Best Practices on Migrating to 802.11ac Wi-Fi

Best Practices on
Migrating to 802.11ac Wi-Fi
Peter Lane
March, 2014

CONFIDENTIAL
© Copyright 2013. Aruba Networks, Inc.
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Changing networks- Capacity & Bandwidth
More devices
• Average 3
devices per
user
• Smartphone,
tablets,
laptops,
ultrabooks
More
applications per
device
• Average 40
apps per
mobile device
• Estimates >
300 billion app
downloads by
2016
More traffic
• HD mobile
video, video
telepresence,
collaboration
programs
• Tablet traffic ~
3.4x greater
than
smartphone
traffic
Shift in W-Fi
Usage
• Pervasive,
primary access
• Mission critical
• Multimedia –
Voice, IPTV,
older legacy
media
transport
systems (i.e.
cable TV)

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What type of Apps are on your
network ?
• Mix of personal and corporate applications
• Design for the highest bandwidth demand that you intend to
support
• Multiply this number by the number of connections that you
need to support
Personal Apps Throughput
Requirements
FaceTime 400 Kbps
AirPlay Video 1 Mbps
Netflix 1.5 or 5 Mbps*
Pandora 150 Kbps
YouTube 500 Kbps
Skype 500 Kbps
HTTP 500 Kbps
Corporate Apps Throughput
Requirements
Lync Desktop Sharing 1.5 Mbps
SIP Softphone 90 Kbps
Citrix Internet + Office 150 Kbps
Webex iPad Desktop
Share
250 Kbps
WebEx High Quality
Video
1.5 Mbps
GoToMeeting Desktop
Share
500 Kbps
Desktop Backup 10 – 50 Mbps
Printing 1 Mbps

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Clients
11ac Clients
– Samsung Galaxy S4 (1x1:1 11ac)
• 40 million units by late October (6 months)
– HTC One (1x1:1 11ac)
• 5 million sold in first 45 days
– Moto X, Moto droid Ultra, etc.
– 2013 MacBook Air (2x2:2 11ac), iMacs and MacBook Pros
– Select Dell and Alienware laptops
– USB dongles (2x2:2 11ac)
• Look for USB 3.0
No significant impact on client battery life

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802.11ac Technology Overview
Think of 11ac as an extension of 11n
• 11n specification introduced/leveraged:
• 2.4 and 5 GHz supported
• Wider channels (40 MHz)
• Better modulation (64-QAM)
• Additional streams (up to 4 streams)
• Beam forming (explicit and implicit)
• Backwards compatibility with 11a/b/g
• 11ac introduces
• 5 GHz supported
• Even wider channels (80
MHz and 160 MHz)
• Better modulation (256-
QAM)
• Additional streams (up to
8)
• Beam forming (explicit)
• Backwards compatibility
with 11a/b/g/n
• Refer to http://www.802-
11.ac.net for in-depth information

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More Spatial Streams
• Spec allows up to 8 spatial streams (4 max in 802.11n)
– 8SS performance will only be possible where both devices have 8 antennas
– Space, power and cost constraints will dictate the number of streams
supported by the client
• Smart phones – 1 stream
• Tablets – 2 stream
• Laptops – 2 or 3 streams
– Speed of connection is decided by the device with the lowest number of
streams.
• Adding spatial streams increases throughput proportionally.
– Assuming multipath conditions are favorable:
• Two streams offer double the throughput of a single stream
• Eight streams increase throughput eight-fold

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Wider Channels
• 80 MHz channel widths supported in first
generation
– 80 MHz is 4.5x faster than 20 MHz
– 80 MHz is contiguous
– Per packet dynamic channel width decisions
• Future releases will allow for 160 MHz
channel widths
– 160 MHz can be either contiguous or in two non-
contiguous 80 MHz slices

