02-28-2018 03:14 AM - edited 07-05-2021 08:19 AM
Hi
Could anyone advise the main benefits achievable in replacing 3502's with 2802's?
One of the feature differences I read was the 3500 series supports "legacy beamforming" whereas the 2800 supports Clientlink 4.0
I also see the 2800i's allow me to assign both internal radios to 5Ghz which could be an advantage. However, to do this with 2800e's I need to use the smart antenna connector and additional antennae. I like the sound of that but I'm not sure I could do away with 2.4Ghz completely. We have some legacy devices that only do 2.4Ghz in some areas of the network.
The 2800 also supports 3 spatial streams as opposed to 2 with the 3500's
Am I likely to see any significant benefits with these features and any others that are new to the 2800?
Disregard the fact that 2800's support Wave 2. I can't see that being used in my environment at present.
Thanks, Stuart.
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02-28-2018 06:40 AM
02-28-2018 03:52 AM
The initial primary benefits are that the 2800 supports 802.11ac (Wave 1 and Wave 2) whereas the 3502 does not. So firstly I'd be looking at the types of clients you are supporting on a day-to-day basis and whether you want to start taking advantage of that protocol. It can be very useful in high density environments or if you want really high raw throughput. That said, 802.11n on 5 GHz is also pretty decent and the 3502s support that.
Yes the 2802 does do "FRA" where you're support dual 5 GHz but it will still do traditional 2.4 as required so you could even stagger this by having some doing FRA and others not.
In terms of support, the 3502s will begin to start dropping off in feature capability soon but I wouldn't count that as a key thing to replace your current hardware.
For my customers I'm generally advising them to look into 2802s as they refresh older models such as 1142/3502 but not necessarily to aggressively replace them unless there's a specific requirement such as high density, 30-40 devices all running 802.11ac and the 2802 can meet that need.
For ClientLink and Beamforming.. well that just comes in as sales jargon to me but others may disagree :P.
Ric
02-28-2018 04:00 AM
Thanks for the quick reply Ric.
"For ClientLink and Beamforming.. well that just comes in as sales jargon to me but others may disagree"
That was pretty much my opinion unless someone can describe specific differences between these terms and the tangible benefits of one over the other.
Stuart.
02-28-2018 06:40 AM
02-28-2018 09:11 AM
Thanks for the replies.
What difference are we talking about when you say the 2800 can offer beamforming to way more clients simultaneously ? I think I may have read somewhere that the 3500 can only serve 15 clients simultaneously. Does that sound correct? What can the 2800 do?
Regarding the difference in spatial streams is there a definite quantifiable improvement with the 2800? By that I mean is it measurable and not just sales blurb?
Thanks, Stuart.
02-28-2018 09:21 AM
02-28-2018 10:38 PM
@eagles-nest wrote:
Could anyone advise the main benefits achievable in replacing 3502's with 2802's?
The biggest benefit of 2800 is the Flexible Radio Assignment. IF this feature is turned on, the controller can make the decision of turning off the 2.4 Ghz radio and enable a 2nd 5.0 Ghz (micro cell). This is good when the 2.4 Ghz spectrum is completely flooded.
The other "benefit" of having a 2nd interface for etherchannel is debatable.
02-28-2018 11:50 PM
02-28-2018 11:52 PM
@patoberli wrote:
And 802.11ac Wave2! 802.11ac can double or triple the throughput with capable clients.
802.11ac is just a hype.
There is not a lot of clients that can support 802.11ac wave 2. Plus, there is not a lot of companies that have a fat 10 Gbps internet pipe.
03-01-2018 12:37 AM
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