News - Samsung's 60GHz Wi-Fi can offer up to 4.6Gbps data transfers

[HEXUS]

That's a fivefold increase compared to today's best consumer electronics devices.

Read more.

[Jowsey]

"1GB file could be transmitted in under 3 seconds"

How does any standard consumer tech cache that much data that quickly?

It's just advertising speak isn't it? It's a theoretical maximum but at any push on technology is a good thing. My thoughts would be to be enable wide reaches with wifi, or superior wall penetration instead of faster speeds. But I'm not picky

[LSG501]

4.6Gbps... maybe I'm missing something, unless it connects into a pci express socket or similar we can only get 1Gbps of that at best due to gigabit lan limitations. Not to mention I've yet to see the current 802.11n/ac etc hit anywhere near their advertised speeds. Then there is hard drive/ssd speeds to consider....

[aidanjt]

"1GB file could be transmitted in under 3 seconds"

How does any standard consumer tech cache that much data that quickly?

With RAM? Not that I think 4.6GHz wifi is at all necessary. I'd much sooner see 10GigE commoditised for consumers, where you'd be guaranteed high performance networking.

[xslavic]

nice,soon we will have those HDD with AP Wifi with decent transfer speed

[crossy]

At the risk of getting all Carry On, it's penetration we need, not speed.

These kinds of headline speeds are great if you live in a paper thin walled building, but if you've got a couple of inches o' brick and lord knows how many copper pipes etc then you're onto a hiding to nothing. Never mind 4.6Gbps, I'd just like to be able to have a WLAN that delivered a constant 200Mbps which is, what, about 5%.

Getting comfy on my soapbox, what is it with these companies and the speed/thinness headlines. Am I the only one that'd prefer a slower speed that could actually be delivered reliably over 20-30m in a typical western house? And phones should have decent sized batteries, not After Eight mint style so you can get a mobile that you can use to jimmie a lock, or is the end game to be able to shave with your mobile? Now, there's convergence!

Yes, I'm in a bad mood... And I've got a Nokia N95 round here somewhere - now there's a proper phone, heavy enough to stick in a sock and use for muggings.

[RobbieRoy]

Yes, I'm in a bad mood... And I've got a Nokia N95 round here somewhere - now there's a proper phone, heavy enough to stick in a sock and use for muggings.

Sorry to hear you're feeling a bit cross, Crossy - better batter something with that N95 in your sock to ease your tension!

[crossy]

Sorry to hear you're feeling a bit cross, Crossy - better batter something with that N95 in your sock to ease your tension!

Sorry, sometimes things get to me. Mainly Windows/Java (@work - app that keeps crashing in various ways) and Windows/Ubisoft (AC:BF won't let me progress - keeps crashing and locking up PC) at the moment.

Ignoring the grumpiness (ahem-sorry!) the point still sticks though - WLAN's don't seem to do very well as any kind of reasonable distance. For example I live in a pretty standard ex-council mid-terrace house built in the 70's. I've had to replace two Netgear routers because they were unable to punch a consistent 802.11g signal from the router (upstairs) to a piece of kit in the room below. And there was a room next door to the router where a pair of mirrored wardrobe doors acted as a very effective Faraday cage, i.e. no signal at all. So I guess the point I'm making is that straight line speed is all very well, but I'd be more impressed with more modest gains in speed but an increase in reliability. And I know I'm not alone, having been told by friends and relations about "dead spots" in their houses too. At the moment I've got an oldish (one of the first proper 802.11n) Cisco/Linksys router that I'd like to upgrade - Asus gear looks good.

Probably the reason why I eventually gave up on WLAN and most of the high-performance kit is now on powerline ethernet. Although modern phones and tablets seem to be better at grabbing that weak signal - maybe it's interference in desktops and laptops from other components that's causing the problem?

[Biscuit]

Are you sure your issues aren't just because there is a lot of crowding in the area?