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802.11ac Channels (FCC)
Channel
Freq (MHz)
UNII I and UNII II
2x 80 MHz
4x 40 MHz
8x 20 MHz
Band
Edge
Channel
Freq (MHz) 5850
US UNII III
1x 80 MHz
2x 40 MHz
5x 20 MHz
Channel
Freq (MHz)
UNII II extended
3x 80 MHz
6x 40 MHz
12x 20 MHz
36 4844 5240 56 6460 Band
Edge
5180 5200 5220 5240 5260 5280 5300 5320 5350
Band
Edge
5150
149 161157153
5745 5765 5785 5805
Band
Edge
5725
165
5825
100 112108 116104 120 128124
5500 5520 5540 5560 5580 5600 5620 5640
Band
Edge
5470
136 140 Band
Edge
5680 5700 5725
132
5660
144
5720
Weather
Radar

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802.11ac Channels (ETSI)
Channel
Freq (MHz)
UNII I and UNII II
2x 80 MHz
4x 40 MHz
8x 20 MHz
Channel
Freq (MHz)
UNII II extended
2x 80 MHz
5x 40 MHz
11x 20 MHz
36 4844 5240 56 6460 Band
Edge
5180 5200 5220 5240 5260 5280 5300 5320 5350
Band
Edge
5150
100 112108 116104 120 128124
5500 5520 5540 5560 5580 5600 5620 5640
Band
Edge
5470
136 140 Band
Edge
5680 5700 5725
132
5660

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Channel Usage with two APs

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ARM Primary channel mapping
• ARM chooses primary 80, 40 and 20 MHz
channels
• Same way as existing channels are chosen
• Show AP details will show the channels selected
• 36+ means

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Max Data Rates per Client Type
Channel
bandwidth
Transmit – Receive
antennas
Typical client scenario Max individual link rate Max aggregate link
rate
40 MHz 3x3 PC 606 Mbps 606 Mbps
80 MHz 1x1 Smartphone 433 Mbps 433 Mbps
80 MHz 2x2 Tablet, PC 867 Mbps 867 Mbps
80 MHz 3x3 PC 1300 MBPS 1300 MBPS
160 MHz 1x1 Smartphone 867 Mbps 867 Mbps
160 MHz 2x2 Tablet, PC 1.73 Gbps 1.73 Gbps
160 MHz 4x Tx AP,
4 clients of 1x Rx
Multiple smartphones 867 Mbps per client 3.47 Gbps
160 MHz 8x Tx AP, 4 clients
with total of 8x Rx
Digital TV, set-top box,
tablet, PC, smartphone
867 Mbps to two 1x clients
1.73 Gbps to one 2x client
3.47 Gbps to one 4x client
6.93 Gbps

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802.11ac Channel Width and
Datarate
• Maximum datarates (in Mbps) for each channel
width
802.11n
1SS
802.11n
2SS
802.11n
3SS
802.11ac
1SS
802.11ac
2SS
802.11ac
3SS
20 MHz 72.2 144.4 216.7 96.3 192.6 288.9
40 MHz 150 300 450 200 400 600
80 MHz N/A N/A N/A 433.3 866.7 1,300

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Coverage Example
1. Sample coverage for 3x3 11n AP (or 3x3 11ac AP with
11n clients) in HT40 mode
•Coverage area sustains MCS5 and up
360
405
450

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Coverage Example
2. Upgrade to 3x3 11ac AP with 11ac clients, still using
40Mhz channels (VHT40)
•Radius for 600Mbps (MCS9) area is 1/4 of that for 450Mbps (MCS7)
360
405
450
540
600

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Coverage Example
3. Equivalent range for clients using 80MHz channels
(VHT80)
•Rates roughly double, relative range for each of the MCS rates
does not change, but 80MHz range is ~70% of equivalent (same
MCS) 40MHz range
780
878
975
1170
1300
585

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Relative Range 802.11ac Rates
Datarate
40MHz 80MHz
MCS0 45 97.5
MCS1 90 195
MCS2 135 292.5
MCS3 180 390
MCS4 270 585
MCS5 360 780
MCS6 405 877.5
MCS7 450 975
MCS8 540 1,170
MCS9 600 1,300
Signal level and relative range
-dB r
MCS0 87 63
MCS1 85 50
MCS2 83 40
MCS3 79 25
MCS4 76 18
MCS5 71 10
MCS6 66 5.6
MCS7 63 4.0
MCS8 58 2.2
MCS9 51 1.0

