Cisco AP 3700 Series: Built-for-Purpose vs. Purpose-Built

As more and more 802.11ac devices come to the market this year, businesses need to make sure the best possible 802.11ac wireless infrastructure gets deployed to make sure those 802.11ac end points are performing at both the best possible data rates and application throughputs to maximize the move to  802.11ac.

Cisco’s Aironet 3700 with HDX Technology does just that. If you’re thinking that the 3700 is just another 802.11ac AP, think again: not all 802.11ac AP’s are created equal.

To demonstrate this, let’s take a Cisco 3700 access point...

 

When you open a Cisco AP, you will see dedicated memory (RAM) on the radio chipset itself (one on the 2.4 GHz radio, another on the 5 Ghz radio) to ensure the RF packets get processed “onboard” each radio instead of “offboard” in order to reduce latency and any packet processing collision from memory contention on the AP. Additional packet processing can be handled  on the “offboard” memory that is part of the network processor portion of the AP platform as well. This unique, innovative ASIC-based Wi-Fi chipset by Cisco exemplifies the built-for-Purpose design, and is the hallmark of Cisco’s 3700 Series AP.

Contrast this with the competitive landscape that claims to be Purpose-Built, but in reality is leveraging off-the-shelf merchant silicon-based 802.11ac WiFi chipsets. You will see on these AP’s, the memory is only available “offboard”—introducing packet transfer latency and collision—due to a shared memory between the radios and network processor. It’s that difference that explains why with a Cisco 3700 AP, you can scale 40 or more clients without aggregate throughput drop.

Built-for-Purpose also means Cisco AP 3700 comes with HDX Technology’s ClientLink 3.0, which ensures that all 802.11ac devices are operating at the maximum 11ac data rates. I speak from personal experience--my 802.11ac enabled Macbook Air shows over 800 Mbps consistently. Without Cisco’s built-for-purpose feature set, an 11ac smartphone could be toiling around at 11n rates instead—now where’s the fun with that?

At the end of the day, a built-for-purpose AP from Cisco is going to go the distance and bring you and your end-users the highest performance, optimized for the latest devices. When building out your wireless infrastructure to support all the devices and services on your network, don’t forget: not all 802.11ac AP’s are created equal, so know what you’re getting into when selecting an access point. 

More Cisco Access Point Comparison: Cisco AP 600 Series vs. 700W Series AP

Cisco Aironet 802.11n G2 Series Indoor Access Points	AP 600 Series	Cisco AP 700W Series
Wi-Fi standards	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11 a/b/g/n
Ideal for	Remote worker	Hospitality, university residence halls
Site type	Home	Multidwelling units
Application performance profile	Consumer data Deployment flexibility	In-room wired and wireless access device,  designed to be mounted on wall junction boxes
Future-proof modularity	-	-
Crowded areas	-	-
Number of radios	Dual (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz)	Dual (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz)
Max data rate	300 Mbps	300 Mbps
MIMO radio design: spatial streams	2 x 3:2	2 x 2:2
Client count/ClientLink client count	15 No ClientLink support	100 wireless and 4 wired; no ClientLink support
Autonomous access point option	-	Yes*
ClientLink 2.0	-	-
CleanAir	-	-
VideoStream	-	Yes
BandSelect	-	Yes
Rogue access point detection	-	Yes
Adaptive wireless intrusion protection system (wIPS)	-	Yes
OfficeExtend (Integrated- antenna models only)	Yes	-
FlexConnect	-	Yes
Power	100 to 240 VAC,  50-60 Hz	802.3at/af, AC adapter,  PoE out on one port
Temperature range	0 to 40°C	0 to 40°C
Antennas	Internal	Internal
Limited lifetime warranty	Yes	Yes

Rs from: https://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/not-all-802-11ac-aps-are-created-equal-built-for-purpose-vs-purpose-built/

More Related Topics of Cisco Aironet 802.11n G2 Series Indoor Access Points

Cisco Aironet 2700 Series: High Density Experience and 802.11ac

Cisco Aironet 3700 Series-Meet and Exceed Mission-Critical Wireless Needs

Comparison of Cisco AP 2600 and Aironet 3600 Series

Cisco AP 3600 vs. Aironet 3500 Series

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600 Series APs, Main Features and Comparison

New Cisco Aironet 2700 AP vs. AP3700

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