Wireless Access

Hi community,

I am trying to help one of our clients in deciding which aruba ap to purchase. What I have suggested is to go with AP-105/115 installed to each room as these APs are dual radio dual band. But due to budget wise, they may be purchasing AP-93 instead.

Here's I need clarification so I may convey it to our client.

1. The AP-93 (which is a single radio dual band) runs on 2.4 GHz not unless the band parameter is changed to 5 GHz, is that right? Or does it transmits 2.4 GHz then after a certain amount of time it transmits 5 GHz (for me it is very unlikely)?
2. When an N client connects to 2.4 GHz, the speed will be @ 54 Mbps? Or is it be faster than that?
3. When both N and G clients connect to the AP-93, what will be the speed? Is it 54 Mbps or lesser than that?

If there is any documentation from aruba that can explain the difference between dual radio dual band and single radio dual band, kindly share it to me. Maybe by providing this to our client, they may reconsider getting a more powerful AP.

Thanks for any help.

Oliver

You can configure the 93 to run the radio at 2.4ghz OR 5ghz.

802.11n can get rates up to 600Mbit theoretically. But with the 93, you could achieve up to 300Mbps on the 2x2. REMEMBER you're real througput is about half your associated rate due to the nature of 802.11.

The answer to number 3 depends on so many factors, you really shouldn't commit from a tech perspective. Whilst the clients would associate (theoretically) at the best rate they could (distance/interference/client capability), the throughput in a dense/mixed environment is almost impossible to predict reliably. Granted, you can measure it in a lab, but that's not "real".

Oh, forgot to say, I always push people to dual radio APs (regardless of kit type).

The amount of times I've worked with a customer with single radio APs, where they've ended up disappointed at their inability to do something I wouldn't like to count.

With dual radios, your flexibility and operational potential is nowhere near as limited. In simple terms, it's massively de-risked. Examples of challenges in this space are client density, imovable spectrum specific constraints (stuff making RF noise that can't be turned off), retaining one frequency for mission critical stuff (voice). Etc. etc. etc.

What is the installation?  Please consider purchasing a dual-band AP vs the 93.  You will be much happier