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Beamforming: Notes
• AP 22x series has 11ac beamforming support in 2.4 and 5
GHz bands
• Works with clients that support 11ac beamforming function
– This is at a minimum all 11ac client devices using Broadcom chipsets
– Support will have to come to all devices to compete with Broadcom offering
• 11ac beamforming is standards based
– first standard that is doing this the “right” way
– 11ac beamforming represents the consensus view of the 1000’s of
contributors to the standards process
• 11ac beamforming is implemented in baseband.
– It works with all antenna subsystems
– The total number of beamforming combinations is effectively infinite
• 11ac actively tracks users so has a recent channel estimate
between the AP and client that is updated frequently
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Channel state information, implicit
and explicit beamforming estimation
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Implicit feedback for beamforming (802.11n not 802.11ac)
1 (Beamformer) Send me a sounding frame
2 (Beamformee) Here’s the sounding frame
3 OK, I’ll pre-code assuming you hear me like I heard you
Request for sounding
sounding frames
Explicit feedback for beamforming (802.11n and 802.11ac)
1 (Beamformer) Here’s a sounding frame
2 (Beamformee) Here’s how I heard the sounding frame
3 Now I will pre-code to match how you heard me
sounding frames
Beamformed frames
feedback from sounding
Implicit and explicit feedback for beamforming
Beamformer BeamformeeBeamformeeBeamformer
Beamformed frames
Actual
CSI
Implied
CSI

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Limits
• If the number of scatterers increases do the
degrees of freedom continue to increase?
• The simple answer is no.
• In order to be effective the system has to be able
to resolve the various paths
• As the angle between paths decreases the ability
to resolve them also decreases
• Also, paths with large power differences will not
contribute to the system performance
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AP Throughput > 1Gbps
• “How fast can I go?”
– Simple question with very complicated answer
– Depends on many factors
• Device type
• Distance
• Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)
• Access Point configuration
• Channel width
• Number of Spatial Streams
• Short/long guard intervals
• Link aggregation
– Your mileage WILL vary

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Pros and Cons of 802.11ac
• Pros
1. APs can accommodate more users/devices
• Increased capacity
2. Standards based Explicit Beam-forming increases SNR
• Higher data rates over longer distances
3. 256-QAM
• Increased throughput at high SNRs
• Improved modulation and coding techniques
4. Multi-User MIMO (future generations)
• Improved utilization of RF capacity
5. Use of 5 GHz spectrum
• More non-overlapping channels
• Quieter RF environment

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Pros and Cons of 802.11ac
• Caveats
1. Hardware update required to support 802.11ac
• Some features will not be available on legacy devices
2. Increased product cost
• Small premium for 3x performance
• Prices will come down
3. Supporting 802.11ac will result in increased load on the
infrastructure
4. AP-225 requires 802.3at (PoE+) for full functionality &
performance
• However, no restrictions on 11ac radio with 802.3af POE
• USB disabled, second Ethernet port disabled, 2.4GHz radio in
1x3:1SS mode

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Wave 2 of 11ac
• What will wave 2 802.11ac deliver?
• MU-MIMO
• Use AP MIMO resources more effectively
• Transmit data to multiple devices simultaneously:
for example 4SS AP streaming data to four 1SS
clients simultaneously
• 4x4:4SS
• Benefit of additional stream mostly for MU-MIMO
• Not anticipating any 4x4:4SS client devices
• Adds 33% to max datarate
• VHT160
• Doubles max datarate
• Practical problem: only 2 VHT160 channels
available in entire 5GHz band
• Max 5GHz radio throughput triples again!

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11ad and what it means
• 60GHz band, three channels in most countries (each 2.16GHz
wide), each providing up to 6.8Gbps PHY datarate
• No MIMO
• Challenges: Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) connections, range,
penetrating obstacles (and people)
• Targeted to clean up a cluttered desk or TV cabinet
• Likely not appropriate for traditional AP use. But can be interesting
for related applications like wireless docking, high-capacity WLAN
hotspots, AP backhaul/aggregation, etc.
• It is being investigated (but no product plans as of yet)
• Standard is available, certification program in place
• Wi-Fi Alliance WiGig Alliance

