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[psychopomp1]

Cisco do offer 802.11ac Wave 2 Mu-Mimo WAPs:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/access-points/index.html

You may also want to consider Cisco Cloud based WAPs:

https://meraki.cisco.com/products/wireless

Be warned, they ain't cheap!! [though to be fair this is serious enterprise grade kit]

[Berk]

Hi,

Newbie here, just registered because I wanted ask some things about Vodafone and some others, but if I may offer an alternative for you to investigate:

I have got a Linksys Business AC1200 wireless access point. I can't say if it will do everything you want but multi SSIDs are definitely available. I set up the 5GHz radio to exclusively allow the main user's tablet. A few other devices are on the 2.4Ghz radio and I set it to allow only one device per SSID.

If you have advanced questions you might try the Linksys support forum, they were pretty good when I had a question about a managed switch.

I know Linksys is/was the junior Cisco brand and it isn't the same as the Enterprise grade kit, but my WAP was ~£95 inc. VAT so it was much cheaper than the nearest Cisco and Ubiquiti offerings when I got it.

[Weaver]

@Psychpomp1 - I did notice some other Cisco WAPs that offered 802.11ac Wave 2 MU-MIMO, but I didn't find out too many details and nor could I see any prices so I assumed that I'd be into silly money.

I had a chat with a Cisco guy on their website chat system. Very good guy, asked some intelligent questions, and said he'd send me an email. Don't know if they actually will get back to me though.

[psychopomp1]

Another option is Linksys LAP AC2600, appears to be on a par with Cisco kit (features wise) and probably slightly cheaper as well:

http://www.linksys.com/gb/p/P-LAPAC2600/

Seems to get good reviews on Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Business-Wireless-Dual-Band-LAPAC2600/dp/B01JOXWG32

[Weaver]

I like Linksys kit, the first WAP I ever had was a Linksys 802.11g device many years ago: rock solid, good performance and excellent range. I'll take a good look at that. Many thanks. I'm still digging.

I wish I could find out a bit more on the Apple iOS vs Ubiquiti problems, to see if any resolution or tolerable workaround can be found.

[Ronski]

https://www.avforums.com/threads/linksys-lapac1750-business-access-point-dual-band-802-11ac-with-poe.2056296/

Just spotted the above for sale.

[Weaver]

Many thanks for the extremely helpful recommendations. I'm very interested in the Linksys LAPAC2600 too.

I keep finding out about more possible problems with the Ubiquiti kit, although I'm still very keen on it and the prices are great. One review I read stated that throughput per client was capped at 115 Mbps (presumably inbound) if the guest SSID feature was merely turned on, and this applied to non-guest clients too, assuming I read the thing correctly. I'm aware that this was a very early production unit and the issue may have been fixed, but this would be a show-stopper for me.

If the zero-handoff thing needs to be disabled for the devices to work properly with iOS then Ubiquiti is completely out. Because all my iPads and iPhones support 802.11r (and 802.11k plus 802.11v) according to Apple, then I would want to go for a WAP that has full support for all these three standards, so I'm adding 802.11r to the list, apart from the case of Ubiquiti if they have something that gives the same benefits reliably.

It looks like this is going to cost me an absolute fortune unless I sacrifice the high-end performance-related items on my wish-list. I'm not sure how many WAPs I need - certainly two, possibly four if I want to sort out outside coverage.

[Weaver]

I was just about to hit the go button and purchase a Linksys LAPAC2600, when luckily I noticed that the EU models only support an incredible 4 out of 19+ 5GHz channels (20 MHz wide, that is). So if you want to use 80 MHz-wide 5 GHz channels, then multiple access points are out as far as 5 GHz goes, and if you restrict yourself to 40 MHz-wide (or even 20 MHz-wide) 5GHz channels then the quoted high throughput figures will just be a dream.

My existing ZyXel WAPs support every 5GHz channel with no artificial restrictions.

It just seems utterly ridiculous that they would put such a restriction on the usability of the device, as if they never thought they would seek more than one AP per site. It's presumably the lack of DFS support, but the US version supports more 5 GHz channels according to the website.

[Weaver]

So the search continues. Very tiring.

[Berk]

EU models only support an incredible 4 out of 19+ 5GHz channels

I just had a look at my Linksys AP, for the 5Ghz radio the options are: auto, 36, 40, 44, 48

Is this a UK regulations issue regarding which channels are permitted to be used, or is this a Linksys design issue?

In any case, if Linksys are no use to you then maybe Netgear WAC740 might be worth a look?

[Weaver]

This is just Linksys’ utter madness. There’s no problem with using all the many, many other channels in the U.K., my ZyXel WAPs offer the whole lot.

[Weaver]

Am now looking at Cisco Aironet 1830 and 1850 WAPs, the prices have come down a lot recently. I hadn't bothered to even look before, as I had just assumed that the prices would be a joke, but I now see that some new ZyXel WAPs can cost more than these two Cisco models.

[psychopomp1]

I was just about to hit the go button and purchase a Linksys LAPAC2600, when luckily I noticed that the EU models only support an incredible 4 out of 19+ 5GHz channels (20 MHz wide, that is).

Easy solution: buy it from Amazon USA!!  Nearly every standalone router I have purchased has come from across the pond, not only do you get extra 5ghz channels (144-161) the routers are also often cheaper. You will just need a simple adaptor as 99% of routers are 110-240v. The Linksys LAPAC2600 works out at around 370 quid incl shipping & import taxes if you order it from Amazon USA direct, and obviously you get their legendary support as well in case you need to return the router.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JOXWG32/
(make sure you order from Amazon US direct as all/most other sellers won't ship it direct to blighty)

[Ronski]

I think this may be down to UK regulations, and perhaps manufacturers opting for the easier option - using just band A, see second link.

http://www.digitalairwireless.com/wireless-blog/recent/quick-guide-to-5ghz-uk-part-1.html
http://www.digitalairwireless.com/wireless-blog/t-eirp/quick-guide-to-5ghz-uk-part-2.html

[Ronski]

Further to the above I also found this, which probably goes a long way to explain why they only use band A.

If I have read the document correctly (and it is quite a hefty tome to get to grips with), it looks like channels 36 to 48 are not subject to DFS in the UK, but all other channels are required to implement DFS safeguards. This was quite a surprise, as I had previously believed that channels 36 - 64 were not subject to DFS (as they are designated for indoor use), with all remaining (outdoor) channels being subject to DFS.

http://wifinigel.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/wifi-channels-on-5ghz-in-uk.html  2012

http://wifinigel.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/5ghz-in-uk-white-paper-version-2.html Updated in 2015