Cisco 3800 AP and Multigigabit Ethernet (mGig)

August 30 2018 , Written by Cisco & Cisco Router, Network Switch Published on #Networking, #Cisco Technology - IT News, #IT, #Cisco Wireless - Cisco Wireless AP

Multigigabit Ethernet (mGig), N-BASET and 802.11bz are all methods by which faster speeds can be realized (faster than 1G) using existing infrastructure wiring such as CAT-5e. The goal is to deliver up to 5 times the speed in the Enterprise without replacing existing cable structure.

Note: Although the AP 2800 does not directly support mGig, these are ideal switches for providing the power required by the AP 2800 as well.

Here are the recommended mGig switches and PoE solutions for the AP 3800.

Figure1. Cisco line of mGig capable switches

Ideally a switch supporting IEEE 802.3bz (mGig, which is also referred to as N-BASET) will deliver the fastest Ethernet using older cable systems such as CAT-5 and deliver +30W for newer PoE devices.

Figure2. Cisco Multigigabit enables speeds over 1G on conventional CAT5e cable systems

In regards to cabling structure and Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet:

Data rates up to 1G requires 62.5–MHz bandwidth (Cat 5e is 100 MHz)
Data rates up to 2.5G requires 100MHz bandwidth (Cat 5e is 100 MHz)
Data rates up to 5G requires 200MHz bandwidth, which is more than the specified Cat 5e 100MHz bandwidth, but within the Cat 6 cable

The main point is that 5G operations over Cat 5e may have issues using certain cable configurations due to the fact we are using Cat 5e cable beyond the specification.

Figure3. Cisco Multigigabit cable support at rates up to 5G

*Watch for cross-talk issues in bundles or when cables are in same pipe. Keep lengths of CAT-5e between 30-50m or below when using dense cable bundles; for example, cables in a dense area like a pipe or places where five or more cables are tied in a bundle.

Figure4. Cisco Multigigabit distance limitations