802.11ac is the next advancement in wireless networking protocol, boasting up to three times the speed of the now widely used 802.11n. While this is an incredible advancement in wireless technology, it really only applies toward local networking, for now. In other words, it won’t make your connection to the internet any faster, as the bottleneck in that case is the rate at which data is delivered to you from your service provider.
What this technological advancement does improve, however, is local speeds. These connection speeds will make streaming an HD movie or television show a lot more snappy, even to multiple devices simultaneously. It will also give you much quicker backups to your Time Capsule or NAS device.
Using a technology called Beamforming, an 802.11ac signal will be able to more efficiently deliver data to your compatible computer/device. Beamforming allows a transmitted signal to become directional and more specific with its target. Transmitting from antenna to antenna will be a lot more direct than it has been, resulting in a higher total received signal level.
To put this speed into numbers: The current standard, 802.11n, has a maximum single bandwidth stream of 150Mbps. 802.11ac, on the other hand, has a maximum single bandwidth stream of 433Mbps. On top of this, some of the devices being released with this technology will have three antennas, combining three streams together for a combined bandwidth of 1.3Gbps.
802.11ac has not been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance as of yet, but is expected to be early next year. As Wi-Fi becomes increasingly more and more important and depended on in both businesses and homes, it’s a good thing to be aware of and prepare for these changes and advancements of the technology.