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AP Platforms not supported in
6.4
• In AOS 6.4, support for the following AP platforms will be
removed:
– Legacy (a/b/g): AP-60/61, AP-65/65WB, AP-70, AP-85, RAP-2WG
– First gen 11n: RAP-5WN
– Other: RAP-5 (wired)
• Note that all of these platforms are EOS now:
– AP-60/61, AP-65, AP-70: 6/1/2011
– AP-120/121, RAP-5: 2/1/2012
– AP-85: 5/1/2012
– AP-65WB: 10/1/2012
– AP-124/125: 8/1/2013
– RAP-2WG, RAP-5WN: 11/1/2013
• This implies that AOS 6.3 will be around at least until 11/1/2018
• AP 12x will be supported in AOS 6.4

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MacBook Pro 3SS NIC

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Samsung Galaxy S4

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Indoor Campus APs

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AP-114/115: 3 stream 11n AP
• Enterprise class baseline 3x3 802.11n
– Physical Design: similar to AP-224/225 (but smaller)
– Reuse AP-130, AP-220, RAP100 mount accessories
• Two platform models:
– AP-114: external antennas (3x, dual band diplexed)
– AP-115: integrated antennas (6x)
• Advanced Cellular Coexistence (ACC) support
• Dual radio 802.11n 3x3:3 (450Mbps)
– SDM, CSD, STBC, MRC, LDPC support
• Wired interfaces
– Network: 1x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet (no MACSec)
– USB 2.0 host interface, console port, DC power
• Power: 12Vdc or 802.3af/at POE, 12.5W max (excluding USB)
• Enterprise temperature range, plenum rated, TPM

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AP-224/225 802.11ac 3x3 AP
• Enterprise class 3x3 802.11ac
• Aggregate TCP platform throughput performance >1Gbps
• Two platform models:
– AP-224: external antennas (3x, dual band)
– AP-225: integrated antennas
– “Advanced Cellular Coexistence” support
• Dual radio:
– 802.11n 3x3:3 HT40 2.4GHz(450Mbps), support for “TurboQAM”
– 802.11ac 3x3:3 HT80 5GHz (1.3Gbps)
– 11ac beamforming supported in both bands
• Wired interfaces
– Network: 2x 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet, with MACSec support
– USB 2.0 host interface, console port, DC power
• Will require 802.3at PoE (or DC power) for full functional operation
– Functional, but capabilities reduced when powered from 802.3af POE
• Enterprise temperature range, plenum rated, TPM
$1,295
U.S. List

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11ac Controller Support
Performance
Scale
CAMPUS
LARGE OFFICE
3200
32 CAP/128 RAP
2K Users
3 Gbps Firewall
3400
64 CAP/256 RAP
4KUsers
4 Gbps Firewall
3600
128CAP/512 RAP
8K Users
4 Gbps Firewall
7210
512 CAP/512 RAP
16K Users
20 Gbps Firewall
M3
512 CAP/1024 RAP
8K Users
20 Gbps Firewall
7220
1024 CAP/1024 RAP
24K Users
40 Gbps Firewall
7240
2048 CAP/2048 RAP
32K Users
40 Gbps Firewall

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7200 Series Controller: Front and
Rear Views
7200 Front View
7200 Rear View
Capacity
• 7210/7220/7240
• 512/1024/2048 APs
• 16K/24K/32K users
Interfaces
• 4x 10G SFP+
• 2x Dual personality ports
10/100/1000Base-T (RJ-45) or
1000Base-X (SFP)
Modular Components
• Power Supply
• Fan Tray
• Expansion Slot
Management
• Console RS-232 (RJ-45) or usb
• LCD Display
4x 10GBaseX
(SFP+) Ports
Expansion Slot for DPI
LCD
Display
usb
Field-Replaceable
Fan Tray
Hot-Swappable, Load-Sharing,
Redundant Power Supplies
dual personality
ports (RJ-45 or SFP)
I/O, HA, MGMT
Console
RJ-45 or usb
Coverage for 6.5M sq ft, equivalent to the area of the Pentagon, the office space of 3 Empire State
Buildings or 60 Home Depots. Capacity to stream NetFlix for every student in a large university.

