14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless communication technologies are becoming so fast that cable-based LAN is starting to be left behind. It will soon reach the point where 10 GbE technologies will have to replace Gigabit Ethernet in order to avoid total awkwardness.
Admittedly, it has already started, but the number of motherboards with 10 GbE is very small still, and it's not like there are many NAS devices and servers that offer the capability either.
Because of that, many high-end dual-band wireless routers probably can't work to their full potential. Even if they have a total performance of 1,900 Mbps, they can't really use it all except for inter-device connections.
If you have, say, 20 people trying to access the Internet from their PCs or phones at the same time, the data speed will be limited to what your cable can dish out.
ASUS has decided to go ahead and release a truly ludicrously overpowered Wi-Fi router anyway: the RT-AC87, the first to boast Wave 2 features.
Wave 2 Wi-Fi features provide better reliability, overall performance improvements and speed boosts in certain situations, for the 802.11ac generation of WiFi routers.
Looking at the RT-AC87, we can definitely say that those claims have substance. We may have seen the 2.4 GHz band being pushed to 600 Mbps before (though rarely), but the 5 GHz did not come in 1.73 Gbps previously, even with the use of BeamForming (and yes, ASUS uses it, for maximized range and signal strength).
This all boils down to a total data throughput of up to 2.33 Gbps, give or take a dozen Mbps. A very high performance indeed, with quite an advantage over the previous so-called record of 1.9 Gbps.
It is quite surprising, in a way, that ASUS managed to be the first to take a slice of the Wave 2 pie. We would have expected Netgear, D-Link or even Belkin to open the doors, so to speak, considering that they actually focus on networking hardware, wireless or otherwise.
Of course, they are bound to launch their own products soon, perhaps this very week. And they might not even have to worry about competing with ASUS, since the latter's RT-AC87 will only be available in North America at launch.
Speaking of which, sales should start within a few days, for the price of $270 / €200. The other companies will probably hover around the same price point, or whatever the equivalent is in Europe, Australia and Asia.