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Author Topic: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences  (Read 3052 times)

Weaver

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802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« on: September 16, 2015, 10:22:44 PM »

Does anyone have experience of 802.11ac hardware? What's the performance really like? I'd be interested to hear about peoples experiences and recommendations for WAPs.
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Chrysalis

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2015, 12:18:46 AM »

its a very good step forward for wireless, I can get speeds measuring in the 100s of mbits/sec, typically around 400mbit.
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guest

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2015, 07:52:36 AM »

I use Ubiquiti kit (edit - same stuff as RevK) which is expensive but does what it says on the tin. On the 5GHz channel I have measured speeds (using iperf) of 600Mbps at the IP layer; on the 2.4GHz channel I have measured speeds of 185Mbps at the IP layer.

You get what you pay for with wireless kit.
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Dray

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2015, 10:19:00 AM »

I use Ubiquiti kit (edit - same stuff as RevK) which is expensive but does what it says on the tin. On the 5GHz channel I have measured speeds (using iperf) of 600Mbps at the IP layer
Is that wireless-AC ?
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guest

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2015, 01:16:36 PM »

Yes. This is the AP I use :

http://linitx.com/product/ubiquiti-unifi-uap-ac-1300mbps-80211ac-24ghz5ghz-access-point/13806

Obviously performance is dependent on the client antenna design & capabilities - I got 600Mbps on a 3x3 80MHz client but the daughters iCrud phone only manages about 110Mbps as the antenna design is rubbish. Wife's Motorola manages about 200Mbps.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 01:22:16 PM by rizla »
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Weaver

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2015, 01:44:22 PM »

@Rizla - btw is that iCrud 802.11n or 802.11ac ?
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guest

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2015, 02:51:29 PM »

I have no idea what it was mate (I refuse to "support" anything from Apple in the house) but I'd assume it was 802.11ac - she's at uni now where they have very very nice Ruckus dual-band APs for the flats in halls & the iCrud is still awful (the Android phones in the flat are fine, all the iCruds are rubbish) . The laptop is much better as it has exceptionally well designed antennae.

Its not really a case of "what band was it", its more a case of how many physical antennae does it have & what bandwidth it supports (edit - and how well they're designed, Apple aren't good here). At a guess I'd imagine the iCrud device had two spatial streams of 40MHz bandwidth but I really have no clue :)

Apologies to people if you are iPhone users but IMHO its shiny outside & rubbish inside (in wireless terms - both 802.11 and 3G/4G) - and vastly overpriced. Provided you don't want to do much with it in terms of data transfer over wireless (most Apple users fall into that category IME) then I'm sure its lovely. Probably just me but I'm not all that keen on technology "cults" like Apple ;)

Cisco (got to love their docs) have a useful document explaining 802.11ac for those unfamiliar with it. Worth a read for those familiar with it too :)

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/aironet-3600-series/white_paper_c11-713103.html
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 02:54:21 PM by rizla »
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guest

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2015, 05:24:20 PM »

What sort of house is it Weaver & has it been extended? If so then when.

By that I mean wall construction etc.

The mandatory insulation stuff like celotex is sandwiched between two layers of metal which isn't great.

However if you're in Skye then the inevitable issues that more & more & more ;) 5GHz wireless has won't affect you. The wails in urban areas in future years... meh :P

The Ubiquiti stuff I linked to works very well but after a couple of years you can hear noise from the unit - a bit like a hard drive sounds. That (IMHO) is due to the coolant they use in the passive heatsink - some chemical has reacted etc. They work fine but burble when traffic happens. Odd :)

Edit - if you do choose Ubiquiti stuff then IME they never have antenna on the network port side of the AP. The 3x3 array will be on the other sides.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 05:28:52 PM by rizla »
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NewtronStar

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2015, 08:31:00 PM »

In are house 802.11ac works well though one wall if the signal needs to go through two walls the signal is degraded by 65%.

TBH i think this 1956 house was designed to stop radiation getting in after a nuke explosion the walls are so thick internally and the exterior walls are twice as thick with a cavity full of polystyrene balls  :D
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AArdvark

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2015, 10:39:13 PM »

TBH i think this 1956 house was designed to stop radiation getting in after a nuke explosion the walls are so thick internally and the exterior walls are twice as thick with a cavity full of polystyrene balls  :D

What you are referring to is known as: Building a House properly, with good materials and an eye to longevity.
 ;D :D ;)

Something that started disappearing in the mid/late 60's, until today modern Houses are made of 'Cardboard' (even if it is good hi-tech 'Cardboard')   ;D :lol:
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guest

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Re: 802.11ac hardware - any good? Experiences
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2015, 05:37:35 PM »

The main problem for 5GHz is stuff like Celotex (google it) which like pretty much all of these products has metallic foil on either side of what is effectively a huge chunk of dielectric material. I'm sure you can see the insertion loss is going to be fairly catastrophic :D

Best plan (and its why I chose the AP I linked) is to mount them as high up as possible - ideally pointing down - so they are penetrating floorboards etc rather than walls. Obviously PoE helps enormously with positioning.
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