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

  • Microsoft Offers Support Extensions for Exchange 2016 and 2019

    Microsoft has introduced a paid Extended Security Update (ESU) program for on-premises Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, offering a crucial safety cushion as both versions near their Oct. 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Notebook

    Microsoft Centers AI, Security and Partner Dogfooding at MCAPS

    Microsoft's second annual MCAPS for Partners event took place Tuesday, delivering a volley of updates and directives for its partners for fiscal 2026.

  • Microsoft Layoffs: AI Is the Obvious Elephant in the Room

    As Microsoft doubles down on an $80 billion bet on AI this fiscal year, its workforce reductions are drawing scrutiny over whether AI's ascent is quietly reshaping its human capital strategy, even as official messaging avoids drawing a direct line.