For their new wireless adapter Rivet Networks has partnered with Intel, producing "the worlds fastest 2×2 11ac wireless networking adapter" in the Killer Wireless-AC 1550. This new adapter supports the 802.11ac Wave 2 standard and offers up to 1.73 Gbps throughput using 160 MHz channels.
"The first product to come out of Rivet Networks’ new partnership with Intel, the Killer™ Wireless-AC 1550 is the world’s fastest 2×2 11ac wireless networking adapter. The Killer Wireless-AC 1550 has been designed to combine the speed, intelligence, and control of Killer Networking products with the power and performance of the latest Intel wireless chipset. Delivering faster than gigabit Ethernet speeds along with the gaming functionality that gamers love, the Killer 1550 is the ideal wireless networking product for competitive gamers and performance users who demand the most from their computers."
Killer Networking lists these features for the Killer Wireless-AC 1550:
- Gigabit Wi-Fi Speeds: The Killer Wireless-AC 1550, featuring 160 MHz channel support, has a theoretical max throughput speed of 1.73Gbps when connected to a router that supports 160 MHz channels. This is faster than gigabit Ethernet and twice the speed of standard 2×2 11ac products.
- MU-MIMO Support: Killer 1550 includes full MU-MIMO (Multi-User-Multiple Input and Multiple-Output) support, which dramatically increases network efficiency by working with a MU-MIMO enabled access point. MU-MIMO allows wireless access points to support multiple transmissions at the same time, versus a single transmission at a time like normal access points. This creates additional efficiencies that can provide up to 60% faster download speeds, lower latency, and a better overall connection.
- Transmit Beamforming Technology: Killer 1550 also has Transmit Beamforming technology, which allows the Killer Wireless-AC 1550 to share location information directly to your wireless access point so that the access point can better direct its signals to you. This creates stronger wireless signals at all ranges and faster data transfers.
- Complete 802.11ac functionality: Supports dual band (2.4 GHz and 5GHz), IEEE standards-based 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, and includes Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
While the big news might be the Intel co-developed hardware, as this is a Killer Networking product the software is a big component in the overall experience. Options configurable via the Killer Control Panel include Advanced Stream Detect 2.0 for automated traffic prioritization for games and streaming, along with Lag and Latency Reduction Technology and Killer DoubleShot Pro support.
The first devices with the new Killer Wireless-AC 1550 adapter are being released this month.
Are there any Intel wireless
Are there any Intel wireless cards newer than the 7260 which still come on mini-PCI-E? Everything newer seems to be M.2.
Can KILLER just die already
Can KILLER just die already
Can someone tell Killer to
Can someone tell Killer to stop putting their NICs in motherboards?
The biggest waste is when you see one with an intel NIC and a Killer NIC, thus you end up with 2 Ethernet ports, and you can’t even do teaming with them.
160MHz channel width at 2 streams, has a larger throughput dropoff with distance than other modes since WiFi chipset makers keep wanting to lower transmit power when using it.
160MHz channel width mainly shows its benefit when in the same room as the router,and even then, you end up with a real world max throughput of around 750-800Mbps but with many fluctuations.
In such a situation though, you might as well just use Ethernet and get a guaranteed full gigabit with no fluctuations.