We recently decided to conduct some tests on an Aruba AP175, in order to have a better understanding of it's capabilities and what it has to offer.
Since we have a location that can serve us as a testing place, we mounted the AP, along with 2x2-2005 and 2x2-5005 antennas, about 4-5 meters above the ground (the equivalent of 1st floor height), set the transmission power to 21 dBm and started testing with the inSSIDer tool. No extra configurations were made, only a SSID was created for calculating the signal strength.
In almost clear line, the only obstacles being some trees, we got the following results :
- 35/40 meters : -60 signal strength for 2.4Ghz
- 65-70 meters : -67 signal strength for 2.4Ghz
- 80 meters : -78 signal strength for 2.4Ghz
And these measurements were for a laptop. For a Galaxy S3 mini, the signal went bellow -80 after about 40 meters.
These results seem a little weird to us. We were expecting a bit more. So my question is the one in the title, what is the average coverage area for an AP175? I know it depends on a lot of variables and obstacles, but I'm really keen to know, based on your experience, how far does the signal goes in a general environment?
Also, are there some specific configurations that we can make in order to increase the coverage area?
Thank you and I wish you all a nice day ahead.