Dual Band Aruba 318 and AP-ANT-45 connection

[Ariel A.]

Hello,

I am evaluating to deploy a Dual Band Aruba 318 Access Point altogether with an external antenna Dual Band AP-ANT-45. Nevertheless, how to connect these two elements is not described in any document I have seen so far.

The Access Point 318 has 6 antenna connectors, 4 for 5GHz and 2 for 2.4GHz.  The AP-ANT-45 has 4 RP-SMA terminals.

I am guessing that we can connect these elements as follows:

• 2 RP-SMA terminals of the antenna to 2 5GHz connectors of the Access Point
• 2 RP-SMA terminals of the antenna to 2 2.4GHz connector of the Access Point
• 2 5GHz connectors of the Access Point will not be used

The last, is just my guess.  I would like your support confirming or rejecting it. If anyone has relevant information to properly deploy these two elements together, please provide it.

Thanks

[Herman Robers · Accepted solution]

With the AP-318 having two separate radios and antenna chains, you will need 2 antennas, one per radio. The AP-ANT-45 is a dual-band antenna and works great for Access Points that have built-in diplexers to get the signal of both radios to a single connector.

You should connect one AP-ANT-45 with 4 wires to the 4 connectors of the 5 GHz radio. Then you need another antenna for the 2.4GHz radio with 2, 3 or 4 elements of which you only connect 2 wires (H and V) to the 2.4 GHz radio of the AP-318.

Please also check the Aruba 318 Access Point Ordering Guide, which mentions an antenna selection for radio 0 (5GHz) and another for radio 1 (2.4GHz).

Please consult your Aruba partner or local Aruba SE to find out what is the best AP solution for your situation.