Access Point Product Portfolio and Roadmap Update

Cisco Confidential© 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 1
Access Point Product Portfolio
and Roadmap Update
April 2013

© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 2
CISCOAIRONETACCESS POINTS
802.11nG2Series
Teleworker
600
Enterprise Class
1600
Mission Critical
2600
Best in Class
3600
• Up to 300 Mbps
• Seamless Connectivity with
Corporate SSID for Remote Office
• Split Tunneling and Local
Resource Sharing*
• Up to 300 Mbps
• CleanAir Express*
• ClientLink 2.0
• VideoStream
•  Up to 450 Mbps
•  High Client Scalability
•  CleanAir
•  ClientLink 2.0
•  VideoStream
Second Generation 802.11n
• Up to 1.3 Gbps
• High Client Density
• Investment Protection, Future
Proof Modularity (Security,
802.11ac** or 3G Small Cell***)
• 802.11ac Support
• HD Video/VDI, VideoStream
• Best In Class Security
• ClientLink 2.0, CleanAir
* Available as a Software Update in Q4CY13
** FCS Q2CY13
*** FCS Q4CY13

Indoor AP Series 600
Teleworker
1600 2600 3600
Max Data Rate 300 Mbps 300 Mbps 450 Mbps 450 Mbps and 1.3 GbpS with 11ac Module
RF Design
MIMO:Spatial Stream
2x3:2 3x3:2 3x4:3
11n: 4x4:3
11ac: 3x3:3
Performance/Coverage/
Investment Protection
   
Max No. of Clients 15 256 400
400
50 - 11ac Module
RRM ✔ ✔ ✔
CleanAir CleanAir Express** ✔ ✔
ClientLink ClientLink 2.0 ClientLink 2.0
ClientLink 2.0 for 802.11agn
EBF for 802.11ac
Max No. of ClientLink 2.0 Clients 64 256
256 – ClientLink 2.0
32 – ECBF on 11ac Module
BandSelect ✔ ✔ ✔
VideoStream ✔ ✔ ✔
Rogue AP Detection ✔ ✔ ✔
Adaptive wIPS ✔ ✔ ✔
External Antenna Opt ✔ ✔ ✔
Module Options
Multiple Local
Ethernet Ports
WSSI (Security) –Shipping
802.11ac - Q2CY13
Cisco 3G SCM – Q4CY13
Starting List Price $419 $695 $1095
$1495 - AP
$500 – WSSI & .11ac Module
**Available as a Software Upgrade in H2 CY13

Designed for Value-Minded Customers
Looking for Proven Good RF Performance
FCS Q2CY13
New
Indoor AP Series 700 1600
Radios Dual Band Dual Band
RF Design (MIMO:SS) 2x2:2 3x3:2
Client Count 200 256
Autonomous Future ✔
Beamforming ECBF Ready ClientLink 2.0
Spectrum Intelligence CleanAir Express
RRM ✔ ✔
VideoStream ✔ ✔
BandSelect ✔ ✔
Rogue Detection ✔ ✔
Adaptive wIPS ✔ ✔
Limited Lifetime Warranty ✔ ✔
List Price (Integrated Ant.) $495 $695

For more see www.cisco.com/go/ap700

While Bracket-3 does not work with the
AP-700 you can still mount the AP-700 in
the center of the tile if needed using an
electrical box approach. See 3600
deployment guide for more details J
Although Bracket-7 is smaller the
T-Rails (grid clips) are compatible
with both brackets as the hole
patterns are the same

Aruba AP-135
Take-away – You can’t stick a
Paper plate through our AP
We have no exposed holes on top.
Cisco AP-700
AP-700 uses same ceiling hardware and
electrical box compatible METAL
BRACKET for more mounting options.

•  Each AP-700 ordered includes:
o  New AIR-AP-BRACKET-7 (only compatible with AP-700)
o  Existing AIR-AP-T-RAIL-R or AIR-AP-T-RAIL-F
o  Optional AIR-CHNL-ADAPTER at additional cost ($5 USD).
•  The table below details what mounting options are supported with AP-700 series.

