The main fiber optic operators in Spain already have symmetrical 1Gbps Internet connections. We can reach these speeds with any computer that has Gigabit Ethernet ports, which are the vast majority, in these cases we will reach a maximum speed of approximately 940Mbps, because we lose some effective speed due to the headers. However, achieving these speeds via WiFi is quite complicated, since you have to meet a series of requirements to have 940Mbps via WiFi. Today in this article we are going to tell you what you should have if you want to achieve this speed wirelessly.
What do I need to have to get real 1Gbps over WiFi?
Achieving a real 1Gbps speed via WiFi is quite a challenge, and we will only achieve it as long as we are in the same room as our main WiFi router, or at least, that we are quite close. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve these high speeds. If you want to achieve these speeds via WiFi with your devices, you must take into account the following aspects:
- You need a router with the Wi-Fi 6 standard and that is AX3000 class or higher . This means that the router must have at least two antennas (internal and/or external) for each frequency band.
- The router must support 160MHz in the 5GHz band, or in the 6GHz band if it is WiFi 6E. In this way, in the event that the router has two antennas, we can achieve a theoretical speed of up to 2,400Mbps, which in reality would be approximately 1,200Mbps in real terms, more than enough for 1Gbps connections.
- Wireless clients must support Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E, and must also support 160MHz channel width. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve the maximum speed. Only high-end smartphones and tablets have processors capable of supporting this feature. As for computers or laptops, if we have an Intel AX200 or Intel AX210 card, we will have this feature.
Once you have this clear, we are going to recommend some WiFi routers that meet these requirements.
Routers with speed of 1Gbps by WiFi
We must bear in mind that only high-end routers have the necessary requirements to achieve speeds of 1Gbps over WiFi. Cheap models that are AX1800 class or less will not provide us with this speed, although it is true that they are close, about 700Mbps real approximately. Below, you have our selection of routers with Wi-Fi 6 and support for 160MHz of channel width.
The ASUS RT-AX82U has simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and AX5400 class. In the 5GHz band we will be able to achieve a speed of up to 4804Mbps, thanks to its four external antennas and support for 160MHz channel width. With this €200 router we can achieve real speeds of more than 1Gbps without much problem, but make sure that your clients support these speeds.
Another very interesting model is the RT-AX86S, this device is simultaneous dual band with Wi-Fi 6 and AX5700 class. In the 5GHz band we will also have the same theoretical speed as the previous one, and we have verified that the real speed in environments close to the router is 1Gbps and even something more, ideal for squeezing the fiber optics at home.
If you want a clearly superior router with 2.5G Multigigabit ports for when we have more FTTH speed, then this model is the ideal one for you, although it costs approximately 350 euros. In the 5GHz WiFi 6 network we will also achieve up to 4,804Mbps thanks to the support for 160MHz of channel width, which means that we will achieve more than 1Gbps via WiFi. This router is very interesting due to its 2.5G ports, ideal so that when we have 2Gbps connections we don’t have to change it for another.
Finally, QNAP with its Qhora-301W is AX3600 class WiFi 6, and allows you to configure the 5GHz band with 160MHz channel width. This router has two 10G Multigigabit ports and the rest are Gigabit ports, so it is also ready for Internet speeds greater than 1Gbps.
As you can see, only routers from 200 euros have the necessary functions to achieve WiFi speeds greater than 1Gbps.
