Stefan Mileschin

There has been several times in this life as a technology journalist when expanding my wireless network would have helped what I do. However, as is usually the case, my single wireless connection in my device is the one picking up the other Wi-Fi available, and cannot be used as an access point itself. Similarly, in a home, using a device to temporarily extend a wireless network for a better connection has obvious uses. Rivet Networks, the company behind the Killer networking controllers, now has the hardware and software in place for its Killer AC 1550 module to both connect to an access point and become an access point without an additional radio.

Extending a network without laying cable is typically done through Wi-Fi repeaters, extenders, or powerline adaptors with additional wireless radios. In order to get additional coverage, more radios are needed. Rivet Networks believes that the wireless modules within a PC can help bridge the gap, by making them act as access points to the network without the need for additional hardware.

What Killer xTend on the AC 1550 does is, either by connecting with wires or wirelessly, will extend the network by creating an additional mesh point with the same SSID and password. With the Wi-Fi in and Wi-Fi out mode, the radio performs its duty in a time slicing multiplexer/de-multiplexer mode, giving both the incoming and outgoing signal 50% of the time but maintaining both. On top of this, Killer can implement its prioritization protocols to enable sustainable gaming performance on the Killer machine when others are streaming or downloading.

The Killer optimization tool, to recap, splits traffic into one of six priority levels. Based on a constantly updated whitelist, and a bandwidth learning tool that can detect if a user is in a game or video or download just by looking at the traffic, the Killer hardware will adjust the queue of traffic for higher priority items. By default, the system uses the following six priorities:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12817...reless-network