User Manual

Tri-Band WiFi Connections
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Nighthawk X6 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router
For example, if three mobile devices are connected to one 5 GHz band, the fourth device is
automatically connected to the other 5 GHz band.
Internet
Printer
Legacy devices
Dual-band wireless devices
IP camera
Dual-band AC wireless devices
iPad Phone
Fast
2.4 WiFi band
Up to 450 Mbps
Faster
5 GHz WiFi Band 1
Up to 1.3 Gbps
Fastest
5 GHz WiFi Band 2
Up to 1.3 Gbps
MacBook Pro MacBook Air
iPhone
Desktop computer
Figure 10. Load balancing in a tri-band WiFi network
Slower devices like printers, older computers, or an IP camera connect to the 2.4 GHz band.
The availability of two 5 GH bands prevents overloading when many devices use WiFi at the
same time.
Benefits of Tri-Band WiFi
The tri-band WiFi network outperforms the dual-band network in several ways:
• More bandwidth is available.
Even with more devices connected to the network, because the connections are spread
across two dif
ferent bands, each device gets a larger share of the available WiFi
bandwidth. The capacity of the computers in Figure 9, A tri-band network offers two
dedicated 5 GHz bands on page 70 is 1,300 Mbps. The computers share a 5 GHz WiFi
band, and the WiFi connection of each is 650 Mbps, compared to 325 Mbps shown in
Figure 8, Dual-band WiFi network with one 5 GHz WiFi band on page 69.
• Smart Connect directs WiFi traf
fic to the appropriate lane.
With Smart Connect, older devices do not slow down faster devices.
• The router uses load balancing to avoid network congestion in each WiFi band.
With load balancing, you don’t need to share your WiFi connection with as many devices.