The ABCs of

802.11ac

6.93
Gbps
802.11AC

802.11ac takes wireless data rate capabilities from 450 Mbps under 802.11n to 6.93 Gbps

5GHz
802.11AC

2.4GHz

802.11AC

802.11ac only operates in the 5 GHz band

1
1.3Gbps 80MHz channels 3 streams

2
3.47Gbps 160MHz channels 4 streams

3+
6.93 Gbps 160 MHz channels 8 streams

802.11ac rollout will take place in multiple waves

Wave 1 802.11ac

802.11AC BUY NOW

Already on the market

Support for 80 MHz channels and up to 3 data streams

80
MHz channels

1.3
Gbps

Maximum data rate of 1.3 Gbps

Coming Soon
.11A WAVE 2 / 802 C

Wave 2 802.11ac

1st

802.11AC

First MU-MIMO products

160
MHz channels

3.47
Gbps

160 MHz channels and 4 streams

Maximum data rate of 3.47 Gbps

Other Key Benets Rate at range

unchanged
The maximum reach of Wi-Fi signal remains unchanged Technology advances extend the data rate at every distance compared to previous wireless standards

Wi-Fi Reach

Multi-user performance (MU-MIMO)

802.11N

Client queue

In traditional wireless, a second client needed to wait until the rst client had completed data transmission

802.11AC
11ac uses multiple antennas to simultaneously transmit to multiple clients (up to 4 clients). This is like a 4 port wired switch

Congestion
This helps avoid slow throughput due to congestion

Solution
migrate to decentralized architecture

Legacy Client Impact

1997
Older Wi-Fi technologies will continue to exist for years

Today

54Mbps
SLOW MOVING

450Mbps
11N

1.3Gbps
11AC
11AC

11A

1.3Gbps 11ac clients will be signicantly slowed down by 450Mbps 11n and 54Mbps 11a clients

5GHz 11n

5 GHz 11ac

11n and 11a clients on 5GHz band should be isolated on separate radios, rather than mixed with 11ac radios

Wired infrastructure upgrades

10
Up to Gbps
AP uplinks

AP uplinks may need to be increased, as AP bandwidth may require more than 1 Gbps. Aggregated links from the core to the AP must keep pace with this need

LAN controllers

Authentications servers

Centralized rewalls, LAN controllers and authentications servers may also reach their limits

New site survey

ERROR

ERROR

5 GHz

ERROR

ERROR

Wi-Fi networks designed as recently as a couple years ago were probably designed for coverage, not capacity and may not properly account for smartphones, tablets, etc.

11ac

deployments

11ac deployments need to account for increased capacity requirements and more diverse client capabilities

Control application usage

Faster speeds means clients can take advantage of more/different applications

Applications that didnt used to be practical on mobile devices may be now

Learn more http://wi.xirrus.com/abcs-11ac