What is the actual rated AC speed of the 'new' 2019 router?

[SaxonRix]

I'm trying to decide if it's worth moving from the provided router to a 3rd party router as I have a lot of smart devices & wifi CCTV cameras that require good wifi LAN speeds to work seamlessly. Currently I'm seeing some lagging with stuff & I think a higher rated AC speed router would help fix that, but I can't find anywhere what the rated speed of the Vodafone router is.

Does anyone know?

Also, I'm on SuperSpeed 2, so will need a Modem Router if I am to move to a 3rd party one. Does anyone have any recommendations about which router to switch too?

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone has ever published a definitive AC rating for the THG3000,  From how it appears to other devices in the neighbourhood it is a minimum AC2200 (1733 on 5GHz and 450 on 2.4GHz) and may even be AC2600 or above.  It's chipset the BCM4366 is capable of up to 8 simultaneous 802.11ac streams (that does NOT limit you to 8 ac devices at any one time as you may see some on here reporting!).

On a personal note, once you start using multiple smart-devices it does seem that Vodafone's default routers struggle.  I think we max out at around 30 devices on the network here - with more smarts on 433MHz and 866Mhz connected to hubs - and our main AC2900 router copes fine, but our previous AC1900 router that is now meshed with it had definitely been starting to struggle on its own!

*We never really managed with the VF router due to problems with internal streaming being unreliable (that being an incredibly polite way of putting it)!

[SaxonRix]

Hey, thanks for the response!

In the router Status & Support page, it states this for the wifi ranges:

Main Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz

Bandwidth 72 Mbps

Max BW 288 Mbps

Minimum Sync Speed 72 Mbps

Main Wi-Fi 5 GHz

Bandwidth 180 Mbps

Max BW 2 Gbps

Minimum Sync Speed 180 Mbps

so I guess it must be something like an AC2200.

I use Powerline throughout the house so I have a bunch of my stuff set up through that, for nvidia shields, tvs, Philips hue hub, NAS etc. Then wifi wise it's the obvious stuff such as Phones & Tablets, and then smart plugs & smart extensions (got about 12 of them), 2x Harmony Hubs/Remotes, Sonos Speakers, A couple google home devices etc. I also currently have 4x (soon to be 6x) 5mp smart wifi cctv cameras which capture at 4096kbps each (these are pretty much the only smart devices connected to the 5Ghz wifi, where the rest are connected to the 2.4Ghz wifi).

Even taking into account the 4096kbps of 6x cameras (which is only like a total of 24mbps out of a supposed possible 2gbps for the 5Ghz wifi), in theory, with those 'specs' (as the 'Bandwidth' & 'Minimum Sync Speed' rates appear to actually change depending on what is being used etc), the router should be fine as there's a lot of headroom according to the 'Max BW' rating.... But it definitely doesn't feel like things are working as smoothly as they should etc. Everything through Powerline/ethernet works perfectly though.

Out of interest, which 3rd Party router did you switch to?

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

A couple of things I'd be checking.

Check what happens to the connection speeds over your powerline network if you unplug an adapter.  Some powerline networks start to see the data rates fall off a cliff once you've more than four nodes.

The way you describe the cameras I assume they are connected to a network PVR and are constantly recording.  Although the bandwidth may be only 24Mbps, even if they are MU-MIMO devices they'll hit the network hard, and if they're not MU-MIMO they could be hitting it really hard.  I'd suggest that you might be best off with a router that has dual 5GHz bands - even though such routers tend to sacrifice range for the extra bandwidth.

[Silichip-X]

I understand this is an old post but have some useful info to share and not necessarily to reply.

Anyway, the easiest way to check your router's maximum speed.
1. Open Windows Settings and click on Internet & Network tab.
2. On the left side click on WiFi then click on Hardware Properties.
3. Take a look at the Link Speed to receive and transmit in MBps.

The THG3000 Model:
WiFi 4 (N150) 2.4GHz Link Speed: 144MBps Channel Size up to 40MHz.

WiFi 5 (AC1200) 5GHz Link Speed: 866MBps Channel Size up to 80MHz.

I recommend you get a WiFi 6 (AX3000) mesh hub network for maximum speed.

I hope someone will find this helpful.

[Silichip-X]

Sorry, I ran out of time before finish editing the image on my last post, so here it is again.

Anyway, the easiest way to check your router's maximum speed.
1. Open Windows Settings and click on Internet & Network tab.
2. On the left side click on WiFi then click on Hardware Properties.
3. Take a look at the Link Speed to receive and transmit in MBps.

The THG3000 Model:
WiFi 4 802.11n (N150) 2.4GHz Link Speed: 144MBps Channel Size up to 40MHz.
WiFi 5 802.11ac (AC1200) 5GHz Link Speed: 866MBps Channel Size up to 80MHz.
I recommend you get a WiFi 6 (AX3000) mesh hub network for maximum speed.

I hope someone will find this helpful.

[Cynric]

... and remember, should you decide to change the channel width to the larger setting then you may be stomping all over your neighbour's WiFi too! 😀  I had a neighbour swamp the 2.4GHz band from channel 2 to 10.

[Silichip-X]

@Cynric, The more reason why you should change the network hub to WiFi 6 with 160MHz channel width. 😉

[Ripshod]

There's the other side of @Cynric 's coin too. If you force a 160Mhz channel and run it over the top of someone on 80 or 40 you yourself will start suffering the interference they will cause you. Auto 40/80/160 protects you from interference too. Most of the time 160 won't be available because of other users.

This "I've got it so I'll use it" attitude is bad for everyone. 

[CrimsonLiar]

Those may be the speeds you are seeing, but I believe the tech specs are significantly higher than you've posted - they're probably limited by the equipment you are connecting with!

So I understand that the 2.4GHz is 3x3 and should theoretically top out at 450Mbps.

The 5GHz is 4x4 and should top out at 1732Mbps if you can get a 4x4 client.

You'll never get those speeds due to overhead but it's enough to get the router classed as AC2200.

On the 160MHz channel width...  The router here seems to prefer to sit at 80MHz on either CH100 or CH116 rather than in the lower band at 160MHz but at the lower power of that band and contesting with neighbour's WiFi (not a big issue)...