Independent Competitive Tests - 2.4GHz & 5GHz 802.11n

[gsk]

Hi All,

 

I would like to gather together a couple of reports of testing wireless systems on the N standard that comes complete with graphs and tables to compare the top wireless providers. I have found this report but it doesn't test Meru which is quite a key one that I would like to see results on. As always with these requests, it's a bit of a rush because of a surprise meeting later today, so any quick help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[tmcd35]

Afraid I can't help with a report, but if I was planning a wireless infrastructure now I'd be pushing 802.11ac for future proofing on the powers that be.

[gsk]

That's an interesting comment. I had wondered about it, but to be honest, at this point my preffered provider would be ruckus who haven't released a .ac access point yet. Am I naive in thinking I would be better off with a top notch n standard system than a potentially poorer .ac system. I had anticipated that .ac would be a lot more common in 5 years time and I would have thought a refresh on the wireless would be due.

[zag]

Yeh Aruba has just released their 802.11ac AP's and are heavily marketing them.

 

Heres one for Aruba vs. Cisco

 

802.11ac Face Off | Aruba Networks

 

The new Macbook Airs, Samsung S4's and HTC ones all have 802.11ac so the standard is definitly gaining ground.

 

I wouldn't install a new 'N' system If I was refreshing ours.

Edited September 17, 2013 by zag

[tmcd35]

I don't know the specifics, but I believe .ac has better use of MIMO and uses the 5Ghz band as standard. In a managed system I'd guess it'd do a better job of elevating the usual AP overload problems than a managed .n system would. I'd be interested in reading independent tests on the subject if you do manage to dig some up.

[mac_shinobi]

I don't know the specifics, but I believe .ac has better use of MIMO and uses the 5Ghz band as standard. In a managed system I'd guess it'd do a better job of elevating the usual AP overload problems than a managed .n system would. I'd be interested in reading independent tests on the subject if you do manage to dig some up.

 

Don't the .ac AP's support or use N as its been standardised anyway so even if you didn't make full use of .ac yet it would still use and support N for the time being ??

 

Unifi AP AC

 

http://www.ubnt.com/unifi#apac

[Michael]

I'm pretty sure there are numerous websites which have compared/reviewed Access Points at 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

 

It's fair to say 5GHz is definitely the better to use as there's practically nothing else (at the moment) that uses this frequency. Logistically however, it can be expensive as many wireless devices are still 2.4GHz only and would require to be upgraded/replaced.

 

I agree with the above that 802.11ac would be better, as this is 5GHz only offering near gigabit wireless speeds on paper.

[snoerre]

Cisco versus UBNT: Super-fast Wi-Fi: Cisco, Ubiquiti access points top out at nearly 400Mbps - Network World

UBNT versus rest: http://dl.ubnt.com/marketing/Tolly213128UbiquitiUAPPerformance.pdf

 

All biased. Haven´t seen any independent reviews, yet.

Edited September 17, 2013 by snoerre

[neilmac]

Pure 802.11ac is not an achievable goal, your 802.11n technology is fine for now. There is virtually no client support at the moment, and though it's expected to grow, most deployments will be mixed and therefore n devices will be fine, ac devices will struggle to use ac modulations in a mixed environment. For now most pressure for ac is marketing hype trying to encourage early adopters. If you are in the process of making these decisions you MUST make the effort to learn the basics of the technology !

 

A fine blog from AirTight:

 

http://blog.airtightnetworks.com/11-commandments-of-wi-fi-decision-making/

 

Here's a blog post that may help, also follow the links in the top article to other blogs.

 

Answering Questions on Choosing Wi-Fi Solutions - Wireless LAN Professionals | Wireless LAN Professionals

 

NM

Edited September 17, 2013 by neilmac
typo

[chazzy2501]

I like the look of the Ubiquiti UniFi 802.11ac AP. 1300Mbps on 5Ghz and 450 on 2.4Ghz 3x3 MIMO on both! The central management software is free and you can use any old PC. £220 each.