(2) Discrete single band 2.4 GHz single radiating element antennas
(2) Discrete single band 5.0GHz single radiating element antennas
3 dBi @ 2.4 GHz
5 dBi @ 5 GHz
(Measured peak)
VSWR is better
then 2:1
Isolation is at least
20dB @ 2GHz
30dB @ 5GHz

2.4 GHz antenna element number 1
2.4 GHz 3 dBi (PEAK)
Pattern
is fairly uniform
Note:
This is early information
I don’t have them in Cisco
format as it was not
characterized at the Cisco
Richfield Ohio Facility

5 GHz antenna element number 4
5 GHz 5 dBi (PEAK)
Pattern
is fairly uniform
Note:
This is early information
I don’t have them in Cisco
format as it was not
characterized at the Cisco
Richfield Ohio Facility

Take-away – it is
NOT an AP-3600
Take-away – AP700
NO “In-Tile” mount
Take-away – The existing brackets 1-3 are not
compatible with this physically smaller AP
Unrelated-Take-away - The first release of
the AP-700 will support DFS just not in US
(FCC) it’s a time to market thing but it will J

Module WSSI
(Security Module)
802.11ac 3G Femto
Benefits Full comprehensive wireless
security posture with off
channel scan for WIPS,
Rogue Detection, Context
Aware, CleanAir, and RRM
Support new 802.11ac data
clients and Smartphones, up
to 1Gbps+ wireless speeds
Provides extended 3G cellular
infrastructure coverage where
cell tower signals cannot go
(carpet areas in high rises,
MDUs)
Target Markets All Enterprise, Retail (PCI),
Healthcare, Manufacturing
All Enterprise All Enterprise
List Price $500 $500 TBD
Orderability Now Q2CY13 (Target) Q4CY13
New

LinkSys 1x1
AC USB
802.11ac mobile
devices
CY 2012 CY 2013 CY 2014
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Consumer class
devices from
Linksys and
Netgear First 802.11ac
laptops
Cisco 802.11ac
Module for Aironet
3600 Series
Client
proliferation
continues:
Handets?,
Tablets?
Intel Ultrabooks ?
Apple
MacBooks?, iOS?
802.11ac Wave2
Starts to Roll
1H CY15
IEEE 802.11ac
Ratification
Wave 2
HTC One
ZTE Grand Memo
Samsung S 4
Wave 1
…

Smartphones from 210 Mbps*
Tablets from 460 Mbps*
High End Laptops from 680 Mbps*
802.11ac Performance Table
* Assumes ~70% MAC efficiency
Not all Clients will be created equal – early chip drops and quality of components - mileage will vary
Rate & Range, Environment and Deployment will impact coverage and quality
1x1
2x2
2x2
3x3
faster connectivity = shorter active radio time = better battery life
Single GbE port on the AP3600 - More than sufficient bandwidth
from the full duplex GbE port on the AP3600

•  Field-upgradable 802.11ac module for the 3600 Series, enables a seamless
migration to next generation wireless
No rip and replace of APs, plug-in and go!
•  802.11ac - 5 GHz Module
1.3 Gbps PHY - 80 MHz @ 3SS with 256 QAM (Wave 1 – Draft 5)
3 Spatial Streams, 20/40/80 MHz channels, 256 QAM
SU-MIMO
Explicit Compressed Beam Forming (ECBF) support as per the 802.11ac specification
•  AP3600 operates 3 active radios, 2.4 and 5 GHz integrated and the 802.11ac 5
GHz module
Supporting b/g/n on 2.4 GHz and a/ac/n on 5 GHz
•  18w of Power required for the 3600 with the 802.11ac Module installed
Power draw with 802.11ac Module exceeds 15.4 Watts (802.3af), and will require either Enhanced
PoE, 802.3at PoE+, Local Supply or Power Injector 4
•  Single GbE port on the AP3600 - More than sufficient bandwidth from the full
duplex GbE port on the AP3600
•  Each module ships with a Universal Mounting Brackets (Bracket-2)
FCS Q2CY13

