Intel 6300 - 2 vs 3 antenna test

Aim: Is 3 antennas better than 2 on a 300mbps router?

Hardware & Test Parameters:

Router: Netcomm NB6Plus4Wn modem/router 300mbps (2x2 tx/rx) 2x -2dBi omni-antennas
Wireless Settings: 2.4ghz / 40mhz / N-only / CH13 / WPA2-AES / Turbo mode

Adapter: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 tx/tx) 3x -7dBi omni-antennas
Driver: 13.4.0.0

Distance: 50feet~ & 1 thin dry wall

Test software: Jperf 2.0.2 - 4 Parallel Streams for 30 seconds "bin/iperf.exe -c 192.168.1.4 -P 4 -i 1 -p 5001 -C -f k -t 30 -T 1"


Results:

1 Antenna - Just terrible, slow transfer rate (G speeds) and erratic fluctuations.



2 Antennas- Started fast but slowly dropped. (Less fluctuations, much faster transfer speeds than 1 antenna)



3 Antennas - Very consistent and fastest transfer rate



Conclusion: 2 antennas was close to the speeds of 3 but its less consistent. 3 antennas remained much more consistent and fastest throughout the test. The 3rd antennas 'extra performance' is there but probably not noticeable if your router is powerful and your right near it. Keep in mind i used a crap wifi router modem and i had another active router sitting next to it, so these quick tests isnt 100% accurate.


Im willing to try out other tests if you have any suggestions....

 

Awesome. Thank you!

 

After further retests between 2 vs 3 antennas. Its only about 2mbps~ difference per stream, close to marginal.

Theres a lot of people and things that move in my house so tests is varying.

 

At least one I wasn't wrong
But while you're at it could you test how it affects signal quality when you are as far from the router as possible?
If it can connect with 3 antennas at a location that it's impossible to connect with only two (or at a location where speeds with two antennas are marginal while three antennas give you usable speeds)- this 3 antennas thing would make sense.

 

Unfortunately the 6300 i used on this test is used inside a desktop so i cant really move it far. Id have to go outside the house to lose enough signal quality.

After further retests of 3 antennas, the very highest i got was about 16mbps x 4 streams so about 64mbps~ total (not bad for an old router). Results is fairly consistent on all tests.

2 antennas retests seem to vary between 12-14mbps. If i keep retesting enough i feel i can get results marginal to 3 antennas. The rates just fluctuate a bit more.

 

I have to admit I'm glad it doesn't really improve performance because that's what I've been telling other users (based on some tests I've seen).
It would be quite unfortunate if I turned out to be a compulsive liar
Doesn't help credibility that much especially that I'm about to write a router guide and new wireless guide for this sub-forum.

 

Well earlier there was a lot of wifi traffic and radio interference now that its past midnight, the 2 vs 3 speeds are nearly the same

So from the looks of it 3 antennas is just more effective against loss from interference.

I will have to do a complete retest, but this time isolate everything to increase accuracy.

 

I just want to add that while I don't notice any difference between 2 and 3, the difference between 1 and 2 is pretty drastic for me. It even drops the signal every now and then.

Also at my house where I'm at right now, the only wireless networks I can find are both mine.