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D-Link ANZ launches AX1800 and AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 mesh routers
Fri, 21st Aug 2020
FYI, this story is more than a year old

D-Link ANZ has launched two new EXO AX Series Wi-Fi 6 Routers, the DIR-X1860 AX1800 and the DIR-X5460 AX5400.

These two routers utilise Wi-Fi 6 to support the increasing about of wirelessly networked devices in the home. By combining Wi-Fi 6, otherwise known as 802.11ax Wi-Fi, with dual-band technology and gigabit Ethernet ports, both routers should provide a fast, seamless networking experience.

D-Link ANZ MD Graeme Reardon says, “By combining the very latest Wi-Fi 6 technology into our latest range of EXO AX Series Routers along with our easy-to-use D-Link Wi-Fi installation and management app and our award-winning 24/7 free technical support, it's an easy choice for customers to upgrade to the latest Wi-Fi technology in their home. With all the latest phones, tablets and smart home devices now coming out that have Wi-Fi 6 built-in, it's a great time to upgrade your home network and supercharge your home network speeds, whilst increasing your Wi-Fi coverage too.

The DIR-X1860 and DIR-X5460 feature a range of technologies to power a wireless network catering for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The devices utilise 1024 QAM, which according to D-Link, boosts throughput to devices by up to 25%, and 160MHz contiguous channel width for increased bandwidth.

D-Link boasts combined speeds of up to 5,400 Mbps (600 Mbps + 4,800 Mbps) for the DIR-X5460 and 1800 Mbps for the DIR-X1860 (1200 Mbps on the 5GHz and 600 Mbps on the 2.4GHz).

Built-in power amplifiers and beamforming extends the range and directs Wi-Fi signal towards connected devices. This allows the router to cover larger areas whilst supporting six simultaneous streams. This provides fast data throughput to multiple devices for high definition or 4K streaming media services, VR gaming and cloud storage access.

The Gigabit Ethernet LAN and WAN ports allow direct connection to the home network and ISP. futureproofing Internet speeds. The built-in Quality of Service (QoS) engine also allows for traffic prioritisation traffic preferred clients, ensuring that important devices are receiving optimal bandwidth.

In addition to MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multi-Input, Multi-Output) technology, the two new routers use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), a signature technology in Wi-Fi 6 that splits a channel into four sub-channels. This means signals from multiple devices get simultaneously transmitted together without queuing, resulting in 4x boost in bandwidth capacity. This is ideal for smart homes filled with bandwidth-hungry IoT devices eating up Wi-Fi capacity.

The routers have a couple of features to improve efficiency. BSS Colouring improves transmission efficiency by ‘colouring' them with their own unique code. This results in less interference and more range in congested Wi-Fi environments. Target Wake Time (TWT) schedules transmissions for client devices. This means they know when to be ready for data and when to take a break, increasing mobile device battery life.

The new routers are easy to set up and manage by downloading the free D-Link Wi-Fi app and following the on-screen, step-by-step instructions. In addition, access control features allow restrictions to network access, giving greater control over network users. The DIR-X1860 and DIR-X5460 integrate voice assistant compatibility for Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant for control of the network with voice commands.

The DIR-X1860 and DIR-X5460 both automatically check for updates on a daily basis. Updates are installed silently in the background. For extra peace of mind, in the event of failure during an automatic or manual firmware upgrade, the routers will store a backup system image in the memory before the upgrade occurs and safely fall back to this if necessary.

The DIR-X1860 AX1800 and DIR-X5460 AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Routers are available now from the D-Link web store and from all authorised D-Link partners and retailers.