 

not a £6000 dedicated device that'll need a £3000 upgrade if you use more than 6 APs

[Net-Ctrl]

I have a few independent wireless reports, one from Toms Hardware, sadly 2011, and then the WLAN Pros Stress Test Report from earlier this year. Happy to pass them on if you were interested in reading them. The files are quite large so if you wanted them PM me your email address and i will pass them on.

 

Also, in regards to 11AC, Ruckus produced quite a good blog about what you will be getting with the technology now, and in a few years. You can find their blog here: Better Wi-Fi Coming in Waves - The Ruckus Room

[zag]

It is noticable that the wireless providers that have 802.11ac kit are heavily marketing it and the ones that have no products believe you don't need it

[spc-rocket]

Hello,

 

Would i be right in saying that by having the 5Ghz exclusive you are limiting the signal strength anyway i.e. its not going to perform the same in terms of distance coverage with 802.11ac? i could missing something here but the way i would go about doing the upgrade to ac is to put the proven N kit in now and then slowly migrate to ac when its stabalised etc and more mainstream. This also means that its cheaper (per year anyway) because you can budget for the "upgrades" each year. The first devices that are going to be comming out for ac is the first generation anyway so you may want to wait until this becomes mainstream - 2 -3 years from now at least.

[neilmac]

Range isn't really an issue, in fact with 802.11n the practice is to have more access points, smaller cells and less power. If you are designing for capacity the last thing you want is access points able to hear each other.

[tmcd35]

Range isn't really an issue, in fact with 802.11n the practice is to have more access points, smaller cells and less power. If you are designing for capacity the last thing you want is access points able to hear each other.

 

Which is why MIMO and management is very important. 802.11n done right gives this, 802.11ac improves on it (in a big way from what I can gather). Either way, spending money now I'd say build for the future and not the present.

 

Get a proper survey done. Install a managed .ac infrastructure if you can afford it. Use .n clients now knowing you can buy .ac clients in the future and reap the benefits.

[neilmac]

Yeah but would you really be an early adopter for Wave 1 802.11ac ? In a mixed environment, are you really going to get any true benefits over 802.11n ? The costs are greater for ac, can you justify it for the difference it makes ?

 

These are not easy questions.

[Net-Ctrl]

There can be additional costs that may be associated to upgrading to 11AC.

 

What many Wi-Fi suppliers won’t tell you is that deploying 11AC may require you to upgrade your switching infrastructure to higher powered 802.3at PoE switches to realise the full benefits of their 802.11ac access points.

[tmcd35]

Yeah but would you really be an early adopter for Wave 1 802.11ac ? In a mixed environment, are you really going to get any true benefits over 802.11n ? The costs are greater for ac, can you justify it for the difference it makes ?

 

These are not easy questions.

 

 

Initally no, but over the lifespan of the product? It's an important question to ask suppliers when you go out to tender. What is the expected lifespan of the kit? How will the supplier support the installation post-sale, and for how long?

 

I'm of a mind that wave 1 in a mixed environment is probably right now, by the time you replace the equipment the industry would have (hopefully) long since moved into wave 2. If I understand correctly clients will work with both waves of .ac but you won't get the full benefit of wave 2 until you have wave 2 clients and wave 2 access points? A bit like the change from .n to .ac?

[neilmac]

Wave 1 is more on the capabilities of the chipset, less about the clients - even now, for example, how many 802.11n clients are capable of MCS15 and 40MHz ?

 

As net-Ctrl points out, there may be switching and cabling upgrades to make.

 

Suppliers will tell you anything you need to hear in order to buy their kit. Very few suppliers are trained beyond vendor courses. Many installers have no training or qualifications, and do not use professional tools. Access point positioning is pretty random. The network is just kind of "stuck in". Like a crash helmet a size too small, it does its job but it's always going to be painful.

 

What any buyer needs to do is learn the technology enough to understand what's at stake or to bring in the services of an independent expert. WiFi is not easy.

 

NM