Jetstream AC3000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Gaming Router - Review 2022

Sold exclusively at Walmart, the Jetstream AC3000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Gaming Router ($235) is a midrange model that uses three Wi-Fi bands—two 5GHz and one 2.4GHz—to help balance network traffic in homes where online gaming and 4K video streaming vie for network bandwidth. It's very easy to install and turned in respectable scores on our close-range throughput performance tests, simply its long-range performance was spotty. Although the Jetstream AC3000's second 5GHz band will assist distribute Wi-Fi traffic, this gaming router lacks the device prioritization settings and parental controls that you lot get with the less expensive Editors' Choice Asus RT-AC86U.

Tri-Ring Service

A shiny black wedge-shaped enclosure that measures one.9 past 9.two by vi.0 inches (HWD), the Jetstream AC3000 can sit down on a desktop or be hung on a wall using the mounting holes on the base. The router has eight nonremovable, adaptable antennas, and around back you lot'll find 4 gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a USB 3.0 port, and power and reset buttons. The front of the cabinet contains LED indicators for Status, Wi-Fi, WAN, and all four LAN ports. Likewise upwards forepart are a WPS button and a Turbo button that can be used to flush the router's internal retentivity. The Turbo button is supposed to provide optimized performance, but I saw no noticeable comeback in my tests.

The Jetstream AC3000 is a tri-band router powered past a dual-core processor running at 800MHz and 1GB of RAM. It has one 2.4GHz ring and two 5GHz bands and tin can reach speeds of upwards to 400Mbps on the ii.4GHz band, upward to 867Mbps on i of the 5GHz bands, and up to ane,733Mbps on the secondary 5GHz band. It uses Wave ii 802.11ac technology which supports MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) simultaneous data streaming to compatible clients, and direct-to-client point transmissions, or beamforming.

The router can be managed using an iOS or Android mobile app or with a web console. The web console opens to a Condition screen that shows how many clients are connected, LAN and WAN network stats, and wireless SSIDs and channels. Click the Clients push to see a detailed list of connected devices. At the bottom of the screen are Status, Wizard, Wi-Fi, and Setup buttons. The Status button takes you back to the Status screen and the Wizard push button tin be used to run the Setup Magician.

Utilize the Wi-Fi button to configure wireless settings such as SSID names and Passwords, Security Type (Open, WPA/WPA2 Mix, WPA, WPA2), Wi-Fi Aqueduct and Channel width, and Wi-Fi Style. In the Setup menu, you tin configure LAN and WAN settings, set up USB sharing, manage Firewall settings, configure NAT and DMZ settings, and update the router firmware. Missing from the Jetstream AC3000's management features are the robust parental controls and malware protection that you get with routers such every bit the Asus RT-AC86U and the TP-Link Archer C2300.

Good Close-Range Performance

The Jetstream AC3000 uses a spider web-based Setup Wizard that makes installation quick and like shooting fish in a barrel. Information technology can also exist installed using an iOS or Android mobile app. I connected the router to my modem and to my desktop PC, powered information technology up, and typed 192.168.10.1 in my browser address bar. This launched the wizard, which walked me through several steps including Part Type (Router, Bridge, Wi-Fi Client), SSID and Password creation, Security Type, and WAN Type (DHCP, Static, PPPoE). I checked for the latest firmware (it was up to date) and setup was complete.

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Throughput functioning was mixed. The Jetstream AC3000 garnered 135Mbps on the ii.4GHz shut-proximity (same-room) throughput test, chirapsia both the Netgear XR500 and the Asus RT-AC86U by 31Mbps. The Linksys WRT32X beat out them all with a score of 148Mbps. The Jetstream AC3000's score of 41Mbps on the xxx-human foot 2.4GHz test was the slowest of the bunch, but the Netgear XR500 was but faster by 1Mbps. The Asus RT-AC86U and the Linksys WRT32X both managed 86Mbps on this test.

On the 5GHz close-proximity exam, the Jetstream AC3000's score of 470Mbps was faster than the Linksys WRT32X, but trailed the Netgear XR500 past 21Mbps. The Asus RT-AC86U took top honors with 550Mbps. In one case over again, the Jetstream AC3000 struggled with long-range throughput: Its score of 128Mbps on the 30-foot examination took terminal place, while the Asus RT-AC86U led with an impressive 300Mbps.

Nosotros utilize three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry to exam MU-MIMO throughput operation. The Jetstream AC3000's score of 153Mbps on the shut-proximity test was a chip slower than the Linksys WRT32X (175Mbps), the Netgear XR500 (176Mbps), and the Asus RT-AC86U (178Mbps). Similarly, its score of 66Mbps on the 30-foot MU-MIMO test was slower than the rest. The Asus RT-AC86U (150Mbps) was more than twice equally fast.

To examination file-transfer (read and write) performance, nosotros move a 1.5GB folder containing music, video, photo, and role files between a USB bulldoze connected to the router and a desktop which is also continued to the router. On the write examination, the Jetstream AC3000's score of 33MBps was slightly faster than the Asus RT-AC86U, but not nearly as fast equally the Netgear XR500 and the Linksys WRT32X. Its score of 36MBps on the read exam came in final behind the Asus RT-AC86U, the Netgear XR500, and the Linksys WRT32X.

Wi-Fi for Multitaskers

At $235, the Jetstream AC3000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Gaming Router may seem a chip pricey for a midrange router, but it's a tri-band model that allows you to apply a secondary 5GHz ring to handle tasks similar video streaming and online gaming, freeing up the other two bands for everyday tasks like web surfing, torrent downloads, email, and other dwelling house-network-dependent applications. It performed admirably on our close-proximity throughput tests and was a cakewalk to install, just its long-range throughput and file-transfer performance could be amend.

Information technology also lacks some of the features that we've come up to expect with the current crop of home Wi-Fi routers such as parental controls, QoS settings that allow you lot to assign bandwidth priority to specific clients and applications, and protection against viruses and other malware threats. For about $35 less, the Asus RT-AC86U offers robust parental controls, gamer-axial settings that let you monitor and optimize network bandwidth for specific games, and Trend Micro's AI Protection anti-malware software. It doesn't accept a second 5GHz radio band, but information technology's an awesome performer nonetheless and remains our Editors' Option.