Netgear A6200 review: Good up close and flat-out fabulous at long range

January 29, 2014

Note: We updated this review in its entirety on 1/29/2014 when we compared the A6200 against five other 802.11ac Wi-Fi client USB adapters. Netgear’s A6200 wins the award for most ambitious industrial design. Its USB interface is mounted on a hinged connector, and its antenna is housed inside a thin rectangular bar that you can pivot to fine-tune its reception. If you’re a frequent traveler, Netgear’s antenna design is much less fragile than the Asus USB-AC56’s screw-on antenna (unless you take the time to remove the Asus model’s antenna every time you pack it). When I tested the Netgear adapter with its USB cradle and its antenna in a vertical orientation, its overall performance fell short of that of the first-place Asus USB-AC56 by just 2 megabits per second. But I saw a big gap between first and second place when the client was in close proximity to the router, separated by 9 feet: The Netgear delivered TCP throughput of 310 mbps whereas the Asus delivered 404 mbps. The A6200 placed second when the client was in the kitchen, too, delivering throughput of 312 mbps versus the 347 mbps that the USB-AC56 achieved.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2091802/netgear-a6200-review-good-up-close-and-flat-out-fabulous-at-long-range.html#tk.rss_reviews