The Impact of 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi on Enterprise Networks

The 802.11ac standard includes complex technology that will eventually allow multi-Gigabit data transfer, but not all aspects of the specification will be available on day one. Similar to 802.11n, which began with two spatial stream devices capable of 300 Mbps and eventually saw maturation to three spatial streams capable of 450 Mbps, 802.11ac will see an initial first wave of products that are capable of 1.3 Gbps with future maturation possibly up to 6.9 Gbps. Whether or not we will actually see 802.11ac products capable of 6.9 Gbps is dependent on hardware enhancements on both the access point and client that are not certain.



First generation 802.11ac products will achieve 1.3 Gbps through the use of three spatial streams, 80 MHz wide channels (double the largest 40 MHz channel width with 802.11n), and use of better hardware components that allow higher levels of modulation and encoding (256-QAM). The 802.11ac amendment also simplifies implementation of standards-based beamforming for manufacturers by focusing on a single form of explicit beamforming, and eliminating the complex number of beamforming methods detailed in 802.11n. This should allow AP and client manufacturers to align on a single interoperable method.



Future releases of 802.11ac will enable even higher bandwidth by allowing up to eight spatial streams, 160 MHz wide channels, and simultaneous transmission to multiple clients by an access point, called Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO). In a few years, the realistic benefits for enterprises will likely be four and five spatial stream products with network designs still primarily based around 20 MHz and 40 MHz wide channels. MU-MIMO deserves special attention because it will mark a significant milestone in wireless technology that will allow greater performance through the use of parallel transmissions to two different receivers from the same transmitter. For example, an AP that is capable of 3 spatial streams (3X3:3) could transmit 1 spatial stream to three different clients that are only capable of 1 spatial stream each, concurrently. This will allow enterprises to better-serve large client populations in high-density environments.

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