Cisco uses new AP to push 802.11n into the mainstream

With the new Aironet 1140 series of 802.11n access points announced today, Cisco want to make 11n the mainstream WLAN technology for its huge enterprise customer base, writes Network World Senior Editor John Cox (follow his blog). The new AP is the same price as the bigger, heavier, more ungainly Aironet 1250, Cisco’s original 11n access point released some 18 months ago. Blogger Ken Presti has a podcast of his talk with Cisco’s Chris Kozup about the new product.

The new 1140, with a software update due on April, also will support a technology called beamforming, which in essence allows a radio to direct its energy in a more targeted way to a receiver. The technology was developed by Navini Networks, which Cisco acquired in 2007.

Beamforming is an optional part of the 802.11n standard, and one variant is used today between 11n clients and 11n access points. Existing legacy clients, 11g and 11a devices, get a slight inadvertent boost from this, because the 11n access point uses a technique to optimize the signal it receives from these non-11n radios.

But Cisco’s beamforming, dubbed ClientLink, builds on that technique: the additions implemented in the Wi-Fi chipset enable the access point to optimize the signal it sends back to 11g and 11a clients. Throughput improvements can vary widely, but Cisco is citing a test report by Miercom that found an average throughput improvement of 65% for these non-11n devices.

The vendor has a white paper on its approach.
 
That means faster transaction, less time on the air, fewer retransmit tries, better overall WLAN capacity.

Almost as important: Cisco Capital will be offering financing plans to help enterprises pay for large-scale WLAN upgrades to 11n; new 11n migration consulting services from Cisco; and even trade-in discounts of 15-25% on your existing gear.

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• Cisco
• 802.11n
• Access Point
• Aironet 1140
• beamforming
• Cisco access point
• John Cox
• Navini Networks
• standards