In my previous flat i had similar issues to you and i put the router in every concievable position to try and get better spread. In this flat, my wireless router is in a cupboard, not just a thin MDF cupboard, im talking one thats built into the walls with bricks and mortar with a rather thick wooden door, and i get excellent reception all over the place. Even in my bed, which has a big mirror right in the direct line from the router to where i use devices.

Same router, same technology but the only difference is this area has fewer routers to compete with.

[crossy]

Are you sure your issues aren't just because there is a lot of crowding in the area?

In my previous flat i had similar issues to you and i put the router in every concievable position to try and get better spread. In this flat, my wireless router is in a cupboard, not just a thin MDF cupboard, im talking one thats built into the walls with bricks and mortar with a rather thick wooden door, and i get excellent reception all over the place. Even in my bed, which has a big mirror right in the direct line from the router to where i use devices.

Same router, same technology but the only difference is this area has fewer routers to compete with.

Good thought. I actually got the "Wifi Analyser" app on one of my Android tablets and the 2.4GHz band is pretty busy (mainly with "virginmediaNNN" SSID's) but those are on the lower channel's and I'm lurking in channel 10 and above. Actually there's a place where the Cisco is worse than the Netgears - the latter you could easily set which channel to use, but the Cisco has "smart allocation" so it chooses the "best" band and you get no say in the matter.

Strangely enough the 5GHz band seems to be clear(ish). I've come to the conclusion that I'm just unlucky in choosing wireless gear (e.g. I had one Netgear actually suffer some kind of power issue and it fried). Maybe the smart idea is just to buy cheap and figure on changing every 12-18 months, instead of buying expensive and holding onto it - for example my current Linksys/Cisco is over three years old!

Now that 802.11ac seems to be setting down maybe I'll upgrade...

[Biscuit]

Good thought. I actually got the "Wifi Analyser" app on one of my Android tablets and the 2.4GHz band is pretty busy (mainly with "virginmediaNNN" SSID's) but those are on the lower channel's and I'm lurking in channel 10 and above. Actually there's a place where the Cisco is worse than the Netgears - the latter you could easily set which channel to use, but the Cisco has "smart allocation" so it chooses the "best" band and you get no say in the matter.

Strangely enough the 5GHz band seems to be clear(ish). I've come to the conclusion that I'm just unlucky in choosing wireless gear (e.g. I had one Netgear actually suffer some kind of power issue and it fried). Maybe the smart idea is just to buy cheap and figure on changing every 12-18 months, instead of buying expensive and holding onto it - for example my current Linksys/Cisco is over three years old!

Now that 802.11ac seems to be setting down maybe I'll upgrade...

Im using the cheapo Netgear router i got with my first Plusnet package, its not even 300Mbps 802.11n, only 150.

802.11ac is very good and improved connectivity in my Dads house 10 fold. You cant beat good old GbE though

[Big Adam]

Even in my bed, which has a big mirror....

Kinky!

[MrRockliffe]

Im using the cheapo Netgear router i got with my first Plusnet package, its not even 300Mbps 802.11n, only 150.

802.11ac is very good and improved connectivity in my Dads house 10 fold. You cant beat good old GbE though

I'm not sure whether it's the AC that's improved the speed or simply the 5GHz frequency it uses. I don't have an AC wireless card on my pc but Internet speeds are as quick as my laptop which does.

[Biscuit]

Could also have been down to it being a better router (BT Homehub) in fairness, there isn't much in the way of congestion where he is, so that's not a factor.

[3dcandy]

Had to go down the BT route (back at moms for a bit) and must admit the 5ghz channel is sooooooo much better as it's the only one in the area!

[Odeas]

Just use a repeater, good ol' cable or a powerline adapter to improve range or remove deadspots.

Sometimes just moving the router (sometimes not even far) if you have the option can make a massive difference.
Use something like inSSIDer on your phone to test which area's of your house are picking up the most external wifi networks, and see which channels are very busy.

The 2.4GHz band should give you a better range than the 5GHz band, but if its very crowded it may be worth using the 5GHz band if you've got devices that support it.