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Linksys WRT3200ACM Tri-Stream router reviewed

by on04 June 2017

Index

802.11ac Tests

Test 1: 802.11ac 5GHz at 40 feet (kitchen table)

For our 802.11ac 5GHz test at 60 feet, we ran jperf utility on the HP Spectre x360 (2x2 MU-MIMO) using the WRT3200ACM’s increased 160MHz channel width. We wanted to see if there were any particular channels that resulted in smoother performance.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac test channel 56 channel 100

By sending four parallel data streams to our notebook, we discovered that channels 56, 100 and 116 produced some of the most consistent signal retention patterns during our 60 second test.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac test channel 36 channel 44

In contrast, some channels like 36 and 44 would keep the same curvature patterns across all four streams, but the data would not be sent at the same throughput rates.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac test channel 64 channel 108

Other channels like 64 and 108 would assign one data stream a majority of the data, while the other three followed along at much lower yet consistent data rates.

We tested the entire 802.11ac channel lineup available for 160MHz channel widths, which included 36 through 128 (5.18 to 5.64GHz). The lowest throughput during the 60 second test came from channels 36 and 100 (43.6Mbps and 44.5Mbps), while the highest came from channels 56, 60, 108 and 116 (61.1Mbps, 61.4Mbps, 63.3Mbps and 61.1Mbps, respectively).

Test 2: iPhone 6 802.11ac performance (15 feet and 40 feet)

Next, we tested the iPhone 6 using 802.11ac at the same 60-foot distance between two walls in the living room, which might emulate a typical household usage scenario at the dining room table. Using iPerf app, the phone was able to achieve an average of 70Mbps with a peak of about 75Mbps.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac test iphone 6

At a 15 foot distance between just a single wall, the iPhone 6 was able to achieve 94.1Mbps during a 673MB file transfer over a 1 minute interval.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac test 2 iphone 6

Test 3: Two notebooks simultaneously (802.11ac 5GHz, 15 feet)

For our third test, we positioned both the HP Spectre x360 and Lenovo Thinkpad T440s at 15 feet from the router, just a single wall apart. We ran the jperf utility simultaneously on both to measure MU-MIMO throughput over 5GHz, while the 2.4GHz radio was switched off.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac dual notebook test

Based on the results, the ThinkPad T440s averaged 45.4Mbps while the Spectre x360 averaged 57Mbps, for a combined 102.4Mbps of total throughput.

Test 4: Three devices simultaneously (802.11ac 5GHz, 15 feet)

For our fourth test, we brought all three devices within 15 feet of the WRT3200ACM and ran jperf using eight simultaneous data streams for the two notebooks. The test ran for 60 seconds, allowing us to observe the full benefits of a tri-stream 160MHz channel width router broadcasting to three devices at once.

linksys wrt3200acm 802.11ac triple device test
jperf 802.11ac triple test apple iphone 6

Based on the results, the ThinkPad T440s averaged 41.13Mbps, the Spectre x360 averaged 45.32Mbps, and the iPhone 6 got 28.4Mbps, for a combined total of 114.85Mbps.

We ran the test a second time just to confirm the results. In our second run, the ThinkPad scored 39.06Mbps, the Spectre scored 45.51Mbps, and the iPhone 6 scored 20.2Mbps, for a combined total of 104.77Mbps.


Last modified on 05 June 2017
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