Rivet Networks Killer Wireless-AC 1535 MU-MIMO Card Review

By Ken Brown

MU-MIMO Testing

MSI GT72 3
For the last speed test, we again ran the Netgear R8500 in wireless bridge mode and connected it to a Linksys EA8500 Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Smart Wi-Fi router. The Linksys EA8500 is a ds-generation Qualcomm Atheros-based (QCA) 4×4 router where MU-MIMO is actually functioning. MU-MIMO is a set of Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output technology part of the 802.11ac design standard where data from multiple users with one or more device antennas is separated using different spatial signatures giving users an input in throughput speeds all over their network. You need to have MU-MIMO enabled client as well as a router that is MU-MIMO ready.

We went back to our favorite network benchmark, LAN Speed Test (LST), and ran LST from a laptop connected to our Netgear R8500 wireless bridge in Continuous mode with 25 streams of 300MB-sized packets/files. We then paired our wireless bridge to the Linksys EA8500. This acted as our network traffic. We then took our MSI/Killer 1535 notebook and ran LST speed test measuring the transfer speeds of 1MB & 100MB packet/files.

Killer 1535-1MB-MU-MIMO-Speeds

Benchmark Results: Believe it or not, we are seeing some very interesting numbers here. When we bombard our network with traffic, the Killer1535-equipped MSI GT72 outperformed the Intels 7265 solution with ease. We actually had to check these results a couple of times since there were many times the MSI/Intel 7265 would not respond to our tests and got bogged down. While the Intel was having issues getting bogged down , the Killer 1535 slowed a bit, but still was useful at an Average Read speed of over 465 Mbps, and Average Write speeds of just under 200 Mbps.

Killer 1535-100MB-MU-MIMO-Speeds

Benchmark Results: With 100 MB test data, the Intel 7265 does a bit better with its Average Read and Write speeds, but the Killer 1535 shows its prowess with a very stout 302/216 Mbps and while its boarder line that you can keep a 720p video stream going, you should have no problem with any audio streaming and web surfing that you might want.