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Linksys WRT3200ACM AC3200 MU-MIMO Gigabit WiFi Router Review

Testing & Methodology

Testing a router’s performance is a pretty straight forward process from my point of view. I will first test the wired network performance with TPC and UDP packets as well as with fixed and variable packet sizes.

The wireless bands will be tested in the same way as the wired connections, but I’ll add another variable to the test. I will adjust the distance between the router and the receiving WiFi connection from short over medium to long distance throughout my apartment. The positions are the same for every piece of network equipment that I’m testing.

I will be testing the router using both static and variable package sizes as well as TCP and UCP connections. This will give us the broadest view of the device’s capabilities. While it’s easy to test and give you comparable view on the wired connections, it is a different story for the wireless bands. Here we need to keep environmental factors which can’t be avoided in mind. I live in a pretty big apartment complex where many of the residents have multiple WiFi networks. Our ISP boxes have dual-band Wi-Fi and most apartments have an extra router connected which also features two bands of Wi-Fi. That are a lot of networks and it will naturally have an impact on the performance. The building is located in the middle of a city that’s basically a huge transport hub. All these industrial complexes also interfere with signals in the area. For example, terrestrial digital TV or Radio isn’t possible at all.

The issues mentioned above will naturally have an impact on the performance, but at the same time, it gives us a great view of how well the device can handle itself in a heavy traffic area. In a way, that’s much better than testing it under optimal conditions – after all, who of us has those?

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