UAE buildings strong for wi-fi routers, say manufacturers
How often have you found wi-fi routers, which promise you 300 metres-plus of uninterrupted coverage, that does not even have enough range to reach your second and third bed rooms?
According to experts what is printed on router covers and subsequently promised by most retail staff is what works in an open environment.
In fact, there are no routers in the market that can successfully penetrate the hard concrete structures of walls in most apartments and villas in the UAE to reach beyond the second bed room.
Linksys, for example is showcasing its new top model in the Linksys Smart WiFi router line-up - the Linksys Smart WiFi AC1900 Router at Gitex.
But, to be honest. even this cannot do the job.
A Linksys official confirmed to Emirates24|7 that despite placing three antennas at the back of the router it becomes difficult to reach beyond 30 feet with multiple walls in between.
"The way the buildings are designed here, it becomes difficult for the wi-fi signals to reach the other end of the house. Unless you place the router at the centre of the house, the signals can only reach devices at its peak levels in a one bedroom apartment."
According to the official what happens otherwise is your devices struggle hard to get on to the Wifi connection, thereby draining the battery much faster than it otherwise should.
In most apartments and villas, the router points are placed right at the entrance of the house, near the door and inside a cubicle in a wall, making it even more difficult for the routers to extend their signals.
"We have been specifically facing this issue here," said an official from Edimax - another manufacturer of routers.
Meanwhile, according to a press statement by Linksys the AC1900 Router offers speeds up to 600Mbps to Wireless-N clients and up to 1300Mbps to Wireless-AC clients.
© Emirates 24|7 2013
