Wireless Access

When using AP-274 with the Aruba ANT-3x3-D100 external antennas, would you need to connect only 1 antenna to the AP-274, or would you need two antenna's (one for 2,4, and another one for 5Ghz)?

http://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/ds/DS_ANT-3x3-D100.pdf

The datasheet says: This antenna is well suited for 2.4 and 5 GHz sector coverage for access.

But I would like confirmation about that...

You would connect 2 antenna's, each with 3 N-type cables.

Hi Koen,

Thanks for your feedback. To be clear on this, I've attached a pic of the external antenna, having 3 connectors. Given that the AP-274 has 6 N-Type connectors in total:

2G0, 2G1, 2G2
5G0, 5G1, 5G2

So we would have to connect each of the following connectors to the 2G0, 2G1, 2G2 ports for the antenna doing 2,4Ghz. And we should connect another antenna to the 5G0, 5G1, 5G2 ports?

correct

Does it matter to which of the Antenna ports (-45°, +45°, V) you connect the AP connectors (2G0, 2G1, 2G2) 

It's shouldn't no. BUT, what I like to do is hook -45 on 2G0, +45 on 2G1, and V on 2G2, essentially putting 90deg pol between G0 and G1.

Hi

another question. We will be attaching the 3x3 antennas. Is there any best practise regarding the position of both external antennas , is there a minimun distance between both panel antennas, etc...

No, you can place them pretty much right next to each other between the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz panels.

Quick question, are you using the D100 on BOTH radios of the 274? If so, is there a reason you didn't go with the AP-277?

yes we are. 

I'll keep that answer short, we got this model presented by a consultancy firm, when we didn't have any Aruba knowledge in house, so no one to second guess that model. Now we are 9 months further and we notice these are not the best choice of AP's for our requirements :) and we are pretty much stuck with them.

We're installing the AP itself on the inside of the building, and the panel antennes on the outside. Yes, the AP-277 would have been a better choice.

No worries, I figured as much. You can mount them side by side with a couple inches spacing, whatever works. 

What if only 2 out of the 3 cables are connected from AP to antenna? What impact would this have on the clients? Devices are 802.11g.

You lose some additiona transmit power and MRC (approx 2dB), so effective range and throughput at distance will both go down

What problems, aside from signal attenuation due to more connections/connectors between the ap and antenna, would be seen by using diplexors between the AP and antenna? Yes, the installation complexity goes up as well...

Kind Regards,

Gregg

To Greg, a much higher chance that something will not be done correctly, larger risk of cable issues (integrity, connectors not being correctly tightened), additional insertion loss from the diplexors themselves, etc.