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Customer scale points
• Large Software company
– 20,000 APs
– 55,000 users
– Never exceeded 12 gbps combined throughput
• Medium Sized US University
– 2,000 APs
– 12,500 Students
– Never exceeded 6 gbps combined throughput

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AP Uplink Considerations
• Assess the environment: Brownfield vs.
Greenfield
• 2 x Ethernet/LAG cables is NOT a
requirement for wave 1 11ac
• For a Greenfield environment (new
building), laying out 2 x Ethernet cables
makes it future proof
• For a Brownfield environment (an
existing site with 1 x Ethernet cable), you
don’t loose anything
• TODAY – 2 x Ethernet cables are used by
a few customers
• salt and pepper designs – PoE
redundancy

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PoE Considerations
802.3af 802.3at
2.4 GHz radio 1x3:1 3x3:3
5 GHz radio 3x3:3 3x3:3
Ethernet ports 1 2
USB Disabled Enabled
• af vs. at: What do you get vs. loose
• Customers who do not have at; why is it not a big problem
• Most 2.4 GHz only devices are single stream
• 2.4 GHz has limited throughput already due to 20 MHz
channels
• Competitors don’t have a USB port to begin with
• 2nd Ethernet port isn’t that important. And competitors can’t
have it both ways. It can’t be important when its not powered
and unimportant when it is.
• Advanced filtering requires a little more power

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AP Replacement Considerations
• If the existing 802.11n network was designed for capacity
then 1-for-1 AP replacement with 802.11ac AP is viable.
• Capacity = APs that are 2500 sq.ft apart
• If the existing network is designed for supporting
• 802.11 a/b/g
• Or a coverage only 802.11 n
• Redesign will be required
• Redesigning might includes a combination of both
physical and virtual survey.
• Depending on the environment

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AP Forwarding Mode
Considerations
• Tunnel mode is the preferred
forwarding mode
• For high performance using
tunnel mode – enable Jumbo
frames to support the increased
AMSDU
• Expect a 10 – 15 % drop in
performance when jumbo
frame is not enabled (800 vs.
600 Mbps)
• D-Tunnel mode can be used to
achieve high performance
(equivalent of tunnel mode +
jumbo frames
• NOTE: D-tunnel mode also
takes a minor hit after 50
clients per radio

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11n + 11ac co-existence &
Channel Considerations
• 11n + 11ac = No problem
• Assuming HD deployments (APs are 15 meters apart)
• 80 Mhz – Technology Demonstration and greenfield 802.11ac ONLY
• 40 Mhz – 802.11n compatibility modes to avoid client driver issues
• 20 Mhz - 802.11a and 802.11n NON-DFS environments
• Assuming Ultra HD deployments (APs less than 15 meters apart): Use one of
the following
• Consider using 20 MHz channels to get more re-use
• Tx power considerations, and use of CSR (available 6.3.1.3) should be
considered to avoid CCI
• Use of DFS as appropriate

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Transmit Power Considerations
• Assess the environment
• How much are my AP’s able to hear each other?
• Modern offices like Facebook, square, twitter etc. (hoteling environments) – a lot
• Traditional offices like MSFT (lots of offices) and K12 classrooms – Not as much
• Universities there is a mixture of both – Variable
• How much is “too much”
• If the Rx channel busy is > 30% during slow time
• It is due to ACI and CCI
• This has a direct impact on performance; worsens during peak hours
• What is the solution – Tx power on AP’s, high data rates on clients and low ACI/CCI
• Guidance
• For modern offices
• Min EIRP – 9 dBm; Max EIRP – 12 dBm
• For Traditional offices
• Default (Min EIRP – 9 dBm; Max EIRP – Max)
• For environments that are a mix
• Default (Min EIRP – 9 dBm; Max EIRP – Max)
• Set 802.11a basic and beacon rate to 24 Mbps; 802.11g basic & beacon rate to 12 Mbps
to avoid CCI/ACI and increased channel utilization

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Profile level Configuration
Cheatsheet
Profile Configuration Summary
RF Management Profile Power:
Min – 9, Max – 12 for modern offices
Min – 9, Max – max for traditional offices
Min – 9, Max – max for mixed environment
Measure Rx channel busy during slow time in all cases
Channel
Use 40 MHz (when mixing 11n and 11ac)
use 80 MHz (greenfield 11ac environment) (case by case:
DFS needs to be enabled for re-use)
Use 20 MHz channels for APs closer than 30 feet (for ultra
HD deployments
Use CSR - set to 25 or 30 (if running 6.3.1.3)