Codename:
Gemini

3G
HSPA+
-‐
21Mbps/5.7Mbps

<100mW/20dBm
EiRP

16
Active
Users

Lab
Q1CY13
–
FCS
Q4CY13

Product Offer – 3G + Wi-Fi Enterprise
Capability 3G/HSPA + 802.11n
RF Band II/V or I
802.11n 2.4/5GHz
RF Power 3G 100mW at Ant. Port
Antenna 3G: 1x1 SISO
802.11n 4x4 3SS / Beamforming
RF BW 5 MHz
Base Platform Cisco 3600 AP Platform
Throughput 21/5.7 Mbps HSPA+
3G Feature Set 16 Active users; 200 idle ;3GPP R99 & R7
HSPA+ ; Iuh / TR-069, TR-196v1
Open Mode
Mobility 3G Active CS/PS and Idle Mode Resel
SON / HetNet 3G : Network Listen;
802.11 : Clean Air
Power Supply PoE+ or 48V DC (25W)
Size / Weight 1.5L ; 1.4kg (complete unit)
Deployment Indoors
•  16 User 3G Open Mode Module
•  <100mW Transmit Power (same as
ETSI 802.11)
•  Compatible with 3600i/3600e Wi-Fi AP
•  Supports powering through PoE+
•  R99 WCDMA Voice Calls
•  Up to 21Mbps DL / 5.76Mbps UL HSPA
data
•  Available in 3GPP Band II/V (USA/
LATAM) or I (Rest of World)
•  Roadmap to include 32 user count, DC-
HSPA+ and LTE

•  Greenfield header (pure 802.11n, for networks with no 802.11a/b/g stations) by the way
this is a bad idea as you want to be a good RF neighbor. FYI - Greenfield will not be
supported in 802.11ac.
•  4 Spatial streams for up to 600 Mbps (assuming bonded 40 MHz and short 400ns GI)
just too many issues (lack of clients, PoE considerations etc.) FYI .11ac 3-SS Wave-1
•  Channel bonding in 2.4 GHz for enterprise (just not enough channels) as you can only
do so much on 2.4 GHz as there isn’t that much spectrum. FYI- 802.11ac is 5 GHz only
•  Explicit beam-forming (clients really didn’t support this) FYI- Supported with .11ac
•  Dual CTS protection (AP send to CTS when using Space Time Block Coding, STBC,
which extends the range of the cell: one CTS for non-STBC stations (short range), and
one CTS for STBC stations (longer range) FYI – New protections added with .11ac

600
Mbps
450
Mbps
802.11
1999 2003 2007
2
Mbps
11
Mbps
802.11b
54
Mbps
802.11ag
24
Mbps
300
Mbps
65
Mbps
802.11n
6900*
Mbps
1300
Mbps
870
Mbps
290
Mbps
6900*
Mbps
3500*
Mbps
290
Mbps
Wave 1
802.11ac
Wave 2
802.11ac
* Assumes 160 MHz channel width is available and usable
802.11ac = game changer
802.11n 802.11ac
Band 2.4GHz & 5.0GHz 5.0GHz only
PHY Rate 65 Mbps – 600 Mbps 290 Mbps – 6.9 Gbps
MAC Throughput 45 Mbps – 420 Mbps 194 Mbps – 4.8 Gbps
Spatial Streams 4 8
Modulation 64 QAM 256 QAM
Channel Width 20 or 40 MHz 20, 40, 80, *80+80, 160 MHz
1SS @ 80
4SS @ 80
8SS @ 160
Key benefits:
•  Increased performance and throughput
•  Improved battery life
2013 2015
4SS @ 160
3SS @ 80
2600*
Mbps
1730
Mbps
3SS @ 160

The Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) is looking at Wave 1 today
with the main features implemented being:
•  Channel Bonding 80 MHz (mandatory)
•  Faster modulation 256-QAM (optional)
•  Ability to receive 1,2 & 3 Spatial Streams tested
- 2SS is mandatory for non-battery-powered APs
- Only 1SS is mandatory for battery powered AP’s and clients
•  WFA’s focus is on 80 MHz, 1-3SS and 256-QAM
with WFA compliant products likely sporting a
new Wi-Fi Certified logo
802.11ac is happening in stages
Referred to as “Wave-1 and Wave-2
Wi-Fi Alliance logo should
look something like this

•  GIG-E MEETS REAL WORLD NETWORK SITUATION - 1 Gbps+ throughput requires a
“perfect storm” where
1)  multiple clients (2.4 and 5GHz, 3SS) need to reside physically nearby to AP (best case wireless conditions)
2)  with all traffic pushing in a single direction (worst case traffic pattern)
3)  and with full airtime efficiencies (very few management and control frames and retries)
4)  all above must be met in order to achieve 1.060 Gbps peak (only 11% excess of 950 Mbps Gig-E theoretical)
•  802.11ac STANDARD and WFA CERTIFICATION - Neither IEEE 802.11 nor Wi-Fi Alliance
mandate 2 (or more) GigE ports – do NOT allow the competition to successfully assert otherwise !
•  COSTS - another Cat5e line to the AP and consuming an extra switch port – all for running another cable
that would typically cost in the area of 55 - 75% of the ASP for new AP for capacity that is not required
CONCLUSION:
For the first wave of 11ac access points, the use of a
single GigE port is a technologically practical and
economically prudent implementation choice.
2.4GHz 11n radio
150 Mbps max
5GHz 11ac radio
910 Mbps max
AP Gigabit Ethernet
950 Mbps max
1.06 Gbps HDX vs. 1.9 Gbps FDX

