

40 Mesh Options Hardware is more important than software. But software is the most important. Cloud-managed vs. locally-managed. Backhaul: Wireless vs. Ethernet

41 eero: my current favorite mesh oldest mesh in the market. dual band, 2x2 radios. most mature software. supports ethernet backhaul. QoS built-in and automatic. $399 for 3-pack

42 Mesh: Tri-band to Watch NETGEAR Orbi - $299+ for 2-pack dual-band, 2x2 for clients Separate third band for backhaul. High-end AC3000 unit is 4x4 ($399) New AC2200 unit is 2x2 ($299) No QoS, no Ethernet backhaul support Software update could remedy that.

43 Mesh: Tri-band to Watch Linksys Velop - $499 for 3-pack 3 bands, supports all topologies. No QoS. Bizarrely-slow speeds. Software updates COULD fix all.

44 Other dual-band mesh to watch Google Wifi, $299 for 3-pack Cloud-managed, no QoS, fastest 2x2 mesh

45 Other dual-band mesh to watch Luma, $299 for 3-pack Cloud-managed, limited features

46 Other dual-band mesh to watch Ubiquiti s AmpliFi HD, $349 for 3-pack Dual, 3x3 radios Locally-managed, interesting design. Standalone Mesh Points available for $125.

47 The full mesh Model Units QoS Ethernet Price Eero 3 x x $399 Google Wifi 3 x $299 Luma 3 x x $299 Netgear Orbi 2 $299+ Linksys Velop 3 x x $499 Ubiquiti AmpliFi 3 $349

48 Wired mesh = True Bliss Wires are better than wireless if you have the choice. MoCA is an option with most any coax wiring. Bonded MoCA 2.0 can do 800Mbps+ realworld

49 Synology s SRM Router Interface

50 Wrap Up/Q&A Visit Yes,