Cisco 3602i vs 3602e

[DmitryArtemev]

Hello,guys.

I need your advice. Can  anybody tell me how many built in antennas does 3602i Cisco AP have?

As far as i know 3600 has 4x4 MIMO. I think that 3602i must have 8 buit in antennas - four transmit

antennas and four receive antennas; 3602e has only four external...

So, is it better to use for indoor applications 3602i compared to 3602e in terms of perfomance,range and speed???

[blakekrone]

4 dual band antennas on both. Either will provide similar performance depending on external antennas used with the 3602e.

[Leo Laohoo]

The 3600e has four physical antenna sockets.  Each antenna socket will support 802.11 a/b/g/n so you have to be careful with your choice of antennas.

Performance of the 3600e vs 3600i will depend entirely upon the choice of antenna.  Take note that the 3600e will not support antenna >-6 dBi.  You can find the list of supported antenna for the 3600e here.

NOTE:  You need a WLC to operate the 3600 with CleanAir.

Just what are you trying to do? 

[chan]

External antennas perform better than internal.  External antennas have more uniform radiation patterns, and that translates to more predictable coverage when you lay out access points on a floor. 

Another downside of internal antenna is that its ground plane is too close to the radiator and this causes more radiation to vertical direction than horizontal.  This means less horizontal coverage area at the same power level.  Don't be fooled by those antenna gains too much.  Antenna patterns are more important than gains. 

As you need dual-band antennas for 3602e model, you only have limited choices. 

There is a duplexer inside the AP to distinguish RF signals of 2.4GHz and 5GHz so that they can coexist simulatneously in the same radiator.

[Ravi Singh]

As long as you use the dipole and not a higher gain antenna, the coverage should be close. Going all external will push the cost up and thus is why many only use the external when it I needed