It may look like something out of a sketchy Sci-Fi movie, but the technology behind this little black box may well change the way we set up and consume our living room entertainment for ever. The TP Link AD7200 Router, is the first AD WiFi – aka WiGig – router in the world. It offers ultra fast WiFi speeds, we’re talking up to 7200 Mbps eventually, but only up to 10 meters range. That’s why they’re calling it Room WiFi. To get a comparison, you’re bog standard WiFi on your shelf at the moment is probably struggling to reach 500 Mbps right now.
So what use is this mega speed? Well for one thing, you’ll be able to shuffle around 4K video wirelessly and flawlessly, just as long as your devices are close enough, and with nothing in the way. This particular router is only rated at 4600 Mbps, due to the chipset, but plans are for the standard to increase over time, rather like technologies like 4G are always creeping up to their theoretical speeds. Check out the video below to see an exclusive first look at the technology in live action with an Asus laptop.
This particular router is the first in the world, but of course more brands and models are on the way to market. This particular router also supports standard WiFi a/c/n, so even if you don’t have any AD devices (e.g. laptops, phones or games consoles) lying around, you can still use it as a conventional home router, with a longer normal range.
The Asus laptop under test in the video is also one of the first AD enabled products to arrive on the market, but companies like Lenovo and DELL also have their own AD models on the way, so expect to see them trickle onto the shelves over the next two years. So should you throw out your HDMI cables now? No, of course not. As with all new techs, it will take time for enough momentum to generate so you can mix and match products reliably. The first breakthrough will probably be an AD dongle, which you may be able to use to convert older WiFi to high speed 60Ghz WiGig.
So for now, just sit back and think of how convenient it will be to wander into a room and start streaming high resolution movies or games from your smartphone without having to plug in a cable. Or how much fun you’ll get from using your phone to sync to your television for a high resolution video chat without a cable. The new router is currently shipping at $349.94 from Amazon US and for £349.99 from Scan UK ex shipping. Vroom!
