Throughput vs. Attenuation

We have now retested five AC1750 class routers using the new method. The charts have also been upgraded so that we can now display up to six products on the Throughput vs Attenuation plots vs. four previously. While it makes for a busy looking chart, you do get a good feel for how all of the products compare to each other. For the charts below, I selected all five of the retested AC1750 class routers.

2.4 GHz

For 2.4 GHz downlink, most products started out fairly evenly. But the ASUS RT-AC66U and the Linksys EA6500 broke out from the pack at about 15 dB of attenuation. The plot for the EA6500 stayed above and to the right of the rest of the products (better) starting at about 27 dB through the rest of its range that ended at 63 dB. At 15 dB, the R6300v2 dropped below the line, but recovered from 39 dB out to 54 dB. It was the first to drop its connection at 57 dB of attenuation.

For 2.4 GHz uplink, as you might expect from the low average performance uplink results shown above, the R6300v2 started out with lower performance and tracked the same bottom plot line as the D-Link DIR-868L. The top two performers with attenuation less than 36 dB were the TP-Link Archer C7 V2 and the ASUS RT-AC66U.

2.4 GHz Downlink and Uplink Throughput vs Attenuation for AC1750 Class routers

5 GHz

The NETGEAR R6300V2 performed fairly well on 5 GHz downlink tests. But then again, looking at the charts, you can see that the results are very tightly grouped for most levels of attenuation. Four of the five routers lost their connection at 39 dB, but at 36 dB, the R6300v2 has the best throughput (51 Mbps) of all of the routers.

5 GHz Downlink and Uplink Throughput vs Attenuation for AC1750 Class routers

Closing Thoughts

The router ranker can help us make sense of all of the numbers we've discussed. For the screenshot below, I filtered for AC1750 routers, and then selected the "pink" testing method (V8). While most often we look at Total Router scores, the dropdown box shows that there are four other rankings that can help you understand how each router stacks up. Unfortunately, for the NETGEAR R6300v2, the numbers aren't in its favor.

Router Ranker for AC1750 class routers using the latest testing methodology

If you generate charts for each of the five rankings, you'll discover that the R6300v2 ranks last for every ranking except for Routing Throughput, where it scored #2 behind the TP-LINK Archer C7 V2. In the end, the R6300v2's performance doesn't justify having the second highest price in the category.

The Archer C7 has received a lot of notice for decent performance at a sub-$100 price point. And, as we pointed out in the AC1750 retest article, Linksys recently discontinued the EA6500. You can purchase a refurb EA6500-RM directly from Linksys for $95 with free shipping and a 30 day money back guarantee. Either of these products will let you try out an AC1750 router without breaking the bank.

Introduction, Inside Routing Perf, Storage Perf, Wireless Perf Throughput vs. Atten, Closing

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