D-Link’s new wireless routers look like the future, and they act like it, too.
The Taiwanese network electronics company announced three new high-performance routers today, one of which, the AC3200, is available now and two, the AC3100 and AC5300, which will begin shipping this spring.
The new routers can move data at turbo speed: The AC5300, the fastest, has a top speed of 5.3 gigabits per second (Gbps). That’s because they use the new 802.11ac wireless standard, the newest incarnation of Wi-Fi, faster than any before.
From a design standpoint, D-Link is clearly shooting for out-of-this-world modern. The sleek, futuristic casing framed on four sides by antennas would be as welcome in a Star Wars movie as a Best Buy. Here’s a video released by the company that showcases the design:
But functionally, the routers offer more power than most people actually need. According to internet metrics company Ookla, the internet speed provided by an internet service provider to the average US household is about 32 megabits per second, about 0.5% of the top speed of the AC5300. Even the much-touted Google Fiber, which promises to transmit 1 gigabit per second—is not fast enough to max out D-Link’s routers.
Priced at $310 for the AC3200, the device is probably overkill for the average data consumer. But as the volume of data balloons and internet speeds continue to quicken, routers like these will have their moment.
Photo via Flickr by Jeremy Keith.