Cisco Aironet Access Point Deployment Guide
Note: In order to beamform to clients using three spatial streams, since three transmitters are used in the transmissions, the AP needs at least one additional radio to beamform. The AP 3600 has four radios per band and can beamform to clients using three spatial streams.
To summarize, ClientLink 2.0 takes the received signals heard from the client on the uplink and calculates how the multipath signal looked from those streams. Then, on the reciprocal side (transmit downlink), ClientLink 2.0 uses all four radios to figure out the optimal way to form the signal (transmit beamforming) to enable the client to best decode (receive the signal on the downlink) with the least amount of retries.
ClientLink 2.0 with an AP 3600 enables beamforming to all 802.11n clients, including 3SS clients, and can do so for up to 128 clients at a time. The AP 1600 supports fewer clients (32) and does not support 3SS. ClientLink 1.0 supported a maximum of 15 clients at a time. ClientLink 2.0 significantly improves throughput and coverage up to 60% on the downlink side for much better 802.11n client connectivity and for enhancing the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) experience.
For more information on Cisco ClientLink 2.0, refer to the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps11983/at_a_glance_c45‐691984.pdf
Site Survey Considerations
While ClientLink dynamically beamforms and helps to maintain a robust signal, which results in fewer retries, it was not designed to change the cell range. ClientLink creates a better connection experience, not a larger cell size.
For this reason, during a site survey, it is important to keep in mind that the AP 3600 cell sizes are generally the same or very similar to other Cisco access points. Figure 58 depicts typical ranges in the 1‐ 54 Mbps range. While Cisco always recommends that you survey with the equipment you intend to deploy, an earlier survey done with an AP 3500, for example, would not be invalid for an AP 3600 deployment. Figures 59 and 60 provide examples of the modulation types and signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR).
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