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Profile level Configuration
Recommendations
Profile Configuration Summary
SSID Profile 802.11a basic & beacon rate- 24 Mbps
802.11g basic & beacon rate – 12 Mbps
HT-SSID Profile Default settings
VHT Profile Default settings

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Configuration recommendations
for bake-offs
• AOS 6.3.1.2 build 41701. This is a technology release
• Use D-Tunnel forwarding mode.
• Try to use Cisco Switch in the set up. Use 1G uplink in case Aruba switch is
used. 10G has caused problems.
• Enable end-to-end jumbo frame support.
• Use 20 Chariot end point pairs for single client, 4 pairs for multi-client test
case.
• Use high performance TCP script with 1MB file size for TCP tests.
• For small packet test, use UDP script and modify the send/receive buffer size
and data rate according to test case.
• Use Max EIRP for during our test. Adjust power levels as necessary for
maximum PHY rates.
• Set AMSDU to 3 for BE,BK and VI under Ht-SSID Profile.
• Set ARM WIDS override to Dynamic
For more information see
https://arubapedia.arubanetworks.com/arubapedia/index.php/AP_225_vs_Cisco_3702i_Performance_Results_and_Bake-off_Recommendations

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for bake-offs
!
rf arm-profile "arm-disable"
assignment disable
min-tx-power 127
!
rf dot11a-radio-profile "custom-a"
channel 100E
tx-power 127
spectrum-monitoring
disable-arm-wids-functions Dynamic
arm-profile "arm-disable"
!
rf dot11g-radio-profile "custom-g"
channel 11
spectrum-monitoring
disable-arm-wids-functions Dynamic
arm-profile "arm-disable"
!

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for bake-offs
wlan ht-ssid-profile "ArubaShowcase-AS-htssid_prof"
temporal-diversity
max-tx-a-msdu-count-be 3
max-tx-a-msdu-count-bk 3
max-tx-a-msdu-count-vi 3
!
wlan ssid-profile "ArubaShowcase-AS-ssid_prof"
essid "ArubaShowcase-AS"
opmode wpa2-psk-aes
max-clients 150
wmm
wmm-vo-dscp "56"
wmm-vi-dscp "40"
wmm-be-dscp "24"
wmm-bk-dscp "8"
wpa-passphrase xxxxxxxxxxxxx
mcast-rate-opt
ht-ssid-profile "ArubaShowcase-AS-htssid_prof"
!

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for bake-offs
!
wlan virtual-ap "ArubaShowcase-AS-vap_prof"
aaa-profile "ArubaShowcase-AS-aaa_prof"
ssid-profile "ArubaShowcase-AS-ssid_prof"
vlan 881
forward-mode decrypt-tunnel
band-steering
dynamic-mcast-optimization
dynamic-mcast-optimization-thresh 100
!
ap-group "ArubaShowcase-AS"
virtual-ap "ArubaShowcase-AS-vap_prof"
virtual-ap "MBP-AS-vap_prof"
dot11a-radio-profile "custom-a"
dot11g-radio-profile "custom-g"
ap-system-profile "apsys_prof-iiu58"
!

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Resources
• Evaluating a Config template on ASE for 11ac
• 11ac deployment guidelines on Arubapedia
• Click here
• Other specific guidance
• Early 11ac swat team
• Email dl-solutions@arubanetworks.com

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General
• “Can I simply do a 1:1 replacement
of all my existing Access Points?”
–It depends on a number of factors
• Original AP density/RF environmental challenges
• Types of applications currently running – or
expected to be running – over the existing
network
• Existing network infrastructure
• i.e. Gigabit uplinks
• 802.11at port availability

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Capacity Planning
• Plan on a minimum of 3 devices per person
– IP phone, tablet, laptop
– Consider number of VLANs and subnets based on these
increased amounts of devices
– Consider how many of these devices will be active on the
network concurrently
• Plan on ~50 active devices per AP
• 802.11at on all edge switches
• Review existing controllers to ensure adequate
performance
• All Aruba controllers running version 6.3 of ArubaOS will support
802.11ac, however network performance will vary depending on
increased throughput resulting from higher 802.11ac speeds
(don’t expect much out of the 6x0)

