What is the difference between Wi-Fi standards?

Just like every other area of technology, Wi-Fi connections are advancing in leaps and bounds. The best-known standards of recent times are 802.11n and 802.11ac. So what is the difference between them? And does an older standard necessarily mean a worse one?

The 802.11ac standard was completed in 2013, and you can now find it in every decent smartphone, laptop, desktop computer or even smart TV. 802.11ac is the direct successor to the 802.11n standard, which had been built into devices from around 2007. But what exactly do the individual standards offer, and how do you get the very most out of them?

TIP: Before you start, you may want to read the article How to measure your internet connection speed and what the speed of internet in the Czech Republic actually is

Wi-Fi speed is relative

Chipsets that support the 802.11ac standard are fully compatible with earlier Wi-Fi standards, whether that is 802.11a (introduced in 1999), 802.11b (2000), 802.11g (2003) or 802.11n (2007). Compatibility with older standards brings a number of advantages, but it also comes with numerous drawbacks in the form of limited performance, corresponding to the period when those standards were in use. So what are the advantages?

When it comes to technology, progress is moving forward at an ever-increasing pace, and a single year is practically an eternity. Wi-Fi standards are no exception in this respect. With them, it's mainly about speed. Wi-Fi standards list a so-called theoretical speed, which for 802.11ac is 1,300 Mbps – three times more than the 450 Mbps of the 802.11n standard. At first glance this is a huge difference, but the key is in the word “theoretical”. In most cases, an ordinary user never comes close to theoretical speeds: the highest real-world speed for 802.11ac is roughly 720 Mbps, while for 802.11n it is 240 Mbps. 

What else distinguishes the individual standards? Antennas – or rather, how many antennas each standard supports. The 802.11ac standard can support up to eight antennas, each of which can handle over 400 Mbps, but the fastest routers have only four antennas. The reason is that a higher number of antennas would not only increase the cost of the device, but would also place greater demands on its dimensions. If you own a four-antenna 802.11ac router, when connecting a single-antenna smartphone you get a maximum theoretical speed of 400 Mbps and a real-world speed of roughly 200 Mbps. 

At first glance this doesn't sound like much, but it is still a higher speed than most home broadband connections offer. A limitation only arises if you want to wirelessly transfer files between devices on your local network. The 802.11n Wi-Fi standard also supports up to four antennas, but each of them can barely handle 100 Mbps. However, the 802.11ac standard has one more major advantage…

Range 

Looking at this comparison, the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard is not only faster, but – and this is more important – it also offers higher speeds over a greater range. The 802.11ac standard uses the 5 GHz frequency, while the 802.11n standard additionally operates on the 2.4 GHz frequency. While the 2.4 GHz frequency is used by a whole range of devices, from cordless phones to microwave ovens, the 5 GHz frequency remains relatively unaffected and unoccupied.

Another key factor is a phenomenon called beamforming. A wireless signal normally spreads out from the device in all directions – imagine a stone thrown onto the surface of water and the concentric rings that spread out from it. That is why it is usually recommended to place the router as close to the centre of the home or office as possible, and as high as possible. Beamforming, however, handles the signal in a completely different way. It is part of the 802.11ac standard. It is a kind of “smart signal”, able to detect where the connected devices are and adjust the distribution of the signal accordingly.

Times are changing

As we mentioned in the introduction to this article, technology is moving forward at a dizzying pace. Not so long ago, the 802.11ac standard was a fairly inaccessible and expensive thing, but now it is a standard feature of every decent smartphone, tablet, laptop or smart TV, and it is even finding its way into cheaper devices. The reasons are not only the undeniable advantages of this standard – especially for single-antenna devices such as smartphones – but also its better impact on battery life and, last but not least, falling prices. The price difference between the individual standards is still noticeable, especially for routers. AC wireless routers are often several tens of percent more expensive, but in this case the investment is definitely worth it. 

In 2024, we at UVT Internet offer practically all technologies and can connect you anywhere in the Czech Republic. And if you have already ordered internet from us and are waiting at home for the technician, you can also read our other articles :)

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Updated 5 March 2024