Benchmarking
As is proper, I put the Rosewill T600N through a series of benchmarking tests. My primary comparison was with a Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H. Most of my testing was conducted between a mid-2012 13″ MacBook Air and a late-2009 13″ MacBook Pro.
For all tests involving Internet speed tests, I used Speedtest.net with a server in Reston, VA even though I’m in Pittsburgh, PA. I have a 150 Mbps / 65 Mbps Verizon FiOS connection, and I get the advertised speeds. This server is known to me to be one of the few near me that can actually max out my connection. I have maxed out my connection on several occasions, most recently when building a new rig and reinstalling stuff.
First, I used Speedtest.net to conduct a simple bandwidth throughput test. This is a test a new user would run, so its importance cannot be underestimated.
Rosewill T600N – Wired
Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H – Wired
Rosewill T600N – 2.4 GHz
Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H – 2.4 GHz
Rosewill T600N – 5 GHz
Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H – 5 GHz
Next, I ran some tests using iperf, a handy network performance testing tool for Unixy systems. Specifically, I used JPerf, a Java front-end for the command line program. I conducted tests with my MacBook Air as the client and the MacBook Pro as the server.
| Test | Rosewill T600N | Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H | Comments |
| Wired to wired, TCP throughput | 936 Mbps | 932 Mbps | |
| Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput | 141 Mbps | 132 Mbps | |
| Wireless 2.4 GHz to wired, TCP throughput | 45.2Mbps | 78.5 Mbps | This troubles me, but was repeatable. |
| Wireless 5 GHz to wired, UDP 1 Mbps average latency | 0.124 ms | 0.130 ms | |
| Wireless 2.4 GHz to wired, UDP 1 Mbps average latency | 1.082 ms | 0.336 ms | |
| Wireless 5 GHz to wired, UDP 300 Mbps throughput with average latency | 191 Mbps / 0.166 ms | 169 Mbps / 0.098 | |
| Wireless 2.4 GHz to wired, UDP 300 Mbps throughput with average latency | 59.5 Mbps / 0.524 ms | 88 Mbps / 0.269 ms | |
| Roaming Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput, Location 1 (same room, 5 ft away) | 141 Mbps | 130 Mbps | |
| Roaming Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput, Location 2 (next room, 15 ft away) | 126 Mbps | 120.8 Mbps | |
| Roaming Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput, Location 3 (living room, 15 ft vertical away) | 125 Mbps | 138.5 Mbps | |
| Roaming Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput, Location 4 (kitchen, 25 ft diagonal away) | 8.96 Mbps | 37.1 Mbps | This is a tough location because of all of the electrical work, walls, appliances, and other devices in the way. The Rosewill falls hard. It also fell hard in 2.4 GHz here, with approximately 7.75 Mbps. |
| Roaming Wireless 5 GHz to wired, TCP throughput, Location 5 (basement den, 30 ft vertical away) | 123 Mbps | 131.3 Mbps | Similar to the kitchen in opportunities for interference and signal degradation, my basement den is where my gaming rig and systems live. |
For a no-frills router that costs under $60, the Rosewill T600N has decent performance.
