Wi-Fi: Is it faster on AC? Is it slower on Battery?

 Wi-Fi Performance: AC versus DC

One of a series of comparisons to learn what makes a difference in Wi-Fi performance.

TL/DR: they aren't difference, at least on my setup.

In the screenshot, I've done several latency, download, and upload tests against one specific server.

Test methodology: With the laptop plugged in, run all the speed tests twice with "AC" as the note. Then remove the docking station (the part that is plugged in) and run the same tests against the same server and mark them "DC".

Data Analysis: 

• Download mean throughput increased from 16.2 Mbps to 18.4 Mbps going from DC to AC. This isn't a large difference.
• Upload mean throughput decreased from 31.3 Mbps to 31.28 Mbps going from DC to AC. This is almost certainly not a real difference.
• Mean Latency decreased from 12 msec to 10.3 msec. My stats program tells me this is probably a real difference. The DC had a little bit less jitter, but not by a real amount.

Conclusion: Wi-Fi is about the same speed on DC as it is on AC.