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The Planning Process
• Perform an initial environment evaluation:
– Is there an existing wireless network?
• Is it capacity or coverage based?
– What types of client devices will be used?
– What applications will be deployed?
• Select the proper APs and antennas for the
deployment:
– Internal
• Ceiling mount
• Standard option
– External
• Wall mount
• Unique coverage pattern needed (aisles in a warehouse)
• Outdoor coverage

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The Planning Process
• VisualRF Plan (Virtual site survey):
– VisualRF Plan is the Aruba pre-deployment site planning
tool.
– Covers most standard deployments
– Outdoor, warehouse, non-standard environments may need
extra work
• Physical site surveys:
– Best way to characterize the RF propagation of a given
facility
– Time consuming
– Costly

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RF Planning recommendations
• Consider using 80 MHz channels in a 5-channel
plan
– ARM will manage primary 20 and 40 MHz channel selections
– Will require use of 3 DFS channels
• All 11n Tx power recommendations continue
2
1
3
4
5
2
1
3
4
5
2
1
3
4
5

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Antenna Gain: 5 dBi
2G: 3x3:3 11ac (2.4 GHz)
5G: 3x3:3 11ac (5.15 to 5.875 GHz)
11ac Beamforming
Conducted Tx Power
2G: 23 dBm per branch (27.7
aggregate)
MAX EIRP = 36 dBm
5G: 23 dBm per branch (27.7
aggregate)
MAX EIRP = 36 dBm
Power Interface: AC and 802.3at (PoE+)
Power Consumption: 23 W
WAN + LAN Port
Advanced Cellular Coexistence
IP66 and IP67
-40° to +65°C
No Heater. Start and operate.
AP-270 Series
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Advanced Cellular Coexistence
• Proliferation of DAS and new LTE bands at 2.6
GHz are creating issue for Wi-Fi solution
• All new APs introduced by Aruba in the last 12
months and going forward have implemented
significant filtering into the 2.4 GHz radio portion
to combat this
• Design solution
– Use high-linear LNA followed with a high-rejection filter to achieve rejection
target and little sensitivity degradation;
– Design target: Minimal Sensitivity degradation with -10dBm interference from
3G/4G networks (theoretical analysis).

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Interfaces
• Interfaces Designed for easier field installation
PoE-In; WAN Port LAN Port AC Port
Console/Reset
Ground

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• Unit does not look like radio
• Omni antennas are fully integrated in the chassis
• Resembles video cameras and light fixtures
• Multiple Bracket Options
AP-275: Campus Access /
Outdoor Retail
56
8.5”

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Reduced install time
58
• Brackets are designed to be
• Strapped onto poles
• Lagged into wall
• Once bracket is in place unit slides in and is held with 2 screws.
Slide Chassis into Bracket
Lock in Place

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Super High-density PCBA
• Super High-density Thermal design
190mm
124mm
Surge protection
for outdoor
deployment
Surge protection
for outdoor
deployment
For thermal design
For EMC design
For EMC design
WiFi chipsets Six PAs
CPU & DDR2
PoE Circuits
Top view Bottom view
Ethernet PYHs

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Why a purpose built 11ac AP
• Can spread out the antennas
– Required for optimal MIMO operation
• No redundant hardware
– No disabled radios or radios talking over each other
• Optimize Power Consumption
• Bring the latest processor to bear
– 11ac data plane requirements will overwhelm older
processors
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Cisco vs Aruba test results
• Onsite customer bakeoff results
• Tests run by Aruba
• Cisco config set by Cisco
• AOS 6.3.1.2-AcPerf vs Cisco 7.6.100.0
• AOS config info
• D-tunnel
• AMSDU 3
• ARM/WIDS Dynamic
• Static Channel
• Hybrid Spectrum enabled
• All tests run in Charriot
• 1500 byte packets unless otherwise specified

