Wi-Fi- 802.11a/b/g/n 2X2 ?

I�m currently comparing two HP �All-In-One� desktops. The price is the identical and the spec is same- except for Wi-Fi.

The first system is described as 802.11a/b/g/n.
The second is 802.11a/b/g/n 2X2.

It�s so long since *I�ve replaced a system that I don�t know what 802.11a/b/g/n 2X2 means and iwhat its implications are for good wireless broadband. Help!

The 2X2 is the MIMO configuration of the antennas.

More info here

Is it reasonable to assume that 802.11a/b/g/n 2X2 is an improvement on a "vanilla" wireless 'n' enabled system?

You might want to check whether both options include Bluetooth - if you use it.

I did check and both have bluetooth. I have come to use it a lot in the last year.

Purely technically it should be but depending on how they have implemented, what the actual router/wireless access point supports and the nature of the building it may make no difference whatsoever. My suspicion is it would be slightly better if the router supports 802.11n but I wouldn't make a buying decision based on it.

Just be warned as bluetooth is on the same frequency & on the same chip (as most wireless access points use 2.4Ghz) you often see the WiFi throughput severely crippled by bluetooth. For instance on my fibre connection of 80Mbps, connecting my bluetooth Bose speaker reduces speedtests from 50Mbps down to 9Mbps (both still very usable speeds but almost worlds apart).

On 5Ghz I do not see these issues, worth seeing if the cards dual band as 5Ghz gives substantially better speeds IF you are near to the router. As it's a desktop though you can always plug a better WiFi adapter in via USB.

In terms of the WiFi it's safe to assume (although may not be the case) that the one stating just wireless N is likely to be 1x1 which is likely to give WiFi N speeds of around 65Mbps (I notice HP cards typically end up like this on 1x1 cards), whereas the 2x2 is likely to be slightly better and perhaps more throughput. That said neither are outstanding but both likely to be absolutely fine for what 95% of people need.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Wed 20-Nov-13 17:52:08)

Thanks for that tip. I haven't noticed any difference because, at the moment, I only have bluetooth on my tablet and switch it off when the external devices are not in use.

Thanks again, Ian