Martin, thanks for sharing the KB link. For context – that is not an Aruba issue, it was due to wireless NIC drivers, I think they were primarily Intel and maybe one other- but it was the client that was unable to see any SSIDs that were set to also broadcast for Wi-Fi 6. That happened with every AP brand and is/was resolvable only by updating the client drivers or disabling WiFi 6 on the infrastructure side.
Jason, as for the model comparison, I’m eager to hear about everyone’s experience if they’ve tested it. There are a few other nuggets I’ll throw out while we wait for that feedback. Some of my more propeller-hat-minded WiFi friends are going to undoubtedly slap me for some gross over-simplifications but I’m happy to elaborate (as I’m sure others are) if more technical detail is of interest. Here’s my best TL:DR attempt… 1. WiFi Standards: In general when you move to newer WiFi technology based on newer standards, there should be an expectation that your AP density will actually increase, which I realize may feel counter-intuitive. The higher data rates correlate to much shorter distances and have a steeper fall off. 2. 5GHz vs 2.4GHz: Due to differences in the technology and the radio aperture, 5GHz Wi-Fi doesn’t “go as far” as legacy 2.4GHz WiFi. If I dive in to this it may start a coup so I’ll leave it at that, but this is another reason we tell customers to expect higher AP density as they move towards more 5GHz clients. All that being said, the 5GHz of WiFi 5 and the 5GHz of WiFi 6 will be same/similar from a layer 1 perspective, but you have the higher data rates (closer range requirements) with WiFi 6 now. 3. RF Profiles in AOS 8: Unrelated to the WiFi technology itself, but something Aruba-specific you may encounter is that if you are also moving from AOS 6 to 8 as you add 500-series APs, it is highly likely even custom converted RF profiles, specifically radio power, will somehow vanish- or the default is used, which is possibly lower than your current/prior deployment. I’ve seen this a few times so check that out – obviously if the radio power or range is different you may get wildly different results from a client-perspective. How AOS 8 handles profiles is also different depending on whether a MM is in use ,or not, and there are some settings which may be set one place but are superseded another. So be sure to check what’s actually being used, not what’s set in the controller(s). 4. Other testing: Some of the other testing will be hard to compare apples to apples because you’re talking about a Wave 1 ac AP compared to a WiFi 6/ax AP. So airtime utilization and things like that can also vary widely with the technology, client capabilities, and ambient RF (from SSIDs in the airspace plus non-WiFi interference). Some/most of that (throughput, RSSI, roaming, etc.) is very client-driven as well. However it would be interesting to see those results if anyone has tested. ___________ Jennifer Minella, CISSP, HP MASE VP of Engineering & Security Carolina Advanced Digital, Inc. www.cadinc.com<http://www.cadinc.com/> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 919.460.1313 Main Office 919.539.2726 Mobile/text [CAD LOGO EMAIL SIG] From: Martin Reynolds <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 8, 2021 3:21 PM Subject: Re: Aruba AP2xx vs. AP5xx apples-to-apples Hi Jason, We have not had the opportunity to do the apples to apples comparison that you have but in a few new installs we have run into this issue which you may have already seen but in case, here you go.........for reference sake at time we were running 8.5.0.7 code but are now on 8.5.0.9 (the upgrade was not related to the below post) https://community.arubanetworks.com/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MID=27788 Thanks, Martin On Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 1:12 PM Jason Trinklein <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: In the early days of Aruba's AP5xx series, I heard rumblings in peer institutions and on Educause about the AP5xx series having poor RF properties compared to the AP2xx and AP3xx series. For example, when replacing an AP315 with an AP515, signal coverage was worse, sometimes bad enough to cause service loss in distant locations. We are considering our next wifi upgrade to 802.11ax and are thinking about performing an apples-to-apples wifi survey by surveying our 2xx APs in-place, then performing the same survey with 5xx APs in-place. Has anyone performed such an apples-to-apples comparison with Ekahau, measuring RSSI, throughput, jitter, and latency? Any comparisons of airtime utilization using EyePA or similar? If anyone has experience they can share to help us make a data-driven and informed decision, I'd be appreciative. In a broader question - for those who have moved from .ac to .ax, have you seen measurable increases in quality of service to your community? Thanks! -- Jason Trinklein Information Technology Services - Infrastructure Clark University | 950 Main Street | Worcester, MA 01610 508-421-3865 (o) | 508-736-4001 (c) | [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ********** Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional participation and subscription information can be found at https://www.educause.edu/community ********** Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional participation and subscription information can be found at https://www.educause.edu/community Visit https://cadinc.com/blog for tech articles and news. ********** Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional participation and subscription information can be found at https://www.educause.edu/community
