Thanks Matt,
I ordered a Dell that has one of those. Looking forward to testing
it. All of this confirms though that there is no compelling reason
for us to move to 802.11n. I was worried that I wasn't using the best
equipment for the testing that I've done thus far with a couple of
vendors. The testing shows a little over 100mbps down and maybe 90
up, and that is peak in the best case scenario lab conditions with an
expensive, good quality adapter and all 11n parameters tuned. With
cheaper, consumer grade adapters it was much lower than that. And, I
would imagine it is even lower yet in real world scenarios. We're
also finding that the range is usually no better, and in some cases
worse than a/b/g. We tend to deploy with a lot of density anyway, so
that isn't a big problem for us, but it contradicts what we had heard
about the technology. It just doesn't look like users are going to
notice any difference between current generation 11n and a solid
a/b/g environment. And, when considering the cost difference and
increased support complications that are inevitable when deploying a
new technology, it is hard to make a case for moving to 11n with any
urgency. If anyone has done any testing shows better results, please
share it.
Pete Morrissey
-----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues
Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Barber, Matt
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 9:49 AM To:
[email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN]
Wireless-only in residence halls
Hi Pete,
They do not do 3x3. I don't know of any adapters that do besides the
Intel 5300.
I haven't done any extensive throughput testing with those adapters.
In terms of actual, real-world use though, they are performing fine.
We have a few dozen people using them without issues.
Matt Barber Network Analyst Morrisville State College 315-684-6053
-----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues
Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter P
Morrissey Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 9:29 AM To:
[email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN]
Wireless-only in residence halls
Do they do 3x3 MIMO? What is the best up/down throughput that has
been achieved on them with channel bonding? Pete Morrissey
-----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues
Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Barber, Matt
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 8:42 AM To:
[email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN]
Wireless-only in residence halls
Hi Bruce,
We went with two different Linksys dual-band adapters, one PCMCIA and
one USB. The USB is really only for the few desktops that some
students bring in. We sell it (the WUSB600n) at our bookstore. The
PCMCIA one is the Linksys WPC600n, and we use it for some older
laptops that don't have any wireless or only have 11b.
Matt Barber Network Analyst Morrisville State College 315-684-6053
-----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues
Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Osborne,
Bruce W. (NS) Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 6:43 AM To:
[email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN]
Wireless-only in residence halls
Matt,
We are looking into selling dual band 11n adapters. Whish ones did
you choose?
What about desktop computers? Do you provide any solution for
wireless? There do not seem to be any dual band 11n desktop cards.
You can buy adapters and use some of the laptop cards, though.
Thanks, Bruce Osborne Liberty University
-----Original Message----- From: Barber, Matt
[mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2009 1:21
PM Subject: Re: Wireless-only in residence halls
This is similar to our approach. We push the 5 GHz as much as
possible. Between the microwaves, Xbox 360 controllers, Bluetooth,
and everything else, the 2.4 GHz in the dorms is a tad unpredictable.
We sell dual-band 11n adapters in our bookstore, educate helpdesk
visitors, and I am always testing how things look in the field. The
great majority of the time, things work perfectly fine. When it
doesn't, I will typically work directly with students to figure out
why. Flipping some adapters to prefer 5 GHz (or only use 5 GHz even),
or even suggesting that the microwave not be sitting 6 inches from a
laptop typically takes care of things :)
Matt Barber Network Analyst Morrisville State College 315-684-6053
-----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues
Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hector J
Rios Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 7:19 PM To:
[email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN]
Wireless-only in residence halls
I forgot to mention that as well. In almost all of the rooms that we
went into when we were doing our surveys we saw a microwave oven and
an occasional 2.4GHz cordless phone. We spoke to Res Life and
explained to them the impact that such devices could have on the
wireless network. Having a dual solution is great because the 5GHz
band is less crowded. But unfortunately many wireless adapters tend
to prefer the 2.4GHz band. Disabling the 2.4GHz would be wonderful,
but the reality is that there are still a lot of legacy devices out
there, so you have to support them. We even considered offering
2.4GHz at 2Mbps only, hoping that this would discourage users from
using 2.4GHz altogether and opt for 5GHz. The issue here is how to
get users to adjust settings on their end so that they only use 5GHz.
Currently we have opted to attempt to "educate" our users on how
wireless works, how certain devices can have detrimental effects on
the network, and how small modifications to their adapter settings
can make a huge difference. Utopian, I know. I'll let you guys how
that idea goes.
Hector
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EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at
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EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at
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