24
Cisco Confidential © 2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
* The 802.11ac specification will be brought to market in 2 phases or “Waves”
* Each Wave of 802.11ac will require new chip sets
Feature
Wave 1 – 2013 Wave 2 – 2014/2015
Features still in Discussions
PHY Rate 1.3 Gbps 1.3 Gbps 1.73 Gbps 2.6 Gbps 3.5 Gbps
# of Spatial
Streams
3 3 4 3 4
Modulation 256 QAM 256 QAM 256 QAM 256 QAM 256 QAM
Channel
Width
20, 40, 80 MHz 20, 40, 80 MHz 20, 40, 80 MHz
20, 40, 80,
80+80, 160 MHz
20, 40, 80,
80+80, 160 MHz
MIMO Single User Multi User Multi User Multi User Multi User
802.11
protocol
support
a, n, ac a, n, ac a, n, ac a, n, ac a, n, ac
Ethernet
Uplink
GbE GbE and 10GbE

25
802.11ac (Wave-1) introduces 256-QAM
Faster throughput happens when you can use more
complex Modulation Coding Schemes (MCS) rates
802.11n 1-ss MCS up to 64-QAM
64-QAM uses 6 bits per symbol 802.11ac 1-ss MCS supports 256-QAM
256-QAM uses 8 bits per symbol (up to 4x faster)

26
Remember this from 3600 TAC training?
Well that was true… Channel Sounding and EBF method really didn’t make it into 802.11n
Lots of channel sounding mechanisms and the industry could not decide at the time which one to
use so everything was proprietary – EBF changed to ECBF Explicit Compressed Beam Forming
This got a lot better with 802.11ac after a single sounding method was agreed upon.

27
Single User and Multi-user MIMO
•  Channel sounding for SU & MU
•  To make efficient use of a channel (and beam-form), stations need to know the channel characteristics – they can send
test frames [sounding frames] of known structure, which allows the receiver to understand the channel specs, and
beam-form or optimize back to the sender (AP or client).
•  But for MU-MIMO, a unique sounding mechanism is important, and 11ac community agreed on a single sounding
mechanism - Same mechanism is applicable for SU-MIMO –
(This is the method the AC module uses to beam-form back to clients)
•  ACK for MU
•  AP polls each client for ACK. This adds overhead, but is more robust
•  RTS/CTS for MU
•  No new RTS/CTS mechanism is added for MU but the spec allows AP for proprietary mechanisms using conventional
RTS/CTS
Note: This still doesn’t benefit legacy and 802.11n clients so ClientLink 2.0 is still important.
AP-3600’s 11ac module uses IEEE channel sounding on AC clients
AP-3600 uses the integrated 11n radio and ClientLink 2.0 on N and legacy clients

28
What about channel bonding?
Wave-1 allows up to 80 MHz channel bonding
802.11n can bond up to 40 MHz
802.11ac can bond up to 80 MHz (Wave-1)
*up to 160 MHz (Wave-2)

29
MCS rates @ 1 Spatial Stream in Mbps
New Phones such as the HTC
One & Samsung S 4 have
support for 802.11ac Wave-1
More than 1-SS
requires that the client
have more radios
which draw more
power.
The goal is to enable
devices to have more
throughput with less
battery draw
Most mobile devices
will use 1-SS
Tablets & laptops can
use 2-SS or more

30
.11ac MCS Rates @ 1-spatial stream -- (Wave1) typically supports up to 3-ss (Wave-2) up to 8-ss

31
802.11ac (Wave-2)
Up to 8 spatial streams.
.11ac MCS rates (unlike 802.11n) don’t
exceed 0-9 -- but rather it is 0-9 and then
you call out how many Spatial Streams
so a chart like this is quite extensive.
Depicted to the right is only streams 2 & 3
out of the 8 possible spatial streams.
1 stream (80MHz) is 433 Mbps

32
Smartphones from 210 Mbps*
Tablets from 460 Mbps*
High End Laptops from +680 Mbps*
802.11ac Performance Table
* Assumes 70% MAC efficiency
(Now let’s drop it to ~70% MAC efficiency)
So assuming ~70% MAC efficiency*
What’s the real expected throughput?

