I suspect some of you guys are 'power users' and benefit in ways that I will not, so overall enterprise equipment only makes sense for me it if is the same price as consumer grade - which it isn't really (duh!)
I guess that, here, we're "power users" in the sense that we need the network stuff to keep working reliably, for work/employment purposes. We can't be faffing. Or, more accurately, I'm not allowed to faff when "the boss" needs to work.
Beyond reliability, I'm not really a power user. However, in a place where I can always see more than 20 networks in the 2.4GHz spectrum (sometimes up to 40), reliability is not automatic (especially around 4pm), and I've had to learn something to stay in control of my own network.
But, as you say, it very much depends on your own particular circumstances.
But, having learnt how little the vendors of consumer-grade equipment tells you (about power, channels, range, etc), I suspect the term "power user" might just equal an informed consumer who is capable of figuring out their own circumstances.
- I haven't found any convincing evidence that low-end enterprise hardware offers better range or speed than well-chosen consumer grade gear using the same standard e.g. 11ac
I'm really surprised you haven't come across some of the power and channel problems at 5GHz. Perhaps the key phrase is "well-chosen", and perhaps equipment is becoming available that *can* be well-chosen!
I found this information invaluable in getting to the bottom of things, from someone who is undoubtedly a real power user.
http://wifinigel.blogspot.co.uk/p/5ghz-in-uk.htmlWhen I started to do a proper job of "choosing", I discovered how hard the vendors make it. In the consumer arena, how often do you get told what the choice of channels will be? How often are the DFS and TPC buzzwords used? How often is the maximum power specified? How often is it possible to determine UK-specific, or even EU-specific, answers to the above?
WiFi-Nigel's white paper opened up a whole raft of issues to become educated on ... only to find that consumer-grade equipment didn't bother with the answers.
It seemed, at the time, that a lot of consumer-grade equipment was equally limited to just 4 channels in the 5GHz spectrum. Once everyone is running 11ac, and trying to use 80MHz of spectrum, they'd *all* be using the same 4 channels.
My conclusion was that, if I wanted reliability, I *really* want to be using something different to them. And If I wanted to eliminate the notspots, I either needed access to the full power, or I needed something that worked well with more than one access point.
It certainly took some work to become informed enough here. (Just enough to be dangerous?
)
I have a sort of feeling that TP-Link are towards the bottom end of residential equipment
A year ago, I was using the TP-Link WDR3600, which included concurrent 5GHz support. However, it turned out to be limited with
- No support for any radar detection
- Which, in turn, meant no support for 15 of the 19 channels in the 5GHz spectrum
- Was hardware-limited to be US (FCC) friendly
- Which, in turn, limited the maximum 5GHz power to 17dBm, instead of the 23-27dBm available in the UK
- Which, in turn, heavily impacted range inside the house. There were distinct not-spots.
Definitely
not "well-chosen"! In this case, TP-Link's cheapness showed, but other stuff of theirs has been fine.
Having since chosen a low-end enterprise AP, I find that:
- I'm the only WiFi signal that is using any of the radar-monitored spectrum. I compete with no-one, and long may that continue
- The extra power has increased range within the house sufficiently, so I only need one access point.
The range, on 5GHz, has improved so much that it is now better than 2.4GHz. It suggests that the well-worn myth (that 5GHz range is poor) has come about because of badly-understood power limitations that shouldn't exist - at least not in the UK.
(Interesting, though, that the US has recently increased their power allowances now, with the deliberate aim of standardising the power of their entire UNII band. And that prior to this, some Asus models were cheating)
http://www.revolutionwifi.net/revolutionwifi/2014/04/impact-of-fcc-5-ghz-u-nii-report-order.htmlhttp://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/32431-is-your-routers-transmit-power-juiced
Author
Topic: Wireless access point to replace repurposed TP-Link TD-W8980 (Read 8236 times)