Received a free Vodafone Gigabit modem, should I replace the old one?

Hungryhill

I have a 100Mbit fibre connection with an old Huawei HG659 router, everything works well with ~150 Mbits DL speed. Vodafone texted me that they would send me this new Gigabit router at no charge (thought it was a scam but today I've actually got it).

Since my home WIFI works well, what kind of benefits would I get (if any) if I replace the old router with this new one? (Aside from apparently being able to use a phone app to view the channels etc).

My router is quite customized with some static IP's, media center, devices setups, NAS etc. so it would be an hassle to redo everything.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058338385/received-a-free-vodafone-gigabit-modem-should-i-replace-the-old-one

If it aint broke dont fix it.

As you said you have some customisation done, static IPs etc, you could spend an age getting that set up on the new one, only to find no discernable change in performance. I'd put the new one in a press for that potential day when your current gives up the ghost.

cnocbui

WiFi 6 6E speeds potentially, but that's likely only for devices with line of sight to the router in the same room for 6E and possibly faster on 6 with obstructions like block walls.

Hungryhill

Mobile devices around the house don't even have Wifi 6 so ok, I won't bother. Incredible that they're sending unrequested new routers to (presumably) loads of customers, must cost a lot of money to Vodafone.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121832496#Comment_121832496

6Ghz should be relatively okay through a wall or three. Of course it can depend on materials in the wall, etc. But it definitely isn't considered a same room only frequency, like higher frequencies, it would only be very slightly worse then 5Ghz

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121836438#Comment_121836438

I should have been clearer, I was meaning that obstructions would likely prevent achieving the higher speeds, not that the signal would be totally blocked. WiFi based speed tests in my house show a very noticeable decline in speed with distance from the router and intervening walls.

The higher the frequency in the radio spectrum, the more susceptible it is to degradation with distance and obstructions.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837402#Comment_121837402

Distance and obstructions cause all radio frequencies to fall off, doesn't matter if 2.4, 5 or 6GHz.

But then other factors can also cause a drop in performance. For instance if you have lots of neighbours on 5GHz, that will cause interference and cause lower data rates.

The 6GHz of wifi 6E has a number of very attractive advantages. Wider data channels and more of them for one should allow for higher data speeds. It also supports higher QAM rates, thus it can carry more data in a given spectrum.

6GHz hits a sweet spot where it should cover a typical Irish semi-d well, while not transmitting as far so you won't suffer as much from neighbours wifi routers even if they too have Wifi 6E. Wifi 6 only supports 1 x 160MHz channels, while Wifi 6E supports 4 x 160MHz channels, thus more space to not interact with neighbours.

And there there is just the reality of Wifi 6E being so new, that your neighbours are less likely to have it, so you are more likely to have the 6GHz to yourself.

It is perfect for apartment buildings or dense city areas.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838962#Comment_121838962

It's all very theoretical.

To actually get anywhere close to the supposed 9.6 Gbps speed of 6/6E you would need to spend a lot for a router that can actually deliver high speeds on Wifi.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840402#Comment_121840402

You wouldn’t see 9Gig, but you will definitely see a double or tripling in speeds over 5GHz when you move to 6GHz and suffer less from interference. It really isn’t theoretical, it is actually quiet simple and a very nice upgrade.

Glaceon

In my last house, I was able to use 160 MHz channels on 5 GHz and fully saturate my gigabit internet connection. I was living in an area where 5 GHz was fairly quiet, so nobody was interfering with me. But now, I've moved into a new estate and everyone around me has 5 GHz routers so the band is quite congested. I couldn't use 160 MHz channels without getting interference from others, or me interfering with them.

As a result, I've been using Wi-Fi 6E for a while now with a pair of Ubiquiti U6 Enterprise access points. I have one of the access points on the ceiling of the landing upstairs and a second one in the utility room downstairs. Right now, I'm using it behind a closed door upstairs. I'm getting -46 dBm signal strength, which is excellent. The link speed in the system properties shows 2402 Mbps, so taking overheads into account I could probably get about 50% more than the standard gigabit out of it if I had a 2.5 Gb switch, but for now I'm saturating the gigabit link without any hassle.

The range on 6 GHz is slightly worse but nothing to worry about from my experience.