33
So if I bond what’s those channels look like?
US- Theater – FCC channel allocation plan
The 80 MHz channel uses two adjacent, non-overlapping 40 MHz channels. The 160 MHz (Wave-2) may
be formed by adjacent or non-contiguous channels. TDWR channels not available today.
Note: Channel 144 (in red) is new and likely more channels will be allocated in 5 GHz to hopefully allow
for more than two channels @ 160 MHz (Wave-2) depending on the frequencies they may not be adjacent

34
So if I bond what’s those channels look like?
ETSI and Japan channel allocation plan
80 MHz bonding (Wave-1) 160 MHz (Wave-2)
Note: Efforts are underway globally to expand the number of channels in the 5 GHz band.
China probably is progressing a bit quicker then others but everyone sees the need.

35
•  In the US there are currently 22/10/5/1 channels with bandwidth 20/40/80/160MHz channels
•  With opening up of 5.35-5.47GHz & 5.85-5.925GHz, the number of channels increases to 34/16/8/3
•  If the industry manages to take back the TDWR channels, the number of increases to 37/18/9/4
144
140
136
132
128
124
120
116
112
108
104
100
165
161
157
153
149
64
60
56
52
48
44
40
36
Channel #
20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
160 MHz
UNII-1 UNII-2 UNII-2 Extended UNII-3
5250
MHz
5350
MHz
5470
MHz
5725
MHz
96
92
88
84
80
76
72
68
169
173
177
181
5825
MHz
5925
MHz
Available TDWR channels, not yet available To become available Special OOBE must be met

36
•  A single GbE cable is fine for (Wave-1) (Wave-2) will exceed GbE speeds so for now, it is recommended for
new installs requiring (Wave-2) that you pull two CAT6a cables until this standard is better defined.
•  A pair of CAT6a cables allows you to fall back to using 2 GbE ports for some iterations of (Wave-2) if required ?.
If not needed, the other cable can be used to bring back the console port. CAT5e cables may be used or one of
each for cost savings but not for 10GbE.
•  Challenges - 10GbE PoE standardization - (additional cost of CAT6a cabling, cost decision may motivate the use
of 1 CAT5e & 1 CAT6a - physical challenges 2x cables can be problematic given space in existing conduit pipes.
(Wave-2) Minimum requirements for enterprise will likely include: 256-QAM, 3-SS and 160 MHz
•  For Wave 2, initially it is expected that 160 MHz devices will appear with 1-3SS (typical) with
perhaps 4-SS supported with likely data rates of 867-2600 Mbps.
•  Likely data rates up to 3.5 Gbps PHY and over 2 Gbps MAC (IEEE approval late 2013)?
•  Will require faster than GigE speeds requiring either 10GbE or perhaps two GbE cables / hybrid
Future proofing new installations (cabling considerations)

37
Does it work? Any caveats?
•  802.11ac MU MIMO is like 802.11n MIMO, except instead of one client, there are up to
four clients
•  AP does pre-coding for all the clients within the MU group simultaneously
•  In MU pre-coding, when AP beam-forms space-time streams to one client, it simultaneously null-
steers those space-time streams to the rest.
•  All users’ MPDUs are padded to the same number of OFDM symbols
•  MU-MIMO is technically risky and challenging:
•  Needs precise channel estimation (CSI) to maintain deep nulls
•  Precise channel estimation adds overhead
•  Rate adaptation is more difficult
•  Throughput benefits are sensitive to MU grouping
WFA Wave 2 certification:
• MU-MIMO
Null-steering:To send data to user 1, the AP forms a strong beam
toward user 1, shown as the top-right lobe of the blue curve. At the
same time the AP minimizes the energy for user 1 in the direction
of user 2 and user 3. This is called "null steering" and is shown as
the blue notches. Same logic applies to red and yellow beams.

