News

Study: All WLANS Not Created Equal Under 802.11n

Aruba Networks, a wireless local-area network vendor, claims that a recent study shows that not only do various vendors' 802.11n access points deliver dramatically different performances, some vendors' equipment is much better than others at working with third-party client adapters.

The company's in-house testing of access points from three vendors -- Aruba, Cisco Systems and Meru Networks -- found that throughput ranged from a low of 2 megabytes/sec to 169 megabytes/sec.

Aruba said the performance delivered depends not only upon the access point selected, but also upon the combination of access point and client adapters selected.

The study indicates that some vendors may not be properly designing their access points to conform to the 802.11n draft specification, since any certified client should deliver identical network performance. What's more, according to Aruba's study, the fault was not with the client devices.

"Some of the wireless LANs actually starved the laptop PCs of airtime so that throughput dropped to almost zero," said Vijay Raman, Aruba's head of technical marketing.

Aruba's testing, which the company makes clear was not independently performed, was designed to be easily replicated. Five laptops, using four different 802.11n-compliant chipsets, were employed with each access point.

The new technical brief, 802.11n Client Throughput Performance, can be downloaded here (PDF).

About the Author

Patrick Marshall is the technology editor of Government Computer News (GCN.com).

Featured

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

  • Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview

    Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.

  • Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

    For AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.

  • Roadblocks in Enterprise AI: Data and Skills Shortfalls Could Cost Millions

    Businesses risk losing up to $87 million a year if they fail to catch up with AI innovation, according to the Couchbase FY 2026 CIO AI Survey released this month.