Wireless VERY Basics

[deanwebb]

So, I'm excited about my recent increase in speed on my link to my ISP. Fiber is finally available in my area, and I have a 1Gb link. 

But... that's only for my devices on the Ethernet wire. My wireless devices can't get that 1Gb speed.   

So I started to look over various WLCs and they focused mostly on their line speed for their Ethernet link. Why was that?

Then I started to look at my own wireless adapter - and there I discovered a limitation. That adapter is only going to go so fast, based on wireless protocol used and the strength of the local field. And while my 802.11ac network is definitely faster than a B/G/N network, it doesn't extend from the ISP's wireless router to the back of my house. My B/G/N network does get all the way to the back, and it is much faster than my previous Internet, but it's topping out at 25-30 Mbps. The 802.11ac network right in the same room as the router gives me 140 Mbps.

But the wired? Wow. 980 Mbps. Sweet. I talked about this with my wife and her desired solution is not to get a commercial-grade WLC, but to run Cat6 cable through the house.

I love my wife, by the way.

At least I get the same speeds on up and down. Here in my employer's training room, directly under an AP, I'm getting 115 down and 11 up. Wow, my home wireless is better than my office wireless. Good thing I work from home. 

But it looks like that gigabit speed is only going to happen for the wired LAN, not the wireless guys. If I have 8 people streaming in the room with the wireless router, they'll collectively get that gig, but if they hang out in the back rooms, I can get 30-40 people to enjoy the top speeds back there.

So, now I wonder if there's a good EoL WLC out there that can do 802.11ac and also has an affordable AP that I can use to boost the signal to the back of the house. My search continues...