38
AP-3600 antenna system
with module installed
This shows how the module
antennas are extended into the
radiation ground plane for best
performance
Module antennas (top) extend next to the
four dual band integrated antennas

39
AP-3600e antenna system with module The Radio module has four internal antennas
Note: AP-3600e when using directional antennas .11ac clients remain Omni-Directional

40
Pattern from RM-3000 Monitor antenna
An antenna is NOT A SPORK….
(let’s talk about antennas….)
…Single band / dual band…

41
Working as ONE virtual radio
Radios work together in tandem
(blended) to maintain proper
radio isolation and performance
(more on this later)…

42
The two 5-GHz radios (integrated and module) work in TANDEM and use same SSIDs so they
do not compete with each other. They work in concert to support same channels (with internal
radio taking lead on frequency selection) and the module performing the AC “overlay”
AP has a dual-core uP with the radio module on one core supporting up to 50 .11ac clients

43
All 3 radios (module + 2 internal radios) requires 18W (802.3at) source “PoE +”
If the switch doesn’t support this - the module will be disabled by (default) until a proper source of
power is applied such as PoE injector Cisco AIR-PWR-INJ4 or local 48VDC supply AIR-PWR-B
To get the module
running on .3af PoE
(15.4W) it is possible
to disable the 2.4
GHz radio & restart.
AIR-PWR-INJ5
(PoE) Injector
Does not support
three radios
Use injector - 4

44
Cisco Switches 802.3af - PoE Cisco Enhanced PoE 802.3at - PoE+ UPoE
Module and 3700 – PoE ready Switches X ✔ ✔ ✔
4500 E Series 47xx line card X X ✔ ✔
4500 E Series all other copper line cards X X ✔ X
4500 non E Series X X X X
3850 24P/48P/48F models X X ✔ X
3750-X X X ✔ X
3750-E X ✔ X X
3750-G X X X X
3560-X X X ✔ X
3560-E X ✔ X X
3560-C X X ✔ X
2960-S X X ✔ X
2960-C X X X X
2960 X X X X
Power Injectors AIR-PWR-INJ4
Cisco Switches 3600 Module Ready
80% of Cisco switches sold today are capable of enhanced or 802.3at PoE
= Sufficient Power for the 3600 Series Access Point

45
What did we use for beta?
USB clients available today.
ASUS Model USB‐AC53
D‐Link Model DWA‐182
Belkin Model F9L1106
Netgear A6200
Buffalo Model WI‐U2‐866D
Edimax Model EW‐7822UAC
Linksys AE6000
PCI ‐ Desktop clients
ASUS Model PCE‐AC66
WGB ‐ Like
TRENDnet Model TEW‐800MB
Buffalo Model WLI‐TX4‐1300H
Linksys Model WUMC710
Linksys Model AC1300*
*Note: The Linksys AC1300 is the best external WGB like device so far as it supports 3-SS
Beta customers provided with D-Link
but new .11ac devices are being
released so more will be available
Check spec sheets for # of SS

46
So when are these chipsets hitting the notebook computers?
Integrated Notebook devices –
Not announced but anticipated in CY13
Intel based Ultrabooks – 2x2 802.11ac Wave 1
Apple – 2x2 or 3x3
802.11ac Wave 1
Mac Rumors is saying Apple likely to use Broadcom chipset
perhaps introducing a new notebook lineup at Apple WWDC
in June – Note: Mac OS X 10.8.4 beta shows AC support
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/09/code-in-os-x-10-8-4-suggests-future-macs-will-
offer-802-11ac-gigabit-wi-fi-support/

47
USB clients appear a bit slow (and can have driver issues)
Some clients seem to be having trouble using DFS channels @ 80 MHz
Some client(s) that do not work well from the client steering perspective:
-  Linksys AE6000 USB (CSCuf78329)
Linksys 11ac USB client, under certain conditions, will appear to keep
trying to connect to 2.4 radio (appears to be a client driver issue) even
though we drop the probe/auth/assoc due to band select/client steering
features.
Sometimes it doesn't even send probe requests on 5G band. We are still
working to see if anything can be done on the AP SW side that would
overcome this client problem
At this time, we cannot guarantee that this client adapter will associate to
11ac radio consistently, compared to other 11ac client adapters.
Note: Most of the clients based on Broadcom chipset appear fine
This one is a bit problematic
based on MediaTek chip

48
The client should report 11ac rates if connected to the 11ac module – If no module present
the .11ac client should drop to .11n rates and connect to slot 1 (internal 5-GHz radio)

49
Most .11ac devices
today are based on
Broadcom or Realtek
No Omni-peek driver
for those cards yet.
* Assumes 70% MAC efficiency
From Wildpackets… Our latest version of OmniPeek (v7.0) includes decodes for 11ac. But we are
currently waiting for either a Ralink-based or Atheros-based external WLAN 11ac adapter to come to market
before we can test packet capture with the devices.

