Beamforming technology, built into many 802.11ac
routers, focuses the signal for faster transmission.
Beam forming is one of those concepts that seem so simple
that you wonder why no one thought of them before. Instead of broadcasting a
signal to a wide area, hoping to reach your intended target, why not
concentrate the signal and aim it directly at the target?
Sometimes the simplest concepts are the most difficult to
execute, especially at retail prices. Fortunately, beamforming is finally
becoming a common feature in 802.11ac Wi-Fi routers, at least at the high end.
First, a bit of background: Beamforming was an optional
feature of the older 802.11n wireless networking standard, but the IEEE (the
international body that establishes these standards) didn’t spell out exactly
how it was to be implemented. The router you bought might have employed one
technique, but if the Wi-Fi adapter in your laptop used a different
implementation, beamforming wouldn't work.
Some vendors developed pre-paired 802.lln kits (with
Netgear's WNHDB3004 Wireless Home Theater Kit being one of the best examples),
but such kits tended to be expensive, and they never had much effect on the
market.
Beam Forming is
one of those concepts that seem so simple that you wonder why no one thought of
them before.
The IEEE didn't make the same mistake with the 802.11ac
standard that's in today's high-end devices. Companies building 802.11ac
products don't have to implement beamforming, but if they do, they must do so
in a prescribed fashion. This policy ensures that every company's products will
work together. If one device (such as the router) supports beamforming but the
other (such as the Wi-Fi adapter in your laptop) doesn't, they'll still work together;
they just won't take advantage of the beamforming technology.
Beamforming can help to improve wireless bandwidth
utilization, and it can increase a wireless network's range. Such enhancements
can in turn improve video streaming, voice quality, and other bandwidth- and
latency-sensitive transmissions.
Beamforming is made possible by transmitters and receivers
that use MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology: Devices send and
receive data using multiple antennas to increase throughput and range. MIMO was
introduced with the 802.lln standard, and it remains an important feature of
the 802.11ac standard.
Targeted signals
boost strength and rangeBeamforming concentrates the signals exchanged between
a Wi-Fi router and the clients it’s paired with.
How beamforming works
Wireless routers (or access points) and wireless adapters
that don't support beamforming broadcast data pretty much equally in all
directions. Think of the wireless router as a lamp without a shade: The bulb
(transmitter) radiates light (data) in all directions.
Devices that support beamforming focus their signals toward
each client, concentrating the data transmission so that more data reaches the
targeted device instead of radiating out into the environment. Think of putting
a shade on the lamp (the wireless router) to reduce the amount of light (data)
that's radiating in all directions. Now poke holes in the shade so that
concentrated beams of light travel to defined locations (your Wi-Fi clients) in
the room.
The Linksys EA6900
If the Wi-Fi client also supports beamforming, the router
and client can exchange information about their respective locations in order
to determine the optimal signal path. Any device that beamforms its signals is
called a beamformer, and any device that receives beamformed signals is called
a beamformee.
Netgear’s Beamforming+
As mentioned earlier, beamforming support is an optional
element of the 802.11ac wireless networking standard, and any vendor offering
the feature must adhere to a specific technique. But the vendor can also
provide other types of beamforming in addition to that standard technique.
Netgear's Beamforming+ (go.pcworld.com/ beamplus) is a
superset of the beamforming technique defined in the 802.llac standard, so it's
interoperable with any other 802.llac device that also supports beamforming.
But Beamforming+ does not require the client device to support beamforming, so
you could see range and throughput improvements by pairing one of Netgear's
routers - specifically, Netgear's model R6300 (go.pcworld.com/r6300), R6200, or
R6250 - with any 5GHz Wi-Fi device. Netgear's R7000 Nighthawk
(go.pcworld.com/nighthawk) router also supports beamforming on its 2.4GHz
network.
The Linksys EA6900
is one of several 802.11ac routers on the market that support beamforming
today.
Of course, Netgear is not the only router manufacturer to
support beamforming. The feature is becoming common on higher-end Wi-Fi routers
and access points. If you're in the market and you want a router that supports
beamforming, check the specs on the box or at the vendor's website. For three
other router options, consider the Linksys EA6900, the D-Link DIR-868L, and the
Trendnet TEW-812DRU.
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Specs and price
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802.11ac, backward-compatible with a/b/g/n Devices
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Linksys Smart Wi-Fi
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Data rates up to 600 Mbps (2.4 GHz) and 1.3 Gbps (5 GHz)
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Three (3) external dipole antennas
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Two (2) USB Ports (USB 2.0 and USB 3.0)
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Price: $199.99
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