Cisco Cisco Aironet 3700e Access Point White Paper

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

In terms of functionality of the AP, there was no 
change for the AP3702i. Using an 802.3af power 
supply that provides up to 15.4 watts, it continued 
to transmit three spatial streams by backing down 
from 4x4 to 3x3 operation on both 2.4 GHz and
5 GHz. However, the functionality of the Aruba
AP-225 dropped to only one spatial stream on the 
2.4 GHz radio. 

The Cisco Aironet 3702i is part of the Cisco 
Aironet 3700 Series, the first from Cisco with built-
in 802.11ac functionality. It proved that it can add 
significant value to a real-world WLAN now and will 
continue to do so after the gigabit Wi-Fi standard is 
finalized in early 2014.  

During rate at range tests, the AP3702i delivered a 
high level of 802.11ac throughput, beginning with 
10 feet Line of Sight and ending with 150 LOS and 
Non-LOS. It maintained a high level of 802.11ac 
throughput in two series of tests that simulated 
real-world factors that can negatively impact 
throughput: a high-density environment and RF 
interference from a nearby access point. 

While operating on reduced power, the AP3702i 
proved that it can retain full functionality while 
operating in each 802.11n mode, 2.4 GHz and
5 GHz. 

Source: Miercom, November 2013 

The AP3702i outperformed the Aruba AP-225 in 
both scenarios as shown in 

on

.

The advantage for the AP3702i was 4.8% without 
802.11n 5 GHz interference (544 Mbps versus 
519 Mbps). The gap increased to 87.7% (428 
Mbps versus 228 Mbps) with interference. 

In the AP3702i, noise suppression works 
automatically. The RX Sensitivity Tuning-Based 
Channel Reuse Feature in the Aruba AP-225 
must be manually set. The AP-225 was tested 
with the RX feature at various settings, without 
any improvement in throughput. 

This test assessed the throughput and 
functionality of each AP while operating with 
regular and reduced power. 

Both access points transmitted 802.11n 2.4 GHz 
and 802.11 5 GHz signal. The clients, two Dell 
Latitude E6430 laptops, faced the access point, 
10 feet LOS. 

Two power supplies were used, the conventional 
802.3at (PoE+) and reduced power 802.3af 
(PoE). 

A drop in throughput was experienced by the 
Aruba AP-225 at 2.4 GHz, 148 Mbps for 802.3at 
to 55 for 802.3af, 169%.