50
There are so many data-rates in .11ac
Using the internal .11n radio on the
AP-3600i. We performed a quick cell size
characterization with .11n rates using
several .11n clients.
When we switched to .11ac clients, and
the .11ac radio module it performed similar
@40 MHz with clients having a cell size
similar to the .11n clients.
Take-away .11n/11ac are similar rate/range
but of course @80 MHz and 256-QAM you
get a significant data-rate boost New facility in Richfield Ohio for competitive testing
Note: We are still making changes from an RF and performance perspective –
So it is a bit early for any real meaningful data

51
Comparison .11AC clients ver. 11N clients AP-3600 using AC module

52
Number of clients UDP at different packet sizes (early data)

53
Comparison 802.11ac versus 802.11n using 3-SS clients
11ac client
Dell E6430 with
Broadcom 3-ss
Vs.
11n client
Apple 3-ss
Macbook Pro
(Take-away) .11ac client @ 3-ss is able to get twice the speed

54
Comparison 802.11ac 3-ss client module radio vs. LinksysAP @ 80 MHz
Client - Dell E6430
Broadcom 3-ss client
installed using Windows 7
We removed the Intel Ultimate 6300
We found the Broadcom radio was
bigger but fit fine in the slot to the left
I have no idea why Linksys is slow as the
RF reports high connection it just
doesn’t seem to process the data quickly.

55
RRM w/.11ac (we are still making changes) right now the current RRM works ok, but it
is making assessments based on the internal .11n radio and does not receive input
from the .11ac module. That said, it does eventually figure it out if you give it time and
enough RF activity.
It is clearly not as robust as .11n RRM and it sometimes picks non-optimal channels
initially but after awhile it does seem to settle on the correct channels especially if
there are .11ac clients on the air and a modest amount of RF activity.

56
•  So what are the challenges with RRM on Cisco WLCs?
•  RRM today works by looking at 20 MHz-wide channels, and it’s easy to see activity (20 or 40) MHz
•  BUT - for AC new methods to look at how the channel is comprised (20, 40, 80 and 160 <Wave2>) will
need to happen - so for now it is a limitation, as we do not fully detect issues with conflicting 802.11ac
settings… with the radio module. But it does work (best effort) but this will need to be tuned as we go
along…
•  New RRM (next gen) will need to take into account the different capabilities of each AP to determine
the new channel widths and it will need to look at the PRIMARY CHANNELS as those are the most
active when making the RRM assessment.
Note: Primary channels are the anchor channels where the bonding begins

57
ECBF Explicit Compressed Beam Forming - The .11ac radio module uses this
method of client “channel sounding” per IEEE 802.11ac specification.
Note: The .11ac radio module does not support Cisco
ClientLink 2.0, Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) or RRM.
This is because the .11ac radio is not a primary interface as it is
controlled by the active integrated .11n radio as a virtual or
“blended radio” working in tandem so same SSID, channel etc.
The primary radio still supports these features and controls
when the 11ac radio module can transmit. This ensures it
does not interfere with the primary integrated 11n radio
providing isolation and maintaining receiver sensitivity.
ClientLink 2.0 continues to
enhance legacy and .11n
clients, via 11n radio and
will service what the .11ac
radio doesn’t understand*
*(for the most part) J

58
Things to look for if the module doesn’t come up
Common issues arise because:
•  Module isn’t screwed down tightly
•  Not enough PoE power (requires 802.3at) 18W
•  Not configured correctly
•  Not understanding the radios operate “together” so you
need to configure the radio in slot 1 (5 GHz internal) first
•  Not understanding SSID’s for both 5 GHz need to be the
same and all .11ac clients are sent to the .11ac module
Things to look for if the module is not found:
•  Console will report “module radio found and ok”
•  Also console CDP message for Power
“Power ok – HIGH POWER inline power source”
•  Perhaps remove module – verify AP ok then reinstall
•  Module should show up as “slot-2”
•  If you suspect PoE (try AIR-PWRB or AIR-PWR-INJ4)
•  Module with not work with AIR-PWR-INJ5

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