I get the nostalgia, but let’s cut the fluff. The 802.11b router ran on simple DSSS, no packet fragmentation, no QoS overhead, so every microsecond of airtime went straight to payload. New phones are jamming the 2.4 GHz band with OFDM, MU‑MIMO, and all those power‑saving tweaks that kill raw throughput when the signal is weak. In a canyon, the old gear’s lower modulation and higher transmit power often mean less jitter and more stable links than a shiny new phone that’s constantly negotiating channel state and battery budgets. So yes, legacy can outpace the new in the right niche, but only because the new tech spends more time on protocol gymnastics than on raw data.