>>> so you can get over 100Mbit.
On dual band yes, but ~5/6 years ago there were an awful lot of devices that weren't able to I dont think I ever got above 40Mbps on my old ipad and even that was after tweaking settings. At around that time few phones/tablets had 2 wifi antennas. It's also not really that long ago that few fttc modem routers had dual band 802.11ac and at first even those were in short supply and carried a hefty price premium. Most of the ISP supplied ones were rubbish.
I think ISPs must have eventually cottoned on that a large amount of speed complaints were down to wireless limitations and not the actual connection so it was in their benefit to supply 802.11ac which should at least support the fttc connection speed.
>>> But that highlights the point, there are a LOT of supposed AC routers that can't get close
Agreed.
Speedguide net says
Below is a breakdown of actual real-life average speeds you can expect from wireless routers within a reasonable distance, with low interference and small number of simultaneous clients:
802.11n - 40-50 Mbps typical, varying greatly depending on configuration, whether it is mixed or N-only network, the number of bonded channels, etc. Specifying a channel, and using 40MHz channels can help achieve 70-80Mbps with some newer routers. Up to 100 Mbps achievable with more expensive commercial equipment with 8x8 arrays, gigabit ports, etc.
802.11ac - 100+ Mbps typical, higher speeds (300+ Mbps) possible over short distances without many obstacles, with newer generation 802.11ac routers, and client adapters capable of multiple streams.
These real life figures are a long way from "up to 600 Mbps & 1300 Mbps" defined in the standards which some manufacturers were printing on the boxes. The average consumer wouldn't have a clue and as Chenks says it is misleading when you purchase something that doesn't really have a chance of hitting the speed advertised. I guess its reminiscent of "up to" DSL speeds.
I'm conscious that Chenk's thread is about USB Ethernet and I don't really want to veer any further off topic other than to say that wireless also suffers unclear and speeds where Ive seen on the box it would say eg "up to 600 Mbps" but in real life is incapable of anything more than 50Mbps.
Possibly the industry needs an overhaul of showing more realistic achievable speeds when it comes to network speed through put too - be that Ethernet, USB or wifi ?