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Single-Client TCP Peak
Performance
(1 x 3SS MacBook Pro)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
DOWNSTREAM UPSTREAM BI-DIRECTIONAL
828
609 596600
502
522
Aruba AP-225 Cisco AP-3700

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Always use the latest firmware
495 493
107
400 400
100
450
440
98
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
6.3.1.2 No Spectrum 6.3.1.2 Spectrum 6.3.0.1
TCP Up TCP Down TCP Bi

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HW: AP225 vs Cisco 3600 +
11ac Module
• AP-225 has 60% more processing capacity -> Higher
throughput
– Cisco AP 3600 has dual-core CPU that can be run @ 500MHz with
2 cores or @ 800 Mhz using just one core -> only one core used
today @800MHz
– Aruba AP-225 has dual core CPU @ 800 MHz
• AP-225 has 100% more RAM -> Room for future features
– Aruba AP-225 has 512MB or RAM, Cisco AP 3600 only 256MB
• AP-225 has better antenna design than Cisco 11ac module
-> Better range with AP-225
• Cisco 11ac module can support only max 50 clients
• Cisco 3600 has only 1GE port

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ClientMatch™ Enables 802.11ac
Wi-Fi
Match to
another AP
DEVICE TYPE INTERFERENCELOCATION CONGESTION
REAL-TIME RF CORRELATION
Enables use of
802.11ac Wi-Fi rates
 98% of mobile devices
with higher signal quality
 94% better performance
for “sticky” clients
 No client-side software
required
Patent:
8,401,554

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AOS 6.3 RF support
* ClientMatch will override Band Steering,
Spectrum load balancing, and Station handoff .
a/b/g only 11n 11ac (AP-225)
ClientMatch No impact Supported Supported
Band steering Supported Supported* No impact
Spectrum load
balancing
Supported Supported* No impact
Station handoff
assist
Supported Supported* No impact
All settings will be visible at all times. They will only affect
some APs though.

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88% Higher Network Performance
with ClientMatch
218.3
147.4
218.2
116
0
50
100
150
200
250
Aruba Cisco
SystemAggThroughput
System Throughput in a Static vs. Mobile Environment
Static Environment
Mobile Environment
Aruba Vendor X
• Aruba has no change in total system performance
• Vendor X has a 21% drop due to sticky clients
• Better per-AP throughput for Aruba across the board
88%

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Sticky client impact on the
network
• Simple example
– 1 user connecting at 6 Mbps and 9 users at 130 Mbps
– If they each download a 10 MB (80 Mb) file
• 6 Mbps is ~5 Mbps useful
• 6 Mbps connection takes 16 seconds
• 130 Mbps is 85 Mbps useful
• 130 Mbps takes 0.94 seconds
– So 16 + 9*0.94 = 24.5 seconds for 800 Mb ~32.5 Mbps
versus 85 Mbps for all users connecting at 130 Mbps.
• This is exacerbated in built out networks as one
slow user will affect all APs and clients that can
hear it

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CLI Commands
(Aruba3200) #show rf arm-profile default | include Client
Client Aware Enabled
Client Match Enabled
Client Match report interval (sec) 30
Allows Client Match to automatically clear unsteerable clients after ageout Enabled
Client Match Unsteerable Client Ageout Interval 2 0
Client Match Sticky Client Check Interval (sec) 3
Client Match Sticky client check SNR (dB) 25
Client Match SNR threshold(dB) 10
Client Match Sticky Min Signal 70
Client Match Restriction timeout (sec) 10
Client Match Load Balancing threshold (%) 20
Client Match VBR Stale Entry Age (sec) 120
Client Match Max steer failures 3
Client Match Load Balancing client threshold 10
Client Match Load Balancing SNR threshold (dB) 30

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Tunnel vs D-tunnel
• Jumbo frame
• AMSDU
• High client count performance
• Max throughput , low client best in D-tunnel
• Max throughput, high client count, best in tunnel

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Preparing your wired network
for .11ac
• Ensure minimum 1 Gbps uplink ports for the APs
• Ensure 10 Gbps uplink from edge switches to
core
– One 11ac AP can max out a 1 Gbps uplink on a switch
• Ensure uplink ports support 802.3at (PoE+)
– 802.3af can be used, but performance will be reduced

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