In the description of your Keenetic router (in its technical specifications), you can see a Wi-Fi class indication. For example: AX1800, AC2600, AC1300, AC1200 or N300. What do these letters and numbers mean?
AX
This means that the router's Wi-Fi access point supports the IEEE 802.11ax standard (Wi-Fi 6). The router can operate in two frequency bands, 2.4 and 5 GHz. This standard is backwards compatible with previous wireless standards. You will be able to connect IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax devices to this access point.
AC
This indicates that the Wi-Fi access point of the router supports the IEEE 802.11ac standard (Wi-Fi 5). The router can operate in two frequency bands, 2.4 and 5 GHz. This standard is backwards compatible with previous wireless standards. You can connect IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac devices to this access point.
N
This means that the router's Wi-Fi access point supports the IEEE 802.11n standard (Wi-Fi 4).
The router can operate in a single 2.4 GHz frequency band. This standard is backwards compatible with previous wireless networking standards. You will be able to connect IEEE 802.11b/g/n devices to this access point.
TIP: Help: As for the numbers in the Wi-Fi class definition, they are rounded values resulting from the sum of the maximum possible channel speeds of the 2.4 and 5 GHz access points, which are hardware implemented on different chips and operate in parallel and independently of each other.
AX3200 is used, for example, in Titan (KN-1811).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 2402 Mbps in the 5 GHz band plus 800 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. For maximum connection speed, use 802.11ax devices with MIMO 4x4 Wi‐Fi adapters that work with a channel width of up to 160 MHz.
AX3000 is used in Buddy 6 (KN-3411).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 2402 Mbps in the 5 GHz band plus 574 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band on the 802.11ax standard. For maximum connection speed, use 802.11ax devices with MIMO 2x2 Wi‐Fi adapters that work with a channel up to 160 MHz wide for receiving and transmitting.
AX1800 is used in Hero (KN-1011), Hero 4G+ (KN-2311), Hopper (KN-3810), Sprinter (KN-3710), Hopper DSL (KN-3610) and Voyager Pro (KN-3510).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 1201 Mbps on the 5 GHz band plus 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. For maximum connection speeds, use 802.11ax client devices with 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi adapters operating with 80 MHz channel width and 1024-QAM modulation support.
AC2600 Wave 2* is used in Peak (KN-2710), Titan (KN-1810) and Peak DSL (KN-2510).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 1733 Mbps on the 5 GHz band plus 800 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. For maximum connection speeds, use 802.11ac devices with MIMO 4x4 Wi-Fi adapters operating with a channel width of up to 160MHz.
AC1300 is used in Giant (KN-2610), Hero DSL (KN-2410), Hero 4G (KN-2310) and Skipper (KN-1910).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, plus 400 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. For maximum connection speeds, use 802.11ac devices with 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi adapters operating on an 80MHz channel width.
AC1200 is used in Carrier (KN-1711), Explorer (KN-1611) and Speedster (KN-3010).
Provides a maximum connection speed of 867Mbps on the 5GHz band plus 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. For maximum connection speeds, use devices with MIMO 2x2 type Wi-Fi adapters operating with an 80 MHz channel width.
N300 is used in Runner 4G (KN-2210) and Buddy 4 (KN-3210).
Delivers a maximum wireless connection speed of 300 Mbps with IEEE 802.11n devices using two spatial streams (MIMO 2x2) and 40 MHz channel width.
NOTE: Important! Wireless connection speeds depend on the standard of the devices to be connected, the number of spatial streams (MIMO) they use and the channel width. The speeds stated above are channel speeds (connection speeds at the physical layer). The actual data transfer rate will be approximately 50-60% of the channel rate in practice.
The higher the Wi-Fi class, the more capability the wireless access point has, and the higher speeds can be achieved. Maximum connection speeds can only be achieved with an appropriately rated client. Devices of previous generations or with lesser spatial streams will connect at lower speeds.
The wider the Wi-Fi bandwidth, the more interference from neighbouring networks will affect your network. For this reason, a Wi-Fi network operating on an 80 MHz channel width will, in some cases, provide a more stable and faster connection than a 160 MHz channel width. If you are experiencing slower speeds on a 160 MHz channel width, we recommend that you change your wireless network settings to an 80 MHz channel width to reduce interference, which can have a positive effect on Wi-Fi stability and speed.
More information on 802.11n/ac/ax can be found in the articles:
- What you need to know about Wi-Fi 4 (IEEE 802.11n)
- What you need to know about Wi-Fi 5 (IEEE 802.11ac)
- What you need to know about Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax)
* Wave 2 — The second version of the Wi-Fi 5 standard (802.11ac). Keenetic Titan (KN-1810), Peak (KN-2710) and Peak DSL (KN-2510) are fully implemented with the second version of the standard.
TIP: Tip: The second revision of the 802.11ac Wave 2 standard is based on the previous version of the standard but with some significant changes, as follows:
— Increased performance from 1.3 Gbps to 2.34 Gbps;
— Added support for Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) with four spatial streams;
— Channel width increased to 160 MHz (eight standard 20 MHz channels are used at once; this mode takes twice the band, which for some devices that do not support an extensive set of channels will result in a non-overlapping network on the air; 160 MHz channels are in reality relevant for customers who have them supported and operate in the pure 5 GHz radio spectrum);
— Increased number of channels in the 5 GHz band.