WAP371 vs WAP571

[matthew1471]

I'd love to know, what are the main differences between WAP371 and WAP571?

So far I think it's:

- More powerful CPU for more clients (WAP371 had issues packet capturing for instance)
- 2 LAN ports for > 1Gbps throughput (WAP371 was around 950Mbps because of this).
- Higher throughput on 2.4Ghz (600 Mbps 802.11n vs 450Mbps 802.11n if you can achieve it)
- Spectrum Analyser (helps you spot microwaves, cordless radios etc. that are screwing the WiFi channel throughput).
- 6 more antennas? (or is the Cisco WAP371 data sheet wrong?)
- Better antenna (particularly for 2.4Ggz).
- Better handling for PoE instead of PoE+ (i.e. it won't crash if you try 80Mhz 5GHz on PoE).
- A lot more RAM and flash (256 MB RAM 128 MB flash vs 64 MB RAM 32 MB flash)

Any of these wrong or I am missing?

Thanks,
Matthew

[Jorge Obregon · Accepted solution]

Hello, 

I hope you are doing well. Here you have the datasheet for each device so you can compare them. 

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/small-business-300-series-wireless-access-points/datasheet-c78-732143-esxl.pdf

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/small-business-500-series-wireless-access-points/datasheet-c78-736449-es.pdf

Now I would like to advise you to contact a cisco SBSC presales representative by calling to 1800-553-6387 so they can give you more details since they are the ones that handled this types of questions 

I hope this helps you. 

Regards, 

[matthew1471]

Hi Jorge,

Thank you for your response.

Those links are in Spanish (and I'm not a Spanish speaker I'm afraid). Also I am not in the US either, but live in the UK.

My employer is a Cisco partner and they were asking me what the difference was between the models too so I raised a case via that.

It really isn't very clear what the differences between WAP371 and WAP571 are from the website and it really should be :-(.

Kind Regards,
Matthew

[boayers · Accepted solution]

Hey there,

The most notable difference between the 371 and 571 is the maximum number of clients that each may have associated with it at a given time. The 371 supports 32 simultaneous client connections while the 571 can support up to 256. Depending on the size of your office space and number of wireless users, you can choose the access point that adequately serves your needs.Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Best,

-Patrick Ayers

[matthew1471]

Thanks Patrick, I have now purchased one.

• MFP/PFM still seems broken/interoperable with multiple clients just like WAP371 (so I've turned it off)
• It seems a lot more punchy than WAP371 :-).
• There's also a high "FCS Error Count:", "ACK Failure Count:", "WEP Undecryptable Count:", "Failed Transmit Count:", "Transmit Retry Count:", "RTS Failure Count:" and "Multiple Retry Count:" for both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radios that assuming it's not both environmental I assume will be fixed in a future firmware update?
• I haven't tested yet whether the packet capture limitations of the WAP371 are also present in WAP571 but I'm hoping not :-).
• It's not clear that enabling Spectrum Analyzer disables the radio behaving as an Access Point, that would have been helpful to know before buying. The help is pretty unhelpful at pointing this out:
  " • Spectrum Analysis Mode—The Spectrum Analysis Mode status. The status is either Dedicated Spectrum Analyzer or Disable. The default is Disable."

[Arun Thomas]

System Memory

WAP371 : 64MB RAM & 32 MB Flash

WAP571 : 256MB RAM & 128MB Flash

Also wireless throughput for WAP571 is far better than 371

WAP 571 - 1.9 Gbps   3x2 MIMO at 5Ghz & 2x2 MIMO at 2.4Ghz

WAP 371 - 950 Mbps  3x2 MIMO at 5Ghz & 2x2 MIMO at 2.4Ghz

371 supports Up to 64 connective users, 30 active users per radio

571 can support Up to 200 connective users, 50 active users per radio

[ValleyITPC]

Yep, as I griped about a moment ago in another Quick Reply to one of your posts. it seems the documentation (whether it be Help, or marketing materials, data sheets, etc.), don't seem to be written by people that know how to anitcipate real-world IT usage questions. Consequently you almost have to purchase units just to find out for yourself - a common complaint I see on these forums is customers mad becuase a feature didn't work as described in some data sheet or what not - again, poor documentation leading to people runing in circles, making bad buying decisions, and so forth. My hope is that somebody at Cisco will read this thread and put it in the hands of some higher level product manager who can do something about the Help and other documentation issues. But more important than doing good docs on product release, they need to learn to kee those docs adaptive to changes from firmware updates, errors, testing, etc. Anyway, yet again I seem to be standing on this box full of soap, perhaps I'll get down now.

[ValleyITPC]

Not to speak ill too much, but as a Cisco partner I am always trying to compare best options for clients and it's a non-stop problem for Cisco that their documentation/data sheets simply do not address what real IT people need to know - but the problem is systemic with Cisco and won't be fixed without someone realizing the entire documentation process is sending countless partners and customers in circles trying to find answers. It's a very sore point for me as I can't even calculate the number of lost hours spent over the past 8 or 9 years as a Cisco partner trying to ensure get accurate answers to real-world questions, that let's be honest, the people documenting should have the wherewithal to realize needs answering. Sorry, I'll